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"TF^E; 



CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



AND KENT COUNTY, MICH., 



\J¥^ TO D.A.TE: 



CONTAINING HIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF 



Prominent and Representative Citizens 



ILLUSTRATED 



A. W. BOWEN & CO. 

IQOO 



Tni<\l TUB PRIIS^ OP WIl-RON. HLMI'HRKVS A CO., 

FOURTH ST., Lor.Jl^•J^■l^:T. iso. 



/I? 



pkef.a^oe:. 



IN laj'ing this edition of the Biographical Record of the City of Grand Rapids and Kent 
County, Michigan, before their patrons, the publishers take a pardonable pride in 
the fact that they have fulfilled conscientiously every promise made to the public in their 
Prospectus. They point with pleasure to the neatness of the typography, the quality of 
paper upon which the work is printed, and the elegance and durability of its binding; and as 
to its contents, the patrons have already had an opportunity of approving of their biographies 
before they were placed in type, while the illustrative ^department is the in- fins ultra of the 
art, and much of it executed through local talent. 

The compilation of the volume has been a work of long and tedious care, and the result 
is a minute and accurate History of the County and City, derived or deduced from the acts of 
the true creators thereof, as depicted in their biographies, from the day of the pioneers to the 
present time, and biography is, in fact, the true source of all social and political history. 

Therefore, the publishers reiterate that they have fully carried out their promises to the 
public, and feel that the work will meet with hearty approval. 

Respectfully, 

A. W. BOWEN & Co., PllbUslurs. 
March, 1900. 



liNDE^C. 



A PAGE 

Aber, A 498 

Abraham, J. J 499 

Adams, E. I.'. . . ., 48 

Adams, O. ' 857 

Addison, A .501 

Addison, R. V 602 

Addison, T .Wl 

Adist, A. C '28 

Aikin, J 741 

Albee, N. F 502 

Albers, G. H 44 

Albert, G 500 

Albright, J 80 

Allen, G. \V '. H: 

Allen, S 31 

Allen, W. C :.... 507 

Allgier, A 37 

Ames, G. M 45 

Andersch, J .35 

Anderson, P 503 

Anderson, T 511 

Anderson, W. H. 504 

Andrus, N. L 3(i 

Apted,A.M 38 

Ardiel, J. A 50 

Ardiel, L 40 

Ardiel, W 40 

Atherton, M. M .504 

Atherton, S. E., Mrs .509 

Austin, J. P 512 

Averill, 1 514 

Averill, L 514 

B 

Bacon, R. S 39 

Bacon, S. S 41 

Baert, G. H 42 

Bahre, W 515 

Bailey, S. S ,522 

Baker, C. W 517 

Baker, J. H 526 

Banasawitz, M. T 42 

Banasawitz P 43 

Banks, F. B 87 

Barendsen, B. F 46 

Barnaby, H. T .528 

Barnard, E. M 47 

Barney, J. M 48 

Barney, S. Z 48 

Bauman, U 49 

liarnuni, W. J 518 

Barth, L 289 

Bear, 1. J 519 

Beard, L 516 

Beardslee, J. C .533 

Becker, C. L .542 



PAGE 

Becker, P .545 

Beckwith, L. T 706 

Beckwith, R.G .54 

Behler, A. F .521 

Behler, L .521 

Benning, J. M 387 

Bergin,C ' 535 

Bergin, J. S 774 

Bessey, \V. E 61 

Bettinghouse, H. C .55 

Beucus, J .527 

Beucus, T .527 

Bicknell, J 439 

Bicknell, W.J 589 

Bigham, C 60 

Birch, A 541 

Birch, D .541 

Bishop, L. K 62 

Blair, C. B 68 

Blair, J 63, .535 

Blair, L.J ." 5.85 

Blanchard, T. J 536 

Blickley.G 68 

Blickley, I. G 69 

Blodgett.C .587 

Blodgett, F 538 

Bodell, H .548 

Bodell, M 548 

Boden, A .5.50 

Boden, J L .550 

Boltwood, C. \V 66 

Boltwood, G. S 64 

Boltwood, L. G 65 

Bcirst, P .547 

Boughnere, S. D 67 

Bowman, E. VV 551 

Bowman, F. ,S .5.58 

Bowman, J. \V 5.52 

Bowman, W. B 5.52 

Boyland, F .5.53 

Boylon, J 66 

Boylon, T 555 

Boynton, F. 557 

Bradfield, T. P 74 

Bradley, D. F 69 

Braford, A.S .561 

Braford, F. J 561 

Brayman, J. H 560 

Bresnchan, P 562 

Briggs, C. S 80 

Briggs, H.J .566 

Bridgman, J. M 74 

Brobst, H 81 

Bronian, F .564 

Broman, P .564 

Brooks, E 571 

Brooks, L. E 571 



TAGE 

Brt)wn, D. M .570 

Brown, E. E .572 

Brown, F. H 82 

Brown, G. H ,568 

Brown, J .572 

Brown, J. R .569 

Brown, N. J 82 

Brown, R. U 736 

Brown, R. W 889 

Brown, W. B 83 

Brownell P ,574 

Brownell, R 670 

Brownell, T. O .574 

Buchanan, J. C 56 

Buchanan, S 56 

Buck, J. J .580 

Buck, VV .579 

BuUen, E. L 84 

Burleson, H. H .573 

Burleson, S 574 

Burlingame, E. A 85 

Bursma, A 575 

Bursma, J .575 

Burton, L. F .86 

Burwell, A. G .576 

Burwell, E 576 

Bush, D. T 581 

Bush, H 5«1 

Bush, W .587 

i5uttolph, I. M .588 

Button, R.' 87 

Bvrne, J.J...- -582 

Byrne, W .586 

C 

Carglll,C. C 268 

CargiU, F. K 267 

Cargill, G.T 268 

Cargill, H. N 264 

Calkins, C. P 88 

Calkins, C. \V 89 

Calkins, L. \V .589 

Cambell, A. E .589 

Campau, E 700 

Campbell, A. M 90 

Campbell, J. D 91 

Carlyle, C. H .590 

Carlyle, J .590, .592 

Carpenter, J.J .593 

Carpenter, L. .'\ 596 

Carpenter, T .596 

Carolan, E 92 

Carr, C .596 

Carr, H .596 

Carroll, A. A 94 

Carroll, C. H 179 



IJfDEX. 



PAGE 

Carroll, L. E 93 

Carroll, T. F 95 

Carter, C. B 597 

Cathey, G. L 598 

Caiikin, \' 599 

Chadwick, C 600 

Chaihvick, H.J 97 

Cli.tmberlaln, C.J 98 

Chamberlain, L. H 98 

Cliamplin, J. \V 25 

Chandler, C 99 

C'lintsman, L. E 60fi 

Clark, F 609 

Clark, L. S 695 

Clapperton, G 105 

Chapel, G. T 101 

Chapel, L. B 102 

Chapel, \V, A 102 

Chapman, J 602 

Chapman, L 602 

Chappell, G. H lOo 

Childs, H. B 608 

Childs, H. H 605 

Christian, R. A 105 

Clark, F 609 

Clark, J. H 609 

Clark, L. S 605 

Coffee, J. R 610 

Cogshall, C. H. 106 

Cole, O. E 608 

Colleton, J. H 70 

Collins, J 612 

Collins, P 612 

Cbmpton, R. L 611 

Conkey, L. L 107 

Cook, A. F 614 

Cook, J 614 

Cook, F. J 109 

Cook, S. R 615 

Cooper, J. W 616 

Corwin, B. M 76 

Cossitt, H. H 114 

Covell, C. F 617 

Covell, P. F 617 

Cowan, H. D 117 

Cowdin,C. H 618 

Cowdin, H. E 619 

Covvens, H 115" 

Cowles, C. S 620 

Cowles. M.C 621 

Cnwles, S 622 

Cowles, S. B 622 

Cowles, V. F 624 

Cox, J 116 

Coye, J. A 120 

Crahen, | 118 

Crahen, "M 118 

Crandell, E. B 119 

Cranston, G 626 

Crawford, G 627 

Crawford, S 627 

Creswell, H. L 119 

Creveling, B 629 

Crevelinp, N. B 628 

Crow, G 629 

Crumley. J 630 

Cukerski, W.L 121 

Cummings, E. H 122 

Cummings, Z. M 631 



PAGE 

Cunningham, W 123 

Cut^heon, B. N[ 128 

CutJer, J. 1 632 

D 

Darrow, A. L 636 

Darrow, J 636 

Daulton, J 924 

Davie, A. D 645 

Davie, E 638 

Davie, F. W 638 

Davis, C.E 638 

Davis, D. G 693 

Davis, I. D 640 

Davis, J. S 641 

Davis, L. R 643 

Davis, P. P 132 

Davis, W. E 643 644 

DeCou, C. .S 647 

DeCou, F 646 

DeCou, G. W 647 

Decoux, R.H 131 

DeGraaf, G. H 1*3 

Dekker. C 135 

DeKraker, J. M 134 

DeLano, \V 136 

DeNio, G. C 137 

Dickerson, \V. F 648 

Di<;kev, J. H 137 

Dillenback, G. W 138 

Dillon, G. P 142 

Diver, M. L 140 

Dockeray, G. A 651 

Dockerav, R.H 652 

Dodge, F. R 141 

Dorland, A. B 144 

Dorland, W. A 143 

Doubleda v, F 650 

Doubleday, H. M 650 

Doyle, M 870 

Drury, H. H 144 

Duff, E.C 654 

Dunn, G 653 

Dunn, L 653 

Dunning, C. B 654 

Durfee, A 110 

Durfev, C. A 656 

Durfey, M. J 656 

Dygert, L. A 657 

Dykema, S 145 

E 

Eady, G 852 

Easterbv, J 658 

Eaton, C. W 151 

Eaton, \V. T 152 

Eber'.F 662 

Eddy, F. D 154 

Eddy, \V. H 164 

Edie, J. 149 

Edison, C. M 790 

Edison, E 659 

Edison, J 659 

Edison, J. H 659 

Edison, J. R 790 

Eely, F. M 1.53 

Eickelmann, A 671 



5'AGE 

Eisenhardt, J 1-57 

Elkerton, D. F 665 

Ellis, B. A 660 

Ellis, G. L 660 

Ellison, J 667 

Emmons, J. T. B 672 

Emmons, N. D 674 

Ertell, M. F • 661 

Ertell, W. F 661 

FIskildsen, J 676 

Evans, M.J I."i6 

F 

Fallas, H. B 124 

Farnam, R 677 

Farrell, M 679 

Farrell, W 677 

Fassett, A. C 1.56 

Felker, H. 1 141 

Fenton, 1. .' 681 

Fenton, VV. \V 688 

Finch, A. P 168 

Fingleton, G 683 

Finnucan, C. J., Mrs 684 

Fisk, H. N ._^.. 684 

Fitch, G. C " 163 

Fitzgerald, G 159 

Fitzgerald, J. C 160 

Fonger, M., Mrs 686 

Force, F. M 687 

Force, G. H 688 

Force, H 688 

Force, W 227 

Ford, J. A 689 

Ford, J. M 689 

Forrester, G 165 

Foster, J 682, 690 

Foster, M. H 693 

Foster, M. 682 

Fox, C 166 

Fox, G. E 170 

Fox, S 171 

Frace, G. H 172 

Frank, P. J 172 

Freeman, T. S 173 

French, R. S 174 

Frenchen, H 381 

Frey, A 175 

Freyette, F. C 176 

Fuller, E 695 

Fuller, E. P 177 

Fuller, F. L 694 

Fuller, J 177 

Fuller, L 69.5, 697 

Fuller, S.L 183 

Fuller, \V 180 

Fulton, B. L 696 

G 

Gere, G. H 185 

Gibbs, T. W 698 

Giffin, D 961 

Giffin, J.M 961 

Giles, J 7i)3 

Godwin, A 713 

Godwin, G. C 699 

Goozen, P 7l6 



IJVDE.V. 



PAGE 

Goss, D 179 

Goul.J. K 710 

Grachtrup, J 186 

Graham, E 187 

Graham, 1 711, Jit 

Graham, J.J. S 71"i 

Graham, R. T . ... 71(> 

Grand Rapids, Engraving Co. '264 
Grand Rapids Morning Demo- 
crat 48.5 

Graves, S. C 190 

Green, C 717 

Green H ■ 717 

Green, .\1. C 9o9 

Griswold, 1 ... 719 

Griswold, ■]. B 189 

Griswold, i\I. C 728 

Griswold, T 723 

Grosvenor, A. M 724 

Grosvenor, G. W 724 

Grove, \V. E 192 

H 

Haas, M 734 

Haas, K 734 

Hacomuth, C.C 729 

Hachmuth, H 729 

Haggerty, \V. H 191 

Hake, \V. F 193 

Hall, C. H 194 

Hallack, J. W 73U 

Hanna, G 732 

Hanna, J 723 

Hardy, R 720 

Harris, C 733 

Harris, L. D 278 

Hart. A 734 

Hart, C. E 734 

Hart, 1 736 

Hart, J. A 736 

Haskin, S. VV 737 

Hatch, R 224 

Hausmann, G. N 218 

Haviland, L. S 497 

Hawkins, A. F., iVlrs 73.5 

Hawkins, H 735 

Hayward, E 738 

Hazeltine, C. S 196 

Headley, J 739 

Heath, L. \V 202 

Heffron, R. E 741 

Hemsley, G 740 

Herkner, J. C 208 

Hess, G. A 197 

Hessler, J. G 742 

Hessler, W.F 726 

Hester, M 201 

Hicks, S. P 743 

Hill, J 744 

Hill, R. .S 745 

Hill, T 746 

Hilliker, J. B 207 j 

Himes, A 208 

Hmdman, A. C 209 

Hine, D 747 

Hine, M. N 747 

Hinman, .i^. S .' 748 

Hinman. '/.. M 749 



rAGE 

Hinsdill, C. B 209 

Hodges, E. A 7.50 

Hodges, F. E 230 

Hoertz, C 222 

Hogadone, G. P 751 

Holben, J 7.52 

Holben, D 7.52 

Holcomb, M. A 7.53 

Holden, C 231 

Holden, E. G. I) 210 

Hollister, H. J 198 

Holmes, A. N 75,5 

Holmes, W. O 7.55 

Holmes, \V. S 756 

Hoogerhyde, J ^ 235 

Horton, iS. I) ; . . . 762 

Hough, W. B 762 

House, C. C 763 

Howard, A. \V 768 

Howard, D. F 769 

Howard, O. J 773 

Howard, T 773 

Hovt, B 233 

Hoyt, W. H 510 

Huber, H 234 

Hudson, T. S... 235 

Hunt, S 236 

Hunter, F. B 237 

Hunter, F. W 2.37 

Hunter, M 7.56 

Hunter, W. M 761 

Hunting, B.D. 775 

Hunting, I ~ 774 

Hunting, S 774 

Husbaiid, J. Z 242 

Hutchings, L. G 776 

Hutchison, R. I 204 

Hunzicker, J. R 243 



Irish, N 777 

Irish, S. K 776 

J 

Jackson, J. D 243 

Jackson, J. G 248 

Jacques, L.B 249 

Jamison, J. M 2.50 

Jenne, L. K 778 

Jenne, N. E 7 78 

Jewell, H. D 23« 

Johnson, A. A 787' 

Johnson, A. H 778- 

Johnson, E. R 787 • 

Johnson, C. F 785- 

Johnson, C. \V 2.50' 

Johnson, F. M 789: 

Johnson, G 787 ■ 

Jolmson, G. K 244- 

Johnson, G. S 2.58. 

Johnson, J 791 

Johnson, 1. B 794 

Johnson, J. S 7S9 - 

Johnson, 795 ■■ 

Johnson, W. A 251 

Johnson, \V. S 79:; 

Joles, H. H 796 



PAGE 

Joles, J 796 

Jones, E. H 798 

Jones, E. W 2.52 

Jones, J 804 

Jones, J. T 800 

Jones, T 798 

Jones, W 803 

Judd, G. E 2.54 

Judkins, J. B ; 254 

Judson, W 805 

K 

Kalmbach, H. G 284 

Kelley, C Kll 

Kelley, N 810 

Kellogg, F. B 807 

Kellogg, J 809 

Kelly, J 909 

Keljy, P 814 

Kennedy, ]. E 808 

Keukelaar, J 255 

King, H. M 256 

Kinnev, J 814 

Kmney, M 257 

Kmnev, P 815 

Kluge^O. H 261 

Knapp, E.H 269 

Knowles, W.O 263 

Kornoelje, P 271 

Kraft, C 823 

Kraft, G. B 815 

Kraft. J. M 822 

Kridlef, G. L 271 

Kuiper, G 272 

Kusterer, C 273 

L 

LaBarge, G 817 

Lacev.'^F. \V 822 

Ladner, J... ...^ 824 

Lambertson, W 825 

Lambrix, G. A 274 

Lamoreaux, J. F 827 

Lamoree, M. H 813 

Lampman, H 828 

Landes, J. IVI 275 

Landes.S. R ' 275 

Landis, J 830 

Landis, "W. H 829 

Langdon. B. F 831 

Langdon, P .' 831 

Langdon, S 831 

Laraway, |. R. . : !-34 

Larsen, N" 832 

Laubach, A 835 

Laubach, B 835 

Launiere, L. L 276 

Law, A 277 

Law, G. W 277 

Lee, F. J ■>82 

Leentvaar, K 841 

Lemon, S. McB 298 

Lemp, A 842 

Lemp, R. H 842 

LeRoy, .S 287 

Lessiter, E. E . . . 845 

Lessiter, H 843 



IXDEX. 



PAGE 

Lessiter, J. A 844 

Lessiter. Mrs. M. A 84-2 

Lewis, 1. D 84(1 

Lewis, "L 845 

Link, A 847 

Link, G. A 847 

Livini,^ston, W 848 

Locke, O. E 849 

Lockwood, D. M 850 

Lockwood, NL D 850 

Lockwood. P. M 851 

Long, K. H 283 

Long, \V 283 

Loomis, C. H 851 

Lovelace, W. C 863 

Lowell State Bank 924 

Lozier, I). E 284 

Lozier, Z 284 

Lucas, J 287 

Luton, R. iM 288 

Lyle, D. C 857 

Lyle, R. C 854 

Lynch,] 855 

Lyon, M 857 

Lyon, S. W 291 

M 

McAllister, J. T 290 

McArthur, E 866 

McArthur, F 858 

McArthur, G 858 

McArthur, G. R 865 

McArthur R. V 311 

McBride, G. L 292 

McCarthy, D 967 ^ 

McCarthy, J 868 

McCarthy, Wm. J 867 

McCartv, C 873 

McConnell,G. \V 870 

McConnell, T. H 870 

McCoy, D 290 

McCrath, J 872 

McCrath, W. C 872 

McCutcheon. A. 839 

McDonald, A 874 

McDonald, J. S 293 

McDonald, L 880 

McGarry, T. F 294 

McGill.C.W 294 

McGurrin, W. T 295 

McKennev, E. J., Mrs 881 

McKenney. J 883 

McKenney, S 881 

McKnight, L. F 297 

McKnight, W. F 480 

McLean, D 883 

McLean, P 883 

McLouth, J. W 301 

McMillan, H. B 302 

McNamara, M; T 303 

McNitt, B 884 

McNitt, F 884 

McQueen, E. D 886 

McReynolds, A. T 307 

McReynolds, B. F 310 

Madison, L. K 887 

Maher, E. A 313 

Mains, E. 888 



PAGE 

Malcolm, I. B 889 

Malcolm, J. H 889 

Malcolm, R. Miss 890 

Mann,C. M 891 

Mann, C. [ 893 

Mann, | 893 

Martin. R. \V 895 

Martindale, T. \V 896 

Mason, F.J 892 

Mason.S 892 

Masonic Home 310 

Matthews, J. VV 313 

Matthews, O 313 

Matthews, W. B 314 

Maurits, R 315 

May, L. R 317 

May, M 318 

May, J. H 316 

Maynard, F. A 321 

Maynard, J. H 897 

Maynard. R 897 

Medler, C. S 898 

Medler, S. F 898 

Meyer, J. A 324 

Middleton, G 304 

Miller, G. B 323 

Minor, D. E 325 

Moffit, E 897 

Montgomery, H. A 900 

Montgomery, J , 901 

Moon, C. B 902 

Moore, W. 1 866 

Moorman, W. T 903 

Moran, J 905 

Morris, D. F 906 

Morris, R. W 330 

Morrison, J 326 

Muir.J 328 

Murphy, J. E 908 

Murphy, I. W 908 

MurphV, P. J 908 

Myers, \V. H., Jr 910 

Myers, W. H., Sr 910 

N 

Nanninga, T 915 

Nash, A 912 

Nash, E. P 912 

Nash,H 914 

Naysmith, H. R 318 

Neal, J. D 913 

Neal,J.R 913 

Nelles, B. A 331 

Nelles,H. W 331 

Nelson,]. F 916 

Nelson, N 916 

Newell, G. B 331 

•Newland, D 918 

Newland,] 918 

Newnham, R. L 333 

Nielson, M 917 

Noble, 1 334 

Nockolds, C 335 

Norlin, J. A 919 

Norton, A ....■ 921 

Norton, j., .Sr 921 

Norton, ]. H 921 

Nyland, A 339 



PAGE 
O 

O'Brien, B. M 923 

O'Brien, S 923 

Ormond, VV. ] 346 

P 

« 

Page, A. T 408 

Paine, D 9i!5 

Paine, E. W 924 

Paine, S 924 

Parish, C 780 

Parish,] 780 

Parker, ]. C 212 

Parks, B. G...; 926 

Parks, C.S 929 

Parks, D. S 929 

Parks, R 926 

Parmeter,]. E 930 

Parmeter, ]. H 930 

Partridge, A 928 

Partridge, S. C 928 

Patten, G. L 931 

Patterson, A. ] 214 

Patterson, C 818 

Patterson, ] 934 

Patterson, M 932 

Patterson, R. B 933 

Patterson, W 935 

Patterson, W. A 937 

Pattison, L. N 937 

Paul, ] 215 

Paul,L, ]r 215 

Peacock, T. H 217 

Pearsall, H. A 938 

Peel, T 939 

Peck, C. H 941 

Penwarden, W. F 340 

Perkins, C. E 336 

Perkins, W. B 342 

Perkins, W. N 940 

Perry, G.R 362 

Perry, M. M 942 

Peterson, D. M 943 

Peterson, S. P 947 

Peterson, W 947 

Phelps, E. L 944 

Phelps, Z 948 

Phillips, C. H 341 

Phillips, E. C 347 

Phillips, ]. \V 341 

Pierce, B. R 356 

Platte, J 952 

Plavter,G. K 950 

Plumb, H 953 

Plumb, ] 953 

Poisson, ]. H 345 

Ponganis, S 348 

Porter, B. C 952 

Porter, 1 952 

Porter. M 955 

Porter, R 955 

Powell, C 958 

Powell, LP 349 

Powers, H 376 

Powers, J. \V 376 

Preston, I. T 351 

Pringle, N. N 957 



^ 



IJVDKV. 



PAGE 

Prnct.)!-, H. B 35'2 

Proctor, \V 959 

Proskauer, T S-W 

Pulcher, I. C 388 

Putnam, L. D 355 



R 



Ramsdell.J 


962 


Ramsdell, S 


962 


Randel, 1. L 


968 


Rathbun,H. B 


963 


Reed, T. P: 


354 


Renwick, G. R 


360 


Retan, A. E 


965 


Retan, J. R 


966 


Rexford.W 


969 


Richardson, G. S 


1025 


Richmond, F 


967 


Richmond, I 


967 


Richter, H. ] 


422 


Riemersma, D 


360 


Ringold, J 


361 


Risinsjer, I 


970 


Risinger, |. J 


969 


Roberts, A. E 


971 


Roberts, C. S 


973 


Roberts, E 


971 


Roberts, F. T 


975 


Roberts, 1. T 


975 


Rockford Register 


618 


Rodgers, F. A 


367 


Roe. P. H 


974 


Roelofs, G 


369 


Rogers, A 


979 


Rogers, C. L 


976 


Rogers, E, G ". . . 


979 


Rogers, E. M 


977 


Rogers, I 


978 


Rogers, J. C 


978 


Ronan, M 


370 


Rood, A. R 


396 


Rose, E. S 


981 


Rose, E. W 


981 


Rose,W 


416 


Rosenberg, J 


982 


Resenberg, M 


982 


Ross, \V. H 


382 


Rounds, E. C 


987 


Rowe, W 


373 


Ruffe, A. L 


371 


Ryan, W. E 


372 


Ryness, W. S 


986 



s 

St. Alphonsus Church 376 

St. Andrews Cathedral 379 

St. Denis, H 1023 

St. James Church 388 

St. Joseph's Church 581 

St. Mary's Church 387 

Salsbury, L. K 442 

Saunders, F 390 

Saunders, F. D 984 

Saunders, H. G 391 

Saunders, N. D 984 

Saur, .A. 988 

Saur, A. H 989 



P.\GF. 

Saur, A. J 99:^ 

Saur, F. \V 994 

Saur, J, A 992 

Saur, P 989 

Schenck, J. M 995 

Schermerhorn, H. 392 

Schmidt, W. K 398 

Scribner, J 394 

Scribner, N. B 394 

Sellers, T.. M 993 

Sevey, G . . . ; 996 

Sevey, L. G 996 

Shafer, J 997 

Shafer, O. S 998 

Shafer, W. T 997 

Sharer, G. W 999 

Sharer, W 999 

Sharp, H. C 999 

Sharp, W 999 

Sharpsteen, S. L 399 

Shattuck, 1. A 1002 

Shattuck, F. E 1002 

Shelby, W. R 402 

Shepard, C. P 1003 

Sherwin, C. W 1004 

Sherwin, I. C 1004 

Shisler, J. W 1005 

Simpson, J. S 1006 

Sinclair, M. C 406 

Sisson, M. F 1007 

Sisson, S. B 1008 

Slater, G -.436 

Slater, R. J 1009 

Slavton, A. W 458 

Slayton, C. M 1009 

Slayton, R 1010 

Sligh, C. R 452 

Sliter, B. F 1014 

Sliter, J 1014 

Slocum, C. E 410 

Smedlev, C. 464 

Smith, A. D 1012 

Smith, A. L 412 

Smith, C 1018 

Smith, C.E 1015 

Smith, C.L 1016 

Smith, E. A 1017 

Smith, E 1013 

Smith, E. L 411 

Smith, G. U 1019 

Smith, H 414, 415 

Smith, J 1018 

Smith, J. C 1013 

Smith, N 1019 

Smith, N. G 413 

Smith, S. B 764 

Smith, V 1019 

Smith, V. R 1017 

Snethen.C. R 1021 

Snethen.J 1021 

Snyder, C. P 1027 

Snyder, P 1027 

Solomon, J.S 1022 

Solomon, W 1022 

Sorber, M. A 415 

Sorensen, J 421 

Spring, H 419 

Springer, M 425 

Springer, U. S 425 



PAGE 

Sproat, J. C 481 

Squires, E. G 426 

Siiuires, R. B 1831 

Stark, L. B 1024 

Stebbins, A. J 427 

Stegman, F. C 1026 

Stegman, H. F 1026 

Steketee, J 400 

Stewart, J 1030 

Stewart, J. R 1028 

Stewart, S. H 800 

Stewart, S. J 1080 

Stilwell, A. H 1032 

Stilwell, C 1032 

Stinson, T. C 1033 

Stinson, W 1033 

Stone, C.G 2035 

Stone, J. W 1037 

Story, B 1039 

Story, E G 1039 

Strong, E. B 1040 

Strong, H.W 1040 

Stoughton, W. S 428 

Stout, D. B 1036 

Stout, S. S 1036 

Stuart, W. J 429 

Sullivan, J. T 1042 

Swayze, R. W 1041 

Switzer, A. M 430 

T 

Taggart, M 431 

Tatetum, W . A 482 

Tavlor, W. E 1049 

Taylor, W. W 433 

Teeple, A. C 1050 

Teeple, G. \V 1050 

Teeple, J 1051 

Teeple, S 1051 

Temple, C. E 470 

Thomas, VV'. J 433 

Thompson, A 860 

Thompson C 835 

Thompson, F 860 

Thompson, J • 836 

Thompson, L. L 1055 

Thompson, W. H 1056 

Tindall, C. G 1053 

Tortellet, G. W 1047 

Towner, C. B 1060 

Towner, S. S 1057 

'lowner, S. U 1057 

Travis, J. M 439 

Tufts, C. \V 434 

Tyler, M. L 1060 



U 



Upton, G. F. . 



445 



\'anderlip, R. M 1063 

Vanderveen, C 441 

VanLiew, C 1065 

\'anLievv, J. C 1065 

VanZandt, F 1061 

\'anZandt, J 1061 



IJVJDKY. 



PAGE 

\'erdier, J. A. S 4TH 

Verheu, A 447 

Verkerke, J. A 825 

Vosle, J 1064 

Vos, J. J 441 

W 

Waite, W. \V 1045 

Walker, M, H 448 

Ward, E 1044 

Ward, J. H 1045 

Waters, E. D 449 

Waters, H.J 229 

Waters, O. S 280 

Watkins, E. C 450 

Watkins, J 1067 

Watkins, (XI 1067 

Watt, C 228 

Watts, I. Q 1069 

Watson, D. F 1071 

Watterson, W. J 1066 

Way, A. B 1070 

Weaver, G 1072 

Webster, A. M 455 

Weeks, 1. 1 1071 

Weller, |. P 1076 

Wellman, E. J 1075 

Wellman, E 1075 

Wellman, F 1076 

Wells, E. W 457 

Welsh, D. E 45H 



PAGE 

Westveer, G 467 

Went, E 462 

Werner, N. P 1077 

Whalen, M 1078 

Wbalen, K 1079 

Wheeler, J 1086 

White, I. M 1089 

Wliite. W. L 468 

Whitney, C. H 1087 

Whitten, 1 1088 

\Vhitten,'G 1092 

Whitten, M. J 1088 

Whitwurth, G 1891 

Whitworth, C. F 1091 

Wilder, C. E 1081 

Willett, M.A 1083 

Williams, H 1081 

Williams, S. F 1081 

Williams, T, 470 

Wils.in, A. E 876 

Wilson, CM 478 

Wilson, H. E 474 

Wilson, J.C 876 

Wilson, M 1080 

Winegar, F. B 485 

Winesjar, W. S 485 

Winegar, L. H 485 

Winegar, W '....... 482 

Winchester, L 1084 

Wisse, 1 488 

Wihim, J. G 1084 

Wolcott, A 474 



PAGE 

Wolcott, L. W 486 

Wolf, G. A 491 

Wolf, J 491 

Wood, A. R 1094 

Wood. E 1094 

Wood, G. D 1094 

Wood, G. M 1095 

Wood.H 491 

Wood, I. W 491 

Wood, W. H 491 

Woodworth, E 1096 

Woodworth, E. C 1098 

Woodworth, 1 479 

Woodworth, W. F 1096 

Wolverton, J. C 1093 

Wright, J. M 492 

Wykes, G 1099 

Y 

Young, A 493 

Young, W 1100 

Young, W. C 1100 

Young, W. G 493 

Youngquist, A 1102 

Z 

Zaagman, J 493 

Zitiimer, A. R 1104 

Zudeznse, D.J ...1103 



PAGE 

Allen, G. W 33 

Ardiel, J. A 51 

Bailev, S. .S; 523 

Barnahy, H. T .'.29 

Becker, C. L 543 

Beckwith, L. T 707 

Buchanan, J. C 57 

Burwell, .-\. G 577 

Byrne, J.J 5s:i 

Camjiau, E. 7(.)1 

Champlln, J. W Frontispiece. 

Colleton, J. H 71 

Corwin, B. M 77 

Durfee, A HI 

Eicklemann, A. P 570 

Fallass, H. B 125 

Farmer Generation Group .... 771 

Felker, H. J 147 

Fitzgerald, J. C 161 

Foster, M. H (;92 

Fox, C 167 

Fuller, W 181 

PAGE 

Residence of J. I. Cutler 633 

Residence of F. Eber 663 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

PAGE 

Grand Rajiids Eng. Co 265 

Hardy, R -. 721 

Harris, L. D 279 

Hatch, Reuben 225 

Hausman, G. N 219 

Haviland, L. S 496 

Hessler, W. F 727 

Hollister, H. 1 199 

Hunter, Mrs. '.M 759 

Hunter. M 758 

Hutchinson, R. J 205 

Jewell, H. D 239 

lohnson, G. K 245 

Johnson, G. S 259 

Kalmbach, H. G 285 

Lemon, S. Mc.B 299 

Middleton, G 305 

Xaysmith, H. R 319 

Parish, C 782 

Parish, Mrs. C 783 

Patterson, C 819 



VIEWS. 

PAGE 

Residence of S. H. .Stewart.. . 801 
Residence of F. Thompson . . . 863 



PAGE 

Perkins, C. E 337 

Perry, G. R 363 

Perkins, W. B 343 

Pierce, B. R 357 

Powers, 1 . W 377 

Putman.'L. D 354 

Richter, Bishop 423 

Rood, A. R 397 

Rose, W 417 

Ross, W. H 383 

.Salsburv, L. K 443 

Shelbv,'W. R 403 

Slavtcin, A. W 459 

Shgh, C. R 453 

Sraedley, CO 465 

Smith, S. B 765 

Temple, C E 471 

Thompson, J 838 

Thompson, F ^*'>2 

^■erdier, J. A. S 477 

Wilson, A. E 877 

Winegar Group 483 

Wisse, 1 4«9 



pa(;e 
Residence of J. Thompson .... 839 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



"THE VALLEY CITY." 




OHN \V. CHAMPLIN, LL. D., late 
chief justice -of the supreme court of 
Michigan, was born February 17, 
1 83 1. He is a lineal descendant of 
Geoffre}' Champlin, who, 'in 1638, came to 
this country from England, and settled in 
Rhode Island. The family has strong char- 
acteristics of mind and body, which strikingly 
appear in the subject of this sketch. They 
are strong in body, firm in conviction, and 
possess in a great degree that balance of the 
faculties known as common sense. 

Jeffrey C. Champlin, the father of the 
subject of this sketch, and a native of New 
York, married Ellis Champlin, a descendant 
of a different branch of the same family, who 
in early times settled in Connecticut. Shortly 
after their marriage they removed to King- 
ston, N. Y., where Judge Champlin was born. 
Soon after, the family removed to Harpers- 
field, in the same state, and engaged in farm- 
ing, and here Judge Champlin continued to 
reside until he was of age. The story of his 
youth is the story of the youth of many of 
our best public tnen. In summer he worked 
beside his father and brothers on the farm. 



laying up stores of health and strength for 
the trying demands of his professional career. 
Here v.'as formed that intimate acquaintance 
with the affairs of every day life, its difficul- 
ties and its needs, which was to keep him 
through life in warm sympathy with the peo- 
ple. In this home life, under its firm but 
kindly parental government, was acquired 
that habit of industry and those principles of 
integrity, independence and love of justice 
which have been marked characteristics of 
the man. In the winter time he attended the 
village school; at thirteen years of age he 
entered the academy at Stanford, and after- 
ward the academies of Rhinebeck and Har- 
persfield. With reference to these schools it 
may be said, as could be said of many other 
academies in New York and New England 
towns, that if they lacked some of the ad- 
vantages and much of the machinery of the 
modern school system, if they did not under- 
take to accomplish as large results in a given 
time, they did not, like the modern school, 
tend to dull uniformity; they gave to the ambi- 
tious youth opportunities to acquire a training 
that tended to individual development and that 



26 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



individual independence and self-reliance which 
peculiariiy fit the student to grapple with the 
various questions of our political life. 

After leaving Harpersfield academy, Mr. 
Cliamplin took a course of civil engineering at 
the Delaware Literary institute, and commenced 
the practice of that profession in his native 
state. Seeking a wider field, at the age of 
twenty-three years, in 1854, he came to the 
city of Grand Rapids, where his brother, 
Stephen G. Champlin, afterward Gen. Chanip- 
lin, was then engaged in the practice of law. 
Here he commenced the study of that pro- 
fession in the office of his brother; passed his 
examination before Judge Martin, afterward 
chief justice of the state, and was admitted 
to the bar in 1855. While the city was com- 
paratively small, and the country around itnew, 
the local bar had in it many men of marked 
ability — men whose vigorous intellect and nat- 
ural sagacity, uncontrolled by the strict en- 
forcements of legal courtesy, made the con- 
flicts which necessarily arose in the profession 
a rather hard but useful school for the young 
attorney on the threshold of his practice — a 
further benefit he derived from the position 
in which he found himself placed. 

In this as in other communities where pop- 
ulation is increasing rapidly, changes had to 
be made in the machinery of local government 
to adapt it to the wants of a larger community, 
and thus many new and important questions 
arose. In 1856, Mr. Champlin was chosen to 
prepare a revision of the charter of the city 
of Grand Rapids, and the results of his work 
form the basis of all charter legislation for 
that city since. He held at different times the 
office of city recorder, city attorney, and in 
1867 was elected mayor. By these varied 
experiences he became acquainted with the 
practical workings of municipal govenment. 
The value of this experience to a lawyer, situ- 
ated as he was, is shown by his subsequent 



life. Probably there was no lawyer in the 
district where he resided whose opinions were 
more widely respected upon questions of mu- 
nicipal government than his. From this time 
on. Judge Champlin pursued the practice of 
the law with an assiduity that withdrew him 
entirely from other pursuits. His business be- 
came so varied and extensive that it demanded 
his entire time in the trial of causes and in the 
e.Namination of the many and delicate ques- 
tions arising in the course of a large general 
practice. The years of conscientious work 
brought with them not only increase of practice 
and reputation, but also that growth in legal 
knowledge and that wide and accurate judg- 
ment the possession of which constitutes the 
most marked excellence of a lawyer. In the 
trial of cases he was uniforml}' courteous to the 
court, his opponent, and the witnesses; he 
cared nothing for display, never lost a point 
for the sake of creating a favorable impression 
with the audience, and sought to impress the 
jury rather by weight of facts in his favor and 
by argument than by an appeal to prejudices. 
In disc-ussions of the principles of law he was 
remarkable for his clearness of statement and 
his candor. He sought faithfully for firm 
ground on which to plant his feet; and when 
once he found it, nothing could drive him from 
his position. He had the faculty of compre- 
hending the point of greatest strength, and, 
in holding that, spent his entire energies. His 
zeal for his client never led him to urge in ar- 
gument what in his judgment was not the 
law. His conceptions of legal principles were 
cleanly cut, and he preserved intact the per- 
fect balance of his legal judgment. 

In 1883 he was nominated by the demo- 
cratic party for judge of the supreme court, 
and was elected by a majority which was so 
far in excess of the vote of his own party, that 
it furnished very strong evidence of the high 
esteem in which he was held by the people of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



27 



the state. He took his seat as a member of 
that court in January, 1884. He brought to 
the bench not only a reputation, but a charac- 
ter for integrity unquestioned and unquestiona- 
ble; a wide knowledge of the law, and of the 
difficulties which attend its perfect administra- 
tion and practice; a mind which, while it did 
not readily adopt for its own opinion the opinion 
others, was quick to comprehend an argument, 
and ready to follow it to a logical conclusion, 
however far that conclusion' might differ from 
an opinion previously entertained. What has 
been said regarding his character and attain- 
ments as a lawyer affords the key to his career 
on the bench. To his many friends through- 
out the state who have carefully scrutinized 
his work as a judge, no word is necessary; to 
the general public, it need only be said that 
the same careful, conscientious application of 
thought and study was -given to the duties of 
that position, as that which secured his suc- 
cess at the bar, the result being uniformly sat- 
isfactory alike to litigants, to the legal profes- 
sion, and to the people whom, in the capacity 
of a public officer, he has served with the full- 
est appreciation of the duties and responsibil- 
ities imposed upon him. 

At the semi-centennial of the university of 
Michigan, in 1887, the board of regents con- 
ferred upon him the honorary degree of doctor 
of laws. On his retirement from the bench, 
December 31, 1891, Judge Champlin resumed 
the practice of law. In 1892, the regents of 
the university of Michigan appointed him to 
the position of a professor in the law depart,- 
ment of that institution. He delivered lec- 
tures on the law of torts and of corporations, 
while filling this position, until his resignation 
in 1S96. Although in politics Judge Cham- 
plin is in principle a democrat, he, however, 
declined to follow that portion of his party 
who opposed the war, and for the past few 
years he has taken part in public affairs only 



as one does who would not shirk his duty as a 
citizen. At present he is president of the 
Grand Rapid Fire Insurance company; the 
president of the Historical society of Grand 
Rapids; the president of the ex-Firemen's asso- 
ciation; the vice-president of the Michigan Po- 
litical Science association, and a member of 
the Historical committee of the Michigan Pio- 
neer and Historical society. 

On the 1st of October, 1856, he married 
Miss Ellen More. The union has been a 
singularly happy one, three children having 
been born to them, viz: Kate, wife of William 
M. Butts, of Grand Rapids: Frederick M. , 
state superintendent of agencies for the Grand 
Rapids Fire Insurance company, and Estelle, 
at home. 

Mrs. Ellen Champlin was born in Roxbury, 
N. Y. , December 18, 1830, and is a daughter 
of John B. and Louisa A. (Kelly) More, na- 
tives of .New York. John B. More was a 
descendant of John and Betty (Taylor) More, 
who early came from Scotland and settled in 
Roxbury, N. Y., in which city there are still 
held, every five years, reunions of the More 
family, members of which are scattered all 
over the United States, but have erected at 
Roxbury a monument in honor of the founder 
of the family in America. Prior to his settle- 
ment at Roxbury, John More had located at 
Harpersfield, Delaware county, N. Y. , but was 
warned by a friendly Indian of an intended 
massacre; he therefore loaded his two horses 
with his goods, and with his family went to 
Catskill, N. Y., where the wife and children 
resided until the close of the Revolutionary 
war, in which Mr. More was serving as a sol- 
dier. He then made his final settlement at 
Roxbury. 

Judge Champlin and family are members 
of St. Mark's Protestant Episcopal church in 
Grand Rapids, where he resides. Fraternal- 
ly, the judge stands high. as a Mason. He has 



28 



THE CITY. OF GRAND RAI^DS 



served as master of Grand River lodge, No. 
34; as high priest of Grand River chapter, 
No. 7; as commander of De Molai command- 
ery, No. 5; is a member of Tyre council, 
No. 10; has reached the thirty-second degree 
under the Scottish rites, and in 1872 was 
grand master for the state of Michigan. 

In the ordinary affairs of life. Judge Champ- 
lin is a man of unusually keen perception, just 
and clear in judgment, and energetic in action. 
Conscious of the dark shadows of human life, 
he habitually turns his face towards its sunny 
side; quick in sympathy, unobtrusively help- 
ful, genial to all, and firm in his friendships, 
it is given to few men to be loved and trusted 
as he is loved and trusted in the community 
where he lives. 




UDGE ALLEN C. ADSIT was born at 
Rutland, Jefferson county, N. Y. , Feb- 
ruary 20, 1837. His father, Stephen 
Adsit, was of English descent and a na- 
tive of New York; his mother, Polly Smiley, 
was of Scotch-Irish descent and also a native 
of New York, and both were descendants of 
Revolutionary sires. On his father's side he is 
descended from one John Adsit, who came 
from England and settled at Lyme, Conn., in 
1716. He had four sons; John (2), Samuel, 
Benjamin and Stephen, all of whom settled in 
Dutchess, and what is now, Columbia county, 
N. Y., prior to the Revolutionary war, and 
were enrolled as soldiers in the state militia. 
John 2d, from whom the subject is descended, 
was a private in the Eighth Albany militia. 
There were eight of the family who served in 
the American army during that contest. 

The early education of the subject was re- 
ceived at the district school near his father's 
farm at Fairfield seminary, and at Jefferson 



County institute at Watertown, N. Y. He 
passed through an academic course in school, 
and during the winters'of i 857-8-9 was em- 
ployed at teaching in the district schools. 
The remaining portion of the year was spent in 
studying law at Watertown. He was admitted 
to the bar at a general term of the supreme 
court held at Syracuse, October 6, 1859, and 
settled at Adams, in his native state, to en- 
gage in practice in i860. 

The eve of the most exciting period of the 
century's history was not an auspicious time for 
a young man to establish himself in professional 
life. Already the country was stirred by the 
premonitory signs of civil war. The sectional 
feeling was intense. The disruption of the 
democratic party in the national convention 
at Charleston, which had already been acconi- 
plished, was only the prelude to open hostili- 
ties for the dismemberment of the Union, upon 
the election of a president on what the south 
regarded as sectional issues. It was indeed a 
year freighted with alarming incidents and 
momentous consequences. Under such cir- 
cumstances a young man, who had barely 
attained his majority, might reasonably be 
pardoned for failing to make a permanent 
impression upon jurisprudence and a perma- 
nent place for himself in the profession within a 
few months. 

Mr. Adsit had scarcely time to nail up his 
shingle and form the acquaintance of half a 
dozen clients before the overt act of rebellion 
thrilled the country. The first call of the 
president for volunteers appealed to his pa- 
triotism. He laid aside the law books and 
shouldered a musket. Personal comfort, pro- 
fessional ambition and self-interest could not 
be weighed against the duty of the hour. 
Without stopping to consider the hardships, 
the danger or the influence upon his own fu- 
ture, he offered his humble services as a pri- 
vate soldier, and was mustered into the niilita- 



AXD KEXT COUXTV, UP TO DATE. 



29 



ry f jrc33 of the United States as a member of 
company G, Forty-fourth New York infantry; 
from that time until the Civil war closed the 
■duties of a soldier were paramount to the busi- 
ness or the professional engagements of a cit- 
izen. He served honorably and faithfully 
with the army of the Potomac, participating 
in all of the principal engagements of that 
army, as well as the minor battles and skir- 
mishes. He was at the siege of Yorktown, in 
the seven days' fighting before Richmond, at 
second Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg, 
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and all of the 
intervening minor engagements. By succes- 
sive promotions on merit he attained the rank 
of first lieutenant, and was mustered out as 
such, with the same company in which he en- 
tered the service as a private. 

The five years of war had served to efface 
the impression which he had made upon the 
law, and to obscure the impression which the 
law had made upon himself. On returning 
home it was difficult for him to find his place 
and engage in practice. The broken threads 
which an old practitioner would have gathered 
up were wanting in his case. He had no time 
to spin these threads, or weave any fabric be- 
fore entering the service of his countr}-. To 
return to his profession was to begin de 
novo. 

In the early part of 1866 he removed to 
Michigan, and settled at Spring Lake, Ottawa 
county, where he engaged in mercantile pur- 
suits. Soon afterwards he became interested 
in politics. For six years he was supervisor 
of the township. In 1871 he was president of 
the village. In 1871 and 1872 he represented 
his district in the state legislature. In the 
meantime he had renewed his interest in the 
law and resumed practice. In 1874 he was 
elected prosecuting attorney for Ottawa county, 
and two years later was an unsuccessful candi- 
date for the office of probate judge. During 



all this period he was growing in knowledge of 
the law and increasing his practice. 

In 1877 he removed to Grand Rapids for 
the purpose of devoting all of his time and en- 
ergies to the profession. He soon established 
himself and won success at the bar. In 1886 
he was appointed assistant United States at- 
torney for the western district of Michigan, and 
in 1887 was the unsuccessful candidate of his 
party for circuit judge. 

By appointment of the mayor, in 1890, he 
served a term as member of the board of pub- 
lic works. Later in the same j'ear he was 
elected for the residue of the judicial term of 
Marsden C. Burch, judge of the seventeenth 
circuit. This election, hoA'ever, was contest- 
ed upon legal points, in the supreme court, 
and forms a leading case which is reported in 
84 Mich. 420. This case was conducted and 
argued in the supreme court by him in person. 
His cont-ention of the law was sustained and 
he assumed the duties of the office February 
5, 1891. His judicial record was approved 
by re-election in 1S93 for the full term of si.\ 
years. He was again a candidate for re-elec- 
tion at the spring election of 1899 on the 
democratic ticket, and notwithstanding the 
fact that he ran upward of one thousand ahead 
of other candidates on the ticket, he was de- 
feated. 

Judge Adsit's individuality is marked. His 
life has been full of e.xperiences, as varied 
as any man could wish. The trials of a sol- 
dier in the field, the life of a successful mer- 
chant, the experience of a lawmaker, the 
administration of the office of public prosecutor 
and the judicial duties of a court of record 
have combined to make a strong man. His 
mental powers are permitted to work through 
a physical organism that is well nigh perfect, 
and his life is guided by the strictest principles 
of morality in the judicial office, as in private 
life; he is always the courteous gentleman, re- 



80 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



gardful of the rights of others. He has the 
intuitions of a lawyer; is quick to discover the 
marrow of a subject, and quick to rule on a 
motion or decide on the admissibility of evi- 
dence. When a decision is once reached it is 
not altered, except upon the most convincing 
proof that it was erroneous. Pride of opinion 
is not permitted to stand in the way of a 
change when his judgment is convinced of error. 

His mental discipline is not inferior to the 
physical discipline incident to military train- 
ing, so that his judicial opinion is pronounced 
with precision and terseness. He is not arbi- 
trary, but altogether reasonable in his decis- 
ions, and their correctness is attested by the 
approval of the supreme court, in nearly all 
cases appealed to that tribunal from his cir- 
cuit. Two of the .most celebrated of these 
cases are Haines v. Hayden, 95 Mich. 332, 
and in re Leonard, 95 Mich. 295. 

He is honest, patient, sincere, and his rec- 
ord on the bench commends him to the bar. 
He is an active member of Custer post. No. 
5, G. A. R., department of Michigan; a mem- 
ber of Grand River lodge, No. 34, F. & A. M. ; 
of De Molai commandery. No. 5, Knights 
Templar, and of Saladin temple. Ancient 
Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, 
and enjoys the esteem as well as the confi- 
dence of the community. 

In religion he is of the liberal faith. He 
attends and aids liberally in the support of 
the society of All Soul's church. He was 
married, in 187 1, at Spring Lake, to Mary 
Hubbell, who died the following year. Feb- 
ruary 24, 1 886, he was married to Sarah Kil- 
patrick, of Grand Rapids. A prominent 
member of the Grand Rapids bar contributes 
the following: 

It is said that in this land of liberty, where 
the greatest latitude is allowed for the e.xer- 
cise of individual endeavor, everyone is the 
architect of his own future, and with great 



truth it may be said that everyone is the arch- 
itect of his own character. Character is the 
edifice in which dwells the moral entity called 
self. It is made up of individual traits, and 
is modeled and fashioned by the will of its 
possessor. As whatever of prominence as a 
citizen, as a soldier, as a legislator, as a jurist, 
Judge Adsit has attained, was from the indi- 
vidual exertion and application of his own 
efforts, so by his integrity, his ability, his in- 
dustry, he has established a character in the 
community where he is known, which adds 
luster to his renown, and commands the re- 
spect of everyone. He is genial in his dispo- 
sition and social in his tastes. His greatest 
pleasure is derived from his home surround- 
ings. His impartiality on the bench has mer- 
ited the confidence of the bar and the respect 
of litigants. Not hasty to reach conclusions, 
he gives due consideration to all arguments 
advanced, and arrives at results by the aid of 
strong common sense, of which he possesses a 
full measure. In the administration of justice 
he is firm, but not arrogant; decisive without 
being opinionated, and conscientious in the 
discharge of every duty. His renomination 
and re-election at the close of his first term 
voices the confidence of the people in his in- 
tegrity and judicial ability. Such endorse- 
ment is the most flattering meed of praise a 
judge can be the recipient of. A high, a hap- 
py and ennobling future opens before him. in- 
viting him to a career of usefulness and honor, 
which his friends sincerely wish he may long 
live to enjoy. 

He retired from the bench January i, 1900, 
with the respect of all and the regret of the 
members of the bar generally. 



OSEPH ALBRIGHT, M. D., the well- 
known physician and surgeon of Grand 
Rapids, with his office at No. 54 West 
Bridge street, and his residence at 
No. },'] Scribner street, was born in St. Cath- 
arine's, province of Ontario, dominion of Can- 
ada, December 26, 1S37. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



31 



Dr. Joseph Albright has been largely de- 
pendent upon his individual resources from 
early youth. By dint of hard study he was 
enabled to pass a teacher's examination when 
a young man, secured a certificate and taught 
school about seven years, altogether, in Can- 
ada. He spent some time in perfecting him- 
self in the German language at an academy m 
Allentown, Pa., and he is, beside, proficient 
in several other languages. He had early de- 
termined to make the practice of medicine his 
life vocation, and from his earnings as a 
teacher secured the 'means to gratify this laud- 
able aspiration. In 1868 he entered the med- 
ical department of Trinitj' university', Toronto, 
studied the science four years, and graduated 
in 1872. He at once began practice in Orion, 
Lapeer county, Mich., remained about one 
year, and came to Grand Rapids in 1873. 
Here he stands well up in the list of respect- 
able physicians, has earned a neat and com- 
modious home, and placed himself and family 
in comfortable circumstances financially. 

Dr. Albright was married at Grand Rap- 
ids, in 1S80, to Miss Fannie Hoffman, a na- 
tive of Dutchess county, N. Y.. and this mar- 
riage has been blessed with two children, 
Josephine and Blanche, aged, respectively, 
sixteen and thirteen years. The doctor and 
his wife are attendants upon St. Paul's Epis- 
copal church, and of this church the children 
are members. 

Politically, Dr. Albright has been a repub- 
lican ever since he has been entitled to a vote 
in the United States, although he is wonder- 
fully popular with all parties in Grand Rapids, 
and from 1883 to 1885 served in the city 
council as representative from the Seventh 
ward, which, as a rule, is strongly democratic. 
He is now serving his third year as a member 
of the board of education. Of the profession- 
al societies he is a member of the Michigan 
State Medical society and the American Med- 



ical association; of the fraternal orders, he 
was made a Mason at Berl'n, Ontario, in 
1866, was dimitted to Michigan and became a 
charter member of Doric lodge. No. 342, and 
of this lodge was worshipful master for four 
years. The doctor is also a member of Co- 
lumbian chapter, R. A. M., and of De Molai 
commander}-, K. T. The family are highly 
respected in the social circles of Grand Rap- 
ids, and their domestic life is one of unalloyed 
felicity. 



,m 



HELDON' ALLEN, chief clerk of the 
lailwa}- service at Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in Sugar Grove, 
Warren county. Pa., November 5, 
1852, a son of George F. and Susan M. (Bur- 
lingham), Allen, also of Pennsylvania birth, 
but of Scotch and French descent, respect- 
ively- Of the family of nine children born to 
these parents, seven still survive, and of these 
Sheldon is the fifth in order of birth. 

George F. Allen was a farmer by vocation, 
and with his wife was a member of the Pres- 
byterian church. In politics he was a repub- 
lican. Although of moderate means, Mr. 
Allen was quite prominent in his locality, and 
with his wife was highly respected by the en- 
tire community. Both are now deceased, 
having passed away in the state of which they 
were natives. 

Sheldon Allen attended the public schools 
of his native town until sixteen years of age, 
then engaged in farm work for a year in the 
vicinity, after which he passed two years in 
the oil fields of Pennsylvania as laborer and 
pumper, and then came to Michigan in Sep- 
tember, 1871, and for one year was employed 
as helper and foreman in a nursery at Kala- 
mazoo. His next engagement was as sales- 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



man in the grocery of M. J. Bigelow & Co., 
with whom he remained three years. He was 
next appointed deputy sheriff for five years, 
after which, December 26, 18S0, he entered 
the railway mail service, still retaining his 
residence at Kalamazoo. In 1SS9, he came 
from that city to Grand Rapids, having ac- 
cepted his present position as chief clerk of 
the raihvay mail service covering western 
Michigan, and employing sixty-si.\ men. 

The marriage of Mr. Allen took place at 
, Kalamazoo, January i, 1S76, to Miss Flora I. 
Wicks, who was born in Kalamazoo county, 
Mich., October 8, 1855, and is a daughter of 
Edward S. and Mary (Vail) Wicks. This 
happy union has been blessed with three chil- 
dren, named Claude, Mabel E. and Florence. 
The family attend the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and have their pleasant home at No. 
196 Hastings street, where they enjoy in a 
high degree the esteem of a large circle of 
warm friends. 

In politics Mr. Allen is a republican. 
Fraternall}', he is a Knight Templar Mason, a 
member of the Maccabees and the Court of 
Honor. Mr. Allen is personally very popular 
in the city, and his long tenure of office is 
evidence that he is competent for the duties of 
the responsible position he holds, and that he 
has given ample satisfaction to the authorities 
above him. 




ON. GEORGE W ASHING- 
TON ALLEN, late a prominent 
and remarkably successful business 
man of Grand Rapids, Mich., was 
born in Enfield, Hartford county. Conn., 
Septembr 17, 1813. 

Moses Allen, great-grandfather of George 
W., bequeathed his name to his son, and he 



in turn to his son, the father of the subject 
of this sketch, who would also have been a 
Moses, but for the earnest protestations of 
his mother, who thought the name had been 
perpetuated too long in the family, and it was 
finally decided to name the future merchant 
George Washington — a name he never dis- 
honored. Moses, grandfather of George W.. 
was proprietor of the tavern at Enfield, and 
there, Moses, father of subject, was reared, 
and died, comparatively j'oung, January 28, 
1 8 16. His wife, who bore the maiden name 
of Nancy Kingsbury, was also a native of 
Enfield, and about four years after her hus- 
band's death removed with her only child, 
George W., to Painesville, Ohio, remarried, 
and became the mother of five more children. 
Her death occurred in Grand Rapids, Mich., 
December 26, 1879. 

George W'. Allen attended boarding-school 
at Painesville from the age of nine years until 
fourteen, after which he depended wholly upon 
himself for a living. For three \ears he was 
in partnership in general merchandizing with 
his cousins, Addison Hill and Solomon Kings- 
bury, later carried on the same business for 
some time on his own account solely, and in 
1853 brought from Painesville a stock of 
miscellaneous goods to Grand Rapids, but 
shortly afterward engaged in the wholesale 
grocery trade exclusively, under the firm-name 
of Allen & Haxton. But the firm was not a 
success and was dissolved, and Mr. Allen con- 
tinued in the business alone, built up a lu- 
crative trade and held it until 1867, when he 
was appointed United States pension agent for 
northwestern Michigan, and thereupon sold 
out his grocery business, and retained his ap- 
pointment for three years. In 1S70 the 
Grand Rapids Savings bank was founded, and 
Mr. Allen was chosen its vice-president, which 
position he filled until retiring from active 
business in 1879. 




A to. TrM^i^ 



J 



AND KENT COUNTY. UP TO DATE. 



35 



In politics, Mr. Allen was a republican and 
was elected to fill various offices of responsi- 
bilit}' and trust. In 1856 he was an alderman 
from the Third ward of Grand Rapids (the 
city at that time contained five wards only), 
and in 1859 held the office of superintendent 
•of the poor; he served two terms, of two j'ears 
each, as a member of the state legislature — 
in 1S59 and 1865 — and was one of the incor- 
porators of the Kent Count}' Soldiers' Monu- 
ment association, which was organized Febru- 
ary 13, 1 864, while the soldiers were still in the 
midst of the struggle for the preservation of 
the Union, and in no instance was he ever 
known to be derelict in the performance of the 
responsible duties entrusted to him. He was 
a stockholder in the City and First National 
banks, and also owned shares in the Grand 
Rapids Manufacturing company, with which 
he had been connected from its organization, 
and was recognized as one of the most enter- 
prising, energetic and sagacious business men 
of the \'alley City, and his patriotism and 
public spirit were the admiration of the entire 
community. His business name stood without 
a blemish, and his walk through life was strict- 
ly in accordance with the teachings of the 
Episcopal church, of whicli he was a devout 
member, and in the faith of which he was 
called away January 12, i8g8. 

The first marriage of George W. Allen 
took place in 1837, at Painesville, Ohio, to 
Miss Jeannette Noble, a native of New Milford, 
Conn., who died in 1859, leaving four sons and 
two daughters. Of the sons, George R, , 
Stanley N. and Arthur K. reside in Grand 
Rapids, and Henry G. lives in New York; 
of the daughters, Esther died in 1S62, aged 
nineteen years, and Jeannette is now Mrs. 
David Keeler. In 1864, Mr. Allen married 
Mrs. Betsey Church, a native of Rhode Island, 
widow of Capt. Benjamin B. Church, and a 
daughter of Charles and Lydia (Bosworth) 



Fales, who passed their lives in their native 
state of Rhode Island, dying at the advanced 
ages of eighty-five and eighty years, respect- 
ively. Capt. Church was a gallant officer in 
the Eighth Michigan volunteer infantry, in 
which he enlisted in 1861, and was killed in 
the battle of James Island in 1862. 

Mrs. G. W. Allen has been a resident of 
Grand Rapids for half a century, and conse- 
quently has been an eye-witness of its phenom- 
enal growth, from village to city. She makes 
her residence at the old Allen home. No. 37 
Park street, and being a lady of refinement 
and of most amiable deportment, holds the un- 
feigned respect of a large circle of warm 
friends as well as of the congregation of the 
Park Congregational church, of which she is a 
member. 



am s 



OSEPH ANDERSCH (deceased), for- 
merl)' a practical and well-known ma- 
chinist of Grand Rapids and a highly 
respected citizen, was born in Bohe- 
mia, August 10, 1839, was there educated and 
there learned his trade. About the year 1864, 
he came to America, having learned, through 
correspondence with friends already in this 
country, of the opportunities offered here for 
the advancement in life of industrious and 
enterprising young men. Although he could 
have done well at home, progress there was 
slow and tedious, so he determined to seek a 
fortune in the United States. He landed in 
New York, but at once came through to Grand 
Rapids, then a comparatively small town. 

Mr. Andersch had formed the acquaint- 
ance, in the old countt-y, of Miss Marie A. 
Riemer, who came to Grand Rapids a year 
later than the arrival of Mr. Andersch, and 



36 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



probably by a preconcerted arrangement, as 
he married her soon afterward. Both had 
good health and willing hands, and they de- 
termined to work together and gain for them- 
selves a home, and more beside. Accordingly, 
he worked diligently at his trade and she 
took in sewing, and thus, through mutual in- 
dustry, not only secured a home but a com- 
petency. To their marriage were born five 
children, viz: Mary and Joseph, deceased; 
Karl M., a professor of music and piano in- 
structor, who learned the art in this country, 
supplemented by two years' study in Vienna, 
Austria; William, a printer by trade, and a 
trusted employee of Martin & Wurzburg, be- 
ing their solicitor, collector, etc., and Arthur, 
a natural musician, and now preparing himself 
for teaching. The surviving children make 
their home with their mother, at No. 301 Ot- 
tawa street. 

Mr. Andersch was called away from earth 
on the 22d day of April, 1897. He was a 
steady-going, honest and industrious citizen, 
and held the respect of all who knew him, 
and with the assistance of his beloved helpmate 
succeeded in rearing his children in respecta- 
bility, and, what is of more worth still, left 
them the heritage of an unspotted name. 




LOUISA ANDRUS, M. D., a regular 
practicing physician and surgeon, at 
No. 222 Jefferson street, Grand Rap- 
ids, is a native of Attica, Lapeer coun- 
ty, Mich., was born July 3, 1850, and is a 
daughter of Jeremiah B. and Mary A. (Hib- 
bard) Haney, the former a native of New York, 
and the latter of Vermont, but married in At- 
tica! Mich. 

Hon. Charles A. Hibbard, maternal grand- 
father of Dr. Andrus, a descendant of old Puri- 



tan stock that came from England and settled 
in Massachusetts in 1699, came from the old 
Bay state to Lapeer county, Mich., in 1S36, 
served si.\ jears as a member of the state legis- 
lature, and died of cholera while traveling in 
Minnesota; his wife died of the same fell dis- 
order while visiting in Massachusetts. 

Jeremiah B. Haney, father of the doctor. 
was long principal of the Union school in 
Grand Rapids, and at one time was a profess- 
or in the Central high school, and this was his 
last work. He had served as first lieutenant 
of compan}' K, Twenty-ninth Michigan infan- 
try, during the last year of the Civil war, and 
while in the service contracted a disorder 
which resulted fatally February 5, 1882. He 
was renowned as a lecturer and politician, was 
first an ardent republican, but later espoused 
the cause of the greenback party, for reasons 
satisfactory to himself, and was a man fully 
capable of reasoning. His widow now resides 
at No. 85 West Division street, Grand Rapids, 
and no lady in the city is more highly respect- 
ed. Of the family of fourteen children she 
bore her husband, eight still survive, and of 
these Dr. Louisa Andrus is the eldest ; Stel- 
la H. is the wife of L. S. Prosin, who is in 
the real estate and insurance business; Ella 
H. is married to Germain Ellis, a retired gen- 
tleman living on Plainfield avenue; Ida is the 
wife of George Weaver, a farmer residing on 
Walker avenue; Frank F. is a comedian; 
Charles E. is a painter by occupation and re- 
sides with his mother; Mertie H. is the wife of 
Abraham Sanford, a druggist, and Herbert E. 
is a miner in Colorado — he being theonh' per- 
manent absentee from Grand Rapids. The 
deceased children all died in infancy, with one 
e.xception — that of Clara C, a bright and 
promising young lady and a teacher in the 
public schools of the city, who was called 
away October 15, 1879, ^t the earlj' age of 
nineteen vears. 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



37 



Dr. N. Louisa Andrus is a graduate of the 
Grand Rapids high school and was engaged in 
teaching at the time of her marriage, which oc- 
curred August 17, 1867, to Dr. Charles A. An- 
drus, who was born near Whitelake, Oakland 
county, Mich. He graduated from the Tole- 
do Medical college, practiced several years in 
Grand Rapids and is now temporarily located 
at Los Angeles, Cal. He is the only son of 
Arthur C. and Eliza R. (Wood) Andrus, of 
whom the latter was a second cousin of Presi- 
dent John Ouincy Adams, of Massachusetts, 
her mother's maiden name having been Adams; 
of the five children that Dr. Louisa Andrus has 
borne her husband, the second, Elmer C, is 
the only survivor. He was educated atTufft's 
college and now has charge of the First Uni- 
versalist church, at Riverside, Cal. The eld- 
est child, Leo A., was educated in the Grand 
Rapids high school and in a business college, 
was a bookkeeper in the Grand Rapids Nation- 
al bank and a young man of bright promise, 
but was stricken with typhoid fever and passed 
away February 8, 1893, at the early age oftwen- 
ty-four years. The three other children were 
called away in infancy. 

Dr. N. Louisa Andrus was a student of 
medicine even before her marriage, and assid- 
uously continued its study afterward. In 1885 
she entered Toledo Medical college, and in 
1887 graduated with the degree of M. D. In 
August of the same year she located for prac- 
tice in Grand Rapids, and has been as success- 
ful financially, as well as professionally, as any 
other general practitioner in the city since that 
date. She is visiting physician in midwifery 
and diseases of children at the Butterworth 
hospital, and is recognized as a most skillful 
obstetrician. She holds rank with the leading 
physicians of the state, is a member of the 
Michigan State Medical association and the 
Grand Rapids Academy of Medicine, and is ex- 
amining physician for four hives of Maccabees 



in the city attached to the L. O. T. M., of 
which she is herself a member. She has 
served si.x years as a member of the board of 
education, in which she was a member of the 
committee on te.xt books, a member of the 
teachers' committee and others; she was also 
president of the Equity club four years, and a 
member of the board of the City Federation, 
women's clubs for tsvo years, and has been al- 
together as active and useful a lady as Grand 
Rapids has yet seen. 

In religion the doctor is a Universalist, is 
an active and influential member of All Souls' 
church, and has for five years been a teacher 
in the Sunday-school. 




NDREW ALLGIER, of the firm of 
.Andrews & Allgier, real estate, loan, 
and insurance agents. No. 62 Monroe 
street. Grand Rapids, Mich., is a 
native of Fort Wayne, Ind., was born Novem- 
ber 13, 1868, and is a son of John and W'ilhel- 
mina (Glasen) AUgeir, who were born in Ger- 
many, but were married in Rochester, N. Y. 
The father, a mechanic, died in Fort Wayne, 
Ind., at the age of sixty-si.\ years, and the 
mother at the age of seventy-one. 

Andrew Allgier, the youngest of the ten 
children born to the above-mentioned parents, 
was educated in the public schools of Fort 
Wayne and at McLachlen's business university. 
Grand Rapids, graduating from the latter in 
1895. He was first engaged in various lines 
of business, principally in the drawing of 
machinery models for patents in the office of 
I. J. Cilley, with whom he was a partner for 
eighteen months. He then became a partner 
with William H. Andrews, in the real estate 
and insurance business, in 1898. In tire insur- 



38 



l^E CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



a nee the firm does an especially large business, 
having the agency of some of the most solid 
companies in that line, east and west; in real 
estate they buy and sell for other parties, and 
in the loan department handle large sums of 
money — for local parties chietl}'. 

Of the five surviving children beside An- 
drew, born to John and Wilhelmina Allgier, 
William and John are merchants in Grand 
Rapids, operating in different lines; Anthony 
resides at Fort Wayne and is also in business; 
Edward resides upon the old home farm near 
Fort Wayne, and the on])' sister is Mrs. Fran- 
ces Zahn, of Fort Wayne, her husband being 
a skilled mechanic. 

Mr. Allgier is fraternally a Master \\'ork- 
man of America, and in religion is an adherent 
of the church of his ancestors — the Roman 
Catholic. In politics he is somewhat indiffer- 
ent, his growing business interests commanding 
all of his attention, for, although the firm is a 
young one to the business world, it has rapidly 
risen in public favor. Mr. Allgier is especially 
adapted to this line, being affable, genial, en- 
ergetic, well educated, and keen and penetrat- 
ing, yet reticent and secret when the interests 
of his patrons require the exercise of these 
latter good qualities. Socially he enjoys the 
esteem of many friends, and is ever a welcome 
guest at the homes of many of the best fam- 
ilies of the city. 




LFRED MELANCTHON APTED, e.x- 

soldier and superintendent of the 
Eagle Plaster mills and Grand Rapids 
Gypsum works, is a, native of Green- 
wich, England, was born September 4. 1837, 
and is a son of P'rancis and Sarah M. Apted, 
natives of the same place, who came to Amer- 



ica in 1858 and settled at Three Rivers, Mich. , 
where the father, who was a baker and con- 
fectioner, and his wife passed the remainder of 
their days. Their family comprised four sons 
and three daughters, of whom there are now 
only two living. 

Alfred M. Apted was a lad of fifteen years 
when he came to Grand Rapids, and he here 
received his education in the common schools. 
He then served an apprenticeship at the mill- 
wright's trade, at which he worked until his 
enlistment for three years, in February, 1862. 
at Grand Rapids, in a company of sharp- 
shooters attached to the Si.xteenth Michigan 
infanlr}', which was assigned to the army of 
the Potomac. Mr. Apted took part in nearly 
all the battles in which that illustrious army 
was engaged, and was wounded at North Anna 
river, Fredericksburg and Poplar Grove church 
— the wound sustained at the last-named place 
being of so serious a nature as to disable him 
for further active service. He was confined in 
hospital at City Point, Va., and at Washing- 
ton, D. C, until after the expiration of his 
term of service, and received an honorable 
discharge at Washington, and is now receiving 
a pension. 

Soon after returning to Grand Rapids, Mr. 
Apted was appointed superintendent of the 
Eagle mills — a position he has held for more 
than thirty years. Since his incumbency' of 
this position, the original mill has been de- 
stroyed by fire and a larger one erected in its 
stead, and a few years later the gypsum was 
added, the combined plant now giving employ- 
ment to si.xty men. 

Mr. Apted was united in marriage at Ply- 
mouth, N. H., July II, 1865, with Miss Ruth 
A. Webster, a nati\e of that state, and four 
children have blessed this union, viz: Alfred 
H., who is employed with his father; William 
F., an engineer in the city fire department; 
David \V. , a carver, and Ralph C, a student 



AXD KEXT COUXTY, UP TO DATE. 



m 



in the literary and medical departments of the 
Michigan university at Ann Arbor; he served 
a year as hospital steward in the Thirty-fifth 
Michigan regiment during the Spanish-Ameri- 
can war and will complete his college work in 
I goo. 

Mr. Apted is prominently identified with 
the G. A. R., being past commander of Custer 
post, No. 5, and alternate delegate to the na- 
tional encampment, and he is likewise a mem- 
ber of Grand River lodge. No. 34, F. & A. M. 
Mrs. Apted, a sister-in-law of the late pioneer 
philanthropist, John Ball, his wife having been 
her elder sister, is with her husband a mem- 
ber of the Division street Methodist Episcopal 
church, in which faith the children have been 
carefully reared. In politics Mr. Apted is a 
republican, but is satisfied with simply exer- 
cising his franchise, never having sought nor 
held a public office. He is contented with de- 
voting his time and attention to his business 
— possibly to the detriment' of his health — 
but he has been prosperous, and owns a beau- 
tiful home at No. 170 Summer street, beside 
other valuable property in the city, which has 
been his home since childhood, with the ex- 
ception of two years passed in Colorado, hav- 
ing made a trip across the plains during the 
Pike's Peak excitement in 1857 — before the 
birth of Denver — his trip being reasonably 
successful in his search for the precious metal. 

Albert H. Apted, assistant superintendent 
of the Eagle Plaster mills, at Grand Rapids, 
is the eldest of the four children that consti- 
tute the family of Alfred M. and Ruth (Web- 
ster) Apted, whose biographical sketch is given 
above. He is a native of this city, was born 
May I, 1866, and graduated from the high 
school in 1S86. His first employment was in 
the office of the Democrat for about five years 
as advertising solicitor, bookkeeper, collector, 
manager, etc. He was next employed in the 
bicycle trade for a few months by Studley & 



Hartley, and in 1891 he took his present posi- 
tion with the Eagle Plaster mills, in which he 
assists his father in superintending the mechan- 
ical work of the two plants. 

Mr. Apted married, in Grand Rapids, in 
June, 1897, Miss Dora Bradford, a nati\e of 
Kent county, and a daughter of Charles H. 
Bradford, a prominent fruit grower in Walker 
township. One child, Isadore, has crowned 
this union. Mrs. Apted attends All Souls' 
church, although Mr. Apted was reared in the 
Methodist faith. Fraternally, Mr. Apted was 
a member of the first \'alley City lodge. No. 
124, and is now a member of the second York 
lodge. No. 410, F. & A. M., and he is like- 
wise a member of the K. of P. In politics he 
is independent. He has a pleasant home of 
his own at No. 69 Allen street, and socially he 
and wife, like all the other of the adult mem- 
bers of the Apted family, mingle with the best 
circles of .Grand Rapids. 




UFUS S. BACON has been a resi- 
dent of Kent county, Mich., since the 
\ear he was first entitled to exercise 
his franchise, but his prominence in 
Grand Rapids township does not rest upon his 
activity as a politician or officeholder, but 
upon the more honorable career he has pur- 
sued as an agriculturist and his usefulness as 
a citizen. He may be classed among the 
pioneers of Kent county, and, as he came 
here at his majority, the half — or nearly half 
— century that he has lived here has been one 
of actual work in developing the township 
from the wilderness into one of the most pro- 
ductive, blooming and profitable regions of 
the state of Michigan — adding to its intrinsic 
value daily by his labor, and, it is pleasing to 



4U 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



add, to his own worldly possessions. Al- 
though his toil has been hard and of long du- 
ration, he has not been unrewarded, as the 
sequel will show. 

Rufus S. Bacon resides in section No. lo, j 
Grand Rapids township, and is one of its best | 
known farmers. He was born in Wayne 
county, N. Y., January 28, 1833, and his par- 
ents were John and Eliza (Daniels) Bacon — 
the father born in New York and the mother 
in Vermont. In 1854 the family came to Kent 
county, Mich., then returned to the east, but 
two years later, in 1856, came back to Kent 
county, rented a farm in Grand Rapids town- 
ship, and two years later moved to Plainfield 
township, where they remained two years and 
then bought a farm of eighty acres in Grand 
Rapids, the father and Rufus buying it to- 
gether. It had but a small old house on it, and 
they went $1,000 in debt, and had to pay for 
it from the earnings from the land. Later 
they sold and the subject secured his present 
place, which lies adjoining to the original 
farm. 

Truman Bacon, brother of John, the father 
of the subject, came to Michigan later, were 
well known farmers, and both died here at 
well advanced ages. Most of the present farm 
of ninety acres Rufus has improved himself, 
and has thereon erected substantial buildings, 
his residence being one of the finest farm- 
houses in the county. Rufus has turned the 
farm largely to orchard, has over 4,000 trees, 
mainly peaches, and these cover about thirty 
acres. He has grown as high as 2,000 baskets 
of peaches in one year. 

Mr. Bacon is a republican in politics, but 
looks for the best man to fill local offices, re- 
gardless of party affiliations or ties. Mr. 
Bacon married, in 1855, Miss Mary Ann 
Aikins. They started housekeeping with noth- 
ing, his first work being for old John W. 
Squires, Plainfield township. There was born 



to this marriage but one child, Mariette, who 
died at thirty years of age, unmarried. Mr. 
Bacon and wife, however, reared a boy. Fred 
Norton, taken from the Coldwater school, 
who has lived with them for thirteen years, 
coming at the age of eight. After becoming 
of age, young Norton spent a year in the 
west, then returned, and is now operating the 
farm with Mr. Bacon. 

Of the Bacon family, one brother, Tru- 
man J. Bacon, when eighteen years old, en- 
listed in the First Michigan cavalry and was 
killed at Falling Waters. One brother, Sum- 
ner S. Bacon, resides in Grand Rapids town- 
ship, and he, like his brother Rufus, has al- 
ways lived a temperate and industrious life, 
and both enjoy the respect of all who know 
them. 




ALTER ARDIEL, M. D., a rising 
young physician and surgeon, with 
offices at Nos. 73 and 75 Porter 
block. Grand Rapids, Mich., is a 
native of Ontario, Canada, was born Decem- 
ber 29, 1870, and is a son of Leonard and 
Ann (Sinclair) Ardiel, also natives of Canada, 
and of English and Scotch descent, respect- 
ively. 

Leonard Ardiel passed his earlier years in 
farming and stockraising, at which industries 
he amassed a comfortable fortune, and for 
some years lived in quiet ease until his death 
at London, Ontario, at the age of sixty-four 
years. His wife survives him and is still a 
resident of that city. The children born to 
these parents are nine in number and are 
named, in order of birth, as follows: Albert 
William, who is manager of the Wentworth 
canning factory, at Hamilton, province of 
Ontario; John, who is a stockdealer and agri- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



41 



culturist on the old Ardiel homestead in Can- 
ada; Jessie E., wife of Richard Magee, of 
London, Canada; George Sinclair, farmer and 
stockdealer, near London; James Arthur, a 
druggist b}' profession, a graduate of the 
Western university, of London, class of 1899, 
and who located in Grand Rapids, in April, 
1899; Walter, who is the subject of this biog- 
raphy; Charles Leonard, a student; Alfred 
Earnest, a pharmacist, and Evan, a musician, 
of London. 

Dr. Walter Ardiel was educated in the 
London Collegiate institute, in which he ma- 
triculated in the medical department, and be- 
fore and after graduation was house surgeon 
and physician at the London General hospital. 
Some little time after graduation he resigned 
his position in this hospital and made a three- 
months' trip through the northwest and along 
the Pacific coast, and, returning eastwardly, 
arrived in Grand Rapids September 13, 1898. 
Here he has already established an excellent 
reputation as a physician and secured a re- 
munerative practice. He is examining physi- 
cian for the order of Columbia, director for 
the state of Michigan and examiner for Grand 
Rapids. Fraternally, the doctor is a Free- 
mason; his church relations are with the Pres- 
byterian denomination, and his political views 
are republican. The doctor is still unmar- 
ried, and is held in the highest esteem by the 
general public of Grand Rapids. 



,m 



UMNER S. BACON, one of the most 
successful fruit growers and popular 
citizens of Grand Rapids township, 
was born in Wayne county, N. Y. , on 
the 1 8th day of September, 1838. His parents 
were John and Eliza (Daniels) Bacon. In 
1S56 John came to Kent county and settled in 



Grand Rapids, and with the exception of three 
years, during which he lived in Eaton county, 
he here resided until his death, at the age of 
eighty-six years, having survived his wife some 
eighteen years. He had cleared and im- 
proved a farm where he passed his life as 
farmer. 

He was the father of three sons and one 
daughter: Calista J., who married James B. 
Chittenden, both of whom are dead, having 
been residents of the township; Rufus, who 
lives on his farm in Grand Rapids township; 
Sumner S., the subject of this sketch, and 
Truman J., who was killed at Falling Waters, 
near Gettysburg, having been shot from his 
horse and instantly killed at the age of nine- 
teen years. He had been one of compan)- F, 
of the Sixth Michigan cavalry, and was just six 
years younger than Sumner S. 

S. S. Bacon came to Grand Rapids when 
seventeen, years old and worked five years 
for E. U. Knapp at $16 per month. He 
afterward married Knapp's daughter and 
rented her father's farm for two years. 
Later he secured a farm of his own, but 
again rented the same farm for two years 
longer. He has since operated his own farm of 
thirty acres, and is at present the owner of 
3,000 fruit trees — peaches, cherries, plums and 
pears. He has done an extensive business 
and is considered one of the most successful 
fruit growers of that part of the county. He 
is also, in partnership with Mr. Knapp, the 
owner of a farm of eighty acres near Dutton, ■ 
Mich., which is at present rented. 

Mr. Bacon was united in marriage Jan- 
uary I, 1862, to Miss Betsy Knapp, daughter 
of E. U. Knapp, who was born in New York, 
and but two years old when she was brought 
to Michigan. To this union there have been 
born no children, but Mr. and Mrs. Bacon 
have reared three boys from early childhood: 
Alonzo Chittenden, the son of Calista M. Chit- 



42 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



tender), and Judson Rowland were adopted, 
and are now engaged in farming; Lewis Lutz 
Bacon, although never adopted, was given 
every advantage. He is married and operat- 
ing the farm in connection with Mr. Bacon. 
He took the name of Bacon by legislative act. 
All three are now fine young men and are set- 
tled on farms, all being assisted somewhat by 
Mr. Bacon. 

Mr. Bacon is a very popular and influen- 
tial man. He is a trustee and deacon of the 
Second Congregational church, and was also 
superintendent of the Sunday-school for five 
years. He has served as secretary of Fair 
Plains cemetery for twenty-seven j'ears and 
school treasurer for twenty-three years. Being 
in rather prosperous condition, he spends his 
summers at Green Lake, Allegan county. He 
has been one of the hard and industrious work- 
ers, and justly merits the success to which he 
has attained and now enjoys. He has been a 
life-long republican, but has tried to keep 
from public life. Mrs. Bacon is a home body, 
and is a lady of great domestic worth. 




:ORGE H. BAERT, M. D., whose 
well-appointed office is in the Kendall 
building. Grand Rapids, was born in 
Zeeland, Ottawa county, Mich., Jan- 
uary 15, 1870, and is a son of Dr. Daniel and 
Katie ( Bonstra) Baert, natives of the Nether- 
lands. 

Dr. Daniel Baert came to America in 
30ung manhood, received his medical educa- 
tion in Zeeland, Mich., and has been in con- 
tinuous practice for the past thirty-eight years, 
and it may be surmised that it is through his 
monitory advice and wise instruction that the 
subject of this sketch has so rapidly risen into 
professional prominence. 



Dr. George H. Baert received his literary 
education in Hope college, Holland, in his 
native county, where he attended four years. 
From the university of Michigan, at .^rn Arbor, 
he received the degree of Ph. G. in 1890, and 
later he was instructor in chemistry at Purdue 
university in Lafayette, Tippecanoe county, 
Ind. The degree of M. D. was conferred upon 
him by the university of Pennsylvania in 1S93. 
He then at once entered upon the active prac- 
tice of his profession in Grand Rapids, but 
three years later took a course in the Post- 
graduate Hospital college in New York cit\, at 
the conclusion of which he resumed his prac- 
tice in Grand Rapids, which practice has now 
increased to somewhat enviable proportions. 

Dr. Baert is professor of pathology and 
pathological chemistry in Grand Rapids Med- 
ical college, and in 1 897 he was elected a mem- 
ber of the Grand Rapids board of education 
from the Fifth ward. In this body he is a 
member of the committee on teachers and of 
the committee on apparatus and school library. 

The marriage of Dr. Baert took place in 
Chicago, 111., October 19, 1897, to Miss Mar- 
tina Marguerite DeVos, a native of Chicago, 
and a graduate of its high school. They are 
the parents of a daughter, Kathleen, born 
October 20, 1898. The church relations of 
the doctor and his wife are with the Dutch 
Reformed church, and their social relations are 
with the most refined and intellectual residents 
of Grand Rapids. Politically, the doctor is 
independent. 



ARION T. BANASAWITZ, M. D.. 

a rising young practitioner of med- 
icine and surgery at No. 426 East 
Bridge street, Grand Rapids, is a 
native of the city, was born January 7, 1873. 




AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



43 



and is a son of Philip and Helena (von Bozen- 
ski) Banasawitz, natives, respectively, of Rus- 
sia and Poland. 

Philip Banasawitz is probably the only Si- 
berian exile in America. He was one of the 
leaders in the last revolt of Poland, in 1863, 
against Russian rule, was captured and sen- 
tenced to be hanged. The noose was already 
around his neck, but at the last moment, 
through the intervention of powerful friends, 
his sentence was commuted to life imprison- 
ment in Siberia. After a penal service of four 
and a half years in that frigid country he was 
pardoned and escorted beyond the boundaries 
of Russia, and all his property was confiscat- 
ed. He went to Germany and there married 
Helena von Bozenski, a representative of one 
of the oldest noble families of Poland, and in 
1869 reached- Grand Rapids, where Philip is 
now engaged in the tailoring business at No. 
426 East Bridge street. Three sons and three 
daughters have been born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Banasawitz, viz: Cassimira, unmarried and 
living under the parental roof; Wanda, wife 
of William Rakoski, a wholesale clothing 
merchant in Chicago, 111.; Marion T., the 
subject of this sketch; Joseph, foreman of a 
furniture factory at Shelbyville, Ind. ; Ste- 
phen R. , a priest and a bachelor of theology 
and bachelor of canon law at Lavale univer- 
sity, Canada, and Stephania, at home. 

Dr. M. T. Banasawitz was educated in St. 
Mary's German school in Grand Rapids; at 
St. Adalbert's Polish school, same city; St. 
Jerome's college, at Berlin, Canada, where he 
took a four-years' course in the classics; at 
the \'ermont Medical college in Rutland, from 
which he graduated after three years of study, 
and later graduated from the Grand Rapids 
Medical college, in 1S96, and in this institu- 
tion has been professor of materia medica and 
therapeutics, in the veterinary department, for 

the past two years. For the first si.x months 
2 



after graduating at Grand Rapids, Dr. Banas- 
awitz practiced his profession in Chicago, 111., 
then returned to his native city, and has since 
met with flattering success in the general prac- 
tice of medicine and surgery. He is a gentle- 
man, a scholar and a persistent student, and 
has bright prospects for future usefulness and 
financial success. 

The doctor is a member of St. Adalbert's 
Polish Catholic church, and politically is a re- 
publican, as are his father and brothers. 

The history of the father's sufferings and 
losses for opinion's sake is one of peculiar in- 
terest, yet the old gentleman is modest in 
speakmg of it, although a volume might be 
written touching his sacrifices to the cause of 
liberty. 




DGAR J. ADAMS, an attorney at law 
at Grand Rapids, Mich., and the pres- 
ent speaker of the Michigan house of 
representatives, was born in Branch 
county, Mich., August 6, 1866, and is the 
eldest son of George O. and Margaret C. 
(Miller) Adams, the former a native of New 
York and the latter of Ohio. 

George O. , the father, is a merchant of com- 
fortable means in Isabella county, this state, 
and came to Michigan early in the 'fifties. He 
is a stanch republican in politics and a distant 
relative of ex-presidents John and John Ouincy 
Adams. 

Edgar J. Adams acquired his education by 
attending a district school in Monroe county, 
Mich., from the time he was seven until twelve 
years of age, and later a couple of terms at 
a district school in Gratiot county. At the 
age of seventeen he taught one term in Isa- 
bella county, at the close of which he engaged 
as clerk in a real estate and insurance office 



44 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., where he remained 
for four 3'ears, and then entered the same line 
of business at the same place for himself. 

Prevented by circumstances from taking a 
•college course, he determined upon the prac- 
tice of law as his life's work, and in 1888 began 
the study of law at home evenings and spare 
moments. January i, 1892, he moved to 
Grand Rapids and engaged in office work, still 
continuing the study of law. In March, 1894, 
he was examined before Judge Grove, and was 
admitted to the bar, since which time he has 
devoted himself to the practice of his chosen 
profession, in which he has met with flattering 
success. 

In politics he is a republican. At the age 
of twenty-one years he was elected the first 
justice of the peace under the city charter of 
Mt. Pleasant, Mich., which office he held for 
two years, but declined a re-election. In the 
fall of 1896, he was elected on the republican 
ticket, one of the three representatives for the 
First district of Kent county, comprised of the 
city of Grand Rapids. He served during the 
regular session of 1897 ^"^ the special session 
of 1898, during which time he won the distinc- 
tion of being one of the leaders of the house 
on the republican side. In the fall of 1898, he 
was re-elected to the house by a handsome 
majority, against open and bitter opposition 
from members of his own party, against the 
strong and determined opposition of the state 
administration and the governor personally; 
he was elected speaker of the house of 1899 in 
one of the most bitter and determined fights 
ever witnessed in the state over this position. 

In the republican caucus for the nomination 
for speaker, the first ballot was a tie — a thing 
never heard of before in the state — and on the 
second ballot he was nominated by a majority 
of four, and was duly installed. He filled the 
office with grace, dignity and ability, and al- 
though party feeling and strife ran high, he 



was never overruled in a single decision during 
the entire session of almost six months' dura- 
tion. 

It is said of him that the house was never 
called to order a minute before or after the 
time fixed for convening. By his marvelously 
rapid dispatch of the routine business of the 
house, he saved the state thousands of dollars. 
He broke all records on the last day for intro- 
ducing bills, by recognizing the introducer, 
receiving, having read by title a first and second 
time and referring to the proper standing com- 
mittee, 368 bills in 1 10 minutes. 

Mr. Adams was married March 15, 1888, 
to Miss Alta Roop. To this union has been 
born one child, Pauline H., who came to add 
happiness to the household, October 21, 1892, 
and the happy little family live in a modest 
home at 243 Woodmere court. 

Mr. Adams is a member of Valley City 
lodge, K. of P., and as a gentleman, lawyer 
and politician can count as his strongest friends 
the best business people of Grand Rapids, and 
is most highly esteemed throughout Kent 
county. 




ERRIT H. ALBERS, attorney at law, 
of Grand Rapids, Kent county, Mich., 
was born in Overisel, Allegan county, 
Mich., April 9, 1868, a son of John 



H. and Dena (Veldhuis) Albers. 

John H. Albers was born in Hanover, Ger- 
many, in 1 84 1, a son of Henry J. Albers, a 
stock buyer, who brought his family to the 
United States, in 1854, and settled in Hol- 
land, Mich., where he passed the remainder 
of his days. John H. remained with his par- 
ents until about fourteen years of age and 
worked out as a farm laborer until 1866, when 
he married, in Allegancounty, the result being 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



45 



fifteen children, of whom thirteen are still liv- 
ing, viz: Gerrit H., whose name opens this 
sketch; Fannie, wife of Herman Hulsman, of 
Allegan county; Henry J., in Overisel; Zena, 
wife of Benjamin Hoffman, of Ottawa county; 
Henrietta, at home; Mannes, a student in 
Grand Rapids; George, a student at Hope 
college; and Edward, Martin, Frank, Alice, 
Dora and Benjamin, at home. The father of 
this family is a well-to-do farmer, is a republi- 
can in politics, and he and wife are consistent 
members of the Reformed church. 

Gerrit H. Albers lived with his parents 
and attended school until si.xteen years af age, 
and then entered Hope college at Holland, 
Mich., from which he graduated in 1891, with 
the degree of A. B. He next entered the law 
office of Fitzgerald & Barry, in Grand Rapids, 
studied under them during vacation, and then 
went to the law department of the university 
of Michigan at Ann Arbor, studied two years, 
and graduated June 30, 1893, with the degree of 
LL. B. He passed the following summer in col- 
lecting, and opened his office October i, 1893, 
over the City National bank, where he conducted 
quite a lucrative practice until January i, 
1S95, when he assumed the duties of circuit 
court commissioner, to which office he was 
elected in the fall of 1894, and re-elected in 
the fall of 1896 by the republican party. 

The marriage of Mr. Albers took place at 
Helena Station, Mason county, Ky., June 5, 
1895, when he made Miss Mary W. Clay his 
bride. This lady was born in Paris, Ky. , May 
I. 1 87 1, and is a daughter of Isaac C. and 
Elizabeth (Forman) Clay, of the same fa nily 
as that of Kentucky's famous statesman, Hen- 
ry Clay. This felicitous union has been 
blessed with one little boy, James Mitchell, 
born August 30, 1898. This little family live 
in their own cozy little home at No. 93 Clin- 
ton street, where they extend a cordial hospi- 
tality to a large circle of warm-hearted friends. 



Mr. Albers is very popular with the repub- 
lican party as well as with the public, and his 
fraternal society connection is something be- 
yond the common run. He is a member of 
York lodge, No. 410, F. & A. M. ; Columbian 
chapter, R. A. M., at Grand Rapids; Eureka 
lodge, K. P. ; the Modern Woodmen, Batavia 
camp; the Knickerbocker society; the Holland 
Aid society; the Grand Rapids Whist club; the 
Lincoln club; the Lakeside club and the 
Young Men's Republican club. 

Since January i, 1899, at the expiration of 
his term of office, Mr. Albers opened an office at 
Nos. 204 & 205 in the Houseman building, and 
is now doing a lucrative business. 




EORGE MARSHALL AMES, city 
engineer of Grand Rapids, Mich., 
was born' in Elgin, 111., July 18, 
1858, and is a son of Bela and Mar- 
tha M. (Boits) Ames, natives of New York, 
who early in life located in Illinois, but in 
1S61 moved to Cass county, Mich., where 
they still reside, the father being engaged in 
the pursuit of agriculture. 

George M. Ames attended public school 
until sixteen years of age, then passed a year 
in the Northern Indiana Normal institute at 
Valparaiso, Porter county, Ind., after which 
he taught school two winters in southern 
Michigan. He then entered the university of 
Michigan, at Ann Arbor, in 188 i, and studied 
civil engineering; was a special student four 
years, and in 1885 came to Grand Rapids and 
assisted in the survey of Grand river for the 
purpose of establishing dock lines, and this 
work occupied his time from August until De- 
cember. The remainder of the winter he 
passed on his father's farm in Cass county, 
and in the spring of 1886 went to Kansas, 



40 



THE CITY Ub' tiRAXD RAPIDS 



where for three months he was employed in 
survejing for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa 
Fe Railroad company. About that time he 
was offered the position of assistant city en- 
gineer in Grand Rapids, upon the retirement 
of R. C. Greiner, and of this office he took 
possession June 20, 1886, and held it until 
October, 1896, when he was appointed acting 
city engineer, filled the position until the 
spring of 1898, and was then confirmed as 
city engineer, his present office. 

November 22, 1887, Mr. Ames was united 
in marriage, at Des Moines, Iowa, with Miss 
Eva L. Early, who was born near Denver, 
Iowa, March 17, 1 868, a daughter of Capt. 
William and Catherine Wilson (Stuart) Early. 
When this lady was a child she was taken to 
Texas by her parents, who afterward located 
in Kansas, and it was in that state that Mr. 
Ames met her when he was employed in rail- 
road surveying. Mr. and Mrs. Ames are at- 
tendants at the UniversaMst church, and in 
politics Mr. Ames is an independent republic- 
an. He is an associate member of the Amer- 
ican society of Civil Engineers, a member of 
the Michigan Engineers' association, the 
Western Engineers' society, and of the Amer- 
ican society for Municipal Improvements. 




ENJAMIN F. BARENDSEN.— Among 
the successful self-made men of 
Grand Rapids is Benjamin F. Ba- 
rendsen, who hails from the far away 
country of Holland, where his birth occurred 
on the 4th day of July, 1870. He is a son of 
Lambert and Clara (Stegerman) Barendsen, 
both natives of Burkelow, Holland. The 
father for many years was a teacher, but in 
later life a tiller of the soil. The fainily came 
to the United States when Benjamin F. was 



two years old, locating first in Grand Rapids 
and later at Ivelloggsville, ten miles southeast 
of this city, where the parents still reside. 
Lambert and Clara Barendsen reared a family 
of eight children, the subject of this sketch 
being fourth in number. The others are- Clara, 
wife of Edward Van Hooven; Denah, wife of 
Simon Wersma ; Matilda, wife of Ora De- 
man; Mary, who married James Mastenbrook; 
Gerritt H.; Betsey and Ann, the last three 
still with their parents. 

Benjamin F. Barendsen was educated in 
the common schools and high school of Grand 
Rapids, and has passed the greater part of his 
life in this city, variously employed, his atten- 
tion during the last eight years being given to 
the legal business as notary public. In his of- 
ficial capacit}' he is kept constantly busy by 
demands upon him for general conveyancing, 
drawing up legal papers, renting houses and 
business buildings, collecting rents, etc., his 
transactions far exceeding in volume those of 
any other similar office in the city. As a coun- 
selor and legal adviser Mr. Barendsen is recog- 
nized as possessing exceeding clear judgment, 
and but for his advice much litigation involv- 
ing large monetary interests and heavy costs 
would be carried through the long, tiresome pro- 
cesses of the courts. For this and other prac- 
tices Mr. Barendsen has called down upon him- 
self some adverse criticism, but the rectitude 
of his intentions in all of his professional trans- 
actions has never been questioned by the lead- 
ing members of the bar or by the majority of 
the people of the city. Financially his suc- 
cess has been commensurate with the energy 
and ability displayed in his business transac- 
tions. He has accumulated a handsome com- 
petence, including a fine block on Bostwick 
street, representing a value of $20,000, a com- 
fortable home and two other residence prop- 
erties, all of which is the result of his own in- 
dustry and unaided efforts. 



AM) KEXT COUNTS", UP TO DATE. 



47 



Mr. Barendsen was married in Grand Rap- 
ids November I, 1892, toMiss Amanda Eby, 
of Canada, a union blessed with one child, 
Bryan Gladstone, who was born on the T6th 
day of October, 1893. The poHtical faith of 
Mr. Barendsen is represented by the demo- 
cratic party, and fraternally he belon^'s to the 
A. O. W. and K. O. T. M. 




ON. EDMUND M. BARNARD, of 
East Grand Rapids, Kent county, 
Mich., and e,\-state senator, was born 
in Hudson, N. Y., May 28, i860, and 
came to Michigan with his parents at the 
close of the Civil war, locating on a farm in 
Kent county, of which he is now a most promi- 
nent citizen. Mr. Barnard is a son of Dr. 
Stephen P. and Martlia (Mellen) Barnard. 
His father and paternal grandfather, Robert 
A., were born in the same house that the sub- 
ject was, at Hudson, N. Y., and Robert A. 
Barnard, his grandfather, born in 1785, 
was a judge, and president of the Hud- 
son River National bank for fifty years. The 
father, born April 18, 1831, was educated at 
Rutgers college and at Albany Medical col- 
lege, completing his medical studies in Paris. 
France, in 1851-52, and was a surgeon in the 
United States army during the Ci\'il war. He 
purchased the home where the subject now 
lives, which also included a large farm front- 
ing Reed's lake, and lived retired until his 
death. May 5, 1875, and the mother died at 
the same place in 1879. She was a native of 
Hudson, N. Y. , born in 1835, and of a family 
of eight children there are but three in 
Grand Rapids. 

Hon. Edmund M. Barnard has been en- 
gaged in real estate and insurance business all 



his lifetime, except what time was spent in 
politics, and has been a successful business 
man, always interested in the prosperity and 
growth of Grand Rapids. He was married 
December 24, 1895, in Grand Rapids, to Miss 
Adelaide Granger, a native of this city and 
daughter of Francis Granger, deceased. She 
was educated and always lived in Grand 
Rapids. 

Mr. Barnard has been quite a traveler, 
spending portions of winters in the south and 
on the Pacific slope. Fraternally, he was a 
charter member of York lodge, F.& A. M.,and 
"its first senior warden; he is also a knight 
templar Mason, and belongs to the Mystic 
Shrine. He is a member of the B. P. O. K., 
having joined the order in 1887, the year of 
the organization of Daisy lodge, No. 48. 

Politically, a working, active republican, 
he is influential in the councils of the party, 
as may be inferred from the prominent posi- 
tions he has held. He was elected to the 
house of representatives from the Second dis- 
trict of this county in 1890, and served in the 
sessions of 1891-92; was a member of the sen- 
ate during the sessions of 1S93-95, and 1897- 
98, and at the last election, in 1896, received a 
majority of nearly 3,500. He has taken an 
important part in matters of legislation; was 
author of the joint resolution committing this 
state to the election of United States sen- 
ators by popular vote; was instrumental in re- 
storing to the members of the Michigan Sol- 
diers' Home the right of franchise through a 
constitutional amendment, after it had been 
denied them by the courts; was the author of 
the vestibule bill, requiring the vestibuling of 
all street cars in the state, and he was identi- 
fied with several measures affecting the purifi- 
cation of conventions and elections; was chair- 
man of the committee on banks and corpora- 
tions during the session of 1895, also chairman 
of railroads in the session of 1897-98, at 



48 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the time when much important railroad legis- 
lation was pending. 

Mr. Barnard is a believer in the Episco- 
pal doctrine, in which faith he was reared. 
He occupies a beautiful suburban home, 
with ample grounds and natural forest 
trees adorning and offering cool shade to 
the traveler in hot weather, and tempering 
blasts in winter. The Barnard home was 
erected more than fifty years ago, of coursed 
stone with ornamental devices and capacious 
verandas, making one of the pleasantest of su- 
burban homes. 

The standard of Mr. Barnard before the 
people of Kent county is too deservedly high 
and marked to need any comment in a sketch 
as brief as this, his long and useful life in the 
community and his pre-eminent official work 
telling their own story. 



,m 



Mich. 



IMON Z. BARNEY, M. D., ex-soldier 

and botanic and eclectic physician, 

at No. 800 Division street. Grand 

Rapids, was born in Oakland county, 

February 26, 1846, and is a son of 



James M. and Theodosia (Barrett) Barney, 
natives of Scotland, and the parents of two 
children, of whom one, a daughter, died in 
infancy, and the mother when the subject of 
this notice was but two years of age. The 
father subsequently married Miss Minerva 
Harper, and to this marriage eight children 
were born, viz: James, Mary, Sarah, Celin- 
da, Eugene, William, Almira and Elmetta, 
and all of these, with the exception of Mary, 
are still living, Sarah being the wife of Edgar 
G. Losey, a painter of Grand Rapids. Mrs. 
Minerva Barney died of cancer in 1882, and 
her husband is now living in Byron township, 



Kent county, at the advanced age of eighty 
years. 

James M. Barney was a brickmaker by 
trade, and for many years lived in Wayne 
county, Mich., where, when a young man, he 
manufactured all the brick used in the con- 
struction of the county house. He later be- 
came a farmer, and is now the owner of two 
farms in Kent county, having come here in 
1852, when the country was, as it were, 
a primitive wilderness — Indians numerous, 
wolves equally so, and game still plentiful, 
even in the vicinity of Grand Rapids. 

Dr. Simon Z. Barney received his literary 
education in Grand Rapids, studied medicine 
under private tutors, but relinquished his 
studies on the call to arms in defense of his 
nation's flag. September 7, i86r, while still 
a youth, he enlisted in company E, Thirteenth 
Michigan volunteer infantry, for three years. 
and was assigned to the army of the Cumber- 
land. At Tom Creek, Ala., in June, 1862, he 
was shot through the right lung, and still car- 
ries the ball in his body, the result being that 
he now suffers from disease of the lung 
and heart trouble. For six or seven months 
he was under treatment in hospital for this 
injury, and was then transferred to the invalid 
corps, but did not like his surroundings and 
took "French leave" and returned to his for- 
mer company. January i, 1863, he received 
a ball in his right thigh at the battle of Stone 
River, this happening on the second day of 
this fiercely-contested conflict. On going into 
this battle, Mr. Barney was so emaciated and 
weak from the effects of his first wound, that 
the lieutenant relieved him of some of his 
accoutrements, to enable him to keep in the 
ranks. With his second wound came his last 
day at the front. He was again placed in the 
invalid corps at the Detroit barracks, after 
four months' treatment in hospital, and in 
1864 re-enlisted in this arm of the service, and 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



49 



thus served in all nearly four years. Besides 
suffering from the disorders resulting from his 
wounds, Mr. Barney is also afflicted with ma- 
larial poisoning, chronic diarrhea and rectal 
disease. 

On his return from the war, Mr. Barney 
engaged in the cigar trade at Detroit, and 
while so employed privately studied medicine. 
From Detroit he went to Delaware, Ohio, 
thence to Chicago, 111., then to Davenport, 
Iowa, and then to Toledo, Ohio, whence he 
again came to Grand Rapids, Mich. After- 
ward, he practiced medicine in Plainweli, Al- 
legan county, Mich., four years, and in Vicks- 
burg eight years, and the ne.xt three years in 
Otsego. Finally, about three years ago, he 
settled in Grand Rapids, where he has secured 
a remunerative practice and established an 
enviable professional reputation. 

Dr. Barney was joined in matrimony at 
Grand Rapids, September 2, 1873, with Miss 
Elizabeth E. Ropp, who was born in Fair- 
view, Randolph county, Ind., a daughter of 
Joseph and Sarah E. Ropp, natives, respect- 
ively, of Maryland and Ohio. Mr. and Mrs. 
Ropp were married at Nenia, Ohio, and had 
born to them si.\ children, Mrs. Barney being 
the third in order of birth, but of these six 
there are now only two living — Mrs. Barney 
and her brother, David H. Ropp. 

David H. Ropp was born near Fairview, 
Randolph county, Ohio, May 17, 1850, and 
in his earlier years followed farming as a voca- 
tion, but for the past fnfteen years has been 
employed in mechanical pursuits at Grand 
Rapids, and is still a bachelor. He is a mem- 
ber of the K. O. T. M., and in politics is a 
republican. 

Mrs. Elizabeth E. Barney has been af- 
flicted for over twenty years with a disorder 
that has required her husband's attention and 
care a great portion of his time, and although 
it seems like a forlorn hope, the doctor has 



never abandoned his belief that she may yet 
be restored to health. Eminent physicians 
gave her up to die years ago, but Dr. Barney 
still perseveres in his treatment of her case, 
and ofttimes has improved her health, though 
not permanently. 

Dr. Barney is a member of the G. A. R., 
but is not connected with any church society, 
he and his wife being inclined to spiritualistic 
views. Socially, as well as professionally, the 
doctor stands very high, and for personal 
merits alone is respected wherever known. 




RBAN BAUMAN, of the firm of Skin- 
ner & Bauman, cigar manufacturers 
and restaurateurs, is a native of St. 
Clair county. 111., born in the city of 
Belleville, on the 31st day of July, 1853. His 
parents were Frederick and Katherine Bau- 
man, both natives of Germany, in which 
country the father married his first wife, a 
Miss Frey, who died on the voyage to Amer- 
ica and was buried at sea. She left a son, 
John Bauman, who died in Belleville, 111., at 
the age of si.xty three years. 

Some time after coming to this country, 
Frederick Bauman married in the above city 
Katherine Cinzer, who bore him seven chil- 
dren, four sons and three daughters, namely: 
Mary, who died at the age of forty, unmar- 
ried; Anton died when three years old; Ger- 
trude, wife of John W. Wright, a locomotive 
engineer of Belleville, 111. ; Urban, whose 
name appears at the beginning of this article; 
John A., a cigar manufacturer of Grand Rap- 
ids, and Lizzie, a dressmaker of this city. 
The parents are both deceased, the father 
having departed this life at the advanced age 
of eighty-four, and the mother at sixty-three 



50 



T]1E CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



3'ears. By occupation Frederick Baunian was 
a carpenter, which trade he followed all his 
life with encouraging success; with the excep- 
tion of five years in Kalamazoo, Mich., his 
life in America was spent in the city of Belle- 
ville, 111., at which place the bodies of himself 
and wife were laid to rest. 

Urban Baunian was reared to manhood in 
his native town, and at an early age began 
working at the cigarmaker's trade, which he 
followed in Belleville for a period of four 
years. He then gave up his trade, and dur- 
ing the thirteen succeeding years was em- 
ployed in a rolling-mill in Belleville; retiring 
from the same and resuming his former voca- 
tif)n, he in 1 886 located in Grand Rapids, 
where for five ye.ars he was foreman in the 
shops of his brother, John A. Bauman. one of 
the largest manufacturers of cigars in the city. 

Mr. Bauman engaged in business for him- 
self in 1S91, at No. 19 East Bridge street, and 
after one year sold his stock to a partner, and 
resumed his former position as foreman with 
his brother three months later. In March, 
189S, he purchased his brother's business, and 
has since conducted one of the best-known 
cigar houses of the city, manufacturing only 
goods of high grade, which find read}- sale by 
reason of the great local demand for the out- 
put of his establishment. Associated with him 
is \\'esley Skinnej-, who gives personal atten- 
tion to the lunch room and billiard hall, con- 
nected with the factory, and it is a compliment 
well bestowed to state that every department 
of their stand is well patronized, their reputa- 
tion as caterers being strictly first class. Es- 
pecially is this true in the matter of light 
lunches, and no one disputes the fact that the 
most delicious coffee made in the citv of Grand 
Rapids is to be found at the popular stand of 
Skinner & Bauman. 

Mr. Bauman entered into the marriage re- 
lation on the 1st day of May, 1878, with Miss 



Caroline Born, who was born in July, 1854, in 
Freeburg, 111. Six children have been born 
to this union: Frederick, a lithographer of 
Minneapolis, Minn. ; Frank, a candymaker of 
Grand Rapids; \\'alter died at the age of nine 
years; Lewis, a bright lad of twelve years; 
Oscar died when one year old, and Archibald 
is a promising boy of eight summers. 

Fraternally, Mr. Bauman is connected with 
the A. O. U. W. and in religion was reared a 
Catholic, to which faith he still adheres. In 
politics he exercises his best judgment, irre- 
spective of party, and votes for the candidate 
best qualified for the position sought. He has 
never aspired to official preferment of any 
kind, and is known as a wide-auake, progress- 
ive and successful business man. 




\MES A. ARDIEL, Ph. G., M. D., 
the rising young ph3sician and surgeon 
of Grand Rapids, with his office in the 
Porter block, is a native of London, 
Canada, was born December 28, 186S, and is 
a son of Leonard and Ann (Sinclair) Ardiel, 
natives of the same city. The father, in his 
early years, was a farmer, but has now retired 
from the active duties of life, with the excep- 
tion of performing the duties pertaining to his 
office of esquire. 

Dr. James A. Ardiel, the fifth of the nine 
children born to his parents, received his lit- 
erary education at the London Collegiate insti- 
tute, and then became an apprentice, at the 
age of sixteen years, to the druggist and apoth- 
ecary's business, at which he continued five 
years, for the last two \ears ha\ing entire 
charge of the concern, the proprietors having 
died. In 1890 he came to Grand Rapids, 
Mich., and entered the employ of Dr. Louis 





Cy^yyt^ U ^/^' Z^'/^-^. 



AND KEXT COL'XTY, UP TO DATE. 



58 



Earth, proprietor of a private dispensary, with 
whom he remained five years, pursuing the 
study of medicine in the meantime. 

Being thus fully prepared, Dr. .\rdiel en- 
tered the Western university of I^ondon in 
1895, where he completed a four years' course 
in March, 1899, and, in addition to the degree 
■of ^f. D., had conferred upon him the degree 
■of Ph. G. After graduating, the doctor re- 
turned to Grand Rapids and formed a partner- 
ship for the practice of his profession with his 
brother. Dr. Walter Ardiel, a biographical 
sketch of whom will be found on another page, 
giving a full genealogical history of the family. 

In 1892, Dr. Ardiel was joined in matri- 
mony, at London, Canada, with Miss Mary E. 
Ormsby, a native of that city and a daughter 
■of Nicholas and Mary E. Ormsby, Mr. Orms- 
by being a wealthy retired gentleman and the 
head of a well and favorably known family. 
To the doctor and his wife one child only has 
been born — Stanley Ormsby Ardiel, who died 
at the age of seven months. The doctor and 
his wife are members of the Episcopal church, 
'while the doctor is a member of St. John's 
lodge. No. 209, F. & A. M., of London, Can- 
ada. He has never taken any active interest 
in politics, his onerous professional duties 
consuming the greater portion of his time, and 
these duties are constantly on the increase. 
He has achieved a high reputation as a physi- 
cian, considering the short period of his prac- 
tice, and the social relations of himself and wife 
are of the most pleasant nature possible. 



YSANDER T. BECI^:WITH, a highly 
respected farmer residing on section 
No. 22, Grand Rapids township, Kent 
county Mich., with his post-office box 
No 266, Grand Rapids, was born in Guilford, 



Chenango county, N. Y., July 3t, 1830. His 
parents, Peter and Sylvina (Griswold) Beck- 
with, were both natives of New York. The 
parents of Peter Beckwith were Daniel and 
Lucy (Perkins) Beckwith, natives of Connect- 
icut, and both lived to reach a great age, she 
dying in her ninety-sixth year. Peter and 
wife lived for a time in the city of Rochester, 
N. Y. , also in Pennsylvania, and in 1845 
came to Michigan and located in Grand Rap- 
ids, where the father worked at his tiade of 
carpenter for three years. In 1848 he settled 
on a farm still owned by the family in Grand 
Rapids township, deep in the woods, it being 
heavily timbered beech and maple land. He 
had but few neighbors — only three or four — 
no road e.xcept an Indian trail, and that is what 
they took to reach the village. On that farm 
of eighty acres the father died, in his ninety- 
first year; his wife died in her seventy-ninth 
year. They were the parents of four children, 
viz; Lysander T., the subject of this sketch; 
William, a real estate dealer in Grand Rapids, 
with his office over the Giant clothing store; 
Cynthia, unmarried, and living at the old 
homestead; Henry, who was killed at the 
battle of Bull Run, aged about nineteen years. 
Lysander T. Beckwith remained on the 
home farm until it was well cleared up, and 
until he had reached his twenty-fifth year. He 
cleared up a forty-acre tract, and then in the 
spring of 1865 came to his present farm. It had 
but sixty acres cleared, but comprised i 30 acres, 
and he still owns the original forty acres where 
he first started. On coming here Mr. Beckwith 
was very poor and had to work his way along. 
He received $48 for clearing a five-acre tract, 
one-half of which was brush. When it was 
ready to put into wheat, this tract was on the 
farm that he now owns. He helped cut out all 
the roads through the heavy timber. He saw 
all the varieties of pioneer life and endured 
many hardships. Although not noted for 



54 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



hunting, he has killed hundreds of deer. 
Mr. Beckwith filled several of the township 
offices, such as justice of the peace and town- 
ship treasurer three terms. A democrat early in 
life, he has been a republican since the 
organization of that party, except that he was 
a greenbacker for a time. Although not act- 
ive in politics in late years, he was formerly 
found in conventions, county, district and 
state. 

Mr. Beckworth married, at the age of twen- 
ty-seven years, Julia A. Camburn, of Lena- 
wee county, but she died May 14, 1897, after 
they had happily lived together almost forty 
years. Mrs. Beckwith was one of sixteen 
children, among which were one set of trip- 
lets, all girls, now living, aged sixty-nine 
years, two pairs of twins, one pair living, 
aged seventy-five years. Lysander T. Beck- 
with's family comprised four children, viz: 
Mary Jane, housekeeper for the wife of Thom- 
as Bamber, who works on the farm; Cynthia 
Sylvania, wife of Earnest Stevenson, in Grand 
Rapids; Julia Ann, wife of Eaton Gibbs, also 
of Grand Rapids, and Henry P., a member of 
the Grand Rapids fire department. 




i:nsselaer g. beckwith, d. 

D. S., of the firm of Boughnere & 
Beckwith, of whom mention is made 
on another page, in conjunction with 
the Valley City Post Graduate Dental school, 
at No. loi Monroe street, Grand Rapids, was 
born in Allegan county, Mich., in the town of 
Martin, April 3, 1850, and is a son of Edgar 
M. and Celinda (Worden) Beckwith, natives 
of New York state. 

Edgar M. Beckwith was a mechanic by 
calling and was married in his native state, 



and soon afterward came to Michigan, and 
here he and wife both died in Allegan county, 
well advanced in years. Their family com- 
prised eight children, who were born and 
named in the following order: Nathan, who 
is a farmer near Cadillac; Daniel, a farmer in 
Wayland township, Allegan county; George, 
a farmer in Boone township, Wexford county; 
Melissa, wife of Andrew Stancliff, also of 
Boone; Serena, wife of George Ives, a resi- 
dent of Martin, Allegan county; Harriet, mar- 
ried to Orson McLeod, also of Martin: Rens- 
selaer G., the subject of this sketch, and John, 
who died at the age of twenty years. 

Dr. R. G. Beckwith was educated in the 
town of Wayland, Allegan county, and began 
business life as a clerk in a store, which occu- 
pied his time and attention from the age of 
sixteen years until about twenty-four. While 
employed in a general store, in which drugs 
were handled to a large extent. Dr. Beckwith 
made a careful study of the latter, was soon 
able to pass the required examination, was 
registered as a pharmaceutist, and engaged 
in a general drug business at Hopkinsburg, 
Allegan county. From there he transferred 
his business to Bradley, and then to Fenn- 
ville, both in the same county, and then to 
Mears, Oceana county, where he disposed of 
his drug business. 

While engaged in the drug trade. Dr. 
Beckwith studied medicine under Drs. Stuck 
and Hopkins, and Dr. Reed, at Bradley, and 
began regular practice at Mears, although he 
practiced empirically while in the drug business. 
While practicing medicine, he had also much 
to do along the line of dentistry, in extract- 
ing, cleansing, and finally filling teeth. The 
demand for his services in this line eventually 
became so great as to lead him to a system- 
atic study of the science of dentistry, and 
this branch of surgery has claimed his entire 
attention since 1893, when he came to Grand 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



55 



Rapids and formed his partnership with Dr. 
Boughnere. 

Dr. Beckwith, while still clerking in a gen- 
eral store in Allegan county, was united in 
marriage in November, 1875, with Miss Louisa 
Rogers, a native of Pennsylvania, and to this 
union were born five children, viz: Willie 
(deceased), Charlie, Frank, Sarah and Jessie. 
Mrs. Louisa Beckwith was called away Sep- 
tember 20, 1885, and the doctor remained a 
widower until September, 1897, when he mar- 
ried Mrs. Lizzie Beebe, his present wife, 
whose maiden name was Fouser. This union 
has been crowned with the birth of one child, 
Genevieve, now three and a half months old. 

In politics Dr. Beckwith is a stanch repub- 
lican, and two of his brothers, Daniel and 
George, also members of the same party, 
were soldiers in the Civil war. The family 
is noted for its patriotism and was represented 
in the earlier wars of the country, especially 
in the war of 181 2, and the lack of years 
alone prevented the doctor from also becom- 
ing a soldier. 




:NRY C. BETTINGHOUSE, as- 
sistant fire marshal and master me- 
chanic of the Grand Rapids fire de- 
partment, was born in Cincinnati, 
Ohio, February 5, 1849, arid is a son of Will- 
iam and Emilia (Branch) Bettinghouse, na- 
tives of Germany. The parents came to 
America about 1845, and the father, being a 
millwright, first found employment in Cincin- 
nati, then in Toledo, and finally settled in 
Grand Rapids, where the mother still resides, 
at No. 30 East Leonard street, but the father 
passed away in 1875, whjle in employment at 
Muskegon. 

The father had been a gallant soldier in the 



Civil war, having enlisted in an engineers and 
mechanics' corps, was promoted from private 
to sergeant, and served his full term of three 
years, and was then honorably discharged, 
holding at the time a commission as first lieu- 
tenant. The family comprised si.x children, 
born in the following order: Catharine, widow 
of Seth Freeman, of Grand Rapids; Henrj- 
C, subject of this mention; Amelia, widow of 
James Bordaux, of Buffalo, N. Y. ; Carrie, 
wife of John Black, and Eliza, wife of Frank 
Leffingwell, also of Grand Rapids, and Charles 
J., of Copemish, Mich. 

Henry C. Bettinghouse was about eight 
years of age when he left Cincinnati with his 
parents, and his opportunities for an early edu- 
cation were somewhat meager. What he 
knows has been mainly obtained by practical 
experience and observation. The early en- 
listment of his father threw upon him much of 
the responsibility of caring for his mother and 
her younger children, and at the age of four- 
teen years he went to work in a saw-mill, 
where he remained twelve months. He next 
was employed by a railroad company as an en- 
gine wiper, but he was an observing youth and 
had an aptitude for mechanical work, was very 
industrious and attentive to his duties, familiar- 
izing himself with the construction of the en- 
gine and all its parts. He fired on locomo- 
tives for five years, and was then promoted to 
the position of a locomotive engineer, and was 
later, for a time, master mechanic for the 
Michigan Lake Shore Railroad company at 
Muskegon, Mich. In iSSohe united with the 
Grand Rapids fire department as an engineer, 
and two years later was appointed superintend- 
ent of the fire alarm and second assistant fire 
marshal. In 1894 he was promoted to his 
present responsible position, which he has 
proven himself to be fully qualified to fill — or 
to fill any other position in the department. 

Mr. Bettinghouse was united in marriage^ 



56 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



at Grand Rapids, on the gth day of Novem- 
ber, 1873, with Miss Zenora Ustick, the result 
being five children, viz: Luetta, wife of Will- 
iam Lang, of Beecher Falls, \'t. ; Clyde H., 
Mabel, Bessie and Floyd. The family attend 
the Second Congregational church and have 
their pleasant home at No. 36 East Leonard 
street, where they enjoy the respect of all 
their neighbors. Fraternally, Mr. Betting- 
house is a member of Grand Rapids lodge, No. 
34, F. & .\. M., chapter No. 7 of royal 
arch Masons, and is also a member of the 
United Workmen. In politics he is independ- 
ent, and is held in high esteem by a host of 
warm-hearted friends. 




JHN CLAUDE BUCHANAN, D. D. 
S., residing at No. 218 East Fulton 
street, Grand Rapids, Mich., was born 
in Ithaca, N. Y.. May 15, 1823, was 
taken by his parents, Samuel and Elizabeth 
(Stuart) Buchanan, to Pennsylvania when ten 
years of age, and in 1842 came to Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., the " city " then containing from 
1,000 to 1,500 inhabitants. In 1844 the fa- 
ther and son erected a small frame house on 
the lot on which the doctor now lives, and 
from which they were obliged to grub the oak 
stumps, as the city had been principally laid 
out in the woods. Here Dr. Buchanan has 
continuously resided ever since, with the ex- 
ception of three years spent in the arm_\' dur- 
ing the Civil war. 

Dr. Buchanan belongs to a family of patriots. 
His paternal grandfather, John Buchanan, was 
a soldier in the war of the Revolution, Samuel 
Buchanan, father of the doctor, served in the 
war of 18 12, and the subject himself made a 
fine record in the war of the Rebellion. The 



paternal grandfather was of Scotch descent, 
but came to America from Colerain, in the 
north of Ireland; his maternal ancestors were 
also of Scotch origin, but his mother was born 
in Elmira, N. Y. 

In early life Dr. Buchanan learned the 
gunsmith's trade from his father, and this he 
followed until the breaking out of the Civil 
war. He enlisted, August 12, 1861, in com- 
pany D, Eighth Michigan volunteer infantry, 
was at once elected first lieutenant of his com- 
pan\', and commissioned the same daj'.. In 
September his regiment was sent to Washing- 
ton. From Washington it went to Annapolis, 
whence it embarked on the Vanderbilt for 
South Carolina, and took part in the capture 
of Hilton Head, the Coosa and Wilmingtoa 
Island. The wmter of 1861-62 was spent 
near Beaufort, S. C, participated in the cap- 
ture of Fort Pulaski, and in the spring of 1862 
the regiment came north to James Island, 
going up Stone river, attacked the fort at Se- 
cessionville, and in July, 1862, sailed from 
Hilton Head for Newport News. Lieut. Bu- 
chanan here succeeded to the captaincy, Capt. 
Benjamin Church having been killed at James 
Island. At Newport News the regiment be- 
came a part of the Ninth corps, under Gen. 
Burnside. The regiment was next sent to 
Fredericksburg, Va., thence to Raccoon Ford, 
on the Rapidan, soon began its retreat under 
Gen. Pope, and then proceeded to Martins- 
burg: was two days engage I in the second Bull 
Run battle, and soon afterward at Chantilly, 
where the commander. Gen. Stevens, was 
killed; next reached Fairfax Court House, and 
shortly afterward Alexandria, whence it passed 
through Washington, and in Maryland was 
temporarily placed under the command of Gen. 
George B. McClellan; then participated in the 
battle of South Mountain, where their imme- 
diate comnander, Gen. Reno, was killed. Next 
came the great fight at Antietam, September 




r 



AXD KENT COUNTY, VI' To DATE. 



59 



17, 1862, in which Captain Buchanan was 
three times shot, but most seriously by a can- 
ister shot, which passed through his right arm, 
near the shoulder, and this wound laid him up 
until November following, when he rejoined 
his regiment in time to take part at Freder- 
icksburg in December; next, was at Fortress 
Monroe, and in the spring of 1863 went to 
Green river, Ky., and in June to Vicksburg, 
Miss., of which city he took part in the siege 
and capture, July 4, 1863; ne.\t was with Sher- 
man, at Jackson; then joined Burnside again 
in the Tennessee campaign; was at Cumber- 
land Gap and the siege of Kno.Kville, at Blue 
Springs, and at Norristown, where the regi- 
ment veteranized and was furloughed. In the 
spring of 1864, Captain Buchanan rejoined 
his regiment at Louisville, Ky., was transferred 
to Grant's army in Virginia, where his health 
failed, and he resigned his commission in the 
Wilderness May 4, 1 864. 

On the return of Capt. Buchanan to Grand 
Rapids he took a short rest, and then went to 
Watertown, N. Y. , and passed two years in the 
study of dentistry, which profession he has 
since followed at Grand Rapids with eminent 
success. 

The marriage of Capt. Buchanan took 
place, in 1854, to Miss Sophia H. Bingham, a 
native of Sault Ste. Marie, where her father, 
Rev. Abel Bingham, officiated as a missionary 
among the whites and Indians from 1827 until 
1855, t)ut had previously been with the Sene- 
cas, making a total service in this capacity 
of thirty-four years. He had served as a cap- 
tain in the war of i8i2,was wounded at the bat- 
tle of Plattsburg, and carried a scar on his fore- 
head to his grave. He was a Baptist divine, 
and as a missionary became associated with 
many prominent Indian chiefs — Senecas and 
others — and performed an immense amount 
of missionary work. In 1855 he came to 
Grand Rapids, lived ten years in retirement, 



and here died at the age of eighty years. His 
wife, whose maiden name was Hannah Oltii- 
stead Brown, was a native of Jay, N. Y. , was 
a daughter of Rev. Solomon Brown, also a 
Baptist minister, and survived her husband 
three years, dying at the age of seventy-si.\. 

To the marriage of Dr. and Mrs. Buchanan 
have been born si.x children, two of whom are 
deceased, viz: Mary, the eldest, who died at 
the age of three years, and Clara Bettine, the 
fifth in order of birth, who died v.-hen ten 
months old. Of the survivors, Claude R.is an 
attorney in the Michigan Trust building. 
Grand Rapids, is married, and has one son, 
Claude, eight years old; the second son, Bing- 
ham Stewart, unmarried, is a resident of Tex- 
as; Robert Russell is employed by the Indiana 
State Life Insurance company at Indianapolis, 
is married and has one daughter, Maria Fran- 
ces; Angle Sophia, unmarried, is living with 
her parents. 

Of the six children born to the parents of 
Dr. Buchanan, three besides himself are still 
living and two deceased: Moses Bacchus, the 
eldest, was a gunsmith, and died in Allegheny 
City, Pa., in 1844; Samuel resides on a 
farm at Sparta, Kent county, Mich., 
where he has lived since the 'forties; Ann 
Eliza is the widow of James Taylor, and re- 
sides in Philadelphia, where her husband has 
been engaged in the manufacture of glass, and 
also woolen fabrics; the youngest li\ing is 
Clara B., wife of L. H. W'aterhouse, of Auro- 
ra, 111..; Mary died in 1842, the wife of Robert 
McKinney. The children of Mrs. Buchanan's 
parents numbered four beside herself, viz: 
Rev. A. J. Bingham, who was pastor of the 
Baptist church at Cohoes, N. Y., and also su- 
perintendent of the city high school, was 
seized with hemorrhage and died en route on a 
visit to Mrs. Buchanan; Ann Hasseltine, wid- 
ow of John H. Hulbert, resides in Detroit; 
Maria Bingham is the wife of Dr. S. M. Rob- 



60 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



inson, of Watertown, N. Y., and Angie B. is 
the widow of Thomas D. Gilbert, late presi- 
ident of the City National bank of Grand Rap- 
ids and also president of the City Gas com- 
pany. 

Dr. Buchanan has been a Freemason since 
early manhood. He is now a Knight Templar 
and was once E. C. of De Molai commandery. 
Although feared a Presbyterian, he has been 
an active member of the Fountain street Bap- 
tist church since 1843, and has actively aided 
in promoting the welfare of this congregation 
since its infancy, in which noble work he has 
been warmly assisted by his amiable wife ever 
since marriage. The children are also devot- 
ed members of this denomination. 

In politics, the doctor was reared a demo- 
crat, but his last vote with this party was cast for 
James Buchanan for president, since when he 
has affiliated with the republicans. 

Socially, the Buchanan family stand 
among the elite of Grand Rapids, and all are 
sincerely respected for their many e.xcellent 
traits of personal character and moral rectitude. 



ARL BIGHAM, M. D., occupying 
offices Nos. 304 to 306, Widdicomb 
building. Grand Rapids, Mich., is a 
native of Scotch Bush, Montgomery 
county, N. Y., was born December 24, 1857, 
and is the youngest of the five children born to 
John and Mary A. (Travis) Bigham, who were 
natives also of the Empire state and of Scotch 
descent, but both now deceased. 

John Bigham was a mechanic of rare tal- 
ents during his life time and died in 1875, at 
the age of fifty-two years; his widow survived 
until March 14, 1897, when she died at the 
ripe age of seventy-six, greatly respected in 



the community in which she has so long lived. 
The children born to these parents were named, 
in order of birth, Sarah E., now the wife of 
Daniel Shute, a farmer at Westville, Mich.; 
Marietta, widow of Alfred Peck, and a resident 
of Ithaca, N. Y. ; Ella E., widow of Robert 
Jeffers, and living in Amsterdam, N. Y. ; Anna, 
who died in infancy, and Earl, the subject of 
this memoir. 

Dr. Earl Bigham was educated prelimina- 
rily in the common schools of his native county, 
and then entered the high school in Adrian, 
Mich. After nearly a two years' course in this 
school, he engaged in teaching for about eight 
years, most of the time in New York state, but 
for a few years, also, in Michigan. At about 
the age of twenty-six years he began the prac- 
tical study of medicine, although he had pre- 
viously familiarized himself with anatomy, phy- 
sic and chemistry during his pedagogic career, 
and in 1883 entered the university of Michigan 
at Ann Arbor, where he remained one year, and 
then entered the Rush Medical college at Chi- 
cago, from which he graduated in the spring of 
1885. For eight years thereafter he practiced in 
various places in Michigan, and then settled in 
Grand Rapids. In 1892 he went to New York 
and took a course in the Post-graduate college 
of that city, and after passing two additional 
months in the Polyclinic took a degree at the 
Long Island college of Medicine the same year, 
and then returned to Grand Rapids, where he 
has ever since been actively engaged in a very 
satisfactory practice. 

The doctor is a member of the Grand Rapids 
Academy of Medicine, the Michigan State 
Medical society, and the American Medical 
association, and has been treasurer of the 
Grand Rapids academy for the past three 
years. Of the close orders, he is a member of 
the F. & A. M. blue lodge, the I. O. O. F., 
I. O. F., the Maccabees, the Woodmen of the 
World, and the Royal Arcanum, and for the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



61 



Woodmen and the Foresters he is the examin- 
ing physician. In politics he is a republican. 
Dr. Bigham was most happily joined in 
wedlock, in Montcalm county, Mich., Septem- 
ber 9, 1884, with Miss Vena Buckrell, a native 
of Canada and a daughter of George and So- 
phronia (Lee) Buckrell, also natives of the 
dominion but for many years residents of Mont- 
calm county, Mich., where the father was a 
highly respected mechanic, but recently died. 
Mrs. Bigham was graduated from the high 
school at Stanton, Mich., is a lady of refine- 
ment, and mingles with the best society of 
Grand Rapids. The doctor has been very suc- 
cessful professionally and stands in high repute 
with his fellow practitioners, as well as the 
public, being recognized as one of the most 
skillful physicians and surgeons in the Valley 
city. 




ILLIAM E. BESSEY, M. D., at the 
corner of North Division and Mon- 
roe streets, Grand Rapids, Mich., is 
a native of county Halton, province 
of Ontario, dominion, of Canada, is of Huguenot 
and Scotch descent, was born September 5, 
1838, and is a son of John Reed and Jane 
(Miller) Bessey. 

The family name in France was DeBessey, 
and its members were among those who fled 
the country on account of religious persecution 
after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, 
and with thousands of others found refuge in 
England, and thence reached America. 

John Reed Bessey was a British officer in the 
war of 1812, and after the close of hostilities 
settled near Toronto, Canada, as did many 
others of the disbanded English troops. He 
had brothers who were among the patriots of 
the American army during the same war, and 



they settled in and about Philadelphia, Pa., at 
its close. 

Mrs. Jane (Miller) Bessey was a cousin of 
the world-known author and geologist, Hugh 
Miller (i 802-1 856), and of Sir James Miller, a 
celebrated surgeon of Edinburg, Scotland; she 
was also a sister of Andrew Miller, of Aber- 
deen granite fame, and of another who was 
noted as a Scotch poet. 

Dr. William E. Bessey was educated at 
the Toronto university and at the Magill uni- 
versity of Montreal. He was first prepared 
for the ministry by taking a four years' course 
in theology, but being unable to reconcile the 
multiplicity of creeds and doctrines e.xtant, he 
relinquished the study of theology for that of 
medicine. In the latter he became quite dis- 
tinguished, and during its course delivered sev- 
eral lectures of note on abstruse subjects, such 
as the "Origin and Unity of the Races;" "An- 
cient Civilization of America," showing that the 
present Anglo-Saxon race is the fourth in the 
settlement of this continent: "On the Antiquity 
of Man;" "Ancient Egypt, a Colony of the An- 
cient Race of Central America;" "The Builders 
of the Pyramids the same as the Mound-Build- 
ers, contemporaneous with them," etc., etc., 
and his investigations along these lines have 
evinced deep thought and evolved startling as 
well as valuable information. He also lectured 
on the Jesuit Missionaries in North America, 
and numerous other subjects. In social econ- 
omy, he has favored the independence of the 
laboring man, the homestead laws, and the 
combating of the centralization of capital in 
the hands of the few. 

The doctor began the active practice of his 
profession in Montreal and there successfully 
continued it for twenty-five years, and for sev- 
eral years occupied the position of acting 
health officer of that city, but lost this office 
through the uprising of the French against the 
English residents. In the course of his prac- 



62 



THE CITY OF (iRAXD RAPIDS 



•tice, Dr. Bessey introduced into Canada the 
system of vaccination of animals, and later 
became associated with the New York Life 
Insurance company in a confidential capacity 
as a specialist, at a handsome compensation; 
but domestic conditions led to his resignation 
of this position, and he then engaged in special 
practice at Toronto, but failing health com- 
pelled him to retire temporarily, and after re- 
cuperation he came to Grand Rapids in 1899, 
since when he has devoted himself to surgery, 
metaphysical healing and his specialties — the 
treatment of throat and lung diseases, mental 
and nervous troubles, blood disorders, rectal 
ailments, and female complaints of all classes, 
in all of which he has met with phenomenal 
success. The doctor, however, has little faith 
in drugs, and theorizes that they are decep- 
tive and delusive agents, because of their abil- 
ty to only temporarily relieve symptoms where 
skillfully adapted to meet the indications in a 
case, and because of their utter inability to 
remove the cause of a disorder, they are con- 
sequently powerless to effect a permanent 
cure. He holds that nature is the only healer, 
and where a patient has recovered under drug 
medication, nature has accomplished wonders, 
since it has eliminated or neutralized both 
poisonous elements, viz: the toxine of the 
disease and the poisonous drugs as well, 
and considers it economy of vital force not to 
impose this double task where it can possibly 
be avoided. 

Dr. Bessey is a member of the Medical & 
Surgical association of Montreal, the col- 
lege of Physicians & Surgeons of Que- 
bec, college of Physicians & Surgeons of To- 
ronto, ex-member of the British Medical a.s- 
sociation, and member of the American asso- 
ciation of Official Surgeons. He has lettersin his 
possession which show his former intimacy 
with the nobility of England, including Lome, 
Lord Duf^erin, Duke of Argyle and other dis- 



tinguished personages, both in that country 
and Canada. His letter of commendation 
from his former friends in Montreal tends to a 
laudation of his high standing as a gentleman and 
physician, and shows that his practice extend- 
ed to the best families of that city, and his high 
literarj' attainments and professional ability 
are self-evident. 

The doctor's religious belief or philosophy 
is peculiar to himself, viz: That the origin of 
life, order and intelligence in the natural world 
is the Supreme Being, whose existence is in the 
moral and spiritual world; that man is a com- 
pound entity of matter and mind (or spirit); 
that woman, being the last in the order of cre- 
ation of the highest type of animals, is in fact 
paramount to all, being possessed of greater 
capacity, having more organs, a higher order 
of brain, and being endowed with a greater 
amount of endurance of either pain or labor, 
and having more registers in her vocal chords 
than her male companion; that she is natural- 
ly the instructor and director of man and his 
destinies, and that the human race must rise 
or fall with her, she being queen of the hu- 
man hive. His creed rests rn and is founded on 
nature. 

Fraternally, Dr. Bessey is a member of St. 
George's lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Montreal — 
the same that Past Grand Masters Stephtn- 
son, Barnard and Senator Oglesbee denomi- 
nated — the home of grand masters. 



OL. LOOMIS K. BISHOP, postmas- 
ter of Grand Rapids and ex-register 
of deeds of Kent county, was born 
near Watertown, Jefferson county, 
N. Y., October 5, 1836, and is a son of John 
and Laura (Kellogg) Bishop. His father was 




AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



63 



a native of New Hampshire, and his mother 
of New York. When he was nine years old, 
in 1845, his parents settled in Cannon, Kent 
county, Mich., and were among its first in- 
habitants. 

Mr. Bishop attended the common schools 
of Cannon until sixteen years old, when he 
was sent to the select school at Fallassburg, 
and afterward to the high school at Grand 
Rapids. He engaged in teaching several 
terms, and at twenty-one years of age went 
to Salt Lake City, during the time of the Mor- 
mon war, and served as clerk in the quarter- 
master's department. 

He enlisted June 13, 1S62, as first lieuten- 
ant of company H, Twenty-first Michigan in- 
fantry. The regiment was assigned to the 
army of the Cumberland, and served under 
Gens. Rosecrans and Thomas. He participa- 
ted in the battles of Stone River, Chickamau- 
ga (where he was wounded), and in the cam- 
paign from Chattanooga to Atlanta; thence 
with Sherman from Atlanta to the sea, then 
through the Carolinas to Richmond, Va., 
thence to \\'ashington, D. C, and participated 
in the grand review. He was promoted to 
the captaincy of the company February 3, 
1863, and March 18, 1865^ brevet-colonel of 
United States volunteers, and mustered out of 
service June 8, 1865, after which he engaged 
in mercantile pursuits in New York, returning 
to Michigan the following year. 

He bought the family homestead in Can- 
non, and lived on it until 1876, when he was 
elected to the office of register of deeds b}' the 
republican party. He was re-elected in 1878 
and in 1880. He has always been active in 
politics, and was treasurer and supervisor of 
Cannon previous to holding the above office. 
His majority on election to the office of regis- 
ter in 1880 was about 4,600. In 1886 he was 
elected sheriff of Kent county and re-elected 

in 1 888, after which for a few years he en- 
3 



gaged in the fire-insurance business, and in 
May, 1898, he was appointed postmaster of 
Grand Rapids by President McKinle}', and as- 
sumed the duties of the office June ist, of that 
year. Fraternally, Col. Bishop is a Mason, 
having attained the degree of knight templar; 
is also a member of the ICnights of Pythias, 
and the Benevolent & Protective Order of 
Elks. 

He was married May 8, 1862, to Ellen A., 
daughter of Harvey and Sarah (Belle) Smith, 
of Henderson, N. Y. They have one son and 
one daughter, viz: J. Clinton, who received 
a good education and has for seven \'ears been 
in the employ of the Fourth National bank, of 
Grand Rapids; the daughter, Laura Bell, is 
now the wife of Walter G. Tuttle, and they 
are residing in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Politically Col. Bishop has for many years 
been recognized as one of the strong and in- 
fluential republicans of this city and western 
Michigan. He has served as chairman of the 
count}' and congressional committees and his 
services were very potential in the recent pres- 
idential campaign. 




HARLES B. BLAIR, who has been 
in active practice at the bar of Grand 
Rapids since 1883, was born in this 
city January 3, 1858, a son of James 
and Eliza (Turner) Blair, who were respect- 
ively of Scotch extraction remotely on the 
paternal and of Scotch-Irish and English de- 
scent on the maternal side, although the Blair 
family were very early settlers in the state of 
New York, and the Turner family equally as 
early settlers in Connecticut. 

James Blair came to Grand Rapids in 1842, 
was first employed as a clerk, and later en- 
gaged in general merchandizing on his own 



u 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



account. He began the study of law under 
Col. Gray, was admitted to the bar in 1871, 
and became very prominent in the profession 
as the head of the firm of Blair, Kingsley & 
Kleinham. In politics he was a stanch 
democrat, was elected city clerk when a 
young man, and later was a member of the 
board of education for eleven years, serving 
several terms as its president. He was a 
delegate to the democratic national conven- 
tion at Cincinnati and that at St. Louis, and 
was four years postmaster at Grand Rapids 
under the administration of President Grover 
Cleveland. To his marriage with Miss Tur- 
ner were born three children, viz: Charles 
B., the subject of this memoir; James B., 
now in South America, in the coffee trade, 
and Hugh, a bookkeeper in the Kent County 
Savings bank at Grand Rapids. The father 
of this family was called away, while still in 
the active practice of his profession, Decem- 
ber 18, 1892, and his widow still resides in 
the Valley City. 

Charles B. Blair attended public school 
in Grand Rapids until he was fourteen years 
of age and then entered the Yonkers (N. Y. ) 
Military institute, where he remained one year; 
thence he went to Devoe college, at Suspen- 
sion Bridge, N. Y., and thence, in 1876, to 
Harvard university, from which he graduated 
in literature, with all the honors, in 1880. 
For a short time thereafter he studied law 
with his father in Grand Rapids, preparatory to 
entering the law department of the university 
of Michigan at Ann Arbor, in 1881, and from 
this famous institution he graduated in March, 
1882, and next entered the Harvard law 
school, anticipating the first year's work there, 
but did net remain to be graduated. In Au- 
gust, 18S3, he was admitted to the bar at Grand 
Rapids, and was in practice here with his 
father until the latter's death, since when he 
has practiced alone. 



June 5, 1889, Mr. Blair was most happily 
united in marriage with Miss Emma Covode, 
who was born in Westmoreland county. Pa., 
April 25, 1864, a daughter of John Covode, an 
■ e.x-memberof congress, and the father of John 
A. Covode, the prominent banker. To the 
felicitous union of Mr. and Mrs. Blair ha've 
been born four children, viz: Charles Covode, 
April 12, 1890; Margaret, March 3, 1892; John 
Covode, April 17, 1895, and James, January 
22, 1897. Mr. and Mrs. Blair are members of 
the Park Congregational church, and in poli- 
tics Mr. Blair is a very active gold democrat. 
He was appointed referee in bankruptcy, by 
Judge Severus, in October, 1898, and the du- 
ties of this office, together with those of his 
extensive law practice, make him a rather 
busy man. He stands very high in the esteem 
of his fellow-practitioners as well as of the pub- 
lic, and socially he and wife are of the elite of 
Grand Rapids. 



EORGE SHEPARD BOLTWOOD, 

attorney at law and senior member 
of the legal firm of Boltwood & Bolt- 
wood, was born on the 2d day of 
March, i86r, in Amherst, Mass. His father. 
Rev. Lucius M. Boltwood, also a native of the 
Bay state, was graduated from Amherst col- 
lege in 1843, and completed his theological 
course at Andover in 1846. He served as 
librarian of the above college, and was simi- 
larly connected with the Congressional library, 
Washington, D. C, the meantime prosecuting 
his genealogical researches and becoming one 
of the leaders in this direction. Later, he 
retired from active work, and in 1895 removed 
to Grand Rapids, where he has since lived. 

Lucius M. Boltwood was married at Derry, 
N. H., to Clarinda B. Williams, and became 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



05 



the father of five children, whose names are 
as follows: George S., Lucius, Charles \V., 
Fanny H. and Thirza Elvina W. In addition 
to his literary work, Rev. Mr. Boltwood took 
an active part in the politics of Massachusetts, 
and during the years 1859-60 represented his 
district in the general assembly, elected there- 
to by the republican part}'; he also served as 
postmaster of Amherst during the war of the 
Rebellion, and in other capacities was iden- 
tified with the public interests of his town, 
county and state. 

George Shepard Boltwood, whose name 
introduces this article, attended the high school 
of Hartford, Conn., until his seventeenth year, 
and then entered Yale university, from which 
he was graduated in 1 882 with the degree of B. 
A. Having decided upon the law as a profes- 
sion, and after a course of preliminary read- 
ing therein, he entered the Yale law school, 
and after receiving the degree of LL. D. in 
1885, began practicing the same year in Grand 
Ivapids, Mich., in partnership with William 
H. Eastman. Superior to man}' of his pro- 
fessional associates in literary and scientific cul- 
ture and well endowed with natural gifts, he 
entered upon his duties under most encour- 
aging auspices. Success, professional and pe- 
cuniary, attended him, and it was not long ere 
he made his presence felt at a bar composed 
of exceptionably able lawyers. 

Mr. Boltsvood was associated with Mr. 
Eastman for about six months, when he ef- 
fected a co-partnership with his brother Lucius, 
under the firm name of Boltwood & Bolt- 
wood, to which another brother, Charles \V., 
was admitted in 1892. The firm thus consti- 
tuted still continues, and the business, large 
and lucrative, embraces a wide range of gen- 
eral practice, in which the senior member's 
ability is utilized in looking up legal principles 
involved and e.xercising general management 
of the office. 



Mr. Boltwood entered into the marriage re- 
lation in Grand Rapids, September i, 1891, 
with Miss Mary Gernon Rice, who was bojn 
in Lowell, Mich., on the 14th day of October, 
1870, a daughter of Harvey A. and Eliza (Ger- 
non) Rice. To this union has been born one 
child, a daughter, Ruth Gernon. 

Though a democrat from his boyhood and 
a man of decided convictions, Mr. Boltwood is 
not an extremist in politics, and has never as- 
pired to the dignity nor sought the emoluments 
of office. He belongs to that wing of the 
party known as gold democrats, and never hes- 
itates when exigency demands to express him- 
self with intelligence and vigor on all questions 
of financial and public policy. Socially, he is 
a member of the Lakeside and Hesperus clubs, 
and with his wife belongs to the Park Congre- 
gational church, in which at this time he holds 
the position of chairman of the board of trus- 
tees. 

In every relation of life Mr. Boltwood is 
known as a gentleman of pure morals and 
strict integrity, and his natural talents and 
professional acquirements are a prophecy of 
still higher honors and greater usefulness. He 
enjoys the esteem and confidence of his pro- 
fessional brethren and the firm with which he 
is connected is destined to occupy and per- 
manently maintain a distinguished place in the 
legal circles of Grand Rapids and western 
Michigan. 

Lucius Boltwood, a second son of Rev. 
Lucius M. and Clarinda B. Boltwood, was 
born July 27, 1862, in Amherst, Mass., and 
graduated from the Hartford public high 
school when sixteen years of age. He then en- 
tered Yale, from which he graduated with the 
degree of B. A. in 1883, and three years later 
received the degree of LL. B. from the law de- 
partment of that university. The year follow- 
ing his graduation, Mr. Boltwood came to 
Grand Rapids, Mich., and became associated 



66 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



in the practice with his brother George S. , and 
since that time has represented the firm in all 
its business coming before the courts. He is 
well grounded in the principles of the law, and 
his professional career, though comparatively 
brief, has been characterized by a perseverance 
which has won success, and which, united with 
high intellectual and legal attainments, is sure 
to win him a prominent position at the Kent 
county bar. 

Mr. Boltwood and Miss Etta M. Conistock, 
youngest daughter of Hon. C. C. Comstock, 
were united in marriage, September i, 1890, 
and their union has been blessed by the birth 
of two children, Lucius Comstock and Ches- 
ter Guild Boltwood. 

Mr. Boltwood is a gentleman of culture 
and refinement, pleasant in demeanor and 
courteous to all with whom he comes in con- 
tact professionally or otherwise. He belongs 
to the Hesperus club, and in religion is an 
Episcopalian, belonging to the St. Mark's 
church, with which his wife is also identified. 
Reared in the political faith of the democratic 
party, he has never swerved in his allegiance 
to its principles, and believes that true de- 
mocracy is best represented in the platform 
adopted by the Chicago convention of 1896. 

Charles Wright Boltwood, youngest son 
of Rev. Lucius M. Boltwood and junior mem- 
ber of the law firm of Boltwood & Boltwood, 
was born on the 6th day of December, 1867, 
at Washington, D. C. He received his pre- 
liminary education in the Hillhouse high 
school. New Haven, Conn., completing the 
prescribed course in 1886, and he is also an 
alumnus of Yale, from which he received the 
degree of B. A. in 1890. After a two years' 
course in the Yale law school, he was graduated 
with the degree of LL. B., and immeditately 
thereafter joined his brothers in Grand Rapids, 
where he has since practiced his profession 
with success and financial profit. Mr. Bolt- 



wood brought to the profession a mind well 
trained by many years of severe discipline, 
and his knowledge of the underlying princi- 
ples of jurisprudence and the tact to apply 
them to the cases in hand have brought him 
to the favorable notice of the Grand Rapids 
bar and the general public. He is enterprising 
in all the term implies, but his zeal in behalf 
of his clients' interests has never led him to 
resort to anything savoring of disreputable 
practice, and his record is untarnished by a 
single unworthy act. 

A believer irr the dignity of the law, he 
endeavors to shape his life in harmony with 
professional ethics, and this has not been with- 
out encouraging results in a business and 
financial sense. Mr. Boltwood is a genial, 
courteous gentleman, possesses social qualities 
of a high order, and is popular with the peo- 
ple of his adopted city. He is a member of 
the Schubert and Lakeside clubs, and politically 
votes with the democratic party. 




AMES BOYLON. — America is pre-em- 
inently a land of self-made men, for 
here abound opportunities for achiev- 
ing success such as no other country 
or clime affords. The young man of energy 
and correct habits may here readily obtain a 
place of respect and influence, provided he is 
well grounded in the principles of uprightness 
and integrity. Among the well-known and 
highly-respected young business men of Grand 
Rapids who have forged to the front and won 
for themselves worthy names maj- be classed 
James Boylon, proprietor of the livery barn 
situated at No. 156 North Ionia street, who is 
one of Kent county's native sons and was born 
in the township of Ada on the iSth of July, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



07 



1866. His father is Thomas Boylon, a well- 
known citizen of the county, an appropriate 
notice of whom appears elsewhere in this vol- 
ume. Until his sixteenth year James Boylon 
remained with his parent's on the home farm, 
dividing his tiine between labor in the fields 
and attendance at the district schools, and 
from that age until attaining his majority bore 
his full share in the support of the family. 
The free out-door life made him develop into 
a strong, healthy young man, and the lessons 
of industry early inculcated by tilling the soil 
have been of great practical value to him in 
the various business ventures which have since 
engaged his time and attention. On reaching 
manhood's estate Mr. Boylon began buying 
live stock, principally horses, which he shipped 
to the eastern markets, and three years given 
to this enabled him to accumulate sufficient 
capital to engage in the li\ery business in 
Grand Rapids. He began business at his 
present stand in 1888, and since that time has 
added largely to his stock and otherwise in- 
creased his facilities until now he is proprietor 
of a well-appointed barn, and commands a 
patronage which returns him a liberal income. 
He has twenty-three good horses, and keeps 
first-class vehicles of all kinds, including two 
fine hacks, and the public has ever found him 
most courteous in ministering to their wants 
in his line of business. The success with 
which he has met is due entirely to his indus- 
try and desire to please the public by render- 
ing value received, and it is safe to predict a 
largely increased patronage for- him as the 
years go by. 

Mr. Boylon was happily married Novem- 
ber 21, 1888, to Mary Carl, who was born m 
Barry county, Mich., on the 6th day of June, 
1S67, a daughter of Byron and Bridget (Par- 
ker) Carl. Both Mr. and Mrs. Boylon were 
reared in the Catholic church and have ever 
remained true to the pure teachings of the 



faith. They belong to St. Alphonso's congre- 
gation in Grand Rapids, and are active in the 
discharge of each and every duty devolving 
upon them as lo3'al Catholics and Christians. 
Politically Mr. Boylon votes with the democ- 
racy, but is not a partisan or seeker after offi- 
cial position, being known in the city as a 
business man only. He owns a comfortable 
home at No. 63 Page street, beside other 
city property, all of which has been acquired 
by his own well-directed business efforts. The 
fraternal orders with which he affiliates are the 
Ivnights of Pj'thias, Maccabees and Ancient 
Order of Hibernians. 



dm 



MITH DARWIN BOUGHNERE, M. 
D.,, D. D. S., principal and proprietor 
of the Valley City Post-graduate Den- 
tal school. No. loi Monroe street. 
Grand Rapids, Mich., is a native of France 
and was born in Paris. August 3, 1857. He 
was brought to America in his infancy by his 
parents, Martin and Mary Elizabeth Bough- 
nere, who located in Norfolk county, Ontario, 
but later settled in Michigan. In early man- 
hood the father was a hotelkeeper, but later be- 
came a farmer, and is now a resident of Port- 
land, Mich., at the age of eighty years. An 
only brother of the doctor, named Henry P., 
formerly a dentist, is also a resident of Port- 
land and is engaged in manufacturing. 

Dr. S. Darwin Boughnere passed his child- 
hood and early manhood in Ontario and about 
1879 came to Michigan, but has since traveled 
extensively, visiting Missouri, California, and 
other parts of the west. He commenced the 
study of dentistry at the United States Dental 
college, Chicago, in 1890-91, but had contin- 
ued his studies at the Delavan Dental college, 



6S 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



at Delavan, Wis., until 1889, receiving diplo- 
mas from both institutions, and in 1896 grad- 
uated from the Kansas City college of Dental 
Surgery, where he had been demonstrator in 
1895-96. He ne.xt took a post-graduate course 
in the Chicago college of Dental Surgery, and 
also graduated from the Physico-Medical college 
of Chicago, in 1897, with the degree of M. D., 
and in this institution has also held the position 
of demonstrator in the dental department. In 
1897 he also took a post-graduate course at 
the Kansas Citj' college of Dental Surgery, 
and thus concluded his college studies. 

For the twelve years last past, the doctor 
has been in active practice in Grand Rapids, 
excepting only such as he passed, during this 
period, as a student or demonstrator elsewhere. 
He has expended a small fortune in qualifying 
himself for his profession, and is beyond doubt 
one of the most profound students of his art in 
the state of Michigan. His travel has familiar- 
ized him with the best methods employed in 
the science, anywhere and everj'where, and he 
has secured a fine cabinet of curios from all 
parts of the country, principally such appli- 
ances as show what the progress of dentistry 
has been since it first became a recognized 
science, and in the anatomical selection are 
many specimens of abnormal growth of jaws 
and teeth. 

In addition to his professional ability, Dr. 
Boughnere is a mechanical genius, and has in- 
vented various machines and appliances 
adapted to the dental profession, which not 
only simplify but expedite the work. For ex- 
ample: The Boughnere dental engine has a 
lathe head attachment, twenty-ball bearing, 
and weighs about sixteen pounds, and may all 
except the driving wheel be carried in an over- 
coat pocket, while the wheel is carried in the | 
hand. He has a dental bracket, with attach- ' 
ment, gasoline generator and blow-pipe all 
complete. This machine, which he alone man- 



ufactures, is sold complete for $30, with the 
exception of the "top," as it is made adjustable 
to any top in the market, of which the pur- 
chaser may make his choice. 

The doctor's operating room is furnished 
with one of the most complete chairs knoun 
to the profession, and his laboratory with a 
complete S3'stem of electric power, all of 
which he has supplied himself regardless of 
cost; and his reception room is handsomeh' 
adorned with expensive oil paintings. At 
present he has associated with him as his as- 
sistant, Dr. R. G. Beckwith, a practical mech- 
anician and dentist. 

Dr. Boughnere is a genial and affable gen- 
tleman, as well as scientist, and is a typical 
representative of his race, although reared in 
America. He was married in Simcoe, Onta- 
rio, in 1 861, to Miss Alice Dennis, a native of 
Berkshire, England, and this union has been 
crowned with one child. Belle — a graduate of 
the Grand Rapids high school, and, like her 
mother, a highly educated lady and an orna- 
'ment to society. 

In religion the doctor is not connected 
with any church, and in politics he is inde- 
pendent. His social relations, however, like 
those of his wife and daughter, are with the 
elite of Grand Rapids. 




EORGE BLICKLEY, of the well- 
known undertaking firm of Blickley & 
Rauschenberger, with office at No. 25 
West Bridge street, has been in this 
line for the past five years, and, as he had 
been a very popular citizen previously, added 
a prestige to the business, which had been 
originally established about ten years previous- 
ly and was on a solid basis, the concern being 
now about fifteen years old. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



G9 



John George Blickle}', father of George, 
the subject, came from Germany to America 
when a young man, and married Annie Mary 
Kalnback, who bore to him two children, viz: 
Catherine, the wife of John Ellenger, of Grand 
Rapids, and George, whose name opens this 
biography. The father was a mason by trade, 
was industrious and of steady habits, but while 
working in the wet on bridge piers, caught a 
cold which degenerated into pneumonia of the 
lungs, and caused his death at the early age of 
twenty-seven years. The death of his widow 
took place at the age of fifty-four. 

George Blickley was born in Grand Rapids 
July 3, 1859, was educated in the public 
schools, and at the age of fifteen years began 
work as a general utility hand and clerk in a 
store. Being naturally of a mechanical turn, 
he next entered a wagon manufactory; later, 
he learned cabinetmaking, and still later was 
employed by the Pheni.x Furniture ^fanufact- 
uring company, with which he remained seven- 
teen years, and then engaged in his present 
business, with which he has since become 
thoroughly acquainted through the instruction 
imparted by his partner, who is practical and 
well acquainted with every detail. 

Mr. Blickley was united in marriage, in 
Grand Rapids, with Miss Bertha Ivuslanger, 
and this marriage has been blessed with four 
children, born in the following order: Mamie 
H., Wesley G. , Lena P. and Matilda. 

In politics Mr. Blickley was first a republi- 
can, but his last vote with that party was for 
James A. Garfield, in 1880, since when his 
affiliations have been with the democratic party. 
He is a uiember of the school board, and takes 
great interest in public education. In religion, 
he was reared in the faith of the German 
Methodist church, and has strictly lived ac- 
cording to its precepts. Fraternally, he is an 
Odd Fellow and a member of the Ancient 
Order of United Workmen. Mr. Blickley is a 



large, well developed man physically, is genial, 
pleasant, and courteous in his nature, and 
wherever he goes attracts to himself friends 
who ever remain steadfast. 




EV. DAN F. BRADLEY, D. D.. has 
displayed great ability in his occu- 
pancy of the Park First Congrega- 
tional church pulpit, and has won for 
himself a high reputation as a profound theo- 
logian and eloquent pulpit orator. 

Rev. Dan F. Bradley, D. D., was born in 
Bangkok, Siam, March 17, 1857, a son of Dr. 
Dan B. and Sarah (Blachly) Bradley, both 
missionaries of the Congregational church to 
that country.' 

Dr. Dan B. Bradley was a native of Mar- 
cellus, N. Y., was a son of Judge Dan Brad- 
ley, and a graduate from Yale college. The 
father of Mrs. Sarah Bradley was Eben 
Blachly, a pioneer of Trumbull county, Ohio, 
and later an early settler of Baraboo, Wis. 

To Dr. Dan B. Bradley were born seven 
children, of whom six are still living, and all 
prominent in the intellectual world, the five 
survivors, beside the doctor, being Mrs. Sophia 
McGilvary, wife of Dr. Daniel McGilvary, 
missionary in charge of the work at Laos, 
Northern Siam ; Prof. Cornelius B. Bradley, 
of the University of California at Berkley, 
Alameda county, Cal. ; Mrs. Sarah Cheek, of 
Oakland, Cal. ; Mrs. A. T. Blachly, of Delta, 
Colo., and Miss Irene Bradley, of Bangkok, 
Siam. 

The early education of Rev. Dan F. Brad- 
ley was acquired under the instruction of his 
mother, and he lived at Bangkok until 1877, 
when he came to the land of his forefathers, 
and the same year entered the preparatory 



70 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



school at Oberlin, Ohio; in 1878 he entered 
the college, and graduated therefrom in 1882. 
He next entered the divinity school, or theo- 
logical seminary, at Oberlin, and from this he 
graduated in 18S5. At Steubenville, Ohio, 
he held his first charge, from 18S5 until 1S87, 
when he received a call from Yankton, S. Dak., 
where, in addition to his ministerial duties, he 
had charge of Yankton college for two years, 
and where, in 1892, was conferred upon him 
the degree of D. D. In 1892, also. Dr. Brad- 
ley, before being awarded the degree of D. D., 
was called from Yankton to Grand Rapids, 
and here he has occupied the pulpit of the 
Park First Congregational church. 

Re\'. Dr. D. F. Bradley was united in 
marriage, in 1883, with Miss Lillian Jaques, 
of Cleveland, Ohio, and this felicitous union 
has been blessed with two children, viz: Dwight, 
now aged ten years, and Robert, at the age of 
seven. 

\\'ith nothing to hide and no one to fear 
e.Ncept God, being free through the truth and 
fortified by varied and extensive knowledge, 
both secular and religious, he stands his six feet 
in splendid physical stature, and his more than 
head and shoulders above the average of his 
fellows, intellectually. 

Rev. Bradley is generous and charitable 
and is prominently identified with the mis- 
sions. He is a man of high literary attain- 
ments, his reading and investigation having 
been carried into almost every line of thought 
and research which have occupied the atten- 
tion of the brightest minds" through the ages. 
One of the finest private libraries in Grand 
Rapids is that of Rev. Bradle}', and there he 
is passing his life, rich in the honors and re- 
spect which follow an upright career that has 
ever been true to its ideals and highest possi- 
bilities — a life that has been of pre-eminent 
benefit to his fellow-men by conserving their 
individual good. Strong in his individuality. 



he never lacks the courage of his convictions, 
but there are, as dominating elements in his 
individuality, a lively human sympathy and an 
abiding charity, which, when taken in connec- 
tion with the sterling integrity and honor of 
his character, have naturally gained to Rev. 
Bradley the regard and confidence of all. 



OHN H. COLLETON, the enterprising 
and popular real-estate dealer at No. 
I 56 Ellsworth avenue. Grand Rapids, 
Mich., w'as born in county Queens, 
Ireland, January i, 1S52, a son of Dennis and 
Sarah (Fitzpatrick) Colleton, natives of the 
same county, and parents of seven children, 
viz: Dennis, Thomas, John H., Michael, Mary 
Ann, Elizabeth and Johanna, all of whom are 
living, with the exception of the first born. 
Thomas and Michael live in Grand Rapids, 
the former being a liquor dealer and the latter 
a dealer in real estate, and both married; 
Mary Ann is the wife of Christopher Miles, a 
farmer of Byron township, Kent county, 
Mich.; Elizabeth is now Mrs. Peter Phalen, 
and Johanna is unmarried, and both still live 
in Ireland. The father of the family, who 
was a farmer, died in Ireland, at the age of 
fifty-two, and the mother at fifty-eight years. 
John H. Colleton was the first of his fam- 
ily to leave the Emerald isle, and arrived in 
America in 1869. He began learning carriage- 
making with a cousin in Brooklyn, N. Y. , but 
never finished his apprenticeship, preferring 
to come west. On arriving in Grand Rapids 
he found emploj'ment as head porter, and later 
as night clerk, in Sweet's hotel, and held his 
place for seven years. His work was hard and 
hissalary but moderate, though his opportunities 
for receiving ''scale" money were excellent, 



iilllil 



•i 




/ 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



and he saved every cent. He here inaugurat- 
ed the scalping business — the first in the city, 
as far as known — and made a handsome sum 
by buying and selling railway and steamship 
tickets. The first four years he deposited over 
$4,000 in the Old National bank, and while 
still in the hotel began dealing in real estate, 
making his first purchase in 1873. In 1875, 
he erected two large residences, which he aft- 
erward disposed of to good advantage. In 
1876, prior to leaving the hotel, he established 
a retail liquor business at No. i 56 Ellsworth 
avenue, and allowed his cousin a half-interest 
for conducting it; this has been continued un- 
til the present time, wholesaling being added 
in 1884. 

In I'SSi, Mr. Colleton made a trip to Eu- 
rope, visiting Germany, France, Holland, 
Switzerland, northern and southern Italy, Bel- 
gium, England and Ireland. He invested 
heavily in wines and liquors in Holland, Ger- 
many, France^ Italy, England and Ireland, 
bringing the cargo through the great lakes to 
Grand Haven, Mich., and was thus the first 
importer to land foreign liquors on Michigan 
soil. On his return he established a branch 
store at No. 50 Lyon street, Grand Rapids, 
and has continued in the importing business 
ever since. He also brought over with him 
his brother Michael and sister Mary A. — Mich- 
ael being connected in business with him until 
1897. His brother Thomas had come over in 
1S78. 

In 1881, also, Mr. Colleton purchased two 
tracts of 320 acres each of heavily hardwood- 
timbered land in northern Michigan, which he 
disposed of at a handsome profit, and invested 
the proceeds in city property. In 1882-3-4, 
he built extensively in the city — mostly tene- 
ments — expending many thousands of dollars, 
but since the panic of 1893 rents have greatly 
fallen and values depreciated. In the year 
last mentioned, he owned, clear of incum- 



brance, twenty-three houses and blocks in the 
city, but his losses, owing to the depreciation 
spoken of, have been very heavy. 

Mr. Colleton next began dealing in patent 
rights, at one time investing over $9,000 which 
brought him no returns; another investment of 
a similar character resulted in a total loss of 
$5,000, and another cause of great loss has 
been the too free use of his name on the back 
of other men's paper. But Mr. Colleton never 
quailed under these severe reverses, and is to- 
day still a wealthy and respected man. 

April 16, 1875, Mr. Colleton was united in 
marriage with Miss Katie E. Curran, who was 
born in Fishkill, Dutchess county, N. Y., June 
22, 1854, a daughter of James and Catherine 
(Fitzpatrick) Curran — the father being a na- 
tive of county Cavan, and the mother of coun- 
ty Queens, Ireland. The marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. Colleton has been blessed with nine 
children, four of whom still survive, viz: Den- 
nis Michael, John Henry, Jr., Katie E. and 
Elizabeth; Thomas, Mary, Sarah and Mat- 
thew died in infancy or early childhood, and 
one babe died unnamed. 

In politics Mr. Colleton was a stanch dem- 
ocrat up to 1874, when he became convinced 
that the policy of the republican party was 
more consistent with the needs of the poorer 
classes, and more favorable to the down-trod- 
den of the old world, and since that date he 
has been a zealous worker for the latter party, 
and freely contributed his money and personal 
exertions to secure the election of James G. 
Blaine to the presidency. 

In 18S4 Mr. Colleton made a second trip 
across the ocean, visiting Spain, South Amer- 
ica, the West Indies, Central America, etc., 
and spending seven months — on business com- 
bined with pleasure. On this trip he formed 
the acquaintance of several firms in Spain, 
with whom he has since been doing business. 
He is a progressive, up-to-date business man. 



74 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



with vast and varied experiences in life. He 
began his career in this country without money 
or influence, and through his individual busi- 
ness tact, energy, industry and economy at 
the beginning, has forced himself to a fore- 
most position among the most affluent busi- 
ness men of Grand Rapids, and although 
a dealer in liquors is a strict teetotaler. 

Mr. Colleton and family are members of 
the Catholic church, and worship at St. An- 
drew's cathedral, under the Very Rev. Bishop 
Richter. He is not niggardly in contributing 
to the church and its sodalities, and is ever 
ready to aid all its work of charity. 

Dennis Michael Colleton, eldest son of 
subject, attended Assumption college at Sand- 
wich, Canada, for three years, with a view of 
entering the ministry, but relinquished his pur- 
pose. He is also a graduate from the Grand 
Rapids Business college. Mr. Colleton is a 
member of the A. O. H., and of company B, 
Thirty-second regiment, state national guards. 
He has been largely interested in the manu- 
facture of bed springs and carpet beaters, and 
is the patentee of both articles, and has made 
a success of them. He is a public-spirited citi- 
zen, and is active in both political and social 
circles. 




HOMAS PARKS BRADFIELD, attor- 
ney and counselor at law, is a son of 
Thomas D.Bradfield, of Grand Rapids, 
and was born at Copper Falls Mine, 
Keweenaw county, Mich,, on the 27th day of 
December, 1871. He received his prelimina- 
ry education in the city high school, which he 
attended until he was eighteen. He then en- 
tered the university of Michigan, from which he 
was graduated with the degree of bachelor of 
philosophy in 1894. In the following year he 



graduated from the university with the degree 
of bachelor of laws. He was admitted to the 
bar in June, 1S95, and immediately thereafter 
entered the office of Fitzgerald cS; Barry, Grand 
Rapids, where he remained until January, 
1898, when he opened an office in the Michi- 
gan Trust building, where he remained sever- 
al months, and then removed to the Tower 
block, rooms 41 and 42, his present offices. 
Mr. Bradfield gives his energy and attention 
to the general practice of law. 

October 25, 1896, Mr. Bradfield was 
united in marriage at Port Huron, Mich., to 
Elizabeth V. Palmer, daughter of Charles H. 
and Mary E. (Spalding) Palmer, of Boston, 
Mass. Mr. and Mrs. Bradfield have one 
daughter, Virginia P. In religion, he is an 
Episcopalian, attending with his wife St. 
Mark's church in this city. 




OHN MELVIN BRIDGMAN, D. D. S.. 
is among the popular and successful 
professional men of Grand Rapids, and 
no one stands higher than he before the 
public, inasmuch as he is distinctively a self- 
made man. His education was obtained with- 
out financial aid, and from youth to mature 
manhood and middle age, he has been depend- 
ent only upon his own exertions. By this 
means he has acquired a competence, and lives 
in peace and good-fellowship with all men. 

Dr. Bridgman was born in Rochester, X. 
Y., November 15, 1854, and attended the pub- 
lic schools of Rochester and Albany, N. Y. 
At an early age he entered the dental office of 
his uncle, Dr. James G. Bridgman, in Roches- 
ter, and was well qualified for the practice of 
his profession when he reached Grand Rapids 
in the 'sixties. Here he spent some years in the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



75 



office of Dr. Rogers, a well known dentist and 
early settler of this city. He opened his pres- 
ent office and embarked in business on his own 
account on the 1st of January, 1877, and has 
been in continuous and successful practice 
ever since. That he might the better round 
out his professional work, he took a post-grad- 
uate course in the Chicago Dental college, re- 
turning to his practice with renewed energy 
and zeal. Through honorable and fair deal- 
ing, he has established an enviable reputation 
and amassed a fortune. 

The doctor possesses, in his own right, 
some valuable real estate in Grand Rapids, 
insuring him a handsome income from rentals, 
aside from the large receipts from professional 
work. He is an affable and pleasant gentle- 
man, whose family, as well as himself, hold a 
prominent place in the better society of Grand 
Rapids. 

John M. Bridgman is the only child born 
to George R. and Eliza Jane (Smith) Bridg- 
man, natives of New York state, the father 
having been born in New York city, and moth- 
er at Kendall Mills, near Rochester. 

George R. Bridgrnan was a master mechanic 
and finished workman at his chosen trade, 
that of a millright. At an early day in the his- 
tory of Grand Rapids he moved his family 
here, and was engaged in building and placing 
machinery in the various mills about the city. 
Among these are the now famous Valley City 
mills, the Star mills, the Crescent mills, and 
Godfrey's Plaster mills. He also put in the 
extensive mechanical mills at Elk Rapids, but 
he did not live to round out the full time al- 
lotted to man. His death occurred in this 
city in 1888, at the age of fifty-two years. His 
widow has since been a member of the family 
of the subject, and is now in her si.xty-seventh 
year. Though a mechanical genius in his day, 
the peer of any man in his chosen profession, ! 
George Bridgman did not amass riches, and ! 



died a comparatively poor man, possessing the 
good will and esteem of all who knew him. 

Dr. Bridgman was married in September, 
1 87 5, at Newaygo, Mich., the lady of his choice 
being Miss Ann Jacobi, a native of New York 
city, and a daughter of a prominent merchant 
of Newaygo, Mich. Her parents, Frederick 
and Marie (Zitz) Jacobi, were natives of Leip- 
sic, Germany, and came to this country in their 
early lives. The father died in Newaygo in 
1S88, and the mother still lives there. The 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Jacobi were five 
in number, are still living to cheer the declin- 
ing years of their mother, and are named as 
follows: Fredrika, who is the wife of Melville 
Johnson, of St. Louis, Mo. ; Anna, now Mrs. 
Bridgman; Lena, widow of John McGraw, late 
of New York city; Marie, married to Milton 
Bond, a lumber merchant in Mississippi, and 
Frederick, a jeweler by occupation and still un- 
married. The mother, Mrs. McGraw and 
Frederick make their home together in Neway- 
go, where Mrs. McGraw is engaged in the mil- 
linery business. Frederick is somewhat of a 
dog fancier, is the owner of the Woodbine 
kennels, and an importer and breeder of high- 
class Cocker spaniels and English setters. 

A peculiar coincidence in the history of 
this family is the fact that three fathers — 
George Rodney Bridgman, James Smith, ma- 
ternal grandfather of the doctor, and Frederick 
Jacobi — all died in the " eighties," between 
1880 and 1S89. Mrs. Eliza Jane Bridgman is 
still hale and hearty, whose presence in the 
family is a real necessity to the happiness of 
all the members. In her younger days she was 
an accomplished musician, and for twelve years 
sang in the choir of the Congregational church 
at Wautoma, Wis., she and her husband hav- 
ing been among the pioneers of that state. 

Dr. and Mrs. Bridgman have but one child, 
Miss Lena Belle Bridgman, a beautiful and ac- 
complished young lady, stil! under the parental 



76 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



roof. Every advantajte for education has been 
given her, including her special studies in elo- 
cution and music. In these she has taken par- 
ticular interest, and her name has gone abroad 
as a gifted elocutionist and impersonator. In 
recognition of her special fitness as a teacher, 
she now has a large class of pupils, which she 
receives in the palatial home. Some of the 
leading ladies of this city are numbered among 
her students. Many of the entertainments 
given for -'sweet charity's sake," or for the 
amusement and entertainment of invited 
guests, have their origin under the Bridgman 
roof. 

Miss Lena is also a leading soprano in the 
choir of St. Mark's Episcopal church, of which 
the family are members. She is a young lady 
whose accomplishments are acknowledged to 
be far above mediocrity, yet she deports her- 
self with that lady-like grace and ease which is 
inborn — not acquired. Her voice is the em- 
bodiment of sweetness and purity, involving a 
compass rarel}' attained after years of patient 
training. She revels unconsciously in the 
praise and adoration of all who know her. 
Her manner at home is that of a petted and 
idolized child. She appears all unconscious of 
her rare accomplishments, and, like the sweet 
and innocent child that she is, seems to take 
more pleasure in petting and fostering a 
wounded bird than in talking of her own mar- 
velous possibilities. The press is full to over- 
flowing in her praise, and a lo\ingand devoted 
mother has carefully gathered and preserved 
these in a scrapbook set apart for the purpose. 
It is a record of her personal achie^-'ements, of 
which the most renowned 'artists of our land 
might justly feel proud. It is impossible in a 
work of this character to do more than to com- 
mend the kind consideration and natural pride 
of her parents in thus preserving, for future 
reading, the views of the greatest critics — the 
newspapers of the land. 



The Bridgman home is the personification 
of comfort and affiuence. The mansion is 
built after the most modern stjle ,of architec- 
ture, with due regard to symmetry, beauty of 
design, economy of space and elegance, yet 
these are not its crowning features. "Home 
is where love is," and this is truly an ideal 
American home. The little family are all in 
all to each other. Surrounded b}- the lu.xuries 
which are the results of joint efforts and one- 
ness of purpose, they are contented and happy, 
and that ought to be the acme of ambition. 

Dr. Bridgman has devoted the years of his 
mature manhood strictly to the interests of his 
profession. He has never found time to take 
active part in political affairs or social societies. 
In politics he votes for the best interests of the 
country, regardless of political party lines. 
He has neither sought nor held public office. 
The only' societies with which he is affiliated 
are the M. W. of A. and Knights of Honor, 
both beneficial or insurance orders. 




E:NN M. CORWIX, attorney at law, 
g, a at Grand Rapids, Mich., was born in 
8^ the township of Georgetown, Ottawa 
county, Mich., September 20, 1865, 
and is a son of Milton Nelson Corvvin, who 
was born in Cayuga county, in the state of 
New York, and Mary (Spear) Corvvin, born in 
the township of Charlotte, Chittenden county, 
Vt. Mr. and Mrs. Corwin were married in 
Barry county, Mich. 

When Milton N. Corwin came to Michigan 
from New York, in 1S38, he located in Ypsi- 
lanti, where he worked for ten years at his 
trade as a painter; he then removed to Barry 
county, Mich., and there engaged in farming 
until 1857, when he removed to the state of 



m 







AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



79 



Missouri, from which state he returned to 
Michigan in the spring of 1859, and located in 
the township of Georgetown, in Ottawa coun- 
ty, on a rented farm, where he lived until 1865. 
ft was in a log house on this rented farm that 
the subject of this sketch was born, and when 
he was but six weeks old, his parents removed 
to a farm which his father had bought in the 
township of Blendon, in the same county. At 
that time the only way of reaching the new 
home was by means of a logging road, which 
wound through the woods for more than two 
miles from the nearest traveled public highway. 
Three years later, a school-house was built in 
the woods, a half mile from Mr. Corwin's 
hotne, and I^enn M. Corwin was one of the 
ten pupils whose names composed the enrol- 
ment for the first term of school. 

Mr. Corwin was the sixth of a family of 
eight children. He continued to attend the 
district school in winter, and worked on his 
father's farm in summer, until he was nineteen 
years of age, when he started out to make his 
own way in the world. He earned his first 
money cutting wood by the cord, and in 
March, 1885, attended the county teachers' 
examination and obtained a certificate to teach 
school in Ottawa county. Not being success- 
ful in obtaining a school to teach that year, he 
continued to work on a farm until the follow- 
ing March, when he again passed the examin- 
ation and obtained a teacher's certificate, and 
taught his first school in his native township of 
Georgetown in the spring of 18S6. He spent 
the months of July and August of that year at 
a summer normal school in Flint, Mich., and, 
returning to Ottawa county, taught school in 
the township of Talmadge, the next winter, 
fn the spring of 18S7 he came to Grand Rapids, " 
and during the summer clerked in a grocery 
store kept by P. Wendover at the head of 
Monroe street; the next winter he continued 
clerking in the store mornings and evenings 



and on Saturdays, to pay his board, and at- 
tended the Grand l^apids Business college, do- 
ing his studying at night, and graduating in 
June, r888. He next kept books for a year 
and a half, and then passed eight months in 
Milwaukee, Wis., as an advertising and solicit- 
ing agent. Returning to Grand Rapids in the 
month of August, 1890, he entered the law 
office of C. O. Smedley and commenced the 
study of law; he continued to work for Mr. 
Smedley, in the law business, and was admit- 
ted to practice in the circuit court, January 
13, 1894, and in the supreme court, January 
31st of the same year. On May 28, 1897, 
he was admitted to practice in the United 
States district and circuit courts. 

He continued to practice law in the office 
of Mr. Smedley until the istof January, 1897, 
when he was appointed second assistant prose- 
cuting attorney of Ivent county by Mr. Rod- 
gers, and farmed a partnership under the firm 
name of Rodgers, McDonald & Corwin, which 
continued two years; when Mr. Smedley, with 
whom he had received his early legal training, 
made him an offer of a partnership, which he 
accepted, and resigned his position with the 
prosecuting attorney and went into private law 
practice with Mr. Smedley, under the firm 
name of Smedley & Corwin, with offices at 15, 
16 and 17 New Houseman building. 

Mr. Corwin has been especially interested 
in the enforcement of the pure-food laws of 
the state of Michigan, and, as assistant prosecu- 
ting attorney, tried the cases brought to test 
the anti-color oleomargarine law, and the 
vinegar law, drawing the complaints, preparing 
the briefs, and presenting the cases at the hear- 
ing in the supreme court. Some of these 
briefs have been most favorably commented 
upon by leading attorneys, not only in Michi- 
gan, but in other states. Since resigning his 
position as assistant prosecuting attorney, the 
dairy and food commissioner of Michigan has 



80 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



shown his confidence in Mr. Corwin's ability 
by retaining hitn in all important matters rela- 
tive to the enforcement of the pure-food laws. 

In 1898, he was elected a member of the 
board of education of the city of Grand Rapids; 
and in December, 1899. ^^'=^s elected a director 
of the Young Men's Christian association of 
Grand Rapids, for the term of three years. In 
his private practice Mr. Corwin is making 
rapid strides toward the front rank in the legal 
fraternity of the city and county. 

Mr. Corwin was joined in wedlock, in 
Grand Rapids, July 4, 1891, with Miss Ger- 
trude H. Comstock, who was born in Keene, 
N. H., October 21, 1868, a daughter of Dau- 
phin \V. and Frances J. (Hart) Comstock. 
They have lived in Grand Rapids continuously 
since their marriage, and this union has been 
blessed with two children — Howard D., born 
July 29, 1892, and Harold B., born December 
26, 1893. In religion, Mr. and Mrs. Cor- 
win are Baptists; politically, Mr. Corwin is a 
republican. 



HARLES S. BRIGGS, proprietor of 
the Oak Grove farm and dairy on 
Plainfield avenue, one-half mile from 
the city of Grand Rapids, Mich., 
was born in Washtenaw county, near Ann 
Arbor. December 31, 1842, and is a son of 
Barber and Mary (Swan) Briggs, both now 
deceased. 

The name Briggs is either of Welsh or 
English origin, but the American branch of 
the family has not taken any special pains to 
trace the name to its source. The Swan fam- 
ily is of Irish extraction. Barber Briggs and 
his family came from Orange county, N. Y. , in 
1834, and located in Washtenaw county, Mich. , 
near Ann Arbor, and in March, 1850, came to 



Kent county and settled on a farm in Grand 
Rapids township, a short distance north of the 
city. This farm was all wild land, on which 
a furrow had never been turned, but the fam- 
ily succeeded in converting it into one of the 
best in the state, and it has never since passed 
from the possession of the family. 

Charles S. Briggs was but seven years of 
age when the family came to Kent county, and 
here he passed his boyhood on the farm he 
still occupies; his education was acquired at 
the district school. The farm comprises 
eighty acres, and the site of the old home was 
the same as that on which the subject's house 
now stands. The fatnily consisted of two 
sons and two daughters, and of these, one 
daughter was married to Abel T. Page, but 
died while still young in years; Clara is the 
wife of Frank Collins and lives in Grand Rap- 
ids; Edward L. is a resident of Oakland, Cal. , 
and Charles S. is the subject of this sketch. 

Charles S. Briggs had taken the manage- 
ment of the farm before he had reached his 
majority, and at the age of twenty-three years 
arranged for an ownership of a half-interest in 
the place, on condition that he continue to 
manage it, and later he bought out the interest 
of the other heirs. He still conducts the 
farm, but also operates outside, and for the 
past twenty-five years has carried on a milk 
trade in Grand Rapids. He keeps a large 
herd of Jersey cattle on the farm, and like- 
wise grows peaches, pears, plums and other 
fruits. Probably no other man in the town- 
ship understands dairying better than he. His 
milk-house is spacious and convenient in all 
its arrangements, and fitted up with the most 
modern appliances for handling, cooling and 
bottling milk, which is aerated and all sold in 
bottles. His barn is roomy and completely 
fitted up, and his cows are stabled in a well- 
lighted basement, from which all ordure is 
promptly removed and all offensive odors ab- 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



81 



sorbed or destroyed by a liberal and judicious 
use of land plaster, one of the best disinfect- 
ants or deodorizers known. This barn is also 
supplied with a loo-ton silo, which cost $225, 
and which adds materially to the value of 
the dairy. He is a member of the Horticult- 
ural societ}', and is as successful in handling 
his fruits as in his dairy product. 

Mr. Briggs was united in marriage Novem- 
ber I, 1 88 1, to Miss Adell F.Ackerman, daugh- 
ter of William Ackerman, of Allendale, Ottawa 
county, and to this union have been born four 
children, named, William E., Raymond A., 
Florence A. and C. Sanford. The family at- 
tend the Second Congregational church on 
Plainfield avenue, and in politics Mr. Briggs 
svmpathizes with the democratic party, as his 
father had done before him, but has never been 
active in politics, preferring to give his atten- 
tion to his constantly increasing business; nor 
does he care for city life and its amusements, 
but holds himself right down to his dairying 
and farming. 

As a boy, Mr. Briggs did a great deal of 
hard labor in clearing up the homestead, and 
knows how and when each field was improved 
and how all the fields were brought together 
into one harmonious whole. He has made 
many modern improvements, and has as fine 
a place as any of its dimensions in the county 
of Kent. He and family enjoy the respect of 
their neighbors, who esteem him for his indus- 
try and his quiet methods of doing business 
without interfering or intermeddling with that 
of others. 



ENRY BROBST, proprietor Central 

Boiler works, situated at No. 5 30 Canal 

street and corner of Coldbrook street, 

was born in Miami county, Ohio, 

August 24, 1854, a son of Michael A. Brobst, 



a native of Pennsylvania. He was educated 
in Dayton, Ohio, and after receiving a certifi- 
cate of graduation from the high school of 
that city, went to Muncie, Ind., and engaged 
in the manufacture of steam boilers. He 
worked at his trade in Muncie a little over two 
years and then went to the city of Fort Wayne, 
where he was similarly employed until 1874, 
in September of which year he came to Grand 
Rapids and engaged as foreman of the Adolph 
Leitelt Boiler works. For a little over three 
years Mr. Brobst filled the above position, and 
then became foreman of the Michigan Iron 
works, in which capacity he continued for a 
number of years, the meanwhile acquiring the 
reputation of being one of the best-posted men 
in the manufacture of iron in the state. 

In March, 18S5, Mr. Brobst associated 
himself with John Hines and established the 
boiler works at No. i Huron street, under the 
firm name of John Hines & Co. This firm did 
a prosperous business, and after an existence 
of five years the style was changed to Brobst 
& Hines, the business being conducted at the 
original location. On the death of Mr. Hines, 
which occurred in January, 1892, Mr. Brobst 
became sole proprietor and has since continued 
the business with success and financial profit, 
removing the plant in June, 1895, to its pres- 
ent location on Canal street. The large 
marine boilers constructed by Mr. Brobst are 
found in nearly every large furniture factory of 
Grand Rapids, and have also been shipped to 
many manufacturing centres remote from this 
city. His works are fully equipped with the 
latest and most highly approved modern tools 
and appliances, and compressed air is used to 
operate much of the machinery to use for lift- 
ing, drilling, driving of rivets, etc., being the 
only plant at present to use compressed air in 
the city. This establishment is one of the 
leading industries of Grand Rapids, doing a 
large local and still larger general business, 



82 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and the proprietor is justly ranked among the 
successful manufacturers of the city. 

Mr. Brobst is a member of the I. O. O. F. 
fraternit}', belonging to lodge No. 12, also of 
Canton Pierce, No. 24. His name is found on 
the records of Kent camp, Modern Woodmen 
of America, and Daisy lodge, No. 48, 
B. P. O. E. 

Mr. Brobst's father, Michael A. Brobst, by 
trade a hatter, was born of German parentage, 
in December, 1814, in, the city of Reading, 
Pa., moved to Ohio in 1839, died in Grand 
Rapids, Mich., and was buried at Dayton, 
Ohio. The subject's mother died in Grand 
Rapids on the 4th day of May, 1898, at the 
ripe old age of seventy-eight. 




HOLMES BROWN, M. D., lately of 
Grand Rapids, with his office in room 
No. II, Porter block, but now of Ne- 
waygo, Mich., is a native of Dansville, 
Livingston county, N. Y., was born August 25, 
1866, and is the only child of Lucius and 
Susan (Cole) Brown, both natives of the Em- 
pire state. 

Lucius Brown was of English and Scotch 
e.xtraction, while his wife was of German de- 
scent. He passed his life in mercantile pur- 
suits and died in New York at the age of fifty- 
one years, his widow having since made her 
home with the doctor, her son, who is giving 
her every filial attention in her declining years. 
Dr. F. Holmes Brown graduated from the 
high school of his native city at the age of 
nineteen years and then began his professional 
studies in the office of Dr. F. M. Perine.of Dans- 
ville, under whose able instruction he applied 
himself to the acquirement of the rudiments of 
medical science for two years, and then entered 
university of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He 



graduated from the medical department of 
this famous university in 1890, and for the fol- 
lowing four years, or longer, practiced his 
profession in that city. He next passed a year 
in Philadelphia and New York as a specialist, 
and then removed to Grand Rapids, Mich., 
where he met with phenomenal success in the 
treatment of diseases of the skin and of rec- 
tal disorders. He keeps well abreast of the 
progress of his science, and is a member of the 
Michigan State Medical society, the Grand 
Rapids Academy of Medicine, and the Amer- 
ican Medical association; he was an attendant 
physician at Butterworth hospital, also is a lec- 
turer inthe school for nurses in that institution, 
and likewise at the Michigan Soldiers' home — 
these positions showing that his abilities, out- 
side of his specialties, are highl}' appreciated. 

The marriage of Dr. Brown took place at 
his old home in the Empire state September 
20, 1892, the lady of his choice being Miss Le- 
olaSchwingle.a native of Dansvilleand agradu- 
ate of its high school. This union has been 
blessed with one son, Emmett, now nearly 
two years of age. 

Fraternally, the doctor is a Rnight of Pyth- 
ias, and his religious affiliations are with the 
English Lutheran church, and socially he and 
wife move in the best circles of Newaygo, to 
which place he has recently removed. 



m 



ON. NORRIS J. BROWN, one of the 
most able lawyers of Grand Rapids, 
Mich., is a native of the state of New 
York and was born in Granby, Oswe- 
go county, April 21, 1852, a son of Erastus 
and Jane E. (Miller) Brown, who were natives 
of the same state, married in the same county, 
and became the parents of three children, \\z. : 
Emma, wife of Jason Hicks, a mechanic of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



^3 



Belding, Mich.; Norris J., whose name opens 
this paragraph, and Ida, wife of William 
Langs, a farmer of Kalamazoo county, Mich. 

Erastus Brown, a farmer by vocation, came 
from New York to Michigan in 1855 ^"d fol- 
lowed his calling in Branch count}- until i860, 
when he removed to Ionia county, farmed until 
1.SS7, and finally settled in Montcalm county, 
where he still resides. Here his wife passed 
away February 21, 1888, a devout member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. In 1896, Mr. 
Brown took for his second wife Mrs. Belle 
Grasely, the marriage taking place in Mont- 
calm county. In religion, Mr. I3rown is a 
Methodist; in politics, he is a prohibitionist. 
He is a gentleman of good habits, is of medium 
stature, is full of vitality, is an indefatigable 
worker, and is possessed of a comfortable com- 
petency. 

Norris J. Brown attended the district school 
until fourteen years old, and then was advanced 
to the high school at Portland, Ionia count}', 
from which he was graduated in the classical 
course of iSjt. At the age of sixteen, how- 
ever, he had begun teaching school in Ionia 
county, where he taught five years, and then 
one year in Montcalm county. In the mean- 
time he had undertaken the study of the law in 
the office of Hon. A. Williams, in Ionia, and by 
this and supplemental private study was qual- 
ified for admission to the Ionia county bar in 
1873. He began practice in Montcalm county 
in 1875 and met with unusual success. 

As a republican, Mr. Brown has been and 
still is very popular. For four years he was 
circuit court commissioner of Montcalm county, 
and four years prosecuting attorney. In 1889 
he was elected to the state legislature by 441 
majority, whereas his predecessor had received 
a majority of i,and he was a democrat at that. 
Mr. Brown was very active and efficient while 
in the house, was the author of several impor- 
tant bills, was a member of the judiciary com- 

4- 



mittee and chairman of the committee on rail- 
roads, and was characterized as the "big- 
hearted member from Montcalm." 

In 1890 Mr. Brown removed to Muskegon, 
where he again met with Battering success as 
a lawyer, and for one year was city attorney. 
In January, 1897, he came from Muskegon to 
Grand Rapids, and he now commands a lead- 
ing share of the litigable business of the city. 

Mr. Brown was united in marriage, in 
Montcalm county, December 21, 1876, to Miss 
Anna B. Pitcher, who was born in the Empire 
state in 1852, a daughter of Joseph and Mary 
Pitcher, whose parents were pioneers of Mich- 
igan. This marriage has been blessed with 
two children, viz.: Lula M., born December 
I, 1879, and Wells B., born February 4, 1883. 
The family attend the Congregational church, 
and fraternally, Mr. Brown is a member of 
Grand River lodge. No. 34, F. & A. M., of the 
Knights of, Pythias lodge, and of the Knights 
of Maccabees. Professionally, he is an all- 
around attorney and stands very high in the 
esteem of his contemporaries. While prose- 
cuting attorney, as noted above, he conducted 
seven murder trials in one year and managed 
over 1,000 criminal cases within four years — a 
task herculean in itself. The residence of Mr. 
Brown and family is at No. 34 Eighth avenue, 
and is the seat of a genial hospitality, where 
his few leisure hours are passed in the society 
of his many warm friends. 



ILLIAM B. BROWN, attorney at 
law of Grand Rapids, was born in 
Cascade township, Kent county, 
Mich., July i, 1865, a son of 
Hugh B. and Harriet (Lewis) Brown, the for- 
mer of whom is a native of Scotland and the 




84 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



latter of London, England, but whose mar- 
riage took place in Kent countj-, Mich. 

AVilliam B. Brown attended a district 
school until he was sixteen 3ears of age, and 
then took a six-months' course at the Northern 
Indiana Normal school at Valparaiso. In 
1882 he began teaching in his home district, 
although but seventeen years old, and in 1884 
returned to \'alparaiso, Ind., for six months, 
after which he resumed teaching in Kent 
county, and followed the vocation until the 
spring of 1889, when he entered Olivet col- 
lege, took a scientific course, and graduated 
in 1892 as advanced junior,- closing up the 
senior class studies from 1S92 to 1893. For 
a short time he traveled for the Franklin Ed- 
ucational company of Chicago, and then came 
to Grand Rapids, entered the law office of Al- 
fred Wolcott, who was then prosecuting attor- 
ney for the county, studied assiduously, and 
•was admitted to the bar May 8, 1895. He 
remained in Mr. Wolcott's office until the ex- 
piration of the latter's second term as prose- 
cuting attorney, in January, 1897. In the fall 
of 1896, Mr. Brown was elected circuit court 
commissioner, taking his seat in January, 
1897. Riving such general satisfaction in the 
discharge of his duties that he was re-elected 
in the fall of 189S. 

October 30, 1895, William B. Brown mar- 
ried Miss Mattie Patterson, a native of Kent 
county, Mich., and a daughter of Frank and 
Laura (Stow) Patterson, and this felicitous 
union lias been blessed with one child — Will- 
iam Kenneth — born May 22, 1898. Mr. and 
Mrs. Brown attend the Christian church, of 
which Mrs. Brown is a member, and in poli- 
tics Mr. Brown is a republican. Fraternally, 
Mr. Brown is a member of R. C. Hathaway 
lodge, No. 387, F. & A. M. ; Columbian chap- 
ter, No. 132, R. A. M.; Eureka lodge, No. 2, 
Knights of Pythias; Kent camp. Modern j 
W'oodmen, and Kabba temple. No. 69, 



Knights of Khorassan (dramatic order). So- 
ciall}- Mr. and Mrs. Brown mingle with the 
best circles in Grand Rapids, by whom they 
are held in the highest esteem. 



RNEST LABON BULLEN, clerk of 
justices' courts at Grand Rapids and 
a well-known attorney at law, was 
born in Ingham count)-, Mich., 
March 10, 1868, a son of James T. and Eliza 
J. (Hulse) Bullen. Mrs. Eliza J. Bullen was 
called away in 1890, but her husband still has 
his home in Ingham county and is engaged in 
the manufacture of brick, tile and lumber, and 
is, moreover, a gentleman of great prominence 
in the community, being possessed of ample 
means and now serving as supervisor of his 
township. 

Ernest L. Bullen graduated from the high 
school at Mason, the county-seat of Ingham, 
and in 1885 entered the Agricultural college 
at Lansing, where he passed two and a half 
years. For four years he taught school in 
Ingham county, in the meanwhile studying 
law, and for one year confined himself exclu- 
sively to this study prior to his admission to 
the Kent county bar, July 20, 1895, and in 
1896 graduated from the law department of 
the Michigan university. From June, 1896, 
until the spring of 1897 he was engaged in 
active practice in Grand Rapids, and was then 
elected to his present office, which he has 
very ably filled and in which he has estab- 
lished for himself an excellent reputation as 
a conscientious and careful, painstaking offi- 
cial. 

Mr. Bullen was married in Grand Rapids, 
August 17, 1892, to Miss Rena B. Van Wert, 
who was born in Ingham county, February 17,. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



85 



1S70. a daughter of Thomas R. and Eliza J. 
(Dibble) Van Wert. Mr. and Mrs. Bullen 
have their pleasant home at No. 23 Wood- 
lawn avenue, and their religious duties are 
paid at the Immanuel Presbyterian church, in 
which Mr. Bullen is treasurer of the church 
society. 

In politics Mr. Bullen is a sound democrat 
and has served as treasurer of Aurelius town- 
ship, Ingham county, and for four years was post- 
master of North Aurelius, under Postmaster- 
general Wannamaker. He and his wife are 
great favorites in the social circles of Grand 
Rapids, and both are greatly esteemed for 
their many excellent personal traits of charac- 
ter. Upon the expiration of his term of office 
as clerk of justice's courts, he was appointed 
law clerk to the city attorney's office, under 
L. K. Salsburj. 




UDGE EDWIN A. BURLINGAME, 
as he is now universally known in 
Grand Rapids, and throughout Mich- 
gan, was born in Sterling township, 
Windham county. Conn., in the year 1832. 
The farm on which the future judge did the 
ordinary work of a farmer's boy until reaching 
the age of fourteen is located near the Rhode 
Island border, and Providence, R. I., was the 
tnrst large city visited by young Burlingame. 
His education during this period was obtained 
from the traditional " little red school house " 
of New England, in the intervals of farm work. 
The next four years of his life were spent in 
the cotton mills of his native town, where he 
proved himself so efficient an operator that he 
rose to the position of foreman. Seeking a 
wider field, he completed a course of studies 
in the New York Central college. Until 1855 



he taught schools in central New York, remov- 
ing in that year to Madison, Wis., as the 
representative of an eastern publishing house, 
afterwards representing the same firm at Ann 
Arbor, Mich., and Janesville, Wis. It was in 
the latter city that he became associated with 
the law firm of Bennett, Cassody & Gibbs, and 
it was on the recommendation and solicitation 
of Mr. Cassody, subsequently chief justice of 
the supreme court of Wisconsin, that the 
young man began his legal studies with that 
firm. He did not complete his legal course at 
once, however, being engaged in newspaper 
work for some years, first with the Ohio State 
Journal, afterwards with the News and Adver- 
tiser of Ann Arbor, and several other papers. 

On the 22nd of April, 1857, he married 
Sarah A. Snell, daughter of Anson Snell, a 
prominent farmer at Plymouth, Mich. They 
have two daughters living, who are married 
and now reside near the home of their parents 
at Grand Rapids. 

In 1863, he located in Kent county, pur- 
chasing the farm just south of the city which 
he still owns, and, again turning his attention 
to legal studies, entered the law department of 
the university of Michigan, and, having grad- 
uated with the class of 1869, commenced the 
practice of law in Grand Rapids, Mich. Before 
his election to the bench of the superior court 
in 1887, he was twice elected prosecuting at- 
torney of Kent county. He made an enviable 
record as prosecutor, but it is his record dur- 
ing two terms, or twelve years, as judge of the 
superior court, of which all good citizens of 
Grand Rapids are more justly proud. The 
business of the superior court is largely crimi- 
nal, and the name of Judge Burlingame, during 
his incumbency of the office, became truly " a 
terror to evil doers." It has been reliably 
estimated that the state's prison sentences im- 
posed upon criminals by Judge Burlingame 
amount to more than 1,200 years; and the 



86 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



amount of fines collected from evil doers, as a 
matter of record, amounted to the sum of $20,- 
000. With all his firmness and decisiveness 
in dealing with hardened criminals, many a 
young man has traced his reformation to the 
wisdom and good counsel given him by the 
judge and the leniency accorded his first error. 
A democrat and greenbacker since the early 
greenback days, he has never been guided by 
political sentiments in his official or private 
life, and many of his warmest personal friends 
have been of an opposite political faith. It is 
these qualities, with his cool, unimpassioned 
judgment, which have made the judge's career 
as an attorney even more successful than upon 
the bench. Upon retiring from the bench in 
May, iSgg, Judge Burlingame formed a law 
partnership with William P. Belden, his son- 
in-law, with whom he has since been associ- 
ated. 




EWIS F. BURTON, prominent as a 
dairyman of Cascade township, Kent 
county, was the first white boy born 
in the city of Grand Rapids, his na- 
tivity occurring on October 5, 1834. His 
parents, Josiah and Elizabeth (Freeman) Bur- 
ton, had come into Michigan some years be- 
fore, had operated a grocery store at Detroit, 
later had been unsuccessful in business at Ypsi- 
lanti, and in the year 1832 or 1833 came on 
farther west, settling in the city of Grand 
Rapids, where, on South Division street, he 
bought a tract of land, and for some time was 
engaged at speculating in real estate. Later 
he erected a saw-mill on Plaster creek, be- 
came engaged in the lumber business, later 
built two more mills, and for si.xteen years 
was connected with such industry, being locat- 



ed in Alpine township. He then moved to 
the city and speculated for the ne.xt ten years. 
His later dajs were spent with his son, Lewis 
F. Burton, with whom he died at the age of 
sevent\-eight years. 

Lewis F. Burton became the main sup- 
port of the family at si.xteen years of age, 
being the only male in the family of a mother, 
brother and sister. They lived in the city, 
where the son was engaged in teaming. In 
his nineteenth year he made a trip to Califor- 
nia overland, where he spent three years herd- 
ing stock and farming, thence returning with 
about $400 to the city of Grand Rapids, 
where he became a molder in the foundry, 
being employed as such until the year 1861. 
At this date he enlisted in the Michigan En- 
gineers and Mechanics corps, served three 
years with his company, and was honorably 
discharged. 

At the termination of his arm}- career, he 
again began in the foundry, worked for si.x 
years in the west part of the city, and then 
bought a 160-acre tract of wild land, going 
$1,000 in debt. In June, 187 i, he went about 
to improve the estate; he has seventy or eighty 
acres in a good state of cultivation, and is at 
present engaged e.xtensively in the dairying 
industry, keeping about twenty-five cows and 
operating a machine for the separation of 
cream. He now resides in and has been a 
resident of Grand Rapids for years since his 
acquisition of the estate, but attends person- 
ally to his business. In politics he is inde- 
pendent, having been formerly a republican, 
but at the last campaign was an endorser of 
the Bryan policy, and the Chicago platform. 

Mr. Burton was united in marriage, at the 
age of twepty-five, to Miss Jane Clark, a 
daughter of Daniel Clark, and had a family of 
four children, viz: Emily, who was the wife 
of Martin Gilbertson, and died at the age of 
thirty-four; Lois, the widow of James Jacques, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



37 



M. D.; and Arthur, operator of a creamery in 
Ada, in which Lewis F. has an interest. 

Mr. Burton's estate lies two miles south- 
east of Ada, on the D. & M. railroad, extends 
along the south bank of Grand river upwards 
of half a mile, and consists of rich meadows 
and tine upland pasturage. One of the finest 
flowing springs along Grand river sends forth, 
near the house, a stream of considerable vol- 
ume of ice-cold water of crystal clearness. 




\XSOM BUTTON, D. D. S., one of 

the oldest and most experienced den- 
tists of Grand Rapids, Mich., is a 
native of Rensselaer county, N. Y., 
was born February 24, 1820, and is a son of 
Ransom and Maria Button, both born in the 
Empire state. They were the parents of ten 
children, of whom five only are now living, 
viz: Anthony, Ransom, Isaac, Jacob and 
Lucy. Of these Jacob is a resident of Shep- 
ardsville, Clinton county, Mich., and Lucy is 
now Mrs. Groesbeck, of Genesee county, this 
state; Anthony and Isaac still make their home 
in Rensselaer county, N. Y. The father was 
a farmer and passed all his life in his native 
county of Rensselaer, and died at the age of 
sixty years, where the mother also died at 
about the same age. 

Ransom Button, the subject of this sketch, 
received a good common-school education in 
his native county, and in 1850 began the study 
of dentistry in Troy, N. Y., and the following 
year was so well prepared that he commenced 
the practice of his profession in his home neigh- 
borhood. He then entered upon an itinerancy, 
and operated in Stillwater, Saratoga county, 
N. Y., Saratoga Springs, Glenn's Falls, Hoosic 
Falls, all in the same state, and in Manchester, 
Vt. From the last-named place he came to 



Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1869, and for twenty- 
five years-. did a lucrative business on Canal 
street, and for the past four years has occupied 
his present office on West Bridge street, thus 
having been in the active practice in the\'alley 
city for thirty consecutive years. 

Dr. Button was joined in matrimony, in 
Grand Rapids, in 1873, to Mrs. Jane Watson, 
a native of England, who came to America in 
childhood, but to this union no children have 
been born. They have their cozy and com- 
fortable home at No. 63 Fourth street, in which 
the spirit of piety ever reigns. 

The doctor was made a Mason at Hoosick 
Falls, N. Y., early in the 'sixties, and is now 
in good standing in the Blue lodge in Grand 
Rapids. In politics he is a republican, and has 
always been an ardent advocate of the princi- 
ples of his party, but has never sought public 
office. For fifty- eight years he has been a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
and is devoted to its interests. He is always 
most happy in the society of religious people, 
and in taking an active part in church services. 
His pew is never vacant on Sunday or on any 
occasion when religious services are held dur- 
ing the week, if he be able to attend, and he is 
equally ardent in Sunday-school work. 

Although past the "three-score and ten ' 
allotted to man, he is still in the enjoyment of 
good health, and in full possession of all his 
mental faculties, and during his long residence 
in Grand Rapids has made friends after friends, 
but has never made one enemy. 



RED B. BANKS, musician and director 
of the Grand Opera orchestra, was 
born in the city of Grand Rapids on 
the 24th day of August, 1S71. He 
received his educational training in the city 



88 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



schools, and, graduating from the high school, 
entered upon a course of instruction in violin 
music under Prof. Lawson, one of the talented 
violinists of Grand Rapids. He remained with 
that gentleman one year and then became a 
student of Prof. Wilbur Force, under whose 
careful instruction he continued for si.\ years, 
making rapid progress in both theory and 
practice during that period, and a part of the 
time playing in the Grand Opera orchestra. 
Upon the retirement of Prof. Force, in 1896, 
Mr. Banks became leader of the orchestra, a 
position for which his talents well fitted him to 
fill, and which he has since retained to the 
satisfaction of every member of that superb 
organization. During the last three seasons 
Mr. Banks has played first horn in the Wurz- 
burg band at the Pavilion, Reed's Lake, a pop- 
ular summer resort under the management of 
the Consolidated Street Railway company of 
Grand Rapids. On severaF occasions during 
the last few years he has appeared in the Schu- 
bert club of this city in their concerts, playing 
the viola, and he has also been importuned at 
different times to join traveling troupes touring 
the country, all of which he saw fit to de- 
cline. 

Mr. Banks comes of a musical family, his 
father, William H. Banks, being a musician 
of note, as are all members of his family. In 
1 89 1 William H. Banks organized a band com- 
posed entirely of members of his own family, 
and played the season at Harbor Point, a well- 
known summer resort on Little Traverse bay. 
Lake Michigan. In the band the father 
played the cornet, his wife, Mrs. Inez Banks, 
the tuba; Jean M., Norman M. and Alice 
played the alto horns; Elizabeth, B flat cornet, 
Roy W. baritone, and William H. Banks, Jr., 
the drum. This organization, unique in its 
make-up, attracted much attention, and, 
where it gave a concert, had large and appre- 
ciative audiences. While all are musicians of 



a high order, Fred B. is the one member of 
the family whose fame has brought him into 
the prominent notice of the leading musical 
men and women of the state. As a citizen 
Mr. Banks is also popular, occupying a promi- 
nent place in the social as well as the musi- 
cal world. He was married November 5, 1895, 
at Paw Paw, Mich., to Miss Frances E. 
Thomas, the accomplished dauhgter of Frank 
C. Thomas, Esq., of that place. 





HARLES PHILO CALKINS, one of 
the pioneer attorneys of Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., was born January 24. 1 S03, 
at Hinesburgh, Chittenden county, \'t. 
His father, Charles, and his mother, Eliza 
(Farrand) Calkins, were both natives of Con- 
necticut, he being a contractor and builder. 

Charles P. Calkins was the third of a fam- 
ily of four children. He had two brothers — 
Nathaniel, the eldest, who came \\est with his 
father, and another who died in infancy. He 
had one sister, who married Schuyler Fab- 
riqoe, and settled in south Indiana, where she 
died iu 1833. Charles P. Calkins and his 
father settled first at Kalamazoo, where the 
former studied law while the father followed 
his trade. 

In the fall of 1834 Charles P. went to Ann 
Arbor to complete his law studies, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1836. The following 
spring he came to Grand Rapids and formed a 
law partnership with Benjamin G. Bridge, 
which continued until the summer of 1S39, 
the firm being dissolved by the death, of Mr. 
Bridge. Continuing the practice of his pro- 
fession, he formed a partnership in 1S53 with 
John T. Holmes, who had formerlly been a 
student in his office. This arrangement lasted 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



89 



about three years and was dissolved bj' the 
election of Mr. Holmes to the office of justice 
of the peace. Mr. Calkins continued to prac- 
tice his profession until his retirement from 
business in i8So. 

During his business life Mr. Calkins devot- 
ed his whole time to the practice of law, and, 
while not seeking public office in any way, 
was, in 1845, elected justice of the peace, 
and during the years 1848-9 served as mas- 
ter of chancery, and injunction master of the 
circuit court. He also, at one time, held 
office as city recorder. 

On December 23, 1839, Mr. Calkins mar- 
ried Miss Mary A. Hinsdale, the daughter of 
Hiram and Roxalany (Walbridge) Hinsdale. 
Four sons and three daughters of Mr. and 
Mrs. Calkins are now living — Charles W. ; 
Clara L. , wife of Col. Joseph C. Herkner; 
Anna R. ; William H., and George J., all of 
this city, and Cora, wife of j. W. Thompson, 
of Detroit, and Henry W., of Omaha, Neb. 
The death of Mr. Calkins occurred on the 
2d of September, 1890, he having been a 
widower since the death of Mrs. Calkins on 
the 30th of October, 1882. 




HARLES WALBRIDGE CALKINS, 

a well-known member of the bar of 
Grand Rapids and a native son of 
Kent county, Mich., was born on the 
19th day of June, 1842; his father is Charles 
P. Calkins, of whom an appropriate mention 
will be found elsewhere in these pages. 

Charles Walbridge Calkins was educated 
in Grand Rapids, and just before the time for 
graduating, in 1861, left school to take up 
arms in defense of the national Union, enlist- 
ing September of that year in company B, 



First Michigan engineers, under Col. William 
P. Innes. He immediately accompanied his 
command to the front, saw much hard service in 
the Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama 
and Georgia campaigns, and participated in 
many of the bloody battles in which the armies 
of Tennessee and Cumberland took part. He 
entered the army as a private, and by succes- 
sive promotions reached the rank of sergeant- 
major of the regiment, and also served as sec- 
ond lieutenant, first lieutenant, and, at the 
time of his discharge, which took place at At- 
lanta, in November, 1864, was holding the 
office of regimental-adjutant. 

On severing his connection with the army, 
Mr. Calkins located at Nashville, Tenn., 
where for a period of three years he was con- 
nected with the Nashville & Chattanooga R.R. 
At the end of that time he returned north, and 
during the succeeding three years was also en- 
gaged in railroad work, with headquarters at 
Kalamazoo, Mich. In 1872 he abandoned 
railroading and engaged in the retail grocery 
business at Grand Rapids, in partnership with 
his brothers, and continued thus for a period 
of four years, studying law during his leisure 
hours. He prosecuted his legal studies for 
sometime under the instruction of his father, 
and also read under the direction of William 
J. Stuart, and H. E. Thompson, being ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1880. In addition to 
general practice he is also largely interested in 
the real-estate, loan and insurance business, 
his success in these lines being of a most sat- 
isfactory nature. 

Mr. Calkins was married in Ntishville, 
Tenn., to Mary L. Scovel, who was born in 
that city December 7, 1848, a daughter of H. 
G; and Mary (Wait) Scovel. To this union 
have been born three children, Anna M., Effie 
L. and Charlotte W. Mr. Calkins and family 
are mehibers of St. Mark's Episcopal church, 
of which parish he has for seven years served 



ItO 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



as vestryman. Politically he is a democrat, 
and as such was elected to represent his ward 
in the city council, of which body he was an 
active member for two years. He has also 
served four years as a member of the board of 
education, for eleven years on the board of 
health, and for a period of six years was sec- 
retary of the Masonic home of Grand Rapids. 
He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, be- 
longing to Grand River lodge. No. 34, in the 
deliberations of which he has taken an active 
part. He served in the Michigan state militia 
for a period of seventeen years, and retired 
therefrom with the rank of lieutenant-colonel, 
and chief of brigade staff under Gen. I. C. 
Smith. The family residence of Mr. Calkins 
is at No. 169 North Lafayette street, where 
the doors are ever open to their many friends. 




\J. ALEXANDER MACIvENZIE 
CAMPBELL, a distinguished physi- 
cian and surgeon of Grand Rapids, 
widely and favorably known profes- 
sionally throughout western Michigan, descends 
from a long line of sturdy Scottish ancestors. 
His father, A. D. Campbell, a strong type of 
this nationality, is a native of Scotland and a 
lineal descendant of the historic clan Campbell, 
which figured prominently in the early wars 
and internal dissensions of the highlands. The 
elder Campbell, who was brought to Canada 
in childhood, followed agricultural pursuits, 
until advancing age compelled his retirement 
from active life, and he is now spending his 
declining years near the city of St. Thomas, 
Ontario. His wife, who also bore the name 
of Campbell, but not related by consanguinity 
to her husband, bore him seven children, whose 
names are as follows: Dr. James D. . of Grand 



Rapids; John P., a railroad man with head- 
quarters at Spokane, Wash.; S. A., on the 
Culloden farm, the name by which the old 
family homestead in Canada is known; two 
married daughters live in Canada; one in Crip- 
ple Creek, Colo., also married, and Dr. Alex- 
ander M.,the subject proper of this biography. 

Alexander M. Campbell early graduated 
from the high school at St. Thomas, and then 
matriculated at the Toronto university, from 
which he graduated in the classics; he was pro- 
fessionally prepared by two years' study at the 
Western university, and was graduated from 
the Detroit (Mich.) College of Medicine 
in 1896. Immediately after graduation he was 
appointed house surgeon of the Children's 
Free hospital at Detroit, and was then ten- 
dered a similar position at the Union Benevo- 
lent Association hospital in Grand Rapids, and 
this offer brought him to the latter city. Hav- 
ing thus had two years' active hospital prac- 
tice, Dr. Campbell, at the breaking out of the 
Spanish-American war, offered his services to 
the governor of the state of Michigan as a vol- 
unteer, and was appointed surgeon in charge 
of the brigade hospital at Camp Eaton, and 
subsequently was commissioned, by Gov. Pin- 
gree, major-surgeon. After three months' 
service in this capacity, the war drawing to a 
close in the meantime, he returned to Grand 
Rapids, where his steady rise in the profession 
has placed him in the front rank of the city's 
most successful young medical men. 

Dr. Campbell is a member of the college 
of Physicians & Surgeons, of Toronto, Canada, 
and his name appears upon the charter of the 
Grand Rapids Medical college, in which insti- 
tution for two years he filled the chair of bac- 
teriology, but resigned this in August, 1899, 
his researches in that department of the pro- 
fession having won him prominent recognition. 
He was appointed the first city bacteriologist 
of Grand Rapids, \\hich position he now holds. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



91 



Additional to the above, the doctor is also an 
honorary member of the Medical society of 
Detroit, and an active member of the Grand 
Rapids Academy of Medicine, and his contri- 
butions to the professional press have been 
frequent and profound. As a writer he is 
lucid and terse, a master of vigorous English, 
and by reason of profundity of thought and 
thorough knowledge of subjects investigated, 
a number of his treatises have been accepted 
by the profession. 

Since his majority he has been identified 
with the Masonic fraternity, in addition to 
which he is at this time a member of the Mili- 
tary and Country clubs. In politics he has 
ever taken an active interest, but not more 
than any good citizen ought to manifest, and 
the republican party finds in him a zealous 
supporter. 

As already stated, his professional suc- 
cesses have been rapid, and it is now conced- 
ed that his practice is second to that of no 
young physician in the city. This has been 
brought about by close application and con- 
stant study. Not only does he enjoy the rep- 
utation among his many patients of being a 
skillful and painstaking physician, but the fra- 
ternity recognize in him an able counselor and 
a gentleman of high culture and attainments. 
June 20, 1899, Dr. Campbell was appointed 
acting assistant surgeon in the United States 
arm}', and in that capacitj' is examining sur- 
geon for all recruits for enlistment in the 
United States regular and volunteer service 
from Grand Rapids. He is also attending 
physician at the Children's hospital, and bac- 
teriologist to the U. B. A. hospital. 

As a citizen. Dr. Campbell has been suc- 
cessful in gaining the confidence and esteem 
of all who know him by an earnest, upright 
and manly life. He is a gentleman of prepos- 
sessing appearance and dignified bearing; un- 
ostentatious in demeanor, yet affable and 



pleasing in his intercourse with his fellow- 
man, and popular with all with whom he 
comes in contact. While he is yet a young 
man, his many friends predict for him a long 
life full of usefulness to humanity and great 
prosperity for himself. 




\MES DUNCAN CAMPBELL, M. D.. 
at No. 218 Plainfjeld avenue. Grand 
Rapids, and with his residence at No. 
Ill, was born in Ontario, Canada, 
February 23, 1865, a son of A. D. and Anna- 
belle Campbell, whose genealogy will be found 
in the sketch of Maj. Ale.xander Mackenzie 
Campbell on another page. 

Dr. James D. Campbell graduated from 
the high school of St. Thomas, Canada, re- 
ceived his professional education at the Detroit 
(Mich.) College of Medicine, and graduated in 
1896, in the same class with his younger broth- 
er, Alexander M., alluded to above. For 
eighteen months after graduation. Dr. James 
D. Campbell practiced at Pentwater, Mich., 
and in October, 1897, came to Grand Rapids, 
and here he has ever since been in the active 
practice of his profession at the address already 
mentioned. He is also a graduate of the 
Scientific & Literary association of Detroit, 
his studies in that institution having greatly 
added to his mental training, and enlarged his 
intellectual grasp upon even the technicalities 
of his profession. 

Dr. Campbell was united in marriage at 
Strathroy, Ontario, October 6, 1896, with 
Miss Margaret Bradshaw, a native of the town 
named, and a graduate of its high school. 

Dr. Campbell has been a member of the 
Masonic fraternity since 1889, and has served 
one year as worshipful master of Prince of 



92 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Wales iodge, No. 171. He is also a member 
of the Maccabees order, the M. W. of A., the 
Knights & Ladies of Security, the New Era, 
and he and wife are members of the O. E. S. 
The doctor is examining physician for the 
M. W. of A., the K. & L. of Security and the 
New Era branch board. No. 11. In politics 
he is a republican, and in religion he is a Bap- 
tist, to which denomination his wife also be- 
longs. 

The doctor has secured a very satisfactory 
share of practice since his year's residence in 
Grand Rapids, and. the social standing of him- 
self and wife is all that could be desired. 




OL. EDWARD CAROLAN, chief en- 
gineer of the Michigan State Sol- 
diers' Home, was born in county 
Mayo, Ireland, May 23, 1S46, a son 
of James and Bridget Carolan. 

When the colonel was a child of three 
years his parents took him to England, where 
he was left with relatives for two years, while 
the parents came to America to seek a home. 
They located in Washington county, N. Y. , 
gathered their family together, and engaged in 
farming for five years, and in 1856 came to 
Grand Rapids, Mich., and immediately after- 
ward purchased a farm in Byron township, 
Kent county, not very far from this city. On 
this farm the boyhood years of young Edward 
were passed at work suited to his age, and 
there, also, he attended the district school, and 
subsequently entered the Grand Rapids schools, 
where his elementary education was com- 
pleted. The parents subsequently removed to 
Big Rapids, where the mother died at about 
the age of sixty years, when the father went 
to live with a daughter at Cadillac, where he 
passed the remainder of his life. 



Edward Carolan began life for himself by 
sailing lake Michigan, and was thus emplosed 
until the Civil war broke out, when he enlisted 
in company B, Fourteenth Michigan volunteer 
infantry, and served four years in the western 
army. His first engagement was at Corinth, 
but he participated in all the principal cam- 
paigns in which his regiment took a part. He 
was at Tuscumbia, Ala., Nashville, Stone 
River and Columbia, Tenn., where the regi- 
ment was mounted and was on scouting duty 
through all middle Tennessee for ' eleven 
months. Mr. Carolan re-enlisted in January, 

1864, was allowed a furlough home, and after 
rejoining his old brigade, started on the At- 
lanta campaign, dismounted, and took part in 
every engagement until the fall of that south- 
em stronghold. The regiment was engaged at 
Kenesaw Mountain, and rejoined the army in 
time to participate in the battle of Jonesboro, 
Ga. They then started on the march to the 
sea, and Mr. Carolan was captured at Louis- 
ville, Ga. , and imprisoned at Florence, S. C, 
for five months, when he was released on pa- 
role and finally discharged under a general 
order. The colonel reached home in April, 

1865, but was not mustered out until August 
following. 

Settling down to the pursuits of peace, the 
colonel purchased a few teams and engaged 
in general hauling in Grand Rapids, but after a 
year or two sold out and went to Altoona, Pa., 
and became an apprentice to an uncle, to learn 
the machinist's trade. Two years later he re- 
turned to Michigan and shipped on the revenue 
cutter William P. Pleasanton on lake Michi- 
gan, served one year, and the next year served 
on board the Hayes, a lighthouse supply boat. 
After this he engaged in stationary' engineer- 
ing ashore, chiefly in saw-mills in Michigan, at 
various points in the state. After several 
years passed in this work, failing health com- 
pelled his retirement. 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



93 



After about four j-ears' rest' comparatively 
as manaf:;er of Grand Army park on Cfiippevva 
lake, he returned to engineering, and was em- 
ployed at the Star Flouring mills in Grand 
Rapids until 1891, when he was appointed by 
the state to his present position at the Home, 
where he has the superintendence of. all the 
machinery and repair work, at a good salary. 

Col. Carolan was married in Grand Rap- 
ids, in 1869, to Miss Mary Ann Cummings, 
who was born five miles west of the city, in 
\\'alker township, of Irish parentage. Four 
children have blessed this union, of whom 
William, a married man, is an engineer in a 
llouring-mill in Minnesota; Thomas, also mar- 
ried, is engaged in the steam-fitting business in 
Grand Ripids, and Nellie and Minnie are still 
at home. The family are devoted members of 
the Catholic church, and in politics the colo- 
nel is independent. 

The colonel is a member of the John A. 
Logan post. No. i, G. A. R., of which he is 
past post commander, and is the present sen- 
ior vice-commander; he is also a member of 
Daisy lodge. No. 46, B. P. O. E. He is a 
member of the William P. Innis command. 
Union Veteran Union. 

The colonel was a brave and faithful sol- 
dier, who was never absent from his post of 
duty, and as civilian has been equally as faith- 
ful and useful. The title of colonel is given the 
subject by the position he holds at the Soldiers' 
home, by the state. 



.\WRENCE EDWARD CARROLL, 

attorney and counselor at law, was 
born in Lament county, Mich., Au- 
gust 15, 1852. His father, Richard 
Carroll, was a native of county Louth, Ire- 




land, and the mother, whose maiden name 
was Mary O'Brien, was also a native of the 
Emerald isle, born in county Westmeath. 
These parents were married in the old coun- 
try and lived there until 1832, at which tmie 
they immigrated to the United States, locat- 
ing in Kent county, Mich. Richard Carroll 
was by trade a blacksmith. He followed that 
vocation both in his native isle and after com- 
ing to Michigan, but in his later years gave 
some attention to agricultural pursuits. He 
reared a large family — twelve in all — of whom 
the subject of this review was the ninth in 
order of birth. 

Lawrence Edward Carroll remained with 
his parents until sixteen years old, at which 
early age he began working for himself, re- 
ceiving as his only remuneration, for quite 
a while, the clothes he wore, and the food 
which kept him alive. Endowed by nature 
with strong mental powers, young Carroll de- 
voted all his leisure moments to study, and 
during winter seasons attended the public 
schools, in which he made unusual progress. 
When seventeen years of' age he obtained a 
teacher's license, and Jor seven successive 
years taught school in the county of Ottawa, 
reading law in the meantime, as opportunity 
would admit. By careful husbanding his sav- 
ings he was enabled to enter the law office of 
Hughes, O'Brien & Smiley, in Grand Rapids, 
where he pursued his legal studies for some 
time, resorting to teaching in the winter in 
order to defray his expenses. In 1871 he be- 
came a student in the office of Norris & Blair, 
and such was his progress that one year later 
he was formally admitted to the bar of Kent 
county and at once entered upon the active 
practice of his profession in the town of ^^■ hite- 
hall, Muskegon county. He remained at 
that place for a limited period, devoting a 
part of his time to teaching, and then for a 
short time was again in the office of Norris & 



94 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Blair, Grand Rapids. Leaving this office, 
Mr. Carroll held a clerical position with the 
law firm of Taj-lor & Eddy until 1877, from 
which time till 1880 he did a general practice 
in the courts of Kent county and Grand Rapids 
municipal courts. In the latter year he was 
appointed assistant city attorney under J. W. 
Ransom, and later served in the same capac- 
ity under W. W. Taylor, his energy and suc- 
cess in the position bringing him into the fa- 
vorable notice of his professional brethren 
and the public. For one year he served as 
deputy prosecuting attorney of Kent county 
with S. D. Clay; retiring therefrom he opened 
an office of his own, and, with the exception 
of two years in partnership with D. E. Burns, 
has since practiced by himself. 

Mr. Carroll is pre-eminently a self-made 
man, and as such stands high in the estimation 
of his friends and fellow-citizens of Grand 
Rapids and Kent county. In every relation of 
life he is recognized as possessing a strong 
sense of truth and justice, and he has always 
endeavored to shape his life according to 
these principles. As a lawyer he is well read, 
easily grasps the situation in intricate cases, 
and by this method, system and fairness, com- 
mands the respect of the court and his profes- 
sional associates. He is a safe counselor, an 
eloquent advocate, and is distinguished in his 
profession for an untiring industry in behalf of 
his clients and a laudable ambition to excel. 
His conduct toward opposing counsel is noted 
for courtesy and fairness, never permitting his 
zeal to induce him to seek success b}' disrepu- 
table practices. He enjoys a lucrative busi- 
ness in the courts of Kent county and has fre- 
quently been retained as counsel in important 
litigation elsewhere. 

Mr. Carroll was married in the city of De- 
troit, January 29, 1879, to Miss Ella M. Page, 
a native of New York — a union blessed with 
three children: Fred L. , Leo P. and \'eda B. 



Mr. Carroll is one of the leaders of democracy 
in Kent county, having served at different times 
as chairman of the county and city central 
j committees. Fraternally he belongs to lodge 
No. 48, B. P. O. E. , of which he was exalted 
ruler in 1S90, and has also been esteemed 
leading knight and esteemed lecturing knight. 




LHERT A. CARROLL, clerk of police 
court, cit3' of Grand Rapids, Mich., 
is a native of Iowa, was born near the 
city of Des Mo'nes, Polkcountj-, Feb- 
ruary 28, 1 86 1, and is a son of William and 
Ann (Bly) Carroll, the former a native of Can- 
ada and the latter of Ireland. 

Albert A. Carroll, at the age of eleven 
years, came to Grand Rapids with his brother 
William, was educated in the public schools 
of this city, and began his wage-earning life as 
as porter in his brother's hotel. His next em- 
ployment was as turnkey in the Kent county 
jail, where he remained over three years, and 
was then elected (from that position) to his 
present office in April, 1896, and is now serv- 
ing his second term. In this capacity he has 
full charge of all the accounts, books and 
records of the police court, and that he has 
well performed his duties is evidenced by his 
election to the office a second time. 

The marriage of Mr. Carroll took place 
October 21, 1S96, when Miss Belle Munshaw 
became his bride. This lady was born in Can- 
ada, and is a daughter of the late Lambert 
Munshaw, who died about twenty-five years 
ago on his farm in Kent county, just south of 
Grand Rapids. The union of Mr. and Mrs. 
Carroll has been blessed with one child, Eliz- 
abeth Annella, who has reached the ninth 
month of her infant life. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



95 



Mr. Carroll is a member of several fraternal 
and beneBcial societies, including the F. & A. 
M., the K.of P., the I. O. P., and the M. W. 
of A., and socially he and wife enjoy the re- 
spect of a large circle of warm-hearted friends. 
In politics Mr. Carroll is a stanbh republican, 
and is a zealous worker in the ranks of his party. 



HOMAS F. CARROLL, attorney at 
law and e.\-postmaster of Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., is a native of Monroe 
county, N. Y., and was born Novem- 
ber 24, 1854. He is a son of James and 
Mary (Kennedy) Carroll, natives of county 
Meath, Ireland, being descended paternally 
from the famous Carroll family of Maryland, 
immortalized by Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, 
at the signing of the declaration of American 
independence. 

The parents of Thomas P. Carroll immi- 
grated to America in 1845 and located in New 
York state, but, shortly after the birth of the 
subject of this sketch, they came to Michigan 
and settled in Van Buren county. While still 
young, Thomas P. Carroll evinced a fondness 
for literature, and took advantage of every op- 
portunity for acquiring a thorough'education. 
At the early age of sixteen years he began 
teaching school, which. vocation he pursued for 
six years, reading law in the meantime, and in 
1877 located in Grand Rapids, where he com- 
pleted his preliminary studies with the well- 
known law firm of Hughes, O'Brien & Smiley. 
He was admitted to the bar October 14, 1878, 
and in 1880 entered into a law partnership 
with the late Hon. Isaac M. Turner, which 
continued up to the time of that gentleman's 
death in 1895. The firm at that time had the 
distinction of being the oldest legal partner- 



ship in Grand Rapids without change of mem- 
bership, and it is safe to state that no other 
enjoyed a more extensive or honorable reputa- 
tion throughout Kent and other counties of 
west Michigan. 

Upon the death of Mr. Turner, the firm 
was reorganized by the admission thereto of 
Joseph Kirwin, long the office manager, under 
the original partnership, since which time, out 
of respect to the memory of the senior mem- 
ber, the firm has been known as Carroll, Tur- 
ner & Kirwin. As already stated, this firm: 
has always done a large and lucrative business, 
and while making a specialty of practice of a 
civil nature, the different members have at in- 
tervals been retained as counsel in some of 
the most important criminal cases which have 
appeared for a number of years on the dockets 
of the court of Kent county. 

Prom 1883 to 1886 Mr. Carroll served as 
assistant prosecutor of Kent county, and on 
the 9th day of March, 1894, was appointed, by 
President Cleveland, postmaster of Grand 
Rapids, his name having been unanimously 
suggested for the place by the party leaders as 
well as the rank and file of the party imme- 
diately after the national election of 1893. His 
high character, superior business ability, ener- 
gy and social qualities eminently fitted him for 
the position, and under his management the 
office kept pace with the rapid advancement of 
the city and was brought up to a high state of 
efficiency. Concerning this appointment, the 
Postal Record, of Washington, D. C. , said: 
"Mr. Carroll is a democrat, a self-made man, 
and a typical American in the full sense of the 
term. Seldom if ever has a more thoroughly 
popular appointment been made for an impor- 
tant office in the state than that of Thomas P. 
Carroll for postmaster of Grand Rapids, not 
only from a political, but from a business stand- 
point." It is an assured fact that not a man 
or woman in this city but who has commended 



96 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



President Cleveland's action in this matter, as 
thoughtful and wise, and upon the expiration 
of his term, when a change in the national ad- 
ministration took place, he turned over the 
office with the verj- best wishes of the public, 
irrespective of party affiliation. 

Although one of the ablest and most effi- 
cient workers for the principles of deniocrac}-, 
to which his long and valued services on city, 
county, congressional and state committees 
will amply testify, Mr. Carroll has never sought 
office. Although frequently mentioned and 
urged to accept the nomination for mayor and 
also for congress, he has invariably declined, 
preferring to work in the ranks of the party, 
and aid his friends in preference to accepting 
any honors for himself. 

One of the leading bankers had this to say: 
"I regard Mr. Carroll as one of the safe and 
conservative lawyers of our city. A man of 
broad learning, sound judgment, coupled with 
fine executive ability, as his record as a law- 
yer and business man has often demonstrated, 
and as has been practicall_v shown in his offi- 
cial capacity as postmaster of our citj', he re- 
organized and systematized the entire office, 
so that to-day we ha\'e beyond question the 
best-equipped and best-managed post-office in 
the country, and among all our people there is 
but one opinion about Mr. Carroll, and that 
is, he is a successful lawyer, and one in whom 
his large clientage has the utmost confidence." 

Mr. Carroll possesses a vigorous personal- 
ity and fine presence, his face bearing the 
stamp of refinement and culture in every line- 
ament, and in any assemblage of distinguished 
men he would be instinctively pointed out as 
one characterized in a marked degree bj' en- 
ergy, intelligence and steadfastness of purpose. 
As a lawyer he occupies a conspicuous place 
among the leading members of the bar, and 
his thorough knowledge of the underlying 
principles of jurisprudence, his close and crit- 



ical study, his pleadings, celebrated for pro- 
fundity, clearness and logical conclusions, and 
his power as an advocate mark him as the 
peer of any one who has ever practiced in the 
courts of Kent county. He always wins and 
holds the confidence of both court and clients 
by reason of his devotion to any case entrusted 
to him, and the efficiency and dispatch with 
which he executes ever\' requirement seldom 
fails in finding him retained as counsel in many 
important cases on the docket. Before a jury 
Mr. Carroll has few if an\' equals at this time 
in a city noted for the high standing of its legal 
talent, and as an orator on legal, political and 
economic questions, his reputation has long 
been state wide. His style, to some degree 
ornate and truly eloquent, is at the same time 
concise and exhibits a great command of the 
English language, and his sentences, though 
often pointed with the keenest satire, are al- 
ways linked together with perfect logic and 
seldom fail to please and convince. His won- 
derful power as a popular speaker and his mag- 
netism in swa3"ing audiences, make his services 
sought during political campaigns, and his elo- 
quent pleas in behalf of his party have been 
heard on many platforms not only in his own 
state, throughout which he is widelj' and fav- 
orably known, but in other states when he has 
met on the hustings many of the most distin- 
guished party leaders of the land. 

However active and persistent he may be 
in behalf of his part\'s interests, he has too 
much judgment to allow political convictions 
to be a barrier to personal friendships, and as 
a result he is respected and even popular with 
the opposition, even in the midst of the most 
animated and hotly contested campaigns. In 
1890 Mr. Carroll was selected for the respon- 
sible position of secretar}' of the democratic 
state committee, which place he subsequently 
resigned to accept another on the state execu- 
tive committee; the latter had charge of the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



97 



campaign which resulted in the election of a 
democratic governor and the entire legislative 
ticket in the year of 1890. In 1892 he was 
chairman of the executive committee which se- 
cured the election of Hon. George F. Richard- 
son to congress from the Grand Rapids district, 
and at this time he is chairman of Kent county 
central committee, the duties of which he has 
discharged in a manner highly creditable to 
himself and satisfactory to the party. 

Besides attending to his multifarious legal 
and political duties, Mr. Carroll finds time to 
act as a director of the Fifth National bank of 
Grand Rapids, serves in a similar capacity on 
the city board of trade, while his hours of lei- 
sure are passed socially as a member of the 
Peninsula and Lakeside clubs. It is appropri- 
ate in this connection to refer to his great pop- 
ularity with the foreign element of the city, 
erpecially the Poles, with whom he has long 
been on terms of the warmest friendship and 
look upon him as a wise counselor and trusted 
adviser. Upon the occasion of the recent 
national Polish Alliance of America in Grand 
Rapids, he was complimented by being chosen 
principal orator, and his address, masterly in 
every way, tended to increase the respect in 
which he has for so many years been held by 
this large and industrious class of people. 

His popularity with the labor element 
is on a par with that which he enjoys under 
the foreign element, and he is frequentl}' 
called upon in every wa}', even financially, to 
aid it. As an example, in 1897 he made the 
principal address to the Allied Labor union on 
Labor day celebration, and was again called 
upon for the same purpose in 1898, and he is, 
moreover, constantly in demand at labor meet- 
ings for addresses on the economic questions 
of the day. 

Financially, Mr. Carroll has met with well- 
deserved success, having accumulated a com- 
fortable competence of this world's goods, in- 



cluding large and valuable landed properties in 
Kent and other counties of Michigan. 

He has been twice married, the first time 
on the iith day of October, 1880, to Ella M. 
Remington, eldest daughter of W. B. Reming- 
ton of Grand Rapids. Mrs. Carroll died in 
January, 1882, and on the 19th day of August, 
1889, he was united to his present wife, whose 
maiden name was Julia Agnes Mead, only 
daughter of the late Maj. A. B. Watson. Mr. 
Carroll is the father of two children, Charles 
and Katherine. 




ARVEY JENNER CHADWICK, M. 
D., the eminent physician and sur- 
geon, of No. 1002 Fifth avenue. 
Grand Rapids, Mich., was born in 
Mount Etna, Huntington county, Ind., Febru- 
ary 1 1, 1857, and is a son of Dr. M. R. Chad- 
wick. 

Dr. M. R. Chadwick was a native of 
Wales and 3. son of R. S. Chadwick, a recruit- 
ing officer in the British arm}-. He came to 
America in early manhood, graduated from 
the Rush Medical college, Chicago, 111., prac- 
ticed medicine in Huntington county, Ind., 
and in Hart, Oceana county, Mich., fifteen 
years, and the last five years of his life were 
passed in practice at St. Andrew's Bay, Fla., 
where he died in 1893. To his marriage with 
Miss Caroline Goden, a native of Canton, Ohio, 
and now residing at St. Andrew's Bay, Fla., 
were born two sons and two daughters, of 
whom Ira V. is a prosperous physician in Flor- 
ida; Julia B. is the wife of George Mathews, 
of Milwaukee, Wis., and Lottie is still under 
the maternal roof. 

In 1866 the family removed from Indiana 
to Hart, Oceana county, Mich., where young 
Harvey J. finished his school studies, and at 



98 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the a^e of seventeen 3'ears began the study of 
medicine; entered the Rush Medical college at 
Chicago at nineteen, and graduated from the 
Detroit (Mich.) college of Medicine in 1881. 
He was elected by his classmates vice-presi- 
dent of the Michigan College Alumni associa- 
tion, was made a member of the Michigan 
State Medical society, and passed the examin- 
ation of the Michigan state board of pharmacy; 
was a member of the board of pension exam- 
iners in Oceana county, served four years as 
health officer of the same county, also as pres- 
ident of the village of Hart, and as school in- 
spector, etc. He is a member of the Ameri- 
can Medical association and of the Grand Rap- 
ids Medical & Surgical society, of which he 
was secretary in 1898, was vice-president in 
1899, and has tilled the chair of materia med- 
ida and therapeutics in the Grand Rapids Med- 
ical college. He is also a member of the vis- 
iting staff at the U. B. A. hospital. 

October i, 1885, Dr. Harvey J. Chadwick 
married at Rochelie, 111., Miss Laura Estella 
Teeple, who was born in Bath, N. Y., but was 
educated and grew to womanhood in Hart, ! 
Mich. Mrs. Dr. Chadwick is a highly accom- 
plished lady and was a school-teacher from her 
sixteenth year until her marriage. She has 
blessed her husband with three children, named 
Eva, who is now twelve years of age, Zella, 
aged seven, and Jenner H., aged five years. 

Alter his graduation in medicine. Dr. Har- ' 
vey J. Chadwick engaged in practice, in con- 
junction with his father, at Hart, thus ripen- 
ing, for five years, the fruit of his previous 
study in medical science. From 1866 until 
1894 he practiced alone in the same village, 
and in December of the last-named year came 
to Grand Rapids, where he now stands at the 
head of his profession, and is the owner of his 
beautiful residence on Fifth avenue, in which 
his office and consultation rooms are also to 
be found. 



The doctor is independent in politics, and 
generally votes for the candidate who is. in 
his opinion, best qualified to fill office, and in 
religion, although a firm supporter and advo- 
cate of the gospel, is not committed to any 
doctrinal interpretation thereof. Fraternally, 
he is a member of lodge No. 34, F. &. A. M., 
and he and wife are members of the O. E. S. 
The doctor is also vice-president of the Kent 
Scientific club, a class literary organization, 
and socially he and wife stand in the highest 
circles of Grand Rapids. 




OUIS H. CHAMBERLIN, M. D., at 
No. 63 East Leonard street. Grand 
Rapids, Mich., is a nati\e of Port 
Dover, Ontario, Canada, was born 
February 24, 1874, and is a son of Calvin J. 
and Anna Maria (Hoffman) Chamberlin, na- 
tives, respectively, of Canada and Buffalo, N. 
Y., and married in Port Dover. The father's 
ancestors were of English and the mother's of 
German origin, but both trace their American 
antecedents back to the sixteenth century. 
The children born to Calvin J. Chamberlin 
and wife are three in number, and of these the 
doctor is the eldest; Edwin J., the second 
born, is now twenty-one years old, is a dental 
student, and Albert H., aged nineteen, is in the 
employ of R. G. Dun & Co., commercial 
agents at Boston, Mass. 

Calvin J. Chamberlin was engaged in mer- 
chandizing at Port Dover for several years, and 
came to the United States about 18S1. bring- 
ing with him his. wife and children, and for 
seven or eight years resided in Streator. 111. ; 
about 1887 he settled in Grand Rapids, where 
he engaged in the lumber business, and died 
April 30. 1899, his remains being buried in 
Valley City cemetery. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



99 



Dr. Louis H. Chamberlin acquired his ele- 
mentary education in Port Dover, Ontario, 
and Streator, 111., and finished his literary 
studies at the Grand Rapids high school. He 
•next took up the study of pharmacy, and for 
three years had charge of Peck Bros.' pre- 
scription department, as he had been "regis- 
tered by examination, " and later was in the 
employ of several other large drug firms in 
this city. In 1894 he began the study of med- 
icine in the office of Dr. E. J. Edwards, and 
after due preparation entered the Detroit col- 
lege of Medicine in the spring of 1895, grad- 
uating in 1S98. During his stay at the De- 
troit college he for one year assisted Prof. 
Steinbecker in his practice, and in May, 1898, 
settled for permanent practice in Grand Rap- 
ids. The doctor, beside his office on East 
Leonard street, has another at the" corner of 
East Fulton and Sheldon streets, where he 
spends a portion of each day, while his resi- 
dence is at No. 324 West Broadway. He is 
instructor of bacteriology in the Grand Rapids 
Medical college, is a member of the American 
Medical association, and has been thoroughly- 
trained for his calling, for which he is pecu- 
liarly fitted, and is rapidly advancing in the 
esteem of his fellow-practitioners as well as 
that of the public. Fraternally, he is a mem- 
ber of the Independent Order of Foresters 
and of the Order of Maccabees; in religion he 
affiliates with the Presbyterian church, and in 
politics is a republican. He is still unmarried, 
and in society circles is a general favorite. 



HARLES CHANDLER, attorney at | 

law, with offices in rooms 3 and 4 

Ledyard block, corner of Pearl and 

Ottawa streets. Grand Rapids, is, on 

his father's side, a lineal descendant of Will- 1 
5 



iam Chandler and Annis, his wife, who came 
from England in 1637, and settled at Roxbury, 
Mass. They were among the first settlers in 
that locality, and from them have sprung the 
different branches of the Chandler family 
which subsequently settled in other parts of 
the colonies of Massachusetts, New Hamp- 
shire, Vermont and Connecticut, and in New 
York, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and other 
states. 

The descendants of this English immigrant 
have been more or less noted in politics, in 
the army and navy, as well as among business 
and professional men, as the annals of each 
state will show, while on his mother's side he 
sprang from the Woosters and Beards, who 
came from England and settled, as early as 
1639, in the region of the Housatonic river, in 
Connecticut, where to this day can be met the 
descendants of these families. 

Judge John Chandler, the third in the line 
of the Chandler family, was a noted jurist in 
his day, and a man of affairs. He represented 
Massachusetts in the first congress of the col- 
onies, which met at Albany, N. Y. , in which 
he exhibited great ability. 

The grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch, Samuel Chandler, who was the sixth 
in the line of descent, was born at Pomfret, 
Conn., in 1775. While still a young man, he 
moved to New York, and settled near Utica, 
where Charles, the father of the subject of 
this sketch, was born in 1805. The fatter 
graduated at Hamilton college, Clinton, N. Y., 
in the class of 1825, under the presidency of 
the father of our eminent townsman, Col. Jo- 
seph Penny. In 1833 he married, at Augusta, 
N. Y. , Eliza Wooster, and in the following 
year emigrated to Michigan and settled at 
Clinton, Lenawee county. He was a farmer 
by occupation and also engaged in mercantile 
pursuits; in politics he was a whig and was by 
that party elected a member of the convention 



100 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



of 1S50 to revise the state constitution, in 
which he took a prominent part. He allied 
himself with the republican party at its forma- 
tion, and filled a prominent position in its 
counsels in southern Michigan during the re- 
mainder of his life. He was successively elect- 
ed county clerk, register of deeds of Lenawee 
county, and for more than twenty years post- 
master at Clinton, Mich., where he died March 
10, 1871. 

Charles Chandler, the subject of this 
sketch, the eighth in the line of descent, was 
their third child and was born at Clinton, 
Mich., April 16, 1838. He worked on the 
farm summers, and in winters attended dis- 
trict school until his eighteenth year, when he, 
with his father's family, went to Adrian, Mich., 
to live, while his father was a county official; 
here he attended the Union school. He there 
became so imbued with the desire for a col- 
legiate education, that he obtained the consent 
of his parents to pursue the preparatory course 
of study, and in the fall of 1859 he entered the 
sophomore class at the university at Ann 
Arbor, from which he graduated with the class 
of 1862, receiving the degree of A. B. Sub- 
sequently he received from the same institution 
the degree of A. M. In the winter of 1862 63 
he taught district school near Clinton, and in 
the fall of 1863, upon the recommendation of 
the professors at the university and the Hon. 
J. M. Gregory, then superintendent of public 
instruction of Michigan, he was appointed to 
the superintendency of the union schools at 
Grand Haven, Mich., where he taught accept- 
ably for two years. In June, 1865, he resigned 
his position at the latter place, to accept a 
similar position at Hastings, where he re- 
mained one year, and having been appointed 
to the principalship of the grammar schools at 
the city of Grand Rapids in 1866, without 
solicitation on his part, he resigned his posi- 
tion at Hastings to accept this new appoint- 



ment. He occupied such position for eleven 
years, or until August, 1877, when, although 
reappointed for the ensuing year, he resigned 
to enter upon the study of law. 

While living at Hastings, December 26,' 
1865, Mr. Chandler married, at Grand Rapids, 
Louisa Harwood White, only daughter and 
eldest child of Capt. Thomas W. White, then 
of Grand Rapids, but formerly of Grand Ha- 
ven, Mich. The Whites were among the early 
settlers of the Grand River valley, haying 
emigrated from Massachusetts to Michigan in 
the early 'thirties, and together with their fam- 
ily relatives, the Ferrys and Gilberts, founded 
the thriving lake town of Grand Haven, at 
the mouth of Grand River. These families 
have added much to the local history of west- 
ern Michigan, and have honorablj- filled high 
political positions, both in state and nation. 

Upon resigning his position as teacher in 
the public schools in the fall of 1877, Mr. 
Chandler entered the law school at Ann .^rbor 
and graduated therefrom with the degree of 
LL. B., in the spring of 1879, in what, up to 
that time, was the largest law class to gradu- 
ate at that institution. In the senior 3'ear of 
his law course he was elected class president. 

Mr. Chandler, upon such graduation, en- 
tered the of^ce of the Hon. J. C. FitzGerald. 
of Grand Rapids, Mich., where he remained 
until the summer of 1893, when he opened 
an office and started in business for himself, 
and has since received a fair share of the 
legal business in this part of the state. He 
has made a specialty of probate and chancery 
branches of his profession, and has filled posi- 
tions as trustee and executor in several es- 
tates, involving assets of large amounts, in 
which intricate and complicated questions 
have arisen, and which he has so conducted 
as to avoid long and e.xpensive litigation. 

Although repeatedly tendered political and 
official positions, during his residence in Grand 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



101 



Rapids, Mr. Chandler has always declined, 
with one exception — that of school trustee. 
He accepted this position for the reason that 
he felt that he owed a duty to the city, in 
whose public schools he had so many years 
served as teacher. In this capacity he served 
four years, from 1880 to the fall of 1884, and 
declined a re-appointment for business reasons. 
\\'hile on the board of education he served as 
chairman of the committee on teachers, also 
for one year was elected president of the 
board. 

Air. Chandler is not a communicant of any 
religious body, but is an attendant at the Park 
Congregational church, of which his wife is a 
member, and has been a member of the board 
of trustees and an officer of the board. He 
is likewise in full S3'mpathy with the broad 
views entertained and practiced by this branch 
of the Congregational orders in this state. 

Mr. Chandler is a republican in politics 
and has always voted in state and national 
affairs with his party, and has often served as 
delegate in state, county and city conventions. 
Mr. Chandler has the universal reputation 
amoi;g the citizens of w-estern Michigan of 
being an honest and upright man, and a con- 
scientious and painstaking practitioner in his 
profession. 



URDEN T. CHAPEL, commissioner 

of schools for Kent county. Mich., is 

native here, was born April 11, i860, 

and until twelve 3'ears of age lived on 

his lather's farm. 

Marquis de Lafayette Chapel, father of 
subject, was a native of Canada, as was also 
his wife, who bore the maiden name of Lillie 
McPherson, and of their four children Gurden 



T. is the youngest. Both parents, however, 
are now deceased. M. de L. Chapel came to 
Kent county, Mich., in 1841, and took up 
government land in the township of Ada, and 
the patent therefor, subsequently issued to him, 
bore the signature of President John Tyler. 
As a pioneer Mr. Chapel endured all the hard- 
ships incident to a life in the wilderness, the 
condition in which Ada township then existed, 
but being a practical farmer, he succeeded in 
making a comfortable home for himself and 
young family. He became thoroughly imbued 
with a love for his adopted country, and in her 
time of need patriotically \-olunteered in pro- 
tecting her from disruption by enlisting, in 
1863. in company B, Third Michigan infantry, 
and at the organization of his regiment was 
elected its orderly-sergeant, and for bravery on 
the field of battle and for meritorious conduct 
generally was successively promoted to second 
and first lieutenant. He served until the close 
of the war, was present at the surrender of 
Gen. Lee at Appomattox Court House, and 
after receiving an honorable discharge returned 
to his farm, on which he resided until 1S72, 
when he removed to the village of Rockford, 
where he bought an iron foundry, which he 
successfully operated until his death, and his 
wife also passed away in Rockford. 

Gurden T. Chapel received his education 
in the schools of Rockford village, was very 
studious as well as apt, and at the early age of 
se\enteen years was qualified as a school-teach- 
er. His first experience in this vocation was 
in 1877, and for four years he taught in the 
country in the neighborhood of Rockford; the 
following six years he taught in the grammar 
department at Rockford, and then as principal 
of the high school at Sand Lake for six years. 
He served two terms of two years each as 
township school inspector, and in April, 1885, 
was appointed by Judge Perkins to the board 
of school examiners, and re-appointed b)' the 



102 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



board of supervisors three terms in succession, 
and two years ago was elected county com- 
missioner of schools. In April, 1899, he was 
re-elected by an enormous majority over all 
competitors, that in the city of Grand Rapids 
alone being 641, and the whole county major- 
ity being over 3,000, and this victory was 
achieved solely by the confidence of the voters 
in his personal fitness for the position. 

Prof. Chapel was united in marriage July 
4, 1882, with Miss Emma Burch, a native of 
Kent county, and a daughter of De\\'itt Clin- 
ton and Eliza (Elliott) Burch, and to this un- 
ion one child, Hazel D., has been born. 

In politics. Prof. Chapel is a republican, 
and fraternally is a member of Cedar Springs 
lodge, No. 213, F. & A. M., and of the Royal 
Arch; he is also a past grand of Rockford 
lodge. No. 247, I. O. O. F. , has twice attend- 
ed the grand lodge of this order, and in the I. 
O. G. T. is a member of Sand Lake lodge, No. 
332, and secretary of Kent District lodge, No. 
23, and is likewise a member of grange No. 
337, P. of H., and past captain of Chapel 
camp, S. O. v., of Rockford, which is named 
after his father. 

As an educator. Prof. Chapel is enexcelled. 
He holds a state certificate of the first grade, 
and although a modest man is a firm disciplin- 
arian. The family attend Grace Episcopal 
church, and reside at No. 415 East Bridge 
street. 



WILLIAM A. CHAPEL, the well- 
known architect, with his office at 
Nos. II. 12 and 13 Ottawa street. 
Grand Rapids, Mich., was born in 
Ada, Mich., July 26, 1857, and is a son of 
Lemon B. and Helen M. (Dennison) Chapel. 



1 « V 



Gurden Chapel, father of Lemon B., was a 
native of New York state, but removed to 
Canada, as he was probably of English de- 
scent, but returned to the states in his middle 
age and located in Oakland county, later in 
Kent county, and died at Ada, Mich., in 1876, 
at the age of eighty years. 

Lemon B. Chapel was still young when he 
came to Kent county and settled in the town- 
ship of Ada, where he was identified with agri- 
cultural pursuits for about twenty \ears, and 
then engaged in the hardware business at Ada 
and Baldwin, but is now retired, living at 
Fenton. To his marriage with Miss Denni- 
son, a member of an old-settled family of 
Grand Rapids, were born three sons and two 
daughters, viz: Augusta M., wife of Leverett 
J. Lee, a farmer of Vergennes township, Kent 
county; Addie O., married to William Teepel, 
a farmer of Cascade; William A., the subject; 
Elmer Ellsworth, in business at Youngstown, 
Ohio, and Royal Adelbert, a telegraph operator 
in the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad 
company in Montana, and all married. 

William A. Chapel received a thorough 
English training in the high school at Ada, and 
after graduating learned the carpenter's trade, 
engaged in the building business, became an 
expert, and for some time was engaged in 
bridge building on the C. & W. M. R. R., 
then on highwa\- bridges, and about 18S2 came 
to Grand Rapids and for five years was em- 
ployed as a superintendent before taking up 
the technicalities of the art of which he is now 
one of the accomplished masters. Two and a 
half years were spent with the firm of Rush & 
Son, with whom he was able, with his previ- 
ous knowledge, to round out his proficiency as 
an architect. March r, 1893, he opened his 
office for business, and has since been contin- 
uously employed in estimating cost, designing 
plans, and superintending the erection of some 
of the most handsome dwellings and business 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



103 



blocks in the city of Grand Rapids as well as 
elsewtiere, and constantly employs one assist- 
ant and frequently two, in order to enable him 
to punctuall}' fulfill his contracts — an object 
he keeps constantly in view — and this punctu- 
ality, outside of his exceptional ability, has 
been the chief secret of his remarkable suc- 
cess. 

Mr. Chapel married at Ada, Mich., Sep- 
tember 20, 1S80, Miss Hattie Louisa Young, 
daughter of George and Ladouska (Van Tassel) 
Young, residents of Ada. This lady received 
a substantial education in the public schools of 
Ada, and has been of invaluable aid to her 
husband in his business. Their union has 
been crowned by the birth of one son, George 
L., March 6, 1887. 

Mr. and Mrs. Chapel are members of the 
East street Methodist Episcopal church, and 
politically he is a free-silver democrat. He is 
a member of the American Insurance union, 
and socially he and wife mingle with the best 
circles of Grand Rapids, owning and occupying 
a pleasant residence at No. 186 Buckeye 
street. 



EORGE H. CHAPPELL. M. D., ex- 
soldier and eclectic physician and sur- 
geon at No. 182 Stocking street. 
Grand Rapids, Mich., is a native of 
Lockport, Niagara county, N. Y., and was 
born August 9, i84t. 

Peter H. and Elizabeth (Wilson) Chappell, 
parents of the doctor, were respectively born 
in Vermont and England, and were married in 
the state of New York. The father was a 
graduate from Yale college, and was very 
prominent in Masonry. He was a farmer and 
lumberman by calling, and later a justice of 
the peace at Berlin, Ottawa county, Mich., 



and also for one term served as sheriff of 
Niagara county. He was an upiight and hon- 
orable and useful citizen, and died at Berlin, 
in 1880, at the age of sixty-five years, and in 
Berlin his widow still resides, at the age of 
eighty-five. Of the children born to this 
couple, beside the doctor, three sons and one 
daughter still survive, viz: Richard, aged 
sixty-two years, a retired merchant and a jus- 
tice of the peace at Berlin; Frank is a physi- 
cian at Granite Falls, Wash., and also a mer- 
chant and dealer in lumber; Charles E. is a 
physician at Berlin, and Mattie is a teacher in 
the academy at Charlotte, Mich. 

Dr. George H. Chappell was reared to man- 
hood in his native town, but was primaril}- ed- 
ucated in the public schools of Rockport, and 
also attended Wilson college one year prior to 
his enlistment, August 12, 1862, in the One 
Hundred, and Twenty-ninth New York volun- 
teer infantry, but was afterward transferred to 
the Eighth heavy artillery. His regiment was 
assigned to the army of the Potomac, and for 
two years he did duty in the fortifications in 
and near Baltimore, Md. He was sent to the 
front just after the battle of the Wilderness, 
and his first general engagement was at Spott- 
sylvania, Va., as a member of the Second 
army corps, under Gen. \V. S. Hancock. This 
was a severe initiation, as a pine tree, eighteen 
inches in diameter, was literally cut down by 
the enemy's musket balls; his next engagement, 
that of Cold Harbor, was also one of the sever- 
est of the war, as no other battle had shown a 
greater number of casualties for the length of 
time and number of men engaged. But the 
following brief record will give the career of 
the doctor's company in a nutshell: 1864 — 
May 23-26, battle at North Anna river; 27-28, 
at Toldpatomy creek; June 3, Cold Harbor (pre- 
viously mentioned); 16-18 and 22, before 
Petersburg; July 26-29, Strawberry Plains; 
August 13-20, operations at Deep Bottom; 25, 



lOi 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Ream's Station; October 27, Hatcher's Run. 
1865 — February 5-7, second Hatcher's Run; 
March 29 to April 3, operations at Crow House 
redoubt; April 3-9, pursuit of Rebel army of 
northern Virginia, ending at Appomattox; 
May 22, grand review at Washington, D. C. ; 
June 5, muster out of United States service at 
Bailey's Cross Roads, Ya. ; June 22, muster 
out of state service at Rochester, N. Y. The 
original muster-roll of the regiment numbered 
1,000 names, which were increased to 2,200 by 
consolidation and recruiting; the casualties 
were — killed, 233; wounded, 682; missing, 255 
— total, 1,170. 

After receiving an honorable discharge from 
the army, young Chappell returned to Lock- 
port, N. Y. ; but shortly afterward came to 
Michigan and rejoined his parents, who had 
come hither while he was in the service of his 
country. He located at Berlin and engaged 
in general merchandizing, and while thus 
employed engaged in the study of medicine 
under the tutorship of Dr. Dayton and Dr. 
Hyde for four years. He then located at 
Paris and opened a drugstore, and at the same 
time entered upon the practice of medicine. 
A year later he transferred his business to 
Reed City, Osceola county, Mich., and started 
the first drug store of that place. Shortly 
afterward he again sold out, being employed by 
the G. R. & I. R. R. company to attend pro- 
fessionally to its employees, who were mostly 
Swedes and were engaged in grading. He 
ne.\t passed two years in Morley, Mich., and 
then, in 1873, located in Cedar Springs, Kent 
county, and engaged in general practice for 
twenty years. While there he also served 
fifteen years as a member of the citj' council, 
was health officer for two townships, and twice 
served as coroner of Kent county, in 1S76 and 
1878, as a democrat. 

In 1893 Dr. Chappell catne to Grand Rap- 
ids and again engaged in the drug business and 



practice of medicine, but his success in the 
the latter was so abundant that in 1896 he 
disposed of his stock of drugs and has since 
confined himself to his extensive professional 
practice. He is a member of the Northwest- 
ern Association of Physicians and Surgeons, of 
which he is likewise treasurer, and is also a 
member of the staff of St. Luke's hospital at 
Niles, Mich., and is greatly respected by his 
brother practitioners. He was a charter 
member of the G. A. R. post at Cedar Springs, 
and was its commander for two years, and 
was the organizer of the Innis camp, Union 
Veterans' Union, and has been very promi- 
nent in the work of these associations, having 
been commander of the Veterans the first two 
years of the existence of the camp and being 
now a major on the staff. For twenty years 
he has been an Odd Fellow, is a past grand, 
was the organizer of an encampment of the 
Knights of the Golden Eagle at Grand Rapids, 
and has served as its treasurer. 

The first marriage of Dr. Chappell took 
place in Ottawa c'ounty, Mich., in 1S67, 
when he wedded Miss Etta Anderson, who 
bore him one son, Lewis Edward. No- 
vember 13, 1873. This young man is a 
pharmaceutist by profession, having grad- 
uated before the state board. He is also 
a professional musician and a leader of string 
and brass instrument associations. He mar- 
ried Miss Irene McDaniels, a native of Wood- 
stock, Iowa, and a daughter of a banker. 

The second marriage of Dr. Chappell oc- 
curred in 1885, to Miss Ada Davis, a native of 
Kent county, and this union has been blessed 
with two children — Hazel, now aged nine 
years, and George, aged four. Mrs. Ada 
Chappell has also passed away, dying October 
28, 1898. 

; Dr. Chappell has all his lite been a Method- 

ist in religion, and since his residence in Grand 

I Rapids has been a member of St. Paul's Meth- 



AXD KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



105 



odist Episcopal church, to the support of 
which he liberally contributes. As a citizen 
he is greatly respected, and professionally he 
is a leading practitioner, who enjoys the full 
confidence of the public. 



i:ORGE CLAPPERTON.— The name 
of this gentleman is found on the list 
of attorneys who have achieved dis- 
tinction in the courts of Kent and ad- 
joining counties. His history in brief is as 
follows: He was born on the loth day of 
July, 1857, in Ontaria, Canada, and is a son 
of Robert and Elizabeth (Patterson) Clapper- 
ton, both parents residents of Ontario and of 
Scottish birth and ancestry. Robert Clapper- 
ton was by trade a carpenter. He came to the 
United States in 1865, locating in Allegan 
county, Mich., where he engaged in agricultur- 
al pursuits and there remained until a few 
years ago, when he removed to his present 
place of residence, Kankakee, 111. Of the 
children born to Robert and Elizabeth Clap- 
perton there are four now living, namely: 
Ella, wife of Frank W. Cornwall, of Cadillac, 
Mich. ; Ale.x, a railroad employe at Kankakee, 
111. ; Anna, a graduate physician in the city of 
Detroit, and George, whose name appears at 
the head of this article. 

Until his sixteenth year the subject of this 
sketch attended the common schools and then 
entered an academy at Otsego, Mich., where 
he pursued the higher branches of learning for 
a period of two years. At the age of eighteen 
years he entered the employ of the L. S. & 
M. S. R. R., in which capacity he continued 
until 18S4, devoting his leisure in the mean- 
time to the study of law. In the above year 
he entered the office of Taggart & Dennison, 



Grand Rapids, where he pursued his legal 
studies for two years and was then admitted 
to the bar, subsequently becoming associated 
in the practice with J. R. Wylie, who is still 
his partner. His practice in the civil courts 
has been successful and lucrative, and while 
giving his attention to all kinds of legal busi- 
ness he is especially interested in that depart- 
ment pertaining to commercial law. Mr. 
Clapperton's legal attainments are of a high 
order, and since engaging in the practice he 
has won an honorable standing among his pro- 
fessional brethren of the Kent county bar, and 
his career is watched with much interest by 
his many friends, who predict for him a still 
greater degree of success in years yet to come. 
Politically, Mr. Clapperton is a republican and 
has always been an active and energetic work- 
er for his party. 

The home of Mr. Clapperton, situated at 
No. 211 North Lafayette street, is presided 
over by a lady well known in social circles of 
Grand Rapids, to whom he was united in mar- 
riage on the iith day of October, 1S83. The 
maiden name of Mrs. Clapperton was Hattie 
L. Barker, a native of New York and daughter 
of David and Puella L. Barker, both of whom 
were born in the Empire state. This union 
has resulted in the birth of two children, Eliz- 
abeth and George Douglas Clapperton. 




ICHARD ARCHER CHRISTIAN, 

general agent for the Fraternal Alli- 
ance, with his of^ce at No. 62 Mon- 
roe street, was born in Brighton, Sus- 
se.x county, England, March i, 1858, a son of 
Thomas William and Emma Augusta Christian, 
the former a native of Beadle, Yorkshire, and 
the latter of Brighton, where she died during 



loe 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the childhood of her daughter Emma. The 
father was a merchant in Brighton, and there 
died at the age of sixty-eight years. Emma, 
the only other child born to these parents beside 
Richard A., attained young womanhood and 
was then called away, leaving the subject of 
this sketch the sole survivor of the family. 

Richard A. Christian was educated in the 
public schools of Brighton, and was later em- 
ployed for a short time in some minor capacity 
by the London, Brighton & South Coast Rail- 
way company. At the age of nineteen years 
he enlisted in the British army, and fo'r eight 
j'ears served with the Twentieth hussars. 
\\'hile with this regiment the Zulu war in 
South Africa took place, and Mr. Christian 
volunteered for that service, was detached 
from his own regiment and assigned to the 
Seventeenth lancers, who were sent to the 
front and served all through the trouble with 
the Zulus, the service being full of activity, 
thrilling adventure and great personal danger. 
In the charge of the Seventeenth at Ulundi 
Mr. Christian was wounded by a bullet at one 
time, and at another with an assagi, or poi- 
soned spear, from both of which wounds, how- 
ever, he speedily recovered. After Zululand 
had been conquered. Mr. Christian returned to 
England and purchased his discharge from the 
hussars, whose service was rendered altogether 
in Ireland and England, and mostly in garri- 
son duty, and thus, after ten continuous years 
of military life, he again became a civilian. 

After receiving his discharge, Mr. Christian 
returned to the employ of the London, Bright- 
on & South Coast Railway company, and 
for ten years was its time-keeper and pay clerk 
at Brighton. In April, 1892, he came to Amer- 
ica, landed in Nfw York, and for a year was 
employed by a firm of electrical engineers in 
a capacity similar to that which he had held 
with the railroad company in England; he then 
%vent to Baltimore, Md., to take charge of the 



construction of an electric railway, and, on its 
completion, went to Fort Wayne, Ind., be- 
came a solicitor for the Prudential Insurance 
company of Newark, N. J., and about twelve 
months later was promoted to be assistant su- 
perintendent, and was detailed to open up a 
new district at Auburn, Ind. After about a 
year thus spent, he resigned his position and 
made a visit to England, where he passed three 
months, and then came to Grand Rapids, 
Mich., in 1895, ^"^^ here he resumed work as 
agent of the Prudential Insurance company, 
continuing with it nearly two years as agent 
and assistant superintendent. For the past 
two years he has been the genera! agent of the 
Fraternal Alliance, of Milwaukee, Wis. 

Mr. Christian was united in marriage, at 
Fort Wayne, with Miss Eva Hobbs, a native 
of that city, and a daughter of Reuben and 
Julia Hobbs, of English descent. Mr. and 
Mrs. Christian are attendants at the Episcopal 
church; fraternally, Mr. Christian is a mem- 
ber of the Grand Rapids lodge of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Foresters and of the Frater- 
nal Alliance. In politics he takes no especial 
interest, but evinces some sympathy for the 
republican party. Socially he and wife hold 
a desirable position, and enjoy the esteem of 
many pleasant acquaintances. 



ROF. CHARLES HENRY COG- 
SHALL, principal of the Turner street 
school at Grand Rapids, Mich., was 
born in Centralia, 111., February 2, 
1866, a son of Seymour C. and Martha J. 
(Tomlinson) Cogshall. His father was a 
native of Oakland county, Mich., and his 
mother was a native of Tennessee. 

From early childhood Charles Henry Cog- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



107 



shall has been dependent upon, his own 
personal exertions for what he possesses, 
hence, his respectable education has been 
gathered, in the midst of toil and care, by dint 
of untiring, industrious application. He came 
to Michigan, May i6, 1876, with his parents, 
and resided at Sand Lake, Kent county, was 
permitted to supplement the primary education 
he had received in the public schools at Cen- 
tralia and Mount Vernon, 111., by a year's at- 
tendance at the school in Sand Lake, after 
which he went to Sparta, in the same county, 
where he entered the grammar department of 
the high school and later graduated, after filling 
out the full course of study in 1887. He then 
began teaching in the district school of Cas- 
novia, following up with schools at Big Springs 
and Labarge, teaching at the last-named place 
for three years, and then entered the normal 
school at Ypsilanti, and in three years was 
awarded the full four-year, or life certificate. 
After leaving Ypsilanti he was elected princi- 
pal of the public school at Zeeland, Mich., 
where he met with most flattering success, re- 
mained for three years, and did some noble 
educational work by regrading the school and 
putting it in first-class condition. 

In 1898 Prof. Cogshall left his charge in 
Zeeland to assume the duties of his present 
position in Grand Rapids, it having been dis- 
covered that his abilities were worthy of a 
wider scope for their exercise, in consequence 
of which not-at-all wonderful discovery, but, 
on the contrary, a too-palpable fact, he was 
recommended and endorsed by the best educa- 
tors of the state and the entire board of school 
directors of Zeeland as the proper man for the 
position. The sequel has shown the wisdom 
embodied in this recommendation and endorse- 
ment. It may be here remarked, incidentally, 
that Prof. Cogshall, while a teacher in the dis- 
trict schools of Kent county, was secretary of 
the Kent County Teachers' association, and 



during the entire time he passed at Zeeland 
was president of the Teachers' association of 
Ottawa county. He was granted the bachelor 
of science degree in 1898, from Chicago uni- 
versity. 

The marriage of Prof. Cogshall, which 
completed his earthly felicity, took. place June 
30, 1898, at Grand Rapids, Miss Lucy A. Stow, 
daughter of Alfred W. and Clara A. Stow, and 
niece of ex-mayor L. C. Stow, being the ac- 
complished and happy bride. 




EONARD L. CONKEY. D. V. S., 
M. F., Dean of Grand Rapids Vet- 
erinary college, and one of the leading 
veterinarians of the state, was born in 
Arlington tbwnship. Van Buren county, Mich., 
on the 8th day of May, 1851, but was left an 
orphan at the age of six years. 

He passed his boyhood days on the farm of 
his uncle, Leonard L. Halsted, at White Oak, 
Mich., a small place on the M. C. R. R., be- 
tween Lawton and Decatur, where, assisting 
in clearing up a 160-acre farm, he learned to 
work. Attending only a part of three or four 
winter terms of school, in a small country 
school-house, his early education was limited. 

In the spring of i 868, he took a position on 
the Niles Democrat, edited by A. J. Shake- 
spear; although politically a democratic sheet, 
at that time it bore the name of ' ' Niles Repub- 
lican." In the winter of 1868-9 he worked on 
the Lawton Tribune. 

He was next found industriously working at 
house, sign, ornamental and portrait painting. 
At this time he had acquired a fine turnout for 
moving his painting equipments, drawn by a 
beautiful pair of matched roan horses. One 
day "Mack," his favorite horse, was found sick 



108 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and unable to move; one veterinary after an- 
other was called, until the supply from the 
country was exhausted, yet poor Mack grew 
worse instead of better. Dr. F. A. Leaser, a 
graduate of the Berlin Veterinary college of 
Germany was called ; he diagnosed the ailment, 
acute iaminitis, prescribed for him, and the 
horse made a quick recovery. 

This little episode with Mack and the com- 
mon '■ hossdoctor " said too plainly that 
there was a demand for good talent in the 
field of veterinary science. In the spring of 
1877, he therefore began the study of veteri- 
nary medicine and surgery, at Bluffton, Ohio, 
under the instruction of Dr. Leaser. 

After studying two years he began practice 
at Findlay, Ohio, where the greater part of 
practice was surgery. From Findlay he re- 
turned to Michigan, was in Xiles for a few 
months with Dr. T. A. Bunbury; he then locat- 
ed in Dowagiac in 1884, meeting with marked 
success for a year and a half, when reverses 
overtook him, by which he lost both social 
and financial standing; he quitted the town, 
moving to Benton Harbor in 1887. 

While at the Harbor he completed the 
MS. for a book on which he had been at work 
for several years, and in the year 1S89 came 
to Grand Rapids and had his book published. 
In the same year he opened an office in the 
Lovett Block, opposite Sweet's hotel on Canal 
street. 

Since coming to Grand Rapids the doctor's 
life has been as an open book before the pub- 
lic, and it can be said of a truth that he has 
regained all, and even more than, he lost in 
Dowagiac. In the meantime, however, the 
doctor has visited many towns in Ohio, In- 
diana, Illinois, Michigan and other states as a 
specialist in surgery, and has been called from 
Grand Rapids to New York, to perform a sin- 
gle operation. 

Since coming to Grand Rapids the doctor 



has taken a college course, entering the De- 
troit college of Medicine, veterinary depart- 
ment, in 1895. 

Dr. Conkey organized the Grand Rapids 
Medical college in 1897, in which he still owns 
the controlling interest. Associated with him 
are about thirty of the leading physicians and 
veterinarians of the city. The institution 
grants the degree of M. D. in the medical de- 
partment, D. V. S., in the veterinary de- 
partment, and M. F. in the farrier's de- 
partment. Dr. Conkey was elected dean of 
the veterinary department of the college by 
the board of trustees in 1898, and the pros- 
pects of the college are e.xceedingly t^attering, 
as the doctor is one of the most widely known 
veterinarians in the middle states. 

The doctor's matrimonial adventures in 
early life were not all that could be desired; 
in fact, they were more like those of Columbus, 
and others that might be mentioned, whose 
lives have been devoted to science, rather 
than to the study of human nature; however, 
he was united in matrimony with his present 
wife December 7, 1892, she having borne the 
maiden name of Nellie M. King; this union 
has been blessed with two children: Opal 
Checora and Alger B. Conkey. Miss Opal, 
the elder, at four years old, can name and lo- 
cate all of the bones in the body of the horse, 
a remarkable thing for one so young. 

Dr. Conkey joined the Independent Order 
of Odd Fellows in 1877, is a past grand of 
Bluffton lodge. No. 371, having filled the 
chair of noble grand during the year 18S2, 
and is at present a member of Phceni.x lodge. 
No. 12, at Grand Rapids. He is not connect- 
ed with any church organization, and in poli- 
tics is independent. 

As an operator Dr. Conkey is unquestiona- 
bly one of the most clever surgeons of the age. 
One of his favorite operations being that of 
abdominal cryptorchidy (ridgeling castration). 



AXD KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



109 



while general surgery, in its many phases, is 
performed without seeming effort, or loss of 
life, his success being truly wonderful. With 
such a man at its head, the success of the 
Grand Kapids Veterinary college is assured. 

The college is substantialy fitted with lec- 
ture rooms, dissecting rooms, 'laboratories, 
hospital and horse-shoeing departments. Do- 
mestic animals, with all manner of ailments, 
are taken in, treated until well, and cared for 
at the pleasure of the owners. 

The farrier's department is a leading fea- 
ture of the college. Having a special provis- 
ion in the charter, the trustees confer upon 
those graduating from this department the de- 
gree of master farrier ("M. F. ). Students in 
the veterinary department are required to at- 
tend the lectures in this department, that they 
may know, and become familiar with, ailments 
of the feet. 

No man is more devoted to his home and 
family than is Dr. Conkey, who idolizes his 
children and is devoted to his wife, providing 
all that heart can wish. His habits are tem- 
perate, and he is never away from home ex- 
cept on business, returning at once when busi- 
ness is over. 

As an inventor of veterinary instruments 
Dr. Conkey has considerable merit. His 
first invention was the Emasculator, designed 
to take the place of the French instrument 
called the Ecraseur, used in animal castration. 
His next invention was the Conkey securing 
harness and operating hood. Then he fash- 
ioned the Conkey self-holding automatic chain 
buckle. These, later combined, have a world- 
wide reputation; with them an animal, regard- 
less of his size or disposition, can be laid on a 
blanket at every trial. 

On the index page of J. Reynder's cata- 
logue of veterinary instruments, of New York, 
are listed the Conkey obstetrical set, Conkey's 
bog spavin and thorough pin truss, Conkey's 



incisor cutters, Conkey's instantaneous trachea 
tube, etc. It is evident that Dr. Conkey has 
done more during the last twenty years for the 
profession than any other one man. 

Now that Dr. Conkey is at the head of a 
veterinary college, the eyes of all professional 
lights in the United States are turned on him, 
watching with interest each step, as he has 
already proclaimed many reforms in college 
work. 



R.\NK JUDSON COOIs;. county ab- 
stracter, was born in Paris township, 
Ivent county, Mich., October 30, i860, 
and is the son of Abram F. and Maria 
(Patterson) Cook. In the public schools of his 
native township he received a practical English 
education, and so assiduously did he apply him- 
self to his studies that, at the early age of 
eighteen years, he had advanced sufSciently to 
obtain a teacher's license. During the suc- 
ceeding fifteen years he was engaged in teach- 
ing in the common schools of Kent county, 
and his frequent retention in the same place 
attests his efficiency as an instructor as well as 
the high place he occupied in the esteem of his 
patrons. His principal work in the educational 
field was in the townships of Paris and Cas- 
cade, and he points with pardonable pride 
that seven consecutive years were spent in the 
old home school-house, where he was first in- 
structed into the mysteries of the alphabet and 
elementary branches. The high character Mr. 
Cook achieved as a teacher made him well and 
favorably known throughout the country, and 
in view of the energy displayed in the school 
room it is safe to assume that, had he con- 
cluded to devote his life to the profession, he 
would have gained much more than a local 
reputation as a teacher. 



HO 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



On the 1st day of July, 1893, Mr. Cook was j 
appointed tax collector in the city treasurer's I 
office. Grand Rapids, under M. H. Sorrick, 
and served as such till January, 1895, when he 
was appointed by Jonn T. Gould deputy reg- 
ister of deeds, the duties of which position 
he discharged in an eminently satisfactory man- 
ner until January, 1897. Previous to holding 
either of the above places, Mr. Cook served as 
treasurer of Paris township, to which he was 
elected in 1890, serving as such until 1894, 
when he was chosen township clerk, holding 
the latter office one term. In 1897, he was 
appointed county abstracter and has since 
given his attention to the office, proving him- 
self in this, as in the various other stations to 
which he has been called, fully competent and 
most obliging and courteous in the discharge of 
the duties pertaining thereto. In addition to his 
duties as abstracter, Mr. Cook is also justice 
of the peace for Paris township, to which 
office he was elected for the full term of four 
years. 

Mr. Cook has had a very busy life, and in 
all of its relations he has fully met the ex- 
pectations of his friends by acquitting himself 
with credit and honor. He is now in the 
prime of life, possesses genial manners and 
sound scholarship, and his years in the school- 
Toom, together with the time spent in the va- 
rious official stations to which he has been 
called, have been the means of laying a broad 
foundation for a future of still greater effi- 
ciency and usefulness. 

On the 2 1st of September, i83i, Mr. Cook 
entered into the marriage relation with Miss 
Jennie Thompson, of Paris township. She 
is the daughter of Leroy and Eliza (Earl) 
Thompson, and her birth dates from the i6th 
day of December, 1S63. Mr. and Mrs. Cook 
are the parents of two children — Lillian M., 
born March 9, 1884, and Arthur A., whose 
birth occurred on the 29th day of March, 



1893. The family are members of the Church 
of Christ, in Grand Rapids, and are highly 
esteemed in religious and social circles of 
the city. 

Mr. Cook is active in many fraternal, social 
and religious organizations, belonging to the 
Maccabees, 'Royal League and Knights of Pyth- 
ias, being past chancellor and commander of 
Cowan lodge. No. 89, of the order last named. 
He is a leading spirit in the Young Men's Re- 
publican club of Grand Rapids, holds the 
position of \ice-president of the Lincoln club, 
and is an associate member of the New Era 
Life Insurance compan}' of this city. In con- 
nection with his official duties, which, by the way, 
are many, he owns and personally superintends 
a successful green-house at his home in Paris 
township, the building covering 7,000 square 
feet of ground, and being supplied with a fine 
assortment of plants. The twenty-seven acres 
comprising his place are devoted to fruit grow- 
ing and vegetable cufture, and he obtains 
therefrom a comfortable income. 




LLEN DURFEE (deceased), the 
pioneer funeral director and embalm- 
ing fluid inventor of Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in or near Palmyra, 
Wayne county, N. Y. , January 15, 1829, and 
lived on the farm on which he was born until 
1853, when, on October 5th of' that year, he 
married Miss Phebe B. Thayer, who was born 
in the same county of highly respected parents. 
To this union was born one child — a daughter 
— who died young. On the iSthof October, 
1853, ^^r. Durfee brought his bride to Michigan 
and located about four miles below the city of 
Grand Rapids (if city it might then be called), 
buying a part of the Bemis farm. While there 




ClZc^-,^ lAt- 



(^i.-^<-^^ 



1 



w 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



118 



engaged in agricultural pursuits, Mr. Durfee 
became very popular with the republican party, 
whose principles he had imbibed before leav- 
ing his native state, although, as a party, re- 
publicanism had not then assumed tangible 
organization. In 1856 he was elected a justice 
of the peace, and in 1862 and 1863 served as 
treasurer of Walker township, and in 1866 
was again elected justice of the peace. In 
1868 he was nominated for supervisor, but 
failed at the polls, his competitor carrying the 
day by a meager majority. 

In September, 1868, Mr. Durfee sold his 
farm and came to Grand Rapids, purchased a 
home, and in June, 1869, engaged in the 
manufacture of funeral goods, with J. H. Far- 
well as partner. Two years later, or on Octo- 
ber 15, 1 87 1, Mr. Durfee engaged in the 
undertaking business on his sole account, and 
began the manufacture of a preparation of his 
own for use in the preservation of the dead, 
his place of business being in the Ledyard 
block, on Ottawa street. In 1889, A. D. 
Leavenworth was admitted as a partner in 
this business, which was pushed still more 
vigorously than ever. 

It was through the efforts of Mr. Durfee 
that the association of Funeral Directors of 
Michigan was formed, and from and after 
which sprang similar associations in many 
other states, which wereallied into the National 
association of Funeral Directors, which is now 
a vigorous association, holding annual meet- 
ings in different portions of the United States, 
and of which national organization Mr. Dur- 
fee served as president. This brought him in 
close fellowship with all the funeral directors 
of the Union, and as he was known to be a 
" pioneer " embalmer and used a preparation 
that had perfect operation, his advice was 
sought, as well as the preparation he manu- 
factured for his own use, and, always being 
alive to the demands of the trade, he manu- 



factured his embalming fluid on a larger scale, 
and the business grew to such proportions, 
even without advertising or any efforts on his 
part, that, about 1886, A. W. Brown, who 
was then employed as embalmer and assist- 
ant undertaker, was put upon the road to in- 
troduce the Durfee Embalming Fluid among 
undertakers who had not already learned of 
its superior qualities through personal contact. 
From that time on the business was pushed 
with judgment and vigor, the company em- 
ploying four traveling men, covering the en- 
tire United States. Beside that manner of 
sales, the company sold its goods through 
seven commission salesmen and fifty-seven 
different casket companies in various cities of 
the country. In 1889, Alvah W. Brown, who 
had been so successful in sales of the Durfee 
Embalming Fluid, purchased an interest in 
the business, and gave his entire time to the 
manufacture.- Up to December, 1893, Mr. 
Durfee and his partner in the undertaking busi- 
ness, A. D. Leavenworth, were the members 
of the partnership, and then the company, 
reorganized and incorporated, removed from 
the building used by Durfee & Co., under- 
takers, to more commodious quarters and 
into its own building on Spring street, and 
the business thereafter was carried on under 
the style of the Durfee Embalming Fluid 
company until the death of Mr. Durfee. 
which occurred May 25, 1897. In upwards 
of twenty- eight years in the undertaking busi- 
ness, Mr. Durfee had charge of over 28,000 
funerals. 

Mr. Durfee was a man of the strictest in- 
tegrity, and, withal, of a mechanical turn of 
mind. He was also very fond of bric-a-brac 
and was a great curiosity hunter, and his 
widow has still in her possession his cabinet 
filled with geological and conchological speci- 
mens and other curios, including whales' teeth, 
horns of wild animals, etc., all of which latter 



114 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



he himself polished or otherwise prepared. 
He was kind and amiable in disposition and 
extremely affable and courteous in deportment, 
and of broad mind, liberal views, and sympa- 
thetic instincts. Fraternal with all mankind, he 
enjoyed the society of his fellow man, and sought 
his companionship by becoming a member of 
several societies, among them the Knights of 
Honor, the Ancient Order of United Work- 
men, the Covenant Mutual association of 
Galesburg, and of the Old Residents' associa- 
tion oi the Grand river valley. He was chari- 
table and benevolent, and a true Christian in 
thought and deed, and died a member of the 
Park Congregational church. His loss was 
deeply mourned by the community of Grand 
Rapids, but none more deeply deplored him 
than his bereaved widow. 




EXRY HEBER COSSITT, the well 
known carpenter and jobber at No. 32 
East Bridge street. Grand Rapids, was 
born in Wyoming county, N. Y., Feb- 
ruary 12, 1838, and is a son of Jesse and 
Amanda (Blakesley) Cossitt, both natives of 
Connecticut. The father was a carpenter and 
builder and also a prosperous farmer. He 
cleared up a fine farm in Wyoming county, N. 
Y. , in the township of Perry, and when situ- 
ated so he could live comfortably, died at the 
age of forty-eight. The mother lived to the 
age of ninety-one years. She was thrice mar- 
ried, her second husband being John Bushnell; 
she again married at the age of seventy-four 
years a Mr. Janes; all are deceased. The im- 
mediate family of subject was as follows: Lau- 
rens, who died in young manhood; \'elona 
died a young lady; German X. is seventy- 
eight years old and lives in Brockville, Ont. ; 



Levi, seventy-two old, lives in Rochester, N.Y., 
retired: Lucy died young; Newton is aged about 
si.xty-eight years and resides at Brockville, 
Ont. ;Martha died at the age of nineteen;Sarah, 
now Mrs. Gardner, resides at Mill Grove, Allegan 
county, Mich., aged sixty-five, and subject 
was the youngest of a family of nine. His 
early years were spent in New York, whence 
became to Ganges, Allegan county, Mich., 
and remained there two years, when he went to 
Minneapolis, Minn., where he remained three 
years. He began carpenter's work at the age 
of about fifteen years, working at Smith's Falls, 
Ontario, for two seasons, employed in the 
shop of his brother, who was then a manu- 
facturer of fanning mills. 

In the fall of 1859, Mr. Cossitt left Minn- 
eapolis and went to Guelph, Ont., where he 
lived until the fall of 1864, then returned to 
Allegan, Mich., and engaged in keeping a ho- 
tel for one winter. In the spring of 1861 he 
went to Logansport, Ind., remaining three 
years, when he returned to Guelph, Ont., and 
was married in that town in 1S61. He re- 
mained in Guelph four years on this occasion, 
when he moved to Port Perry, Ont., and en- 
gaged in the sash and door business. He left 
there in 1S74 and went to Winnipeg, Manito- 
ba, thence to Moorehead, Minn., thence to 
Minneapolis, remaining there four years th is 
time. He then removed to Fargo, N. Dak., 
where he remained ten years in contracting 
and building, and built two-thirds of the place. 
He left there in 1888, going to Duluth, Minn., 
and spent six years there in contracting 
and building. He came to Grand Rapids in 
the fall of 1894. Few men have been more 
transitor}'. 

Mr. Cossitt married Miss Rebecca Dee 
Roberts, a native of Portage, N. Y. , and she 
has accompanied her husband on all of his 
various wanderings. In political \iews Mr. 
Cossitt is a republican. He is not connected 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



115 



with any church organization, being a free- 
thinker. Three children were born to Mr. 
and Nfrs. Cossitt: The eldest was Clarence 
Ashael, born August 23, 1866, at Logansport, 
Ind., and died at Port Perry, Ont.; Effie Mae, 
born at Guelph, Ont., in March, 1868, died at 
Duhith, Minn., December 29, 1892, of quick 
consumption; she was the wife of Charles N. 
Strickland, of Duluth, was married in 1889, 
and left a son named Palmer Clarence, now 
in California; Edith Lyle, born in Minneapo- 
lis, Minn., March 6, 1876, died in Albuquer- 
que, N. Me.x., where she had been taken with 
the hope of benefiting her health, she 
having contracted consumption from her sis- 
ter in caring for her, and her death occurred 
April 7, 1 897. Serious sickness and death in the 
family was the source not only of great grief 
to the loving parents, but also led to heavy 
financial losses in vain efforts to save the 
dearly beloved ones. 




ARMON COWENS.— The gentleman 
for whom this sketch is prepared has 
had an active and varied career, and 
by reason of his long connection 
with two important public stations has become 
widely and favorably known throughout Kent 
county and various parts of the state of Mich- 
igan. His father, John Covvens, was a native 
of . Tennessee, and his mother, Lucy Friley, 
was born in Ohio. They were married in 
Berrien county, Mich., and there resided on a 
farm until the father's death in 1887. Mrs. 
Cowens still owns the old homestead, and is 
passing her declining years amid its quiet 
scenes. The children of John and Lucy Cow- 
ens were three in number, viz: Egbert, who 
is at home looking after his mother's interest; 



Harmon and Emeline — the last named being 
deceased. 

Harmon Cowens was born November 22, 
1851, in the county of Berrien, Mich., and 
grew to manhood on the farm, attending the 
common schools at intervals until his twentieth 
year, and remained under the parental roof 
until reaching the age of twenty-five. He 
then went to \'alparaiso, Ind., where for two 
years he pursued his studies in the Northern 
Indiana Normal school, with the object of 
preparing himself for the teacher's profession 
in view. During several succeeding years he 
taught school in winter and farmed in summer, 
and was thus employed until 1881, at which 
date he came to Grand Rapids to accept the 
position of deputy United States marshal 
under James Monroe. , He continued under 
that official four years, and was reappointed 
b}' Mr. Monroe's successor, D. R. Walters, 
with whom he remained one year, resigning at 
that time to become deputy sheriff of Kent 
county, to which place he was appointed by 
L. K. Bishop. He discharged the duties of 
the deputyship during the full term of four 
years, and then retired from the office to en- 
gage in the livery business in Grand Rapids, in 
partnership with George W. Powers — a firm 
which did a fairly remunerative trade for one 
year, when the subject disposed of his interest 
and purchased a farm of eighty acres in Paris 
township and began tilling the soil for a liveli- 
hood. He continued this peaceful pursuit, 
however, but a single year, when he again en- 
tered the sheriff's office as deputy under Isaac 
Lamoreaux, two years later served in like man- 
ner under N. Rice, at whose death, which oc- 
curred before the expiration of the official term, 
he was appointed to the same position by the 
next incumbent, Irving Woodworth — thus 
spending nine years in the office. This, with' 
the.four years as deputj' U. S. marshal, brought 
Mr. Cowens in contact with a great many 



116 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



people, and afforded him exceptional advan- 
tages of becoming familiar with the trend of 
public sentiment. This long continuance in 
oflice is the strongest proof of his popularity, 
and the manner in which he has discharged 
the duties incumbent upon him speaks, 
much louder than words, of his peculiar fit- 
ness for the place to which he has given such 
protracted service. 

Mr. Coweris is a republican in all the term 
implies, and while always active in behalf of 
his party's interests is not a rabid partisan, 
and scorns to stoop to questionable methods 
which so often constitute the stock in trade of 
ward politicians. He numbers among his 
warmest friends many whose political faith is 
diametrically opposed to his own, and all par- 
ties have found him not only reliable, but, 
when occasions warrant, able to rise above 
party for the common good. He is a member 
of the Pythian fraternity, belonging to Eureka 
lodge, and in religion subscribes to the Meth- 
odist creed. 

The marriage of Mr. Cowens was solem- 
nized in Grand Rapids with Miss Clara M.Watt, 
who was born in Litchheld, Mass., March 5, 
1 86 1. To this union have been born the fol- 
lowing children: Myrtle and Harvey Monroe 
(twins), Nellie Catherine and Lucy Charlotte. 
Mr. Cowens owns two houses and three vacant 
lots in Grand Rapids, has a good farm, and is 
otherwise comfortably situated in the matter 
of this world's goods. 



AMES COX, manager of the Porter 
Block, was born in the county of Tip- 
perary, Ireland, February 4, 1833, ^ 
son of Henry and Mary (Evans) Cox, 
both natives of the Emerald isle. The father 
died when James was a lad of ten years and 




the mother afterward joined her son in the 
United States, dying in Michigan at the age 
of eighty-four. 

James Cox remained in the countr)' of 
his nativity until nineteen, when, thinking to 
better his condition in a country which held 
out greater inducements to young men than 
Ireland, he came to the United States, locat- 
ing first in New York, where he remained 
from June, 1852, until November, 1S55, en- 
gaged in farm work in Saratoga county. In 
the fall of 1855 he came to Grand Rapids, 
Mich., and in the spring following located in 
Paris township, where he has ever since re- 
sided. In 1855 to 1859 Mr. Cox worked as a 
farm hand, but in the latter year purchased a 
small farm, which he greatly improved, erect- 
ing thereon a dwelling which he has occu- 
pied for over forty j'ears. He was married in 
Saratoga county, N. Y., in 1855, to Miss Ann 
Eustace, also a native of Ireland, Rev. Father 
Bradley officiating at the ceremon\\ After 
forty-three years of happily wedded life, 
Mrs. Cox passed to her final rest, February 
I, 1899, at the age of sixty-five years. 
Eight children were born to their union, five of 
whom are living. The names of the children 
are as follows: Mary, wife of M. T. McNa- 
mara; Edward died in California at the age of 
forty years; James died at home aged thirt\- 
five; Matilda died at the age of ten; Henry 
J. lives at home, has been blind from child- 
hood, result of scarlet fever in his infancy; is a 
graduate of the Blind School of Flint, Mich. ; 
Anne E., wife of Thomas F. Morris, of Water- 
ford, N. Y. ; William J., a bookkeeper of this 
city; and Catherine H., who lives at home and 
manages her father's household. She is a 
graduate of the parochial schools of Grand 
Rapids, as were also his other daughters, and 
his sons were given the best educational ad- 
vantages obtainable. 

Mr. Cox followed the profession of teach- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



117 



ing for over twenty-five years in Kent county, 
his frequent retention for several consecutive 
terms in the same place speaking well for his 
ability as an instructor. While engaged in 
educational work, he made a specialty of 
mathematics, and has now in his possession a 
large volume of difficult problems arising from 
his work, which he exhibits with great pride. 
As a mathematician he had few equals, and it 
is still his delight to unravel and solve difficult 
and abstruse problems. For a number of 
years he was actively identified with agricult- 
ural societies and served as secretary of the 
Kent county and West Michigan associations, 
in the deliberations of which he took a promi- 
nent part. He has always been interested in 
fairs, agricultural exhibits, live stock, etc., 
and for a period of about thirty years has 
given such matters intelligent attention. 

In October, 1881, Mr. Cox accepted the 
management of the Porter block in Grand 
Rapids, and since that time has had entire 
control, managing the large property with abil- 
ity and fidelity, giving it the same attention 
as if he were the real owner. He has also 
collected and disbursed funds belonging to the 
estate of the late I^ewis Porter, amounting to 
$300,000, a proof of his superior business abil- 
ity. Mr. Cox is an active member of St. An- 
drew's Roman Catholic church and for a pe- 
riod of sixteen years has served as a member 
of its board of trustees. He has been inden- 
tified with the C. M. B. A. since its organiza- 
tion, May I, 1881, and has filled several offi- 
cial positions in the same. 

Politically, Mr. Cox is a democrat, but 
formerly supported what is known as the 
greenback ticket. In 1876 he was the green- 
back candidate for county clerk, and while 
running 400 votes ahead of the ticket failed of 
election by reason of the combined opposition 
of the other parties that year. Personally, 
Mr. Cox is a genial, whole-souled gentleman, 



whose acquaintance it is a pleasure to make; 
he is popular with all, and his company is 
eagerly sought by old and young alike. Al- 
though past life's meridian, he has still the 
elastic step and rosy face of youth and bids 
fair to live many more years. 




ARRY DOUGLAS COWAN, justice of 
the peace and attorney at law, at 
Grand Rapids, was born at Chatham, 
province of Ontario, dominion of Can- 
ada, January 15, 1865, and is a son of Samuel 
and Frances M. (Wheatley) Cowan, natives of 
Ireland, who still reside in Canada, where the 
father is a wholesale dealer in hardware and 
harness. 

Harry D. Cowan graduated from the 
Chatham high school, then entered the Toron- 
to university, graduated with the arts course, 
and then served two and a half years with the 
Law society. In 1886 he went to Omaha, 
Nebr. , where he practiced law until 1S88, and 
then returned home, where he was admitted 
to the bar the same year and practiced until 
1890, when he came to Grand Rapids and vvas 
here associated in practice with Stuart & Knap- 
pen until 1893, then with William J. Stuart 
until 1895, then alone until 1896, at which 
time he was elected a justice of the peace — an 
office he fills with consummate ability, his long 
practice and ripe experience at the bar pecul- 
iarly fitting him for the position. 

June 9, 1896, Mr. Cowan was united in 
marriage, in Grand Rapids, with Miss Mary I. 
Rooney, who has blessed him with one son — 
JohnW. Mr. and Mrs. Cowan are attendants 
of the Wealthy avenue Baptist church, and in 
politics Mr. Cowan is a republican. Frater- 
nally, he is an Odd Fellow, an Elk, a Forester 



lis 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and Woodman, and a member of the Home 
Forum. He is a gentleman of unswerving in- 
tegrity, is painstaking and impartial in the 
performance of his official duties, has been 
successful in his professional career, owns his 
own residence property at No. 35 Lake street, 
and naturally enough enjoys, with his wife, 
the respect of his neighbors as well as that of 
the general public. 




OHN CRAHEN, the well-known and 
respected farmer of section No. 25, 
Cirand Rapids township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born in Albany, N. Y. , 
November i, 1834, a son of Martin and Mary 
(McMahan) Crahen, both natives of county 
Clare, Ireland, where they were married, and 
whence they came to the United States about 
1S30. They lived a while in New York, and 
then came to Detroit, Mich., when John, the 
subject, was between three and four years of 
age. 

Martin Crahen was a molder by trade and 
was employed by the Michigan Central rail- 
road at Ypsilanti, and the first distinct recol- 
lection John has, is that of going from Detroit 
to that place to see his father. Martin Crahen 
for some time afterward continued to work at 
his trade in Detroit, and then bought a farm 
near the city, on which he lived until 1849, 
when he came to Grand Rapids and located on 
the west side of the river, but after making 
some improvements realized the fact that he 
was working on another person's land; he then 
settled on a farm in section No. 24, and this 
was his home until his death, at the age of 
sixty-nine years. His widow survived him 
twenty years, and died in her eighty-seventh 
year. The farm is situated about five and a 



half miles east of Grand Rapids, and contained 
160 acres, formerly of heavy oak timber, the 
greater part of which Mr. Crahen cleared off. 
There were seven children born to his mar- 
riage, three of whom are now living. James, 
the eldest son, carried on the farm until he re- 
moved to Grand Rapids, where his death took 
place and where his widow and family still 
reside. Mary, the eldest survivor of the family, 
is also a resident of Grand Rapids; Martin is a 
mechanic of Muskegon; John is the subject of 
this sketch. 

Martin Crahen took an active part in the 
affairs of his township. He was a commission- 
er, organized the school in his district, and 
served as supervisor in Wayne county, as a 
democrat. In religion he was a devout Cath- 
olic and a faithful member of St. Andrew's 
church at Grand Rapids. 

John Crahen was about fifteen years of 
age when he came to Grand Rapids. He as- 
sisted on the home farm until he attained his 
majority, and then went to Muskegon, where 
he worked at lumbering for two years, and also 
worked in the mills. On his return he settled 
on forty acres of the home farm, two years 
later bought eighty acres of his present farm, 
then added forty acres more, and still later 
added more land, until he became the owner 
of 180 acres in one body. He had about $Soo 
saved from his earnings, and went in debt for 
an equal amount, but he is now free from lia- 
bilities and has made, beside, a fine line of im- 
provements. He has his place well arranged 
for general farming and also grows 1,000 peach 
trees. 

Mr. Crahen was united in marriage, No- 
vember 23, 1863, with Miss Mary Collins, 
daughter of Simon and Margaret (Carmody) 
Collins, a native of county Clare, Ireland, who 
came to the United States when eleven years 
old, and to Grand Rapids at the age of si.xteen, 
and here her marriage took place. To this 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



119 



union there are eight living children, born in 
the following order: Margaret Elizabeth, a 
dressmaker of Grand Rapids; James, an attor- 
ne\' in Chicago, 111. ; Mar}-, a teacher; Joseph, 
a clerk in the office of the G. R. & I. R. R. in 
Grand Rapids; Martin, on the farm with his 
father; Catherine, also a teacher; Julia, a 
teacher, and John, a student at the Grand 
Rapids high school. Mr. Crahen and family 
are members of the St. Andrew's Catholic 
church, and in politics is of democratic procliv- 
ities, but as a rule votes for the man he deems 
to be best fitted for office. He has himself 
served as township treasurer, but has never 
felt any desire for public position. His farm 
is one of the most desirable in Grand Rapids 
township, being in an excellent state of culti- 
vation, and he and family are held in universal 
respect. Mrs. Crahen, the mother of the fam- 
ily, died January 4, 1898. 




DGAR BURDETTE CRANDELL, a 
well-known and thoroughly prac- 
tical dentist of Grand Rapids, Mich., 
with his office in the Gilbert block, 
was born in Cheshire, Mass., and descends 
from Lord Crandell of England, who came to 
America in the historical Mayflower and 
founded the family in New England. 

Stephen R. Crandell, father of Edgar B., 
was also a native of the old Bay state, and 
there married Miss Ellen Dean, to which union 
were born four children, viz: Edgar B. , the 
subject; Stoel A., who, for the past twelve 
years, has been foreman of a furniture factory 
at Big Rapids, Mich.; Frederick W. , foreman 
of a saddle factory in Binghamton, N. Y., 
and Ellis, a jeweler in Owego, in the same 
state — and all, excepting Stoel, married. The 
father was for many years a railroad con- 



tractor in his native state, from which he 
moved to Owego, N. Y., and from there he 
came to Big Rapids, Mich., in 1878. His 
wife died in \'irginia at the age of thirty-six 
years, and Mr. Crandell married Mrs. Ann A. 
Ashley, whose maiden name was Van Dusen, 
but to this union no children have been born. 
Both wives were born in Massachusetts, and 
Mr. Crandell now has his home in Big Rap- 
ids, Mich. 

Dr. Crandell received his literary education 
in New York and at Fredericksburg, Va., and 
professionally was educated in the office of Dr. 
A.. W. Eldredge, of Big Rapids, with whom 
he studied four years. He commenced prac- 
tice in Grand Rapids in 1885, and this has 
been his home ever since, with the exception 
of one year passed in Holland, Mich. He has 
secured a very lucrative practice in Grand 
Rapids, and bears a reputation for skill second 
to that of no one in the profession. 

Dr. Crandell was joined in the bonds of 
matrimony, at Grand Rapids, September 6, 
1894, with Miss Challie S. Wilkinson, a native 
of Guelph, Canada, and their only child, Ste- 
phen B., died at the age of seventeen months. 

The doctor is a member of Valley City 
lodge. No. 86, F. & A. M., and of Daisy lodge. 
No. 48, B. P. O. E. In his political views, 
he affiliates with the republican party. He 
and wife attend Trinity Episcopal church, of 
which Mrs. Crandell is a member, and their 
social standing is with the best people of 
Grand Rapids. 



ARRY L. CRESWELL was born of 
American parents in the village of 
Calcutta, Columbiana county, Ohio, 
on the 14th of March, A. D. 1864. 
His early years were passed for the most part 



120 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



in his native village, and neighboring cities and 
villages of Ohio, Pennsylvania and the \^''est 
Virginia "Pan Handle," with brief family 
flights to Michigan and Tennessee. The 
youngest of a family of thirteen, he remained 
with his parents until the death of his mother 
broke the little family circle. In 187S and 
1879 he attended the public schools in Wells- 
ville, Ohio, and in the spring of 1880, having 
reached the age of fifteen years and consider- 
ing himself fully able to care for himself, he 
became a resident of Grand Rapids, Mich., 
and learned the printer's trade in the compos- 
ing room of the Saturday Evening Post, of 
which his brother, John A. Creswell, was then 
editor. After working at his trade for several 
years the young man decided to supplement 
his common school with a high school educa- 
tion, and by dint of type-setting and journal- 
istic and other work, succeeded, graduating 
with honor in the class of 1887. From that 
date, until 1896, he was engaged in newspaper 
work in editorial and reportorial capacities on 
all of the Grand Rapids newspapers, with 
brief periods of journalistic work in Buffalo, 
N. Y. , and Minneapolis, Minn. 

lathe spring of 1896, he was nominated 
for clerk of the superior court on the republi- 
can ticket and elected by a large majority. In 
1S98 he was re-nominated and again elected 
to the same office under adverse circumstances, 
the entire republican ticket, with one other 
exception, being beaten at that election. 

Upon entering the clerk's office in the 
superior court, Mr. Creswell began the study 
of law under the tutelage of the Hon. Edwin 
A. Burlingame, then judge of that court, pass- 
ing the examination before the state commis- 
sion at Lansing with credit, and actively tak- 
ing up the practice of this profession upon his 
retirement from the office of clerk in 1900. 

Mr. Creswell's domestic relations have 
been equally happy with his business and polit- 



ical affairs. In 1890 he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Cordelia M. Wilde, a classmate 
in the high school and daughter of Thomas 
Wilde, a pioneer farmer of Wright township, 
Ottawa county, Mich. They have two chil- 
dren, and many friends who will wish them all 
the success in lite which energy and integrity 
so richlv merit. 




AMES ALBERT COYE, collector of 
customs and attorney-at-law, is a na- 
tive of Grand Rapids, was born Octo- 
ber 9, 1855, and is a son of Albert 
and Mary (Pew) Coye, both natives of the 
state of New York and married in Rochester. 
In 1854, Mr. and Mrs. Albert Coye came 
to Grand Rapids, and here Mr. Coye engaged 
in tent and awning making. He was unusual- 
ly well educated and a master hand at mathe- 
matics, and possessed, beside, a refined taste 
for literature. He was a prohibitionist in 
politics, and died in the faith of the Methodist 
church in October, 1894; his widow now re- 
sides at No. 88 Turner street, and is greatly- 
respected by all who know her. 

James A. Coye attended public school in 
this city until nine years of age, when he was 
employed by Comstock & Nelson, later Nelson, 
Matter & Co., the well-known furniture manu- 
facturers, with whom he remained, with the 
exception of si.x years passed with the Hawkes 
Furniture company at Goshen, Ind., until 
1890, in which year he engaged in the real es- 
tate business, and began the study of law with 
M. Hauseman. He was admitted to the bar 
in 1 89 1, and was actively engaged in practice 
until appointed collector of customs, May 13, 
1897, in which position he is still giving the 
utmost satisfaction to all concerned. 



AND KENT COUNTY. UP TO DATE. 



121 



Mr. Coye was married in ^^'hite Pigeon, 
Mich., August 12, 1875, to Miss Belle Judd, 
of Ligonier, Ind., and a daughter of George 
and Joanna Judd, the former of whom was 
killed in the late Civil war. Mr. Coye is an 
active republican, and is a gentleman who is 
highly esteemed by all classes within the city 
limits of Grand I^apids. 




ENCEL L. CUKERSK I, superintend - 
dent of Grand Rapids public parksys- 
tem, hails from far away Poland, his 
birth having occurred in the city of 
Posen, September 14, 1S69. His father, 
Michael Cukerski, a landscape gardener, and 
his mother, whose maiden name was Caroline 
Pawloski, were both natives of German Poland 
and never left that country. 

W'encel L. Cukerski attended a Catholic 
parochial school in the country of his nativitj- 
until his fifteenth year, and during the two 
succeeding years received instructions from 
his father in landscape gardening, for which 
he early manifested a decided taste and liking. 
After becorHing somewhat familiar with the 
business he went to Enfurth, Germany, where 
he further prepared himself by taking a full 
course in the agricultural college of that city, 
paying particular attention to landscape gar- 
dening and floriculture, which he studied care- 
fully in their every detail. After thus spend- 
ing two years, acquiring in the meantime a 
comprehensive knowledge of the profession, he 
went to Berlin, where, until 1880, he acted 
in the capacity of assistant to one of the most 
extensive gardeners of that city. In 1890 he 
came to the United States, locating at Grand 
Rapids. He entered the employ of Henry 
Smith, with whom he remained till 1892, 



completing in the meantime a course in one of 
the city's commercial colleges, thus thoroughly 
fitting himself for his subsequent business ca- 
reer. In 1892 Mr. Cukerski was engaged as 
landscape gardener and florist in the public 
parks of the city, thirteen in number, a posi- 
tion for which his previous training so well 
fitted him. 

In 1897 he was made superintendent of the 
entire S3'stem, and he has since discharged his 
official duties in a manner highlj- creditable to 
himself and satisfactory in every respect to the 
public. Since taking charge of the park sys- 
tem, Mr. Cukerski has inaugurated many im- 
provements, beatifying these popular resorts 
and making them conform to his ideas of what 
such places should be. He brought to this 
work a highly cultivated mind and artistic 
taste of a high order, and the work performed 
under his plans and personal supervisior bear 
eloquent testimony to his skill as a gardener 
without a peer in this section of the state. 
To keep the entire system in the condition 
which he has planned, requires the labor of 
from sixt}' to eighty men, all of whom have 
been selected by reason of their fitness for the 
places they fill. 

Mr. Cukerski is a gentleman of liberal cult- 
ure, truly refined, and his long connection 
with a calling which appeals so strongl}' to the 
asthetic, has developed all that is good and 
commendable in his nature, making his com- 
panionship much sought after by tho^e whose 
minds are influenced by the beautiful. He 
was married in Grand Rapids, February G, 
1894, to Miss Helen Poposki, a native of this 
city, whose parents, Andrew and Catherine 
i Poposki, were born in Poland. Mr. and Mrs. 
Cukerski have one child, Florence, who has 
attained the age of five years. 

Mr. Cukerski is thoroughly American in 
his ideas, but still cherishes a warm feeling for 
the fatherland where his youthful years were 



122 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



passed. He belongs to the Polish-American 
Industrial society, the Polish National alliance, 
and with his wife is a member of St. Adal- 
bert's Polish Catholic church of Grand Rap- 
ids. He is also a member and stockholder in 
the Polish-American Building & Loan associa- 
tion, and is identified with the Odd Fellows 
and Elks fraternities. He owns a comfortable 
home at No. i6 Turner street, and other prop- 
erty of value in the citv. 




R.\STUS H. CUMMINGS, M. D., 
of the Wonderly building, Grand 
Rapids, was born in Steuben county, 
N. Y. , September 3, 1S35, and is a 
son of Dr. Clark and Elanor Ann (Clarks) 
Cummings, also natives of the Empire state. 
Dr. Clark Cummings, a graduate of the 
Jefferson Medical college, practiced many 
years in his native state, and in April, 1851, 
came to Michigan and located on a farm at 
Onondaga, Ingham county, but about 1865 
removed to Toledo, Ohio, where he practiced 
about. fifteen years, and then removed to Elk- 
hart, Ind., where his death took place when 
he was seventy-five years old, and where, 
also, the death of his wife occurred, at the 
same age, five years later. Their family com- 
prised four sons and one daughter, of whom 
Erastus H. , the subject, was the eldest; Will- 
iam J., the second born, was a member of 
Berdan's sharpshooters during the Civil war, 
and sustained a wound which resulted in his 
death some months later; Mary, the third 
born, was married to ^^"illiam Chatterdon, of 
Elkhart, Ind. ; Clark died of quick consump- 
tion in his twenty-first year, and Daniel died 
of cholera in 1849, at the age of three years 
and ten months (both father and mother hav- 
ing had an attack of the same disorder). 



Dr. E. H. Cummings received his literary 
instruction at the Fitzhugh academy in Roch- 
ester, N. Y. , and in 1856 entered Albion col- 
I lege, attending two years, then, in the fall of 
1S58, he went to Kansas, mainly for recrea- 
tion, hunting buffaloes, etc. He was in the 
west for about a year and a half, and on his 
return, in i860, resumed his professional 
studies in Ingham county under a private tutor, 
and in the fall of 1S60 returned to the univer- 
sity of Michigan. At the close of the course 
he returned home, and April 23, 1861, he en- 
listed in company B — Philip McKernan's com- 
pany — but this company failed to get into the 
three months' service, and then the doctor 
went into company H, that afterward became 
part of the Sixth Michigan infantry, and was 
appointed corporal. 

The Sixth Michigan rendezvoused at Fort 
Wayne, Ind., from June 18 until August 2, 
1 86 1, under drill; then Corporal Cummings 
was sent back to Michigan to recruit, and in 
four days filled up the quota of his regiment 
to completeness. The raw recruits were mus- 
tered into the United States service at Kala- 
mazoo, Mich., and thence ordered to Balti- 
more, Md. , where the regiment remained until 
February 23, 1862, when it was sentto New- 
port News, just at the time of the fight be- 
tween the Monitor and the Merrimac, which 
took place May 9, 1862. The doctor next 
went with Gen. B. F. Butler to Ship island, 
in the gulf of Mexico, then fought at various 
points up the Mississippi river, and at Baton 
Rouge, La., carried the regimental colors. 
After a year's service. Dr. Cummings was ap- 
pointed hospital steward, and as such was on 
detached duty until about the close of the 
war, when he was discharged at Jackson, 
Mich., April 29, 1865, after having served over 
four years. 

On his return to Michigan, Dr. Cummings 
resumed his professional studies and graduat- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



123 



ed from the university of Miciiigan in iS66. 
He then practiced medicine two j'ears at Les- 
lie, Mich., and then came to Grand Rapids 
and practiced until 1S75, in the fall of which 
year he entered the Hahnemann Medical col- 
lege, in Chicago, 111., took a six-months' course 
and graduated; he next had six months' expe- 
rience in the Cook county hospital at Chicago, 
and since then has practiced in the allopathic 
and homeopathic schools. He returned to 
Grand Rapids in the fall of 1876, was in active 
practice here two years, then went to Edmore, 
Montcalm county, and practiced until the 
spring of 1889, when he finally settled in 
Grand Rapids, where he has been in active 
practice ever since. 

Dr. Cummings has been twice married — 
first, to Miss Marion H. Swift, of Eaton Rap- 
ids, Mich., in September, 1864. Her death 
occurred in September, 1S92. She had borne 
her husband two sons and two daughters, viz: 
Earle C. ,who graduated from the high school, 
spent two years in Albion college, was a clerk 
in a bank at Edmore several years, and died 
from the effects of quinsy and accompanying 
erysipelas February 10, 1889; Elmo Lee, who 
graduated from the Edmore high school, took 
a year's course in a business college at Grand 
Rapids, and is now in the employ of the Lake 
Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad com- 
pany; the two daughters died in infancy. Feb- 
ruary 28, 1898, Dr. Cummings married Mrs. 
Anna Mentzer. 

Dr. Cummings is a member of Custer post. 
No. 5, G. A. R. , of which he has been surgeon 
three years and is a past commander; has also 
been a member of the K._ O. T. M. for sixteen 
years, and in politics has been a life-long re- 
publican. He has never been an office seeker, 
but has nevertheless served as a member of 
the Edmore board of trustees. 

The doctor was reared in the faith of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, to which he still 



adheres, and of which his first wife was also a 
member, as is his present wife, who is a high- 
ly educated lady and possessed of many ac- 
complishments, and is likewise a member of 
the W. R. C. Professionally the doctor stands 
at the front, and socially he and familj' mingle 
with the best people of Grand Rapids. 




tLLIAM CUNNINGHAM, florist 
and proprietor of the Park Avenue 
greenhouse, Grand Rapids, is a 
native of Scotland, born August 16, 
1848, in Sterlingshire, a son of William and 
Mary (Stevenson) Cunningham. These par- 
ents were both born in Scotia, and the father, 
a forester, still lives on his native heath. The 
mother died there in 1879, and lies buried in 
the old ancestral cemetery. They reared a 
family of eight children, of whom the subject 
of this sketch is the third in order of birth. 

William Cunningham's youth was spent 
amid the hills and dales of beautiful Scotland, 
and he early learned the lessons of frugality 
and self-reliance, characteristics of the people 
of his country, and when but twelve years of 
age began the study of floriculture, to which 
he diligently applied himself for a period of 
three years. He then found employment as a 
florist in Lancashire for one year, going thence 
to Midlothian, near Edinburg, where he fol- 
lowed his chosen calling four years, leaving 
Scotland at the end of that time for Ireland. 
During the succeeding three months he worked 
in the latter country, and then went to Wor- 
cestershire, England, where for four years he 
had charge of large gardens and gained for 
himself an enviable reputation in the profession 
to which his life has been devoted. For one 
year Mr. Cunningham was employed as a 



11^4 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



florist in London, and in September, 1882, 
turned his back to the old world and came to 
the United States, locating at Grand Rapids, 
Mich., where during the nine years following 
he was in the employ of Henry Smith, at that 
time the leading florist in the city. Severing 
his connection with that gentleman, he engaged 
with F. M. Strong for one year, and at the 
expiration of that time became associ- 
ated with A. Hanna under the firm name of 
Hanna & Cunningham, a partnership which 
lasted two years. Mr. Cunningham then dis- 
posed of his interest to his partner and pur- 
chased the well-known Schmidt Bros. 'plant on 
Park avenue, which he has since greatly en- 
larged and improved in many ways, making it 
one of the most popular enterprises of the 
kind in Grand Rapids. 

Mr. Cunningham possesses in a marked de- 
gree trne artistic taste, which is strikingly dis- 
played in the methodical arrangement of his 
gardens and greenhouse, and he pursues his 
profession with the enthusiasm which it justly [ 
' merits. He is a close student of botany, and 
the careful training he received in youth, to- 
gether with the many years devoted to this 
most fascinating of vocations, has made him 
an authority on all matters pertaining thereto, 
and is without doubt the best posted man now 
in the business in the city. His success finan- 
cially has been commensurate with the energy 
displayed in the prosecution of his business, 
and a conservative estimate places the annual 
sales of his plants at $4,500. He has a city 
office at No. 93 Canal street, employs four as- 
sistants, and, judging by the past, it is safe to 
predict for him a still larger measure of suc- 
cess in the future. 

Mr. Cunningham entered into the marriage 
relation in Birmingham, England, September, 
1879, with Miss Emma Doggett, who was 
born in that country on the 3d day of June, 
1853. Five children have been born of this 



union, namelj': William, deceased; George, 
deceased; infant, that died unnamed; Fred- 
erick, a florist of Chicago, and Emma, who is 
still with her parents. The religious belief of 
Mr. Cunningham and family is embodied in 
the Episcopal creed, and in politics he votes 
with the republican party. The family reside 
at a beautiful home at No. 8 Ives avenue, and 
are highly esteemed in the social and religious 
circles. 




ENRY BROWN FALLASS.— 

Among the jurists who have gained 
distinction at the Kent county bar is 
the gentleman whose name appears 
at the beginning of this article. He has long 
been considered one of the leading men of 
the legal profession in western Michigan, a 
man of scholarly tastes and profound learning, 
a political economist of more than local repu- 
tation, and withal a gentleman signally free 
from ostentation, highly esteemed b)- all who 
have the pleasure of his acquaintance. 

John W. and Phebe (Brown) Fallass, par- 
ents of Henry B. Fallass, were natives of 
Madison and Tompkins counties, N. Y. , where 
the ancestors of their respective families set- 
tled at a very early period of the country's 
history. John W. Fallass came to Michigan 
when a young man in 1S37 and located at 
what has since been known as Fallassburg, 
Kent count}', where he built a mill and early 
began the manufacture of lumber and flour. 
Going back to his native state in 1842 he there 
married, and with his bride returned to the 
county of Kent, and until the year 1875 con- 
tinued to operate his mill. In that j'ear he 
disposed of his mill to his sons and turned his 
attention to his farm, which he cultivated 
until his death, November 5, 1896. His wife 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



127 



preceded him to the grave, departing this life 
in the year 1890. Mr. and Mrs. Fallass were 
excellent people and left the impress of their 
lives indelibly fixed upon the community 
which they assisted in founding. Mr. Fallass 
was a man of extended reputation by reason 
of his superior mental attainments, and for 
man}' \ears was a leader in the M. E. church, 
and a republican politician of the old school. 
His popularity was not confined to the limits of 
the neighborhood where he li%'ed for more than 
half a century, but his name was long a synonym 
for manliness and uprightness of character in 
communities far remote from his place of 
residence. John W. and Phebe Fallass were 
the parents of two children, the subject of 
this sketch and Charles W., a merchant of 
Petosky, Mich. 

Henry Brown Fallass was born on the old 
homestead in Fallassburg, Kent county, on 
the 13th day of May, 1846. His 3'outhful 
years were spent under the parental roof, and 
the public school of the neighborhood furnished 
the means of a common English education, 
which was afterward supplemented by a com- 
mercial course in the Bryant & Stratton Busi- 
ness college, Detroit. Until his eighteenth 
year he assisted his father in the mill, and from 
that time until twenty-two he was engaged in 
teaching in the common schools of Kent 
county. His reputation in the educational 
field brought him into prominent notice, so 
much so, in fact; that in the year 1868 he was 
elected superintendent of the I\ent county 
public schools, a position which he filled two 
terms. In the meantime he began the study 
of law, and after the expiration of his official 
term entered the ofSce of Hughes, OBrien & 
Smiley, Grand Rapids, where he pursued 
his reading one year, and during the succeed- 
ing year received instruction from Judge 
Holmes. The further to increase his legal 
knowledge, Mr. Fallass entered the law de- 



partment of the university of Michigan, from 
which he was graduated in 1875 ^"d immedi- 
ately thereafter was admitted to the bar and 
became associated in the practice with C. H. 
Gleason, under the firm name of Fallass & 
Gleason. The partnership thus formed con- 
tinued three years, and for about seven years 
Mr. Fallass and Elvin Swarthout constituted 
one of the leading law firms of Grand Rapids. 
For several years past Mr. Fallass has been 
alone in the practice, and he is now one of the 
leading lawyers of the Ivent county bar. His 
name appears in connection with many of the 
most important cases ever adjudicated in the 
courts of this city, and not infrequently has he 
been retained as counsel in equally important 
litigation elsewhere. Mr. Fallass is a close 
student, and through a long and successful 
practice has become thoroughly familiar with 
the underlying principles of his profession. 
He prepar'fcs his cases with the utmost skill 
and precision, and his dignified presence and 
earnestness of manner indicate his thorough 
familiarity with the contested points. He is 
logical in argument, clear in his reasoning, 
forceful in delivery, and his opinions alvva}s 
carry weight and seldom fail to convince. 

On the 1 2th day of September, 1876, Mr. 
Fallass entered into the marriage relation with 
Miss Mary J. Brown, who was born in the 
town of Parma, Jackson county, Mich., June 
27, 185 I. She is the daughter of William G. 
and Lucinda (Landon) Brown, and has borne 
her husband one child, a daughter, Florence P. 

In addition to his regular practice, Mr. 
Fallass is largely interested in real estate, his 
dealings therein having been very successful 
financially. He owns valuable property in 
both city and county, including numerous 
houses, besides business blocks, farms, etc., 
and a beautiful home on Ransom street, which 
is the center of a cultivated circle. He exer- 
cises the right of franchise in support, of the 



128 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



principles of the republican party, and socially 
is connected with the Hesperus club of Grand 
Rapids. For three years he served as a mem- 
ber of the city school board; and the cuuse of 
education has always been to him a matter of 
f^reat concern. The religious belief of Mr. 
and Mrs. Fallass is embodied in the Congrega- 
tional church, with which they are both iden- 
tified. 




ON. BYRON M. CUTCHEON, M. C, 
lawyer, soldier, statesman, was born 
at Pembroke, N. H., May ii, 
1836. He is from one of those 
old and highly respected New England fami- 
lies, of Scotch-Irish stock, who settled in New 
Hampshire about 1720. The Cutcheons (or 
McCutcheons, as the name originally was) 
have lived at Pembroke since the Revolution- 
ary war, in which the grandfather of the sub- 
ject, Frederick McCutcheon, took an active 
part as a soldier in the cause of independence, 
serving four successive enlistments. 

Rev. James M. Cutcheon, father of Byron 
M., was born at North Pembroke, and died 
there in 1856, having reared a family of six 
boys, of whom the subject was the youngest. 
Byron M. Cutcheon received his earliest 
school training in the district school of his na- 
tive town, and at the age of thirteen entered 
the Pembroke academy, in which he qualified 
himself for a teacher by the age of seventeen, 
and taught his first school in his native town 
in 1853-4. Enticed by the unfolding oppor- 
tunities of the west, he left the family home 
while yet a boy, and in 1S55 came to Ypsilanti, 
Mich., where he continued his preparatory 
studies, spending the winters in teaching. He 
took charge of the Birmingham academy, in 
Oakland county, Mich., in 1857. After hold- 



ing this position one year he entered as a stu- 
dent the university of Michigan, from which 
he graduated, taking the degree of A. B. in 

1 86 1. His college studies were interrupted 
by absence during three winters, which he 
spent teaching, earning means with which to 
complete his course. Having completed his 
college studies, his first engagement was that 
of principal and teacher of ancient languages, 
higher mathematics, etc., in the high school 
at Ypsilanti — a position he filled until he re- 
signed to enter the army in 1862. 

A feature of his education, which is im- 
portant in determining the natural bent of 
mind of the subject of this sketch, was a year 
spent in a military school at Pembroke. Be- 
ing descended from a race of soldiers on both 
sides of the family, he chose this from natural 
inclination toward military life. In July, 1862, 
he raised a company for the Twentieth Mich- 
igan infantry, in response to the president's 
call for 300,000 volunteers, and was at once 
mustered into the service as second lieu- 
tenant. 

His career through the war was one of 
faithful duty, which found recognition in suc- 
cessive promotions up to the rank of colonel 
and brigadier-general by brevet "for conspic- 
uous gallantry." He entered upon the scenes 
of actual war at Washington, in September, 

1862, when, having been promoted to the cap- 
taincy of his company, he saw the demoralized 
army of Gen. Pope returning from the field of 
the disastrous second battle of Bull Run. He 
was engaged in the battle at Fredericksburg, 
in December, 1862; Horseshoe Bend. Ky. ; 
Vicksburg and Jackson, Miss.; Blue Springs, 
Hough's Ferry, Lenoir Station, Campbell's 
Station, Knoxville, Strawberry Plains, Thur- 
ley's Ford, Bean's Station, and other points 
in Tennessee, in 1863. He received the con- 
gressional medal of honor, "for distinguished 
bravery " at the battle of Horseshoe Bend, Ky. 



AXD KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



129 



At Campbell's Station, in November, 1863, in 
which action his regiment bore a conspicuous 
part, the subject, then major, was thrown in 
command of his regiment by the death of the 
lieutenant-colonel, and led his regiment with 
such bravery and skill as to elicit the commend- 
ation of his commanding general. From this 
time to the end of the war his command was 
never less than a regiment. 

From Tennessee his regiment was ordered 
east in the spring of 1864, when it joined the 
army of the Potomac, and participated in most 
of the memorable engagements of that army. 
Having been promoted to colonel, he com- 
manded his regiment in the three days' fight- 
ing at the Wilderness; directed the rear guard 
of the Ninth army corps in its movement via 
Chancellorsville to Spottsylvania; led the ad- 
vance of the corps across the Nye river in front 
of Spottsylvania, his being the regiment that 
made the first lodgment on the crest in front 
of the enemy's works. On May loth, while 
leading a charge on a battery of the enemy, he 
was severely wounded by a fragment of a shell, 
which wound confined him to the hospital for 
nearly tvvo months. He rejoined his command 
in front of Petersburg, Va., July 7, 1864, and 
on the 30th of July led it in the charge in the 
"battle of the crater," through a storm of 
bullets and canister that mowed down nearly 
half of his men. In August he took part in 
the three days' fight on the Weldon railroad, 
on the first day of which he rallied a broken 
regiment under fire, taking the colors in his 
own hands. For this he was brevetted (by 
President Lincoln, on recommendation of 
Gen. Willcox) a colonel of the United States 
volunteers, "for conspicuous gallantry." 
Later he participated in the engagements at 
Ream's Station, Poplar Springs church, Pegram 
Farm, Boydton Road and Hatcher's Run. On 
October 16, 1864, he was assigned to the com- 
mand of the Second brigade, First division. 



Ninth army corps, which he continued to com- 
mand until mustered out of the service. Ow- 
ing to very severe and long-continued sickness 
in his family, he resigned in March, 1865, hav- 
ing been brevetted brigadier-general of volun- 
teers for gallantry in the Wilderness campaign 
and in operations in front of Petersburg, Va. 

In the spring of 1866, Gen. Cutcheon re- 
ceived the appointment of state agent of the 
Michigan Soldiers' Monument association, and 
as such made a canvass of the state. It was 
during this work that he. with Gen. R. A. Al- 
ger and Gen. John Robinson met at Detroit, 
and organized the famous " Boys in Blue," of 
which Gen. Cutcheon was the first president. 
In 1866, also. Gen. Cutcheon was appointed, 
by the governor, president of the Michigan 
Soldiers' Home commission, and conducted 
the duties required by that position so satis- 
factorily that he received, upon presentation of 
the result of his work to the state legislature, 
a vote of thanks from that body. 

After the war he returned to Ypsilanti, 
where he began the study of law in the office 
of his brother, Hon. Sullivan M. Cutcheon, at 
the time speaker of the Michigan house of 
representatives, and who afterward held the 
important position of United States district 
attorney for the eastern district of Michigan. 
The general completed his legal studies in the 
law department of Michigan university, at 
Ann Arbor, graduating therefrom in March, 
1866, and also receiving the degree of master 
of arts. His first professional location was at 
Ionia, in the fall of 1S66, where he at once 
entered upon the practice of his profession, 
but removed in July of the following year to 
Manistee. Although a lawyer by profession, 
and not seeking preferment outside of the 
ranks of that calling, his reputation as a pub- 
lic speaker, and his knowledge of government- 
al affairs, brought him at once to the notice of 
his older political associates. 



130 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



In politics he has al\va3S been a republic- 
an. At the state convention of 1866, his 
name was presented for secretary of state, 
and he came within a few votes of nomina- 
tion. In the ensuing campaign, upon invita- 
tion of the state republican central committee, 
he was one of the speakers who canvassed the 
state. 

Before removing to Manistee he had been 
appointed to the state board of railroad com- 
missioners-, a position he continued to hold by 
re-appointments up to 1883, when he resigned 
to enter congress. In 1868 he was chosen a 
presidential elector from Michigan and was 
made secretary of the electoral college. In 
1875 he was elected regent of the Michigan 
State university for the term of eight years, in 
which position he was active in promoting the 
welfare of that institution. He has been at 
different times, president, orator and poet of 
the alumni association of this, his alma mater. 
He was a member of the first city council of 
Manistee, and, as chairman of the ordinance 
committee, drafted the first code of ordinances 
for the city's government. He was chosen, 
in 1S70, city attorney; has been a member of 
the board of education; has held the office of 
prosecuting attorney of the county, and nu- 
merous other positions of trust in political, 
military and religious organizations. In 1877 
he received the appointment from President 
Grant of postmaster of Manistee, holding that 
position until 18S3, when he resigned to enter 
congress. 

He was first elected to congress in the au- 
tumn of 1882, and held a seat in that body 
until March 4, 1891, elected each time by 
increased majorities, having been nominated 
and renominated four times, receiving his last 
election in 1888 by a plurality of 4.374. As 
a congressman he was a faithful, diligent, and 
able representative, letting his voice be heard 
on almost all of the great political questions of 



the day. He served on the committee on mil- 
itary affairs for eight years, and in the Fifty-first 
congress was chairman of that committee, 
taking an especially prominent part in matters 
affecting the interests of veteran soldiers. His 
speech on the president's veto of private pen- 
sion bills, delivered on the floor of congress 
July 9, 1886, was more largely circulated by 
the national congressional committee as a cam- 
paign document during the following autumn 
than any other speech of that session. Many 
bills introduced by him became laws, espec- 
ially relating to the arm}'. 

At the close of his congressional career, 
March 4, 1891, Gen. Cutcheon was appointed 
by President Harrison a member of the United 
States board of ordnance and fortification, of 
which he continued a member until March 25, j{ 
1895. I" September. 1891, he removed his 
residence to Grand Rapids, which is still his 
home. On his retirement from the board of 
ordnance and fortification, he was editorial 
writer on political and international eubjects 
on the Detroit Daily Tribune until May, 1896, 
when he again returned to the practice of his 
profession, after twelve years in public life. 
Since he resumed the work of his profession, 
has retired entirely from active politics. I 

In personal appearance Gen. Cutcheon is 
much above the average in stature, standing 
over si.x feet in height; is upright and well pro- 
portioned, presenting a commanding appear- 
ance. In public speech he is forcible and con- 
vincing, but. withal, graceful and frequently 
eloquent. As a debater he is logical and clear, 
and quick at repartee. He is uniformly court- 
eous and affable in social and business relations. 

He has lieen a member of the Congrega- 
tional church during all of his active life, 
taking a deep interest in its welfare, not only 
locally, but as a member of its state and na- 
tional councils, having been a member of three 
triennial national councils of that church. 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



131 



The general was married, June 2 2, 1863, 
to Miss Marie A. Warner, a teacher in the 
city schools of Ann Arbor, and a lady of thor- 
ough culture and refinement. Their family 
consists of five children — four sons and one 
daughter — namely. Frank Warner, Charles 
Tripp, Max Hart, Frederick Richard, and 
Marie Louise. 




OBERT H. DeCOUX, physician and 
surgeon, was born in the city of Lon- 
don, Ont., December 10, 1869. His 
father, Walter S. DeCoux, also a na- 
tive of Canada, is descended from an old 
French family of the province of Ontario, 
and the mother, Mary Campbell, was born of 
Scotch parentage in the same country. These 
parents were married in Canada and reared a 
family of six children in the following order: 
Daniel, a resident of New York; Mrs. Bar- 
bara Rollins, of St. Thomas, Ont. ; John, a 
clergyman of the Episcopal church stationed 
at Mattoon, 111.; Robert H., the subject of 
this sketch; Maggie and Walter, the last two 
still with their parents at their home in Oil 
City, Canada. 

Dr. DeCoux received his educaton in Lon- 
don, completing the high school course at an 
early age. When but eighteen years old he 
accepted a position with a publishing house at 
Guelph, Canada, and as a traveling representa- 
tive of the same went to Australia, over which 
he traveled quite extensively, also visiting Tas- 
mania, New Zealand, and other islands of 
Oceanica, in the interest of the firm, finally 
completing his engagement by a trip around 
the world. He was in the employ of the 
company five years, during which time he vis- 
ited, in addition to the countries above named, 



Egypt, the Holy Land, many of the king- 
doms of Europe, besides various parts of 
America. On severing his connection with 
his employers, they expressed their satisfac- 
tion with his services by presenting him with 
a handsome gold watch, appropriately en- 
graved, which he prizes very highly. The 
doctor's long sojourn abroad was valuable in 
many ways, and his business experience, which 
brought him in contact with all kinds of peo- 
ple, was the means of broadening his mind 
and acquiring a practical education such as 
colleges and universities do not impart. 

Returning to his native land, the doctor 
began the study of medicine, and after a pre- 
liminary reading under a competent director, 
he entered the Michigan college of Medicine, 
Detroit, where he took a four-years' course, re- 
ceiving his degree in 1897. He brought to the 
practice a mind well fortified with professional 
training, and his first experience in the healing 
art was in the town of Herrick, Shelby county, 
111., where he maintained an office until his re- 
moval to Grand Rapids, in January, 1 899. The 
doctor's professional service embraces the gen- 
eral practice, and since locating in this city 
his progress, for so recent a comer, has been 
highly encouraging and prosperous. He is a 
conscientious and capable physician, studies 
his cases with great care and brings to the ex- 
ercise of his duties a personality which inspires 
confidence on the part of patients. Profes- 
sionally, the doctor's future is fraught with 
much that promises success, and in all other 
relations of life he sustains the character of a 
cultured and high-minded gentleman. 

Dr. DeCoux was married on the day of his 
graduation, March 23, 1897, to Miss Nina 
Hurd, of Jackson, Mich., daughter of Jesse 
and Finette Hurd. Jesse Hurd, now deceased, 
was for a number of years a prominent busi- 
ness man of the city of Jackson; his widow 
makes her home in Detroit with a daughter. 



132 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Her family at this time consists of three 
daughters, two of whom are married. 

Dr. DeCoux has a well appointed office at 
No. lo Canal street, and he keeps himself in 
touch with the progress of his profession b}' 
diligently studying the leading literature per- 
taining thereto. He is an enthusiastic student 
as well as a close practical observer, charac- 
teristics which have marked the career of the 
great majority of the world's distinguished 
men in all lines of professional and industrial 
activity. 




AUL P. DA\TS, professor of rhetoric 
and elocution, and teacher of the his- 
trionic art, with his studio at room 
29, Gilbert building. Grand Rapids, 
was born in San Francisco, Cal., April 7, 1S60. 
His education was acquired in the public schools 
of his native city, and after ceasing his studies 
he taught for three and a half years at the 
California Military academy of Oakland, Ala- 
meda county. He then began studying for 
the stage, and in 1881 became a " profession- 
al, " at first playing local engagements, soon 
wore off the "novice" condition of stage life, 
and then was engaged to support such stars as 
Miss Julia Marlowe, Mme. Fanny Janauschek, 
the famous Bohemian tragic actress; Mme. 
Helena Modjeska, the equalh' famous Polish 
actress; Joe Murphy, the Irish comedian, and 
Joe Polk, and later was a member of the ex- 
ceptionally strong company that for years 
occupied the boards of the^New York City Ly- 
ceum theater. In 1890 and 1891, Mr. Davis 
was stage manager for Janauschek, and the 
following season he abandoned the stage and 
came to Grand Rapids, opened his school of 
instruction, and soon secured a large clientele 
in this city and at Holland. 



Since coming to Grand Rapids, Mr. Davis 
has appeared in dramatic entertainments in 
nearly all the cities of Michigan and has been 
flatteringly received at all. On the evening of 
February i, 1898, he put on the play of the 
" \\'onderful Woman" at Power's opera house, 
before a very large, appreciative and enthusi- 
astic audience, and January 27, 1899, betook 
part in a Shakespearian entertainment at the 
Ackley institute of Grand Haven, in which he 
gave a number of recitations from " Macbeth," 
and of which the correspondent of the Grand 
Rapids Herald wrote as follows: " This was 
Mr. Davis' first appearance here, and his ren- 
dering of those lines of Shakespeare's wonder- 
ful work won the applause of each present. 
He favored his hearers w-ith the murder ,scene 
by request, and ' well done' was said by the 
audience in the long and continued applause 
that they gave him. It was in the clown's 
play that Mr. Davis won deserved praise. In 
his other selections his dialect and droll image- 
ry were nicely shown." It maj- well be in- 
ferred, from the foregoing extract, that Mr. 
Davis is an elocutionist of most comprehensive 
scope, as he recited passages, at the entertain- 
ment alluded to, from heavy tragedy, light 
comedy and broad farce. He has sounded the 
histrionic art from its ' ' lowest tones to the top- 
most of its pitch," and is well entitled to the 
extensive patronage which he is receiving ag a 
teacher of the art which represents all other 
arts on the dramatic as well as the lyric 
stage. 

Mr. Davis is a member of the board of 
directors of the Michigan Association of Elocu- 
tionists, of the Imperial lodge, K. of P., 
Phoenix lodge, I. O. O. F., and in 1896 — 97, 
was lecturing Knight of Daisy lodge. No. 48, 
B. P. O. E. He is also an honorary mem- 
ber of the Grand Rapids Schubert club, organ- 
ized in 1894, and now one of the largest 
musical societies in the city. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



133 



LMER W. DECKER, the experienced 
carpenter and contractor, at No. 233 
Ottawa street, Grand Rapids, was 
born in Morrow count}', Ohio, Decem- 
ber I , I S53, and is a son of Absalom and Sarah 
(Reece) Decker, the former a native of Ohio, 
and the latter of New Jersey, and both now 
deceased. 

Elmer W. Decker is the fifth of the eight 
children born to his parents, and named as 
follows: Mary Elizabeth, wife of Ezra Whit- 
ney, of Tacoma, Wash. ; Theophilus W. , de- 
ceased; Naomi, married to William Long, of 
Weston, Ohio; Horace P., deceased; Elmer 
W.,the subject of this sketch; Leora, deceased; 
Milton LaFayette, a druggist and postmaster 
of Lakota, Mich., and Alice Luretta, de- 
ceased. All ths deceased children attained 
the years of maturity ere they were called 
av\ay. 

Afr. Decker came to Michigan in 1871, 
learned the trade of carpenter and joiner, and 
worked for some years with a brother in 
Grand Rapids, and then was a partner with 
H. O. Cotton for six or seven' years in con- 
tracting and building, but since April, 1897, 
he has been alone and gives employment to 
two or three workmen, besides doing a great 
deal of work hmiself, as he is a most industri- 
ous man. 

August 6, 1876, Mr. Decker was joined in 
matrimony with Miss Fidelia Elsfelder, a na- 
tive of Wood count}', Ohio, and a daughter of 
John D. and Henrietta (Osborn) Elsfelder — 
the father a native of Paris, France, and the 
mother of Virginia, but their marriage took 
place in Seneca county, Ohio. The mother 
died in Ohio when Mrs. Decker was but nine 
years old, and the father died in Illinois. They 
were the parents of five children, viz: Aman- 
da, wife of Eli Stull, a resident of Illinois; 
Elizabeth Orr, of Illinois; John Daniel, a car- 
builder at Princeton, Ind.; Fidelia, now Mrs. 



E. W. Decker, and Henry, a painter in Oma- 
ha, Neb. Mr. and Mrs. Decker have been 
blessed with two bright and intelligent daugh- 
ters, the eldest of whom. Myrtle May, was 
born in Lamont, Mich., May 15, 1879, and 
Iva Pearl, born in Grand Rapids, March 15, 
1883. The elder of the two is a graduate of 
the Grand Rapids high school and the 
Grand Rapids normal school, and for a 
year or more has been a successful teacher in 
the city, and the younger daughter is in the 
senior year of the city high school. 

Mr. Decker is a member of Equity lodge, 
No. 459, I. O. O. F. , of Purity lodge, No. 14, 
D. of R. , and of the I. O. R. M., in which lat- 
ter he has filled the principal official stations. 
Mrs. Decker is also a member of the D. of R. , 
but neither he nor she is a member of any 
church organization. In politics, Mr. Decker 
was a republican in his early voting days, but 
has latterly espoused the doctrine of free sil- 
ver. He has, however, never sought political 
favors from either party. 

Mr. Decker has ever been a temperate, in- 
dustrious citizen, and a useful one. He has 
been a good manager, has made a success of 
his business, and he and wife and daughters 
enjoy the unfeigned esteem of all who know 
them. 



ERRIT H. DeGRAAF, dealer in staple 
and fanc}' groceries in Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in Buffalo, N. Y. .Oc- 
tober 4, 185 1, and is a son of Gerrit 
and Helen (Katz) DeGraaf, both parents na- 
tives of Holland. Gerrit DeGraaf, Sr. , came 
to the United States in 1846, locating at Buf- 
falo, N. Y., and there engaged in business on 
an extensive scale. In 1856 he came to 
Grand Rapids and engaged in the manufacture 



134 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



of lumber, doors, sash, blinds and other build- 
ing material, and met with most encouraging 
success in the undertaking,, employing a large 
number of men, and accumulating consider- 
able wealth. He was actively identified with 
the manufacturing interests of the city until 
his death, which took place in 1895. Ten 
children constituted the family of Gerrit and 
Helen DeGraaf, four of whom at present are 
living, the subject of this review being the 
second in order of birth. The DeGraaf family 
were prominent in social circles of Grand Rap- 
ids, and also occupied a conspicuous place 
among the Holland people of the city. Mr. 
DeGraaf was a man of vigorousintellect, highly 
educated and well versed in general literature, 
a fact which always made his presence wel- 
come among people whose tastes ran in that 
direction. He was also an active member of 
the Dutch Reform church of Grand Rapids, 
and will be remembered as one of the city's 
most energetic and intelligent men. 

Gerrit H. Degraaf was but five years old 
when the family game to Grand Rapids, con- 
sequently he has spent nearly all his life within 
the confines of the city. When of proper age 
he was sent to the city schools, which he at- 
tended until his seventeenth year, and then 
entered a grocery house as salesman, in 
which capacity he continued until 1S75. Hav- 
ing in the meantime become familiar with the 
grocery trade in its every detail, he engaged 
in the business for himself in the above year, 
and has since given it his attention, meeting 
with substantial success, and at this time 
being proprietor of one of the best-known 
houses of the kind in Grand Rapids. Mr. De- 
Graaf carries a general line of groceries and 
provisions, studies intelligently the wishes of 
the public in his various lines, and has a large 
stock, representing a capital of over $6,000. 

Mr. DeGraaf was married June 29, 1875, 
to Miss Minnie Achteres, who was born in 



Allegan county, Mich., February 11, 1855. 
Mrs. DeGraaf is the daughter of John and 
Minnie Achteres, both natives of Holland and 
early pioneers of the county of Allegan. Mr. 
and Mrs. DeGraaf are the parents of three 
children, viz: Henry, who assists his father 
in the store, Minnie and Arthur. 

In his political belief Mr. DeGraaf is a re- 
publican, and as such has been several times 
elected to represent his ward in the city coun- 
cil, having served as a member of that body 
from 1884 to 1S90, and from 1893 to 1897, 
inclusive. While in the council he was no idle 
member, but an active worker, and took a 
prominent part in promoting much valuable 
legislation, serving on the committees of ways 
and means, claims and accounts, streets, and 
several others of equal importance. He is a 
member of the fraternity of Elks, belonging to 
lodge No. 48, of which he served as e.xalted 
ruler during the year 1891-92, and is also 
identified with the Royal Arcanum, Royal 
League and National Union orders. 

Financially, Mr. DeGraaf is considered one 
of Grand Rapids' substantial men. He has 
met with success in the mercantile business 
and has contributed to the city's property by 
erecting a large and beautiful brick business 
block, two stories in height and containing 
three commodious business- rooms, one of 
which he occupies. 




.\MES M. DeKRAKER, M. D. , a fav- 
orite and rising young physician and 
surgeon, whose office at No. 61 West 
Leonard street, Grand Rapids, is al- 
ways attended to repletion by his numerous 
patients, was born in the Netherlands of the 
continent of Europe, August 27, 1865. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



135 



Henry and Susan (Van Kerkvoort) De- 
Kraker, parents of the doctor and six daugh- 
ters, of which family the doctor was the sixth 
in order of birth, came to the United States in 
1881 and at once located in Grand Rapids. 
Here the future young physician augmented 
the education he had acquired in his native 
land by an attendance at the high school, 
which he left in his junior year to attend the 
College of Physicians Surgeons of Chicago, 
111. (the medical department of the university 
of Illinois), from which he graduated with the 
degree of M. D. in 1894, and at once opened 
his present office in Grand Rapids for the 
practice of his profession, in which he has met 
with remarkable success. He is the happy 
possessor of a gold medal awarded him on 
graduation by the faculty of the college as a 
prize for his having attained the highest stand- 
ing in his class, and his merits have been so 
well recognized in Grand Rapids as to lead to 
his appointment to several professional posi- 
tions — one being that of lecturer on diseases 
of the chest and of physical diagnoses at the 
Grand Rapids Medical college. He is an hon- 
ored member of the Grand Rapids Medical & 
Surgical society and also of the Michigan 
State Medical society, in both of which his 
usefulness is fully appreciated. 

Dr. DeKraker was united in marriage at 

Spring Arbor, Jackson county, Mich., with 

Miss Jennie May Omans, September 10, i8g6. 

This accomplished lady is a native of Jackson 

county and is a daughter of Rev. Gifford 

Omans (deceased), a minister of the Methodist 

Episcopal church, who came from New York 

to Michigan in childhood, and here passed his 

mature years in the service of his beloved 

church, in the faith of which he also passed 

away. The Omans family is of Scotch origin 

and came to America in colonial days, many of 

its male members becoming members of the 

patriot army in the war of the Revolution. 
7 



Mrs. Jennie May DeKraker is a lady of ex- 
cellent education, having passed through the 
curriculum of the Spring Arbor academy, and 
later graduating from a business college in 
1893. She next took a course in a hospital 
at Omaha, Neb., from which she graduated as 
a trained nurse, and as a result of this educa- 
tion she is invaluable to her husband in his 
professional work. 

Dr. DeKraker and wife are members of the 
Second street Methodist Episcopal church, 
and in politics the doctor is altogether inde- 
pendent. From a financial standpoint, the 
doctor may well congratulate himself, as he 
earned the means to pay his expenses through 
college, and since he began the active practice 
of his profession he has realized a handsome 
home and other city property, the latter bring- 
ing him a neat income from rentals. He and 
wife are highly esteemed in the social circles 
of the city, in which their personal merits 
have secured them a very prominent position. 




ORNELIS DEKKER, M.D., of No. 
87 Plainfield avenue. Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in the city of Oude- 
land, province of Zealand, kingdom 
of Holland, September 8, 1873, a son of Dirk 
Hendrick and Leuntje (DeKorne) Dekker, 
who came to America in July, 1875, some 
years after marriage, and located in Grand 
Rapids, whence, a year later, they moved to 
Zealand, Mich., where the father became very 
successful as a general merchant. This worthy 
couple had born to them a family of twelve 
children in the following order: Cornelis, 
Antonia, Jennie (deceased), Jennie, Nellie, 
Mattie, Maria, Leunis, Annie H., Dirk H., 
Marian, and a baby, deceased, all of whotn. 



130 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



are living, with the exception of Jennie and 
the baby. 

Dr. Cornelis Dekker attended the public 
schools at Zeeland, Mich., until nearly fifteen 
years of age, when he entered Hope college 
at Holland, Mich., and for four years studied 
the classical course, and in 1891 entered the 
medical department of the Pennsylvania uni- 
versity at Philadelphia, in which he studied 
continuously until his graduation in 1896. He 
next attended the Louisville (Ky.) Medical 
college, in order to round out his professional 
education — especially in hospital experience. 
In April, 1897, he opened his office in Grand 
Rapids, at the address above given, and has 
already secured a lucrative line of practice, 
more particularly among people of his own 
nationality. 

Dr. Dekker was united in marriage, Sep- 
tember 2$, 1894, in Grand Rapids, with Miss 
Dena Kosten, a native of this city and a 
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Marinus Kosten, and 
this genial union has been blessed with one 
son Dirk Hendrick, born June 6, 1897. 

The doctor is a member of the Grand 
Rapids Academy of Medicine, is professor of 
pathology and toxicology in the Grand Rapids 
Medical college, and for so young a physician 
has reached an unusually eminent station in 
'the profession. In politics he is a stanch re- 
publican, and he and wife are regarded with 
great favor in the better society circles of the 
city. 



|ILL DeLANO, M. D., of the city of 
Grand Rapids, Mich., is a native of 
Groton, Tompkins county, N. Y. , 
was born July 14, 1S61, and is a 
son of -Martin S. and Jane (Bothwell) DeLa- 
no — the former a native of Connecticut and 
the latter of New York state. 




Martin S. Delano was a tobacconist and 
cigar manufacturer at Ithaca, N. Y. , was a very 
prosperous business man, and retained his in- 
terest in Ithaca even after his removal to Grand 
Rapids, Mich., in 1887, and here his death 
took place at the age of sixty- eight years, and 
here, also, his widow still resides. Of the 
four children born to these parents there are 
three surviving, viz: Frederick B., who for 
the past twenty-five years has been connected 
with the Lehigh Valley Railroad company, 
with his residence in Ithaca, and is the eldest; 
the third child is the subject of this sketch, 
and the youngest is Edgar B.,who is employed 
in a wholesale millinery establishment in 
Grand Rapids. The second born of the four 
was named D. F., and died in Grand Rapids 
at the age of twenty-nine years. 

Dr. Will DeLano was educated in Ithaca, 
but in 1876 left the high school and entered a 
drug store, in which he was employed for 
three years, and then entered the college of 
Pharmacy in New York city, from which he 
graduated in 1881. He then resumed the 
drug business and followed it one year longer, 
when he took up the study of medicine under 
Dr. D.^V.^^'hite,a prominent physician of Itha- 
ca. After due tuition by this gentleman, he en- 
tered the Eclectic Medical institute of Cincinna- 
ti, graduated with the degree of M. D. in 18S5, 
practiced one year in Itahca, and in March, 
1886, arrived in Grand Rapids, Mich., where 
he has since been actively employed in his pro- 
fession. In politics a democrat, he was ap- 
pointed in September, 189S, city health officer, 
and although busily occupied in municipal du- 
ties, he still retains his original consulting 
rooms in the " Gilbert," in order to attend to 
his private patronage. 

Dr. DeLano was married at Ithaca, N. Y., 
October 26, 1887, the lady of his choice being 
Miss Helen White, the daughter of his early 
preceptor in medicine and a native of that 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



137 



city. This union has been crowned by the 
birth of two daughters — Agnes, aged ten years 
and Marian, aged seven. 

Of the professional societies, the doctor is 
a member of the Michigan State Homeopathic 
society and the Grand Rapids college of Home- 
opathic Physicians, and of fraternal societies 
he holds membership in several that embrace 
the life-insurance feature. 



OSEPH H. DICKEY, M. D., of No. 
•,/ North Ionia street. Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in Newtown Robin- 
son, Ontario, Canada, January 3, 
1S64, and graduated from the Barrie high 
school. His parents were John and Matilda 
Dickey, the former of whom came from the 
north of Ireland, and the latter was of Irish- 
American antecedents. The father was a 
farmer by calling and also for some }-ears held 
the office of magistrate under the national 
government. He died at Newtown Robinson, 
Canada, at the age of sixty-eight years, and 
his widow is now a resident of Barrie. Their 
children, nine in number, were named in or- 
der of birth as follows: James, Miriam, Wes- 
le}-, Matilda, Letitia, Nathaniel, ^^'illiam, Jo- 
seph H. (the subject) and Samuel, the last 
named deceased. Two of this famil}', besides 
the doctor, reside in the United States; all the 
other survivors still live in Canada. 

Dr. Dickey, for a few years during his 
early manhood, was engaged in mercantile 
business in his native province, and then be- 
gan the study of medicine in the office of an 
uncle. Dr. Law, an eminent physician of Bond 
Head, Canada. After a proper course of pre- 
liminary education, he entered the Ontario 
college of Medicine, at Kingston, passed 



through a three-year course, and graduated 
June 7, 18S4. He practiced at first, for three 
or four years, at Gravenhurst, and while thus 
engaged began study along special lines of 
professional work, and finally took an extra 
course in gynecology in the Ontario Medical 
college, and since then he has devoted him- 
self almost entirely to the treatment of nerv- 
ous disorders and the diseases of women. 
About thirteen years ago he came to the Unit- 
ed States, and in 1895 located in Grand Rap- 
ids, where he has met with notable success. 

Of the fraternal societies, the doctor is a 
member of the encampment, I. O. O. F. , of 
the A. O. U. W., and the Order of the World, 
and politically he is a republican. 

Dr. Dickey is a widower, and is the father 
of a son and a daughter — Elbridge Franklin, 
aged thirteen years, and Alice Adeline, aged 
ten jears, who have been at the home of their 
grandmother in Barrie, Canada, since 1S90, 
and are there attending school. 

The social standing of Dr. Dickey in Grand 
Rapids is with the most respected residents, 
and he enjojs a high degree of esteem on ac- 
count of his personal merits as a citizen, and 
his qualifications as a physician. 



EORGE G. De NIO, practical carpen- 
ter and experienced general jobber at 
No. 76 North loniastreet. Grand Rapids, 
was born August 12, 1S50, in Steuben 
county, Ind., a son of Joseph and Sophronia 
(IngersoU) De Nio. His mother died when 
subject was a mere infant, and the latter was 
reared by his grandparents on their farm until 
ten years of age, receiving a common-school 
education, and since then he has provided for 
himself. His father died in Indiana in 1889. 



138 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



In 1S65 Mr. De Nio came to Michigan, and 
located in Superior, where, at the age of eight- 
een years, he began learning the carpenter's 
trade. He lived in Superior about six years, 
then moved to Salem, Washtenaw county, 
Mich., where he worked at his trade fifteen 
years, and then came to Grand Rapids about 
1889. Here he has since operated a jobbing 
carpenter shop, or, as his class of business is 
usually called, a contracting carpenter line, 
giving employment to an average of ten men, 
and during the building season to several more 
— taking contracts for the building of residences 
and other structures. 

Mr. De Nio was joined in matrimony Oc- 
tober 4, 1 87 1, at Salem, Mich., with Miss 
Alice Simmons, a native of Salem and a daugh- 
ter of Ephraim and Nancy Simmons, natives of 
New York state and pioneers of Salem town- 
ship, Washtenaw county, Mich. To Mr. and 
Mrs. De Nio have been born three children, 
viz: Effie N., now the wife of George R. Lan- 
don, a machinist in Easton, Pa.; Reuben E., 
who was born in Salem, December 27, 1879, 
was educated in Salem and Grand Rapids, and 
is now associated with his father in business, 
and Newell, the youngest, who died in Grand 
Rapids at the age of nine years. 

In politics Mr. De Nio is a prohibitionist from 
principle, he having never used a stimulant or 
narcotic in any other form than tea and cofTee, 
and the use of tobacco in any form is to him 
unknown. His only public office has been 
that of a member of the school board. In re- 
ligion, Mr. and Mrs. De Nio are devout Bap- 
tists; both were baptized on the same day, and 
both are much interested and active in church 
and Sunday-school work, their present mem- 
bership being with the F"ountain street Baptist 
congregation. 

Reuben E. De Nio, the second child born 
to George G. De Nio and wife, enlisted April 
23,. 1898, in company E, Second Michigan 



national guards, under command of Col. \V. 
F. McGurren, but was rejected on e.xamination 
by the regimental surgeon when the regiment 
was mustered into active service, but is still a 
member of the regiment. 

George G. De Nio began life a poor boy, 
but through his natural abilities, his energy, 
his industry and his good management, has 
risen to an honorable as well as comfortable 
position in life, and has won through his per- 
sonal merits the esteem and friendship of 
many persons who have marked with approval 
his upright career. 




EORGE W. DILLENBACK, the well 
known real estate, loan and insur- 
ance agent, at No. 1151 South Di- 
vision street. Grand Rapids, Mich., 
is a native of Alburg, Grand Isle county, Vt. , 
was born August 28, 1834, and since ten years 
of age has been a resident of Grand Rapids or 
its vicinity. He is the eldest of seven chil- 
dren born to Jasper and Margaret (Cook) Dil- >/ 
lenback. both natives of Vermont, born in ^ 
1792 and 1808 respectively, and married in 
Alburg in 1831. 

Jasper Dillenback spent the greater part of 
his life as a captain on lake Champlain, trans- 
porting goods to and from the New York shore. 
On coming to Michigan he bought a farm in 
Byron township, Kent county, which township 
at that time, 1844, was a wilderness, in which 
fifty or si.xty white persons only were living. 
But he was a sturdy pioneer, having descended 
from Mohawk Dutch stock, and settled in the 
province of New York before the Revolution- 
ary war, three brothers being the original im- 
migrants, and from these all of the family 
name in America are descended. The parents 
of Jasper, however, were born in Schoharie 



AND KENT COL'XTY. UP TO DATE. 



139 



county, N. Y. , whence they migrated to Ver- 
mont, and Mr. Dillenback, of this sketch, has 
a store of legendary information touching the 
early history of the family in America, which, 
although remarkable, is somewhat vague, 
owing to the lapse of time and chronological 
records. Jasper Dillenback, however, suc- 
ceeded in working out a comfortable home in 
the wilderness of Kent county, and died there- 
on, one of Byron township's most honored 
pioneers, at the age of seventy-five years, his 
wife having died when she was forty-eight. 
The only living child born to this worthy 
couple besides George W. is Jackson D. , a 
newspaper man of Denver, Colo., who, 
with his brother Frank, was a soldier in the 
Fourth Michigan cavalry during the war 
of the Rebellion, Frank dying of a disease 
contracted during his service. Three sisters 
and a brother, the other children, died young. 

George W. Dillenback was reared on his 
father's farm and educated in the district 
schools. Making rapid progress in the latter, 
he was soon able to begin teaching, and fol- 
lowed this as a vocation, with the exception of 
fifteen years, until 1888. He began by teach- 
ing in the country schools, then taught in 
Missouri one year, and was there when the 
Civil war broke out, and the same year, 1861, 
returned to Grand Rapids and continued to 
teach until 1864, in the summer of which year 
he enlisted as a recruit in company C, Thir- 
teenth Michigan infantr}', under Capt. Yerkes. 
He joined his regiment at Chattanooga, Tenn., 
and three days later started on the Atlanta 
campaign. When between Rome and Resaca, 
Ga. , he was sent back to Chattanooga, where 
he was in a detachment camp until November, 
when he was detailed a clerk in the quarter- 
master's department of the One Hundredth 
colored infantry at Nashville, Tenn. 

While thus detailed, he participated in the 
battle of Nashville, but shortly afterward was 



attacked with measles, which disorder was 
greatly aggravated by e.xposure to a soaking 
rain, without proper shelter. The result was 
lung trouble, which has never been eradicated, 
and for this reason he has been awarded a 
small pension. After recuperating from the 
measles, he rejoined his regiment at Jackson, 
Mich., but was not mustered out until four 
months after his regiment had been discharged, 
and he then returned to Grand Rapids and re- 
sumed his profession as teacher. 

The marriage of Mr. Dillenback took place 
in 1862, at Cleveland, Ohio, to Miss Rose 
Lilly, who was born near that city and is a 
daughter of Albinus and Mehitable (Vincent) 
Lilly, natives of Berkshire county, Mass., but 
to the union of Mr. and Mrs. Dillenback no 
children have been born. 

In 1888, Mr. Dillenback engaged in his 
present business in Grand Rapids, in which he 
is associated with Herman Van Wormer, 
whose biography appears on another page — 
the firm now doing the leading business in its 
line in the city. 

Mr. Dillenback was one of the organizers 
of the republican party and has always been 
active in its affairs, wielding a quiet yet potent 
influence in its actions, more with a view of 
rewarding his friends and punishing his polit- 
ical enemies, than for self-advancement. He 
has, however, served as school inspector for 
four or five years, and also as a justice of the 
peace. He is also an active member of A. B. 
Watson post. No. 395, G. A. R. 

For thirty years Mr. Dillenback was a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 
but now he and wife are active and devoted 
members of the United Brethren society. He 
was a pioneer in the organization of the Sun- 
day-school of Grand Rapids, and has always 
taken an active interest in both Sunday-school 
and church work, and in many other ways has 
been a useful and progressive citizen. 



140 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 




ONROE LEE DIVER.— The farm- 
ing implement business of late years 
has become one of the leading indus- 
tries of the United States and also 
one of the most profitable. To prosecute it 
successfully requires ability of no mean or- 
der, and in every city and town of any con- 
siderable size are found men of energy and 
good judgment devoting their time to this 
important line of commercial activity. A 
leading representative of the business in Grand 
Rapids is the gentleman whose name intro- 
duces this sketch. The paternal ancestors of 
Monroe L. Diver were Virginians and his 
mother's people lived for a great many years 
in New York. Lyman Diver, father of Mon- 
roe L. , married in the latter state Miss Electa 
Baker and reared children of whom the fol- 
lowing are still living: Monroe L., Edward 
M., an employee of the M. C. R. R. at Kala- 
mazoo, and Jerome, car inspector for the 
same road, with headquarters in the above 
city. 

For a number of years Lyman Diver car- 
ried on farming and the stock brokerage busi- 
ness in New York, but left that state in iS6i, 
immigrating to Michigan and locating in the 
city of Marshall, where he passed the remain- 
ing years of his life. He was a successful 
man in a financial sense, possessed excellent 
judgment in all matters pertaining to his busi- 
ness, and enjoyed the reputation of being a 
high-minded Christian gentleman wherever it 
was his fortune to live. In politics he was a 
representative democrat of the old school, 
and in religion a consistent member of the 
Christian church. 

Monroe L. Diver was born in the Empire 
state on the ist day- of June, 1849. Blessed 
with a good father and mother, he was early 
imbued with those high moral principles 
which in subsequent \'ears make good citizen- 
ship, and the wise counsel he received while 



still under the parental roof served well as a 
foundation for the strong and vigorous char- 
acter which he has since e.shibited. 

After obtaining an elementary training in 
the common schools of Marshall and Albion, 
Mich., he entered the agricultural college at 
Lansing, where he pursued his studies for two 
years, completing in that time the present 
scientific course. On quitting the college, 
Mr. Diver began business for himself as agent 
for the sale of agricultural implements and 
threshing machines, and after spending some 
time in this trade and in handling general pro- 
duce and live stock, the latter in partnership 
with his father, continuing the same with a fair 
measure of success for three years. He then 
engaged in the same business at Allegan upon 
his own responsibility and was doing well 
until he met with a severe loss by tire, after 
which for some years he was employed in rail- 
road construction with the C. O., W. M. and 
Michigan and Big Rapids companies, also with 
the Cold Water, Marshall & Mackinaw, the 
last named line not being completed. 

Severing his connection with railroading, 
^[r. Diver again turned his attention to agri- 
cultural implements, accepting a position as 
traveling salesman for the McCarmick and 
Walter A. Wood companies, which he repre- 
sented for two seasons in Michigan, traveling 
during that time quite extensively throughout 
the state. He then became state agent for 
the Empire company, with headquarters at 
Pewamo, and after handling their goods for 
one and a half years at that place retnoved in 
18S6 to Grand Rapids, where he has since 
carried on an extensive trade in various kinds 
of implements and machinery pertaining to 
agriculture. During the ten years following 
his location in the city, Mr. Diver visited the 
principal agricultural regions of the state look- 
ing after the local agents of the articles he 
handled, but in 1896 opened a general office 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



141 



at No. 41 South Division street, the increased 
volume of business necessitating his remaining 
at a central point. In 1898 he removed his 
office and warerooms to their present location. 
No. 40 South Division street, where may be 
found a large and complete stock of the various 
articles which he so successfully handles. The 
e.xtent of the business done by Mr. Diver may 
be indicated by the following companies which 
he represents, to- wit: Racine Wagon & Car- 
riage Co. ; David Bradley Manufacturing Co. ; 
Seiberling & Miller Harvesting Co. ; Princess 
Plow Co. ; F. C. Austin Manufacturing Co. ; 
Bell City Thresher Co.; I. Mullekin & Son 
Whip Co. ; Commercial Oil Co. ; Luthy & Co., 
binding twine; Sterling Washing MachineCo. ; 
Iwan Bros., post hole diggers; American 
Buncher Co.; A. B. Farquhar & Co., thresh- 
ing and mill machinery; Akron Cultivator Co. 
for northern Michigan, and the Advance 
Thresher Co. for northern Michigan. The 
business done in the several lines enumerated 
is extensive and lucrative, and Mr. Diver's 
warerooms are among the largest and best- 
stocked in this section of the state. He has 
met with gratifying success, being in posses- 
sion of a liberal income and a comfortable 
competence, already accumulated by his own 
well directed energy and sound business judg- 
ment. 

Mr. Diver is a married man and the father 
of seven children. His wife's .maiden name 
was Marion Elmira Robberds, a native of New 
York, and his children are as follows: Anna 
Leora; Frederick Lee, deceased; Grace, wife 
of Dr. D. E. Welch, of Grand Rapids; Roy, 
deceased; Daisy Addie, stenographer and book- 
keeper in her father's office; Dora M. and Julia 
Marguerite. Mrs. Diver and children are 
members of the Park Avenue Congregational 
church, while Mr. Diver subscribes to the lib- 
eral creed of Universalism. He is a democrat 
in politics. 




RED R. DODGE, proprietor of an ex- 
tensive and popular department store, 
at Nos. 250, 252 and 254 Plainfield 
avenue. Grand Rapids, was born in 
Union City, Branch county, Mich., December 
8, i860, and is a son of Hiram and Mary 
(Vail) Dodge. The father was born near 
Utica, N. Y. , was a wagon manufacturer for a 
long time in Union City, Mich., but finally re- 
tired from business and came to Grand Rapids 
and died December 28, 1897. His widow, 
also a native of New York state, now makes 
her home with her son, Fred R. 

Fred R. Dodge was reared in Union City, 
but, as the family was a large one, the chil- 
dren were all early set to work, and in those 
days Mr. Dodge had rather work than attend 
school. When thirteen years of age he went 
into a blacksmith shop, where he worked two 
years, and'then, for eight years, was a clerk in 
a dry-goods store. He first started in busi- 
ness on his own account by opening a grocery 
and bakery in his native city, and this he pros- 
perously conducted until he came to Grand 
Rapids, about the year 18S8, and here started 
a grocery on Canal street, which he conducted 
until the spring of the present year, when he 
branched out in his present enterprise, of which 
he has made a phenomenal success. He car- 
ries a stock of everything for which there can 
be a possible demand, and although his busi- 
ness place is in the outskirts of the city, and al- 
though his building is not at all pretentious, 
the vast variety of his stock makes it a favorite 
place of resort for purchasers. 

Mr. Dodge was united in marriage, in 
Union City, Mich.., December 4, 1S89, with 
Miss Emma Dennison, of Quincy, Branch 
county, Mich. , and to this union have been 
born three children — Hugh S., Hazel P. and 
Deo W. 

In politics Mr. Dodge is a republican, but 
he has given little attention to party affairs, as 



142 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



his business has occupied most of his time. 
Nevertheless, his popularity has forced him 
into office, and about four years ago he was 
elected alderman from the Fifth ward, which 
is emphatically a democratic ward, and he was 
the only republican ever elected to represent 
it in the city council. He served one term, 
and afterward eschewed party politics. Fra- 
ternally, Mr. Dodge is a member of Union 
City lodge. No. 28, F. & A. M., of Lilly lodge, 
No. 1 10, K. of P., and is also an Odd Fellow. 
Although not a member of any church, his 
affiliations are with the Methodist, to which 
church his mother belongs. He is a fine type 
of the self-made business man, and he and 
wife are highly appreciated in the society cir- 
cles of the citv. 



PARKER DILLON, M. D., one of 
the most popular and successful 
young physicians of Grand Rapids, 
.Mich., is a native of Greenville, N. 
H., was born June 8, 1872, and is the eldest 
of the three children — two sons and one 
daughter — born to Hon. Joseph and Lizzie 
(Parker) Dillon, the former a native of Lowell, 
Mass., and the latter of New Hampshire, and 
of Irish and English descent, respectively. 
Both families have been prominent in the 
affairs of New England for several generations, 
Hon. William T. Parker, maternal grandfather 
of the doctor, among the later members of the 
family, having been a member of the New 
Hampshire senate and having served as presi- 
dent of that body. 

Hon. Joseph Dillon was admitted to the 
bar in Grand Rapids in 1893, but never 
engaged in practice. During the child- 
hood of the doctor, the family home was 



transferred to Washington, D. C, and in 
1880, to Grand Rapids, Mich., and from 
the latter city Hon. Joseph Dillon served two 
years (1887-88) as a representative in the 
Michigan state legislature, and for four years 
filled the position of chief registry clerk in the 
post-office. 

Dr. G. Parker Dillon acquired a thorough 
English education in the common schools of 
Grand Rapids, passing several years in the 
high school. He next spent two years in 
special studies under private tutors, and also 
attended a business college and night schools. 
During the session of the state legislature in 
1887-88 he was employed as a messenger 
in the house of representatives, and then re- 
sumed his studies. His inclination from early 
youth was toward the medical profession, and 
in January, 1893, he began a systematic course 
of study of the science under Dr. L. E. Best, 
of Grand Rapids. His high-school work and 
private lessons had familiarized him with 
chemistry, anatomy, physiology, etc., and 
consequently his preparatory work was 
much abridged, and he was soon enabled to 
enter the Detroit college of Medicine, from 
which he was graduated with honors in 1896. 

The doctor's first professional work was in 
the capacity of house physician at St. Mary's 
hospital, Detroit, but 'the position was some- 
what irksome and not very remunerative, and 
in the spring of 1897 he opened his present 
office in the Porter block, Grand Rapids, 
where he has already built up a very satisfac- 
tory practice. He is thoroughly absorbed in 
his profession, is secretary of the Grand Rap- 
ids Medical & Surgical society, and a mem- 
ber of the faculty of the Grand Rapids Medical 
college. In 1897 he held the lectureship on 
osteology, and in 1898 was professor of der- 
matology and syphilography, and also lecturer 
on osteology. 

Of the fraternal orders, the doctor is a 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



143 



member of Valley Cit}' lodge, No. 86, F. & A. 
M., is clerk of Kent camp, M. W. of A., and 
is also a member of the Royal Neighbors, 
Court of Honor and the Royal Circle. Though 
not a member of any religious denomina- 
tion, he attends the services of the Baptist 
church, and in politics his proclivities are re- 
publican, but in this particular he is not 
aggressive. 

The doctor's only brother, Harry L. Dillon, 
is in the employ of the Western Union Tele- 
graph company in Grand Rapids, and his sis- 
ter. Hazel L. , a young lady of fifteen years, is 
a student in a city school. The parents reside 
on Livingston street, and the entire family 
enjoy the esteem of the community in a 
marked degree. 




ALTER A. DORLAND, D. D. S., 
with office at No. 602 Pythian Tem- 
ple, Grand Rapids, Mich., is a na- 
tive of Halton county, Ontario, Can- 
ada, was born February 27, 1856, and is the 
eldest son of Amos and Sarah (Carrique) Dor- 
land, natives, respectively, of New Jersey and 
Canada, and of whose family antecedents a 
full record is given in the biography of Dr. A. 
B. Dorland on another page. 

Dr. Walter A. Dorland was educated in the 
high school at Waterdown, Ontario, and in 
early manhood began the study of dentistry in 
the office of Dr. Bowes, of Hamilton, Ontario. 
In 18S0 he entered the Philadelphia Dental 
college, of Philadelphia, Pa., from which he 
graduated in 1882, with the degree of D. D. 
S. .After passing a few months at home, he 
came to Grand Rapids, has been in constant 
practice here ever since, and is recognized as 
one of the leading dentists of the city. He is 
a member of the Michigan State Dental socie- 



ty and the Grand Rapids Dental society, was a 
member of the board of censors of the state 
society for two terms, and has also served as 
treasurer of the local society. He is likewise 
a member of the I\. of P., in which he is 
chairman of the board of trustees, and has 
held official positions of houorand trust in the 
same fraternity. 

Dr. Dorland was most happily united in 
marriage, September 30, 1884, in Grand Rap- 
ids to Miss Mary L.Garfield, daughter of Hon. 
S. M. and Harriet E. (Brown) Garfield. The 
Hon. S. M. Garfield was a cousin of President 
James A. Garfield, came to Grand Rapids 
among the early settlers, first engaged in farm- 
ing, and later originated the Grand Rapids 
Savings bank (of which his son, Charles W. , 
is now the president), was for a number of 
years a member of the state legislature, and 
died in Grand Rapids, leaving one son and one 
daughter only. 

Mrs. Mary L. Dorland is a graduate of the 
Grand Rapids high school, was cultured in 
music, vocal and instrumental, under Grand 
Rapids instructors, and is a lady of rare ac- 
complishments. She has borne her husband 
two children, of whom the elder, Lynne, died 
in infancy, and Frances L. is now a bright lit- 
tle girl of six years. Dr. Dorland has been 
very successful professionally, and has realized 
a competency. He holds the controlling 
stock in the Pythian Temple company, of 
which he is treasurer, and in 1893 he construct- 
ed a four-story brick block on Campau street, 
which yields a fine rental; he also owns a num- 
ber of residence buildings, and building lots in 
the city, and the handsome home in which his 
family lives, all the result of his professional 
labor and his judicious investments. Mrs. 
Dorland is also heir to an extensive fortune 
now held by her mother, and enjoys, be- 
sides, a dowry from her father; her means are 
mostly loaned on real estate security. 



144 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



In politics the doctor has been a stanch re- 
publican ever since his coming to the United 
States, and his social standing is all that could 
be desired. 



m 



XSON B. DORLAND, D. D. S., at 
room No. 210 Widdicomb building, 
Grand Rapids, Mich., is a native of 
"" Ontario, Canada, was born July 5, 
1870, and is a son of Amos and Sarah iCar- 
rique) Dorland, the former of whom was born 
in New Jersey, and the latter, of Irish ances- 
try, in Canada. 

Amos Dorland is descended from French 
ancestors, and from France the family stock 
was transplanted into Holland, and thence to 
America in 1652 or 1663, the founders on this 
continent having been two brothers, viz: Jan 
Gerretse Dorlandt and Lambert Janse Dor- 
landt, from whom, it is believed, all the Dor- 
lands, Dorlons, Dorians, Durlands and Dur- 
lings in the United States and Canada have 
descended — the difference in the orthography 
being due, no doubt, to the various spellings 
being made by enlistment officers in the early 
wars, who wrote the names as they were pro- 
nounced orally. The ancestors of the subject 
were patriotic in the extreme, and the mem- 
bers of the modern family have not been re- 
miss in this respect, as they have served their 
country in the colonial and Revolutionary 
wars, the war of 1S12, the war of the Rebel- 
lion and the Spanish-American war — Peter 
Dorland, the great-grandfather of subject, hav- 
ing been a drum-major in the war of the Rev- 
olution. 

The children born to Amos and Sarah 
Dorland were seven in number besides the 
doctor, viz: Walter A., a dentist in the Pyth- 
ian temple, in Grand Rapids; Ada, wife of T. 



J. Adie, a hardware merchant of the same 
city; Celestia S. and Maggie M., unmarried; J 
Lena M., wife of John A. Henderson, a dry- 
goods merchant of Acton, Ontario, Canada^^ 
Ella Mae and Edna L. , at home. 

Dr. Anson B. Dorland was professionally' 
educated at the Philadelphia Dental college, 
from which he was graduated in 1894, but had 
received his preparation for college under the 
tutorship of his brother, ^^'alter A. , who had 
graduated from the same institution in 1882. 
After practicing with him for four years and 
attending college three years, he engaged in 
practice alone and now stands well to the 
front in his calling. He holds a certificate 
from the Medico-Chirurgical college of Phila- WM 
delphia, showing h's three-years' attendance " 
at clinical lectures, has passed the required 
examination before the state board of dental 
examiners, and is a member of the Grand Rap- 
ids Dental society. 

Fraternally, he is a member of the Mystic 
circle and the Lakeside club, and in politics 
is a republican. His rapid advance profes- 
sionally, and his growing popularity, give 
promise of a bright career in the future, and 
his general deportment has won for him a firm 
position in society circles, as well as with the 
general public. His residence is at No. 107 
Jefferson avenue. 




ORTON H. DRURY, a prominent at- 
torney-at-law at Grand Rapids, Mich., 
and a valiant ex-soldier of the United 
States volunteer service during the 
Civil war, is a native of Middlebury, Vt. , and 
was born May 25, 1843. His father, Erastusv/' 
W. Drury,was also a lawyer by profession, and/^ 
in 1847 brought his family west and settled in 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



145 



the cit}' of Fond du Lac, ^^'is., from the high 
school of which city Horton H. Drury grad- 
uated in 1 86 1. 

In 1861, also, H. H. Drury, inspired with 
patriotism at the threatened disruption of the 
Union by the disgruntled office seekers of the 
south, promptly enlisted for the defense of 
his country and the honor of the national flag, 
in company K, First Wisconsin volunteer in- 
fantry, and gallantly served until disabled, Oc- 
tober 8, 1862, by a severe gun-shot wound in 
the left shoulder, at the battle of Perryville, 
Ky., from the effects of which he has since 
constantly suffered. Thus, what promised to 
be a brilliant military career was briefly ended, 
and, after receiving an honorable discharge for 
disability, he returned to his home. 

In 1863 Mr. Drury entered the university 
of Michigan at Ann Arbor, from whicn he 
graduated with the class of 1867, taking the 
degree of A. B., which was supplemented 
with the degree of A. M. in 1870.' For two 
years, 1872 and 1873, Mr. Drury served as 
superintendent of public schools in Fond du 
Lac, and from 1875 until 1873 he practiced 
law at Escanaba, Mich., and in October of 
the latter year he cametoGrand Rapids, where 
he has since been engaged in active practice, 
doing a lucrative business and being recognized 
as one of the leading lawyers of the county. 
During his professional career here he has been 
associated with several leading attorneys in 
partnership : ■ With E. A. Maher one year, 
under the firm name of Drury & Maher; with 
the Hon. Alfred Wolcott, under the style of 
Drury & Wolcott, for ten years, and in 1893, 
he forme.d a partnership with John E. Strong, 
under the firm name of Drury & Strong. 

Mr. Drury was married in 1 869, at Ann Arbor, 
Mich., with Miss Sarah Jewett Darrow, of that 
city, but this lady was most untimely called 
away by death, December 14, 1877, leaving 
one daughter, Sarah Lillie, now the wife of 



Charles E. McCrone, of Menominee, Mich., 
who IS manager for the R. G. Dun & Co. com- 
mercial agency, for the upper peninsula of 
Michigan. 

In politics Mr. Drury is a gold democrat, 
and was county clerk and register of deeds for 
Delta county, at Escanaba, and since his resi- 
dence in Grand Rapids has been member of 
the school board from the Third ward for four 
years. 

Fraternally, Mr. Drury is a member of his 
college society, Sigma Phi, and is a charter 
member of the Peninsula club. He is devoted 
to bicycling, believing in it as a health-giv- 
ing exercise, and has made several cen- 
tury runs, riding upwards of 22,000 miles on 
one wheel — the Rambler. 

Mr. Drury is a member of the G. A. R. , 
and is a full pensioner. 



,M 



AMUEL DYKEMA, late of Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., and noted in his day as 
one of the most e.xpert furniture fin- 
ishers of the Valley city, was born in 
Holland June 26, 1844. 

William Dykema, father of subject, about 
1858 brought his family from Holland to Amer- 
ica, but on the voyage across the Atlantic 
ocean Mrs. Dykema was taken ill and died 
soon after landing at Castle Garden, New 
York city. William Dykema at once came to 
Grand Rapids, and at the very beginning of 
the war of the Rebellion enlisted in the volun- 
teer army of the Union and proved himself to 
be a brave and gallant soldier. He died at 
the soldiers' home about the year 1893. 

Samuel Dykema, the deceased subject of 
this notice, was about fourteen years of age 
when he came with his father to Grand Rap- 



146 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



ids, and at the age of nineteen, or in 1863, 
succeeded in enlisting in the Union volunteer 
service. He had several times made an effort 
to accomplish this commendable act, but was 
as often rejected on account of his j'outh and 
short stature, but finally, bj- standing on tip- 
toe, reached the regulation height and was ac- 
cepted, and really attained, while in the serv- 
ice, the proper perpendicular dimensions. 

On his return from the war, Mr. Dykema 
found work in the Phcenix Furniture factory 
as a finisher, and later with the Berkey & Gay 
Furniture company, for which he chiefly 
worked in the same capacity. He was always 
of a pleasant disposition, and was quite a fa- 
vorite with his fellow-workmen, as well as 
with the general public, and was best liked 
where best known. In politics he afhli- 
iated with the democratic party, and although 
not an office seeker took an active and inter- 
ested part in local party affairs. He was a 
member of the Grand Army of the Republic, 
and in all respects an honest man and good 
citizen. His lamented decease took place 
January 19, 1896, when he left behind his sor- 
rowing widow and two children, who, with 
many true and warm-hearted friends, sincerely 
mourn his untimely death. 

Mr. Dykema married, July 18, 1873, Miss 
Mary Laudwick, who has borne two children, 
William and Samuel, of whom the latter is 
still at home with his mother, at No. 290 
North Lafayette street. This property Mr. 
Dykema purchased with his own earnings, 
greatly improved, and, in fact, remodeled the 
original dwelling, and made it one of the most 
pleasant and comfortable homes of the neigh- 
borhood. Mrs. Dykema, a most kind and 
pleasant lady, has the pleasure of having made 
many friends, who admire and esteem her 
for her many ladylike personal attributes, 
among which her affable disposition is not the 
least. 




iiNRY JAMES FELKER— In no pro- 
fession is there a career requiring a 
greater degree of talent than that of 
the law, and in no field of endeavor is 
there demanded a more careful preparation or 
a more thorough appreciation of the ethics of 
life and of the underlying principles which form 
the basis of human rights and privileges. In- 
tuition, wisdom and unflagging application are 
the concomitants necessary to insure success and 
prestige in this great profession, which stands 
as the conservator of justice, and no one should 
enter upon it as a life work without a full rec- 
ognition of the obstacles to be surmounted, 
for success comes only as the result of capaci- 
ty and unmistakable ability. These elements 
have entered largely into the professional ca- 
reer of Mr. Felker, the subject of this review, 
who for several years has been accounted one 
of the able lawyers and successful practitioners 
of the Kent county bar. 

A native of Michigan, Mr. Felker was born 
January 22, i 847, in Park township, St. Joseph 
county, and he is a son of Philip and Sarah 
(Hoats) Felker, of Baden, Germany, and 
Pennsylvania, respectively. These parents 
were married in St. Joseph county, Mich., and 
there resided on a farm until their death — the 
father dying in 1858, and the mother in the 
year 1888. They reared a family of five chil- 
dren, whose names are as follows: Louis K., 
deceased; Carrie F., who married M. J. Ul- 
rich, a business man of Grand Rapids; Julia, 
deceased; Henry J. and Peter H., the last- 
named a publisher of St. Louis, Mo. 

Henry James Felker was educated in the 
schools of his native county and of Three 
Rivers, and in 1868 entered Albion college, 
from which he was graduated with the degree 
of B. S. in 1872. On the completion of his 
collegiate course, he began the study of law at 
Charlotte, Mich., in the office of P. T. \'an- 
zile, also received instruction from Isaac M. 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



149 



Cutcheon, of that place, and in April, 1874, 
was admitted to the bar at Marshall by Judge 
Woodward. He entered upon the active 
practice of his profession in Marcellus, Cass 
county, Mich., but after a short time came to 
Grand Rapids, accepted a place in the office of 
Godwin & Holmes, with whom he remained 
until 1876. In that year he became associated 
with Andrew J. Reeves, a partnership lasting 
until 1883, when he opened an office with Ed- 
gar A. Maher, the firm thus constituted con- 
tinuing until 1890, since which time he has 
been alone in the practice. In 1894 Mr. Fel- 
ker was appointed by Hon. E. B. Fisher, 
mayor of Grand Rapids, city attorney, the 
duties of which position he discharged for five 
years, having been once re-appointed and 
once elected by the common council. 

Mr. Felker's practice steadily grew as he 
demonstrated his ability to handle with skill 
the intricate problems of jurisprudence, and 
he now enjoys a lucrative business, being re- 
tained as counsel in some of the most impor- 
tant litigations heard in the courts of Grand 
Rapids and Kent county. For fifteen years 
he has served as a member of the city board 
of education and for three years was presiding 
officer of that body. He takes an active inter- 
est in the welfare of the city schools and is 
public spirited in all other matters pertaining 
to the material advancement of Grand Rapids 
and the county of Kent. 

Mr. Felker was united in marriage in Con- 
stantine, Mich., October 3, 1875, to Miss 
Lois L. Teesdale, daughter of Samuel and 
Frances E. (Bryan) Teesdale, natives respect- 
ively of England and the state of New York. 
Mr. Felker's home in the city is situated at 
No- 333 Scribner street, beside which he owns 
other property, including a good farm in Walk- 
er township, where he occasionally finds a wel- 
come respite from his many professional duties. 
He is connected with several fraternal organ- 



izations, being a member of Dorris lodge, 
F. & A. M.; Columbian chapter. No. 152, R. 
A. M. ; Daisy lodge, N0.48, B. P. O. E., Red- 
men and Modern Woodmen. In politics he is 
a republican, and as a party worker has con- 
tributed much to the success of the party in 
several local, state and national campaigns. 




AMES ORTON EDIE, M. D.— 
Standing in the front rank of the 
medical profession in Grand Rapids 
is Dr. James Orton Edie, who for a 
period of thirty-five years has ministered to suf- 
fering humanity in Kent county. He was 
born on the 14th day of June, 1837, in the 
town of Hebron, Washington county, N. Y., 
and is a son of David W. and Matilda (Austin) 
Edie, whose deaths occurred in 1871 and 
1875 respectively. The doctor was reared on 
the parental homestead and enjoyed the ad- 
vantages of the common schools, which he at- 
tended during his youth, subsequently supple- 
menting the knowledge thus obtained by a 
course in an educational institution of a higher 
grade in the city of Oswego. 

In early life a natural taste led him to 
devote much attention to art, and for some 
years his studies were prosecuted with the in- 
tention of becoming an artist. For well- 
grounded reasons he finally relinquished this 
idea; and two years before attaining his major- 
ity began the study of medicine, for which he 
had long manifested a decided predilection. 
His first instructor was Dr. Austin, a well- 
known physician and surgeon of Oswego, 
under whom he prosecuted his studies until 
entering the medical department of the Michi- 
gan university, which he attended during the 
winter of 1859-60. In the latter year he be- 
came a student of the Jefferson Medical col- 



150 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



lege, Philadelphia, Pa., from which he was 
graduated in 1864, locating immediately there- 
after at Rockford, Kent county, Mich., where 
he successfully practiced his profession one 
year, removing thence to Lowell. Dr. Edie's 
stay in the latter place extended over a period 
of thirteen years, during which time, by close 
attention to the wants of the public and by 
diligent study, he succeeded in building up a 
large and lucrative practice, and winning for 
himself much more than local repute as a 
skillful physician and surgeon. 

In connection with his profession the 
doctor was for some years engaged in 
the mercantile and lumber business at 
Lowell, which added materially to his finan- 
cial profits, but he finally disposed of these 
interests for the purpose of locating in 
a more populous center, where he could de- 
vote his entire time and attention to the heal- 
ing art. Such a field he found in Grand Rap- 
ids, to which city he removed in 1875, and 
from that date to the present time his practice 
has come up to his expectations, being in 
every respect encouraging and satisfactory. 

Dr. Edie's name appears on the rolls of a 
number of medical bodies, among which are 
the Michigan State Medical, ^^'estern Michi- 
gan, and Grand Rapids societies, the National 
Medical association, and the National associ- 
ation of Railway surgeons. 

By natural endowments and professional 
acquirements. Dr. Edie is admirably adapted 
to the noble profession to which his life has 
been consecrated, and his success therein long 
since won for him a creditable standing among 
the leading physicians of the city and county. 
His long 3'ears of experience have rendered 
him unusually skillful in the treatment of 
many obstinate diseases; and the genial man- 
ner with which he enters the sick-room at 
once inspires the patient's confidence and makes 
him tjie ideal family physician. 



Dr. Edie possesses fine social qualities, and 
his deportment is always characterisic of the 
true gentleman. His demeanor under all cir- 
cumstances is pleasant and agreeable, and to 
a happy temperament is due some measure of 
the success which has attended his protracted 
period of professional service. 

The doctor was united in marriage at Lock- 
port, N. Y. , June 30, i860, to Miss Laura 
Gaskell, a native of that city, a union blessed 
with the birth of two children — L}nne, wife of 
Hon. F. K. Baker, of Menominee, Mich., and 
Mabel, who is married to E. S. Ferrj-, of Salt 
Lake City, Utah, a nephew of the late United 
States Senator Ferry. Mrs. Edie, a woman, 
of many noble traits, respected by all who 
knew her, departed this life on the i6th day 
of June, 1883. 

The doctor is a member of the B. P. O. E., 
belonging to Daisy lodge. No. 48, and is also 
prominent in Masonic circles, in which he has 
taken a number of degrees, including that of 
Sir Knight. He is a leading spirit in the 
Peninsula, Country and Lakeside clubs, and 
for a period of five years was examining sur- 
geon for the United States army, also acting 
in a similar capacity for various life insurance 
companies represented in Grand Rapids. Ad- 
ditional to what has been said relative to his 
professional career, he was for some years and 
is now consulting ph3-sician and surgeon for 
both Butterworth and U. B. A. hospitals of 
this city, and for one year filled the chair of 
mental and nervous diseases in the Grand Rap- 
ids Medical college. 

The doctor was reared in the Presbyterian 
church and received the rite of baptism at - 
the hand of Rev. Dr. Bullions, of \\'ashington 
county, N. Y. , who performed the same serv- 
ice for both his father and mother. Such, in 
brief, are the leading facts in the life of one ' 
of the successful professional men and repre- 
sentative citizens of Grand Rapids. Much 



AKD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



151 



more could with propriety be said, but suffi- 
cient appears in the foregoing lines to attest 
his worth in his chosen calling and the esteem 
in which he is held by the public. 




APT. CHARLES W. EATON, an ex- 
soldier of the Civil war, is a native 
of Grand Rapids, Mich., was born 
April 14, 1840, and is a son of Harry 
and Cynthia W. (Hunt) Eaton, the former a 
native of Connecticut and the latter of Ver- 
mont, and married in Brattleboro, in the lat- 
ter state. These parents came to Grand Rap- 
ids in 1837, and here the father was a pioneer 
merchant and, lumberman. The death of the 
latter took place in 1859, and that of his widow 
occurred in 1894, at the age of eighty-si.x years, 
and their children were four in number, of 
whom, Henry, the eldest, died in Jamestown, 
N. Y., in 1835; Charles W., the subject of 
this sketch, is the second in order of birth; 
Theodore C. is a journalist in St. Louis, Mo., 
and Henry C. is a hardware merchant in Du- 
luth, Minn. 

Charles W. Eaton was educated in Grand 
Rapids, learned the printer's trade, and at 
this he worked seven years; was next citj' 
clerk for two years, then enlisted in com- 
pany B, Twenty-first Michigan volunteer in- 
fantry, August II, 1S62. He was assigned 
to the western army and served under Gens. 
Buell, Rosecrans and Sherman, partici- 
pating in the following named engagements: 
Perryville, Stone River (or Murfreesboro), 
Chlckamauga, Missionary Ridge, and Ivingston, 
N. C. At the last-named battle he was taken 
prisoner, but escaped after three days of con- 
finement, and rejoined his regiment at Golds- 
boro, N, C. When captured, he was on the 



staff of Gen. Thomas Francis Meagher, the 
Irish patriot. 

For his gallantry on the field, Capt. Eaton 
had been promoted from the ranks through all 
the various grades to that of captain. He was 
on the staff of Gen. William H. Lytle during 
his career in the army of the Cumberland, and 
was with him when he received his death- 
wound at the battle of Chickamauga — Lytle 
being the only general officer killed in that 
engagement on the Union side. The modern 
military camp, and also the railway station at 
that point, have been named in honor of this 
gallant general. 

Capt. Eaton was placed on detached serv- 
ice as quartermaster of the post at Dalton, 
Ga., for some months, and in January, 1865, 
went on the staff of Gen. Meagher; the Febru- 
ary following his capture, before alluded to, 
which took place at Kingston, N. C. , the corps 
was under command of Gen. Schoiield. It 
was but shortly after he had rejoined his regi- 
ment that of the rebel, Johnston, surrendered 
to Sherman and then Lee to Grant, and Capt. 
Eaton went with the victorious Union troops 
on to Washington, D. C, where he shared in 
the "grand review" in May, and was finally 
mustered out at Detroit, Mich., June 5, 1865. 

A year following his muster-out, Capt. 
Eaton was with Gen. Innis in operating the 
military railroads at Chattanooga and Atlanta, 
at the first place acting as ticket agent, and at 
the latter as freight agent. The reconstruc- 
tion policy had so far advanced by this time 
that the railroads were turned over to their 
original owners, and military control relin- 
quished. 

Capt. Eaton then returned to Grand Rapids 
and became a member of the book firm of 
Nelson & Eaton, which was the nucleus of the 
subsequently popular and extensive book con- 
cern of Eaton & Lyon, which existed for 
twenty-four years. From this concern Capt. 



155 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Eaton withdrew in 1896, and has since passed 
a semi-retired life, principally at Duluth, Minn. , 
where he is vice-president of the Duluth Hard- 
ware company, of which his brother Henry is 
the principal stockholder. The captain, how- 
ever, retains his property interests in Grand 
Rapids, and alternates his time between the 
two cities. In 1899, the captain constructed 
a fine business block at Nos. 53 to 61 South 
Division street, Grand Rapids, to be occupied 
by five stores on the first floor, and the upper 
part by the Grand Rapids Engraving company. 
In this latter business the captain has had 
considerable e.xperience, as he was formerly 
president of the Eaton Printing company — now 
the Seymour & Muir company — in which he 
still holds stock. 

Capt. Eaton is a member of Grand River 
lodge, No. 34, F. & A. M. ; Grand Rapids 
chapter, No. 7, R. A. M.; DeMolai command- 
ery. No. 5, K. T. ; and Saladin temple, order 
of the Mystic Shrine. He is also a member of 
Michigan commandery. Loyal Legion; he was 
formerly a democrat in politics, but since 1864 
has been a republican. At the age of twenty- 
one years he was elected city clerk, filled the 
office so acceptably that he was re-elected, but 
resigned his position to serve his country on 
the field of battle. 

For the past ten or twelve years the cap- 
tain has been an extensive traveler. He has 
twice visited South America, has been on a 
European tour, has visited the Holy Land, and 
has seen many other places of great historical 
interest. 



LLIAM T. EATON, deceased, real 
estate dealer and promoter of the 
growth and expansion of Grand 
Rapids, Mich., was born in Sher- 
burne, Chenango county, N. Y. , August i. 




18 19. His education was acquired in the 
common schools of the Empire state, in which 
he lived until 1864, when he came to Grand 
Rapids and for a few years conducted a gents' 
furnishing store. 

In the meanwhile his keen habits of obser- 
vation developed to his mind the prospective 
increase in the value of real estate in and 
around the city, and with John Cochran he 
formed a partnership in speculation in suburb- 
an acres. They purchased largely, platted 
their acquisitions into building lots, but sold 
many of them in acre tracts, which have since, 
with the city's rapid growth, become very val- 
uable. Most of the lots were sold on easy and 
desirable terms to respectable people for act- 
ual residental purposes, and these terms were 
so accomodmating that payments on the pur- 
chase price are still being made to his widow, 
or other heirs. Through too close attention 
to business his health failed, and his decease 
took place October 2, 1884. In him passed 
away one of the most useful and progressive 
citizens of Grand Rapids, whose name will be 
perpetuated as long as the Valley City shall 
have existence. In politics he was a repub- 
lican, and in religion a member of the Park 
Congregational church. 

Mr. Eaton was twice married. His first 
wedding took place in New York state, when 
he was united. May 3, 1843, with Miss Lavinia 
R. Robinson, who died December 3, 1867, the 
mother of three children, viz: Charles C, 
who was a graduate from the law department 
of the university of Michigan at Ann Arbor,, 
and died in 1868; William R.,born August 26, 
1861, is married and the father of one child, 
and is now in the lumber business at Lock- 
wood, Mo.; Carrie, born March 16, 1864, died 
three days later. 

The second marriage of Mr. Eaton oc- 
curred February 10, 1869, when he was united 
with Mrs. Elvira O. Belknap, daughter of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



158 



Jonathan and Nancy (Kingsbury) Sanborn, of 
Connecticut. Mrs. Eaton came to Grand 
Rapids from Ohio in 1855, and by her first 
marriage was the mother of two children, viz: 
Nettie L. , wife of T. F. Moseley, and the 
mother of one child, Helen E ; Carrie E., the 
second child born to Mrs. Elvira O. Belknap, 
is residing with her mother, Mrs. Eaton, at 
her pleasant home, No. 158 Cherry street. 
Mrs. Eaton is a highly accomplished lady, affa- 
ble in demeanor, and is greatly admired for 
her many excellencies of personal character. 
Her parents were pioneers of the Western Re- 
serve in Ohio, where her father, -an iron manu- 
facturer, foundryman, etc. , died when Mrs. 
Eaton was still very young, but her mother 
survived until eighty-seven years of age and 
died in Grand Rapids at the home of her be- 
loved daughter, Mrs. Eaton. 



RED HALL EELY, the well known 
architect of Grand Rapids, with rooms 
Nos. 10 and 11 Tower block, was 
born in Allegan, Mich., May 30, 1868, 
and is a son of Joseph W. and Marion Jennette 
(Hall) Eely, the former of whom is a native 
of New York state and the latter of Ohio. 
The paternal grandparents were natives of the 
British isles, and in early youth came to 
America. They were married in the state of 
New York, where the grandfather was a ma- 
son-work contractor, but he and wife both 
died in Allegan, Mich., ripe in years. 

Joseph W. Eely, father of subject, was 
early engaged in mason-work, but later be- 
came the owner of a fine tract of land near 
Allegan, on the proceeds of which he now 
lives in comfort. His wife was called away 
at the early age of twenty-eight years, the 

8 



mother of two children — Fred H., and a daugh- 
ter, Minnie May — the latter married tojudson 
Ross, a grocer at Otsego, Mich. Mr. Eely 
re-married, and to this union has been born 
one child — Georgia Winifred, wife of C. 
Scythes, of Millgrove, Mich. 

F. Hall Eely received a solid English edu- 
cation in the schools of Allegan and afterward 
le'arned the carpenter's trade, which he fol- 
lowed about five years. He had a natural 
taste for drafting, and many of his designs 
were quite original or unique. This faculty 
led to his taking up the study of architecture. 
By private study and close reading of such 
works as are prepared for those desiring this 
technical knowledge, combined with his pecul- 
iar adaptation to the work, he has developed 
into one of the most reliable and successful 
architects in Grand Rapids. 

The first" architectural work done by Mr. 
Eely was in Grand Rapids in 1890. It gave 
such satisfaction that he was eagerly sought 
after by builders and others in this city and 
elsewhere, and on two different occasions was 
employed on work in the city of Chicago, and 
at other times, while in Grand Rapids, was 
employed by some of the best architects 
of that city, and at other places in Illinois, as 
well as in Indiana. He has in his possession 
some very strong letters from those who em- 
ployed him in Chicago, as well as from other 
places. For a long time he was employed by 
parties in Grand Rapids, who were awarded 
the merit for his designs, and this fact led him 
to open an office of his own, in which he has 
since conducted a very satisfactory business. 

Mr. Eely married at Allegan, April 5, 
1S90, Miss Mary Belle Blackman, daughter of 
Hon. H. E. Blackman. This lady was born 
on a farm in Trowbridge township, Allegan 
county. May 30, 1869, and was educated at 
the high schoolof Allegan. Onedaughter has 
been born to this union, and is named Marioa 



154 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Jennette Hall, after her paternal grandmother, 
her birth taking place November 23, 1897. 
Mr. Eely is a member of the K. O. T. M., 
and the M. W. of A. and in politics is inde- 
pendent, with free silver tendencies. As a 
mechanic, he was a foreman before he had fin- 
ished his nominal apprenticeship, and in his 
architectural career has led the van. The 
walls of his oflice are adorned with many of 
his designs, well worthy the study of the pro- 
fessional as well as the novice. 



RANKLIN D. EDDY, a prominent 
citizen and public official of Grand 
Rapids, Mich., was born in Rome, 
N. Y., May 13, 1859, and is a son of 
^Villiam H. and Martha A. (Fox) Eddy, also 
natives of the Empire state. 

William H. Eddy was born in Rensselaer 
county, N. Y. , in 1832, a son of Edward and 
Susan M. (Hills) Eddy, who were also born 
in the state of New York and were of English 
descent. Mr. Eddy was educated in the com- 
mon schools of his native county, and at the 
conclusion of his attendance thereat learned 
the cooper's trade, with which he afterwards 
connected other various branches of wood- 
work, being naturally a mechanical genius. 
At the breaking out of the war of the Rebel- 
lion, Mr. Eddy manifested his patriotism by 
at once enlisting in company C, Fiftieth New 
York engineers, in 1862, with which he served 
all through the war until the surrender of Lee, 
when he was honorably discharged, with the 
rank of sergeant, and had never suffered a 
day's illness throughout his long term of serv- 
ice. He then settled in Lowell, Mich., in 
1866, and was a school director while the new 
school-house was being built and also inter- 
ested himself in the rejuvenating of the public 



library, always taking an active part in the 
promotion of public education. He withdrew 
from active work at his trade in 1S93 and be- 
came town clerk, and is now engaged in the 
insurance and conveyancing business. 

Mr. Eddy married in 1854 at Rome, N. Y., 
Miss Martha A. Fox, who was born in that 
city in 1S32, and was of English and German 
descent. To this marriage were born four 
children, of whom three are still living, Frank- 
lin D. , being the eldest; the others are Minnie, 
wife of Edward Pickard, of Grand Rapids, and 
Jessie, wife of ^^'illiam Engle, of Lowell. The 
mother, however, was called away in January, 
1889. 

Mr. Eddy has been a deacon in the Bap- 
tist church thirty-five years; for the last past 
eighteen years has been financier of his lodge 
of the A. O. U. W. ; and was a charter mem- 
ber of his post in the G. A. R., of which he 
is a past commander. In politics he is a re- 
publican. 

Franklin D. Eddj' came to Kent county 
with his parents in 1866, and was educated in 
Lowell. In 1875 he entered the post-office as 
clerk, served as such three years, and was ap- 
pointed assistant postmaster. In 1881 he re- 
signed and accepted a position in the railway 
mail service, but at the end of ten months ill 
health forced him to resign again, and in 1882 
he engaged in the book and stationery busi- 
ness, and again, three years later, his health 
failed him and he relinquished the occupation, 
entering the real estate and insurance busi- 
ness. 

In 1 886 Mr. Eddy was nominated by the 
republican party as its candidate for town clerk 
of Lowell, and was elected by a majority of 
eight}', being one of the only two republicans 
elected to office that year. He served most 
satisfactorily, six years consecutively. In 1892 
the republican county convention nominated 
him for the position of county clerk, his oppo- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



155 



nent in the convention receiving only sixteen 
votes out of 1 08 cast; he was elected by a 
majority of 801. 

He was unanimously renominated for the 
office of county clerk in 1894 and was trium- 
phantly elected by a majority of 5,834 votes, 
leading the entire ticket — in fact, it was the 
largest majority ever given a candidate in the 
county. His administration of county affairs 
was of a high order and brought much com- 
mendation. He was admitted to the bar as 
attorney-at-lavv and solicitor in chancery 
August 21, 1895. 

After the expiration of his second term as 
county clerk, Mr. Eddy formed a partnership 
with Fred N. Edie in the insurance and real 
estate business, but, both being expert ac- 
countants, they soon abandoned this line and 
engaged solely in accounting, taking charge, 
for the government, of the Big Rapids National 
bank, and the People's Savings bank at Lans- 
ing, and continued in the general accounting 
business until April, 1898, when the partner- 
ship was dissqlved, and Mr. Eddy engaged 
with the Chicago & West Michigan, and De- 
troit & Grand Rapids Railway companies, as 
assistant claim agent, and was with them when 
offered the position and appointed as cashier 
of the post-office, August i, 1898. 

In his fraternal and society relations, Mr. 
Eddy is very extensively connected, being a 
member of Grand Rapids court. No. 1765, I. 
0. F. ; Phenix lodge. No. 12, I. O. O. p.; 
Eddy tent. No. 398, K. O. T. M., of which he 
was commander; Lowell lodge. No. 38, A. O. 
U. W. , of which he was recorder for thirteen 
years; Kent camp. No. 2314, M. W. of A.; 
Eureka lodge. No. 2, K. of P., of which he 
was vice-chancellor in 1897; Grand Rapids 
company. No. 6, U. R. K. of P., of which he 
was recorder in 1898-99; Daisy lodge, No. 48, 
B. P. O. E., and Perry camp, No. 9, Sons of 
Veterans. Of the last-named order, which is 



purposely mentioned last, he became a mem- 
ber in 1884, and was elected captain of the 
camp. In 1885, he devised a design for the 
official sword, which was adopted by the 
national body. He was delegate at large 
from Michigan three times to the national en- 
campments; was chief of staff of the command- 
er-in-chief in 1886, and was elected state 
commander, department of Michigan, in 1890. 
He has also held other state positions, such as 
chief mustering officer, judge advocate, and 
adjutant from 1897 to 1899, inclusive. 

In 1898, Mr. Eddy conceived the idea of 
raising a company for the Spanish-American 
war, and personally recruited company L, 
Thirty-third regiment, Michigan volunteers, all 
Sons of Veterans, who served with distinction 
in Cuba, and he was also instrumental in rais- 
ing company B, Thirty-fifth Michigan regiment. 

Franklin D. Eddy was united in marriage, 
at Lowell, in July, 1878, with Miss Caroline 
C. Booth, who was born in Grand Rapids in 
1853, and is a daughter of Eph. J. and Nancy 
(Chapin) Booth, natives of New York. To 
this happy union have been born eight chil- 
dren, in the following order: James H., in 
1879, assistant secretary to the Wernicke com- 
pany; Kittie C, 1881; Genevieve B., 1883; 
William E., 1885; Rubyanna, 1887; Charles 
F., 1889; Salem C, 1891, and George P., 
1893. The family worship at the Fountain 
street Baptist church, and their pleasant home 
is at No. 15 North Union street, where they 
stand very high in the esteem of their neigh- 
bors. 

Beside the close or secret orders already- 
named, Mr. Eddy is a member of the board of 
trade, and the Hesperus and Lakeside clubs of 
Grand Rapids, and was for one year president 
of the Young Men's Republican club, and 
while in Lowell was president and secretary of 
an organization bearing the same name as the 
latter. 



Ic6 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 




MANDA J. EVANS, M. D., a popular 
lady practitioner of the homeopathic 
school of medicine, at No. 102 Mon- 
roe street, Grand Rapids, Mich., is a 
native of Indiana, was born near White Pigeon, 
and was an infant when brought to Michigan 
,by her parents, William and Elizabeth Colby, 
natives, respectively, of New York city and 
New Winchester, Va., and both of English ex- 
traction. Her father, who was born in 1822, 
died in Barry county, Mich., at the age of 
sixty-si.x years, and the mother, who was born 
in 1824, died July 28, 1S99. Their four living 
children are Dr. Amanda J., Delos, Albert 
and Rebecca, all highly intelligent and respected 
members of society. 

Dr. Amanda J. Evans early secured a liberal 
education, was fully prepared for teaching 
school, and followed this vocation about eight 
years prior to her marriage, at Middleville, 
Barry county, Mich., in 1S64, to Patrick 
Henry Evans, a native of Ireland, but of Welsh 
descent, and who was brought to America by 
his parents when he was but three years old. 
To the union of Mr. and Mrs. Evans were born 
a son and a daughter, the elder of whom, 
Charles, was called away at the age of one 
year, and the younger, Florence, now a bright 
and attractive young lady, still resides with 
her mother. 

Dr. Evans became a student of medicine 
while yet a school-teacher, nature having im- 
planted in her mental constitution an element 
which could not be satisfied until fructification 
had resulted. At intervals during her school- 
teaching career, when opportunity offered after 
school-hours and during vacations, she was a 
constant and assiduous reader of works on 
anatomy, physiology and kindred studies, 
while chemistry as applied to medicine was 
also an enticing feature in her course of read- 
ing, and medical journals were her delight, as 
far as serial publications are concerned. Fi- 



nally, thus inspired, she entered upon a sys- 
tematic course of study in medicine and sur- 
gery under private tutors, capable of fully pre- 
paring her for higher education in the science 
to which she had determined to devote her 
life-energies. As a result of this preparation, 
she entered the university of Michigan in 1877, 
there completed a course of three years' med- 
ical education, and was awarded the degree of 
M. D. in June, 1880. 

After graduation. Dr. Evans returned to 
her home in Middleville, where she built up a 
remunerative practice and remained until the 
spring of 18S9, when she sought the wider 
field of Grand Rapids. Here, although she 
gives considerable attention to general prac- 
tice, her services have mostly, and, indeed, 
largely, been in demand for the treatment of 
diseases of women and children, and of chronic 
disorders, in all of which she has attained celeb- 
rity that is altogether enviable. Her elegant- 
ly appointed rooms in the Tracy block are at 
all times thronged with patients, and she is 
here assisted by her daughter in receiving and 
entertaining them, and in rendering assistance 
in treating them, with that invaluable adjunct 
of medical science — electricity. The practice 
of Dr. Evans, however, is not altogether con- 
fined to the city of Grand Rapids, as her repu- 
tation has extended throughout the surround- 
ing territory, and her name has become a 
household word. 

Dr. Evans is a member of the Michigan 
State Homeopathic Medical society, and in 
this society her voice has no small influence, 
but is frequently heard as a factor in its delib- 
erations. As to religious matters, she confines 
herself to no particular denomination or church 
organization, but conscientiously does her duty 
to her fellow-beings and places her trust in 
God alone. She is a lady of sound judgment, 
is devoted to her profession, in which she has 
succeeded beyond her most sanguine hopes. 



1 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



157 



and has been careful of the recompense she 
has received for her skillful labors. A pleas- 
ant conversationalist, she entertains the stran- 
ger with the peculiar magnetism attached to 
that social qualification, and her personal in- 
dividuality never fails to impress all who come 
into her presence. 




\COB EISENHARDT, the popular 
young real-estate and insurance agent 
and ex-alderman of the Fourth ward 
of the city of Grand Rapids, is a na- 
tive of Wurtemburg, Germany, and was born 
October 12, 1854. He received a common- 
school education, which is generally a thor- 
ough one, in his native town, and in 1870 
came to America, having no relish for service 
in the imperial army, to which he was ame- 
nable, and less relish for monarchical govern- 
ment. On arriving in this country, he worked 
hard to gain himself an education, in the city 
of Baltimore, Md., whence he went to Chica- 
go, 111., where he worked in the Palmer house 
barber shop until 1876, when he came to 
Grand Rapids, and has here owned several 
finely equipped tonsorial parlors, and conduct- 
ed, through his consummate skill and affable 
address, the most prosperous business in his 
line ever carried on in the city until 1888, 
when he entered into his present business. 

In the meantime, in 1886, he was elected 
alderman of the Fourth ward as a republican, 
and his election was due entirely to his per- 
sonal popularity, as the ward was strongly 
democratic. His aldermanic career was most 
creditable to himself as well as of vast benefit 
to his constituents and to the city in general, 
as it was chiefly through his firmness and in- 
corruptibility that the street railway company's 



monopoly was overthrown and the field 
opened to less avaricious competitors. 

In 1889, Mr. Eisenhardt was appointed in- 
spector of internal revenue, a posftion he held 
until October 15, 1890. In every position, 
Mr. Eisenhardt has been faithful, conscientious 
and competent. 

For many years Mr. Eisenhardt has been 
a member of the German Lutheran church 
and his course through life manifests the sin- 
cerity of his religious convictions, and his wife 
and three children enjoy the blessings of a 
beautiful home. 

In 1898, Mr. Eisenhardt was made chair- 
man of the republican county committee, in 
1892 was the republican candidate for county 
treasurer of Kent, fought a brilliant campaign, 
but met with defeat. He is as popular with 
his party and with the public as he ever was, 
and but a slight revolution in politics will place 
him well to the front as one of the leaders of 
the republican party in Kent county. 




LFRED C. FASSETT.— The true 
spirit of progress and enterprise is 
strikingly displayed in the life of the 
man to whom this article is devoted 
— a gentleman whose energetic nature and 
well-formed determination have enabled him 
to overcome many adverse circumstances and 
advance steadily to a respectable position in 
the commercial life of Grand Rapids. 

Mr. Fassett was born in the city of Erie, 
Pa., April 30, i860, and is the son of A. P. 
and Henrietta (Cater) Fassett, both natives 
of the Keystone state. The elder Fassett, by 
trade a carpenter and builder, spent his entire 
life in the east, and his wife died there when 
his son Alfred C. was but five weeks old. 



158 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Being thus bereft of the best earthly friend 
whom it is possible for any one to know, young 
Alfred was sent to an uncle, A. J. Fassett, 
who resided in Watson, Mich., with whom he 
lived until this gentleman's death, in 1875, 'At- 
tending meantime the common schools. With 
a laudable desire to increase his knowledge, he 
continued his studies until his twenty-first 
year, and then began working at the mason's 
trade, which he learned in the town of W^at- 
son, where he continued to reside till 1894. 
He also followed his trade in various places 
until the above year, when he came to Grand 
Rapids and began in a limited way to manu- 
facture ice-cream, a business which has since 
engaged his time and attention, and which has 
proved successful far beyond his most sanguine 
expectations. Mr. Fassett's first place of busi- 
ness was a barn, and a single hand freezer 
produced the cream which he delivered to a 
few customers on a wheelbarrow. The supe- 
rior quality of the product, however, soon cre- 
ated a large demand, and in order to supply 
the same, additional apparatus was secured 
and help hired to make the rounds, which con- 
stantly became more extended as the months 
went by. Mr. Fassett did not wait for people 
to become acquainted with his cream by mere 
accident, but with true western thrift person- 
ally solicited patronage and liberally used the 
columns of the daily press of the city to bring 
his name to the notice of the public. These 
endeavors in due time brought their reward 
in a largely increased custom, the extent of 
which may best be understood by the fact that 
the first year's output amounted to but $300, 
the second year to $900, the third to $2,500, 
and a conservative estimate of the last year's 
business is considerably in excess of $9,000. 
Such growth is truly remarkable and speaks 
volumes for the energy, thrift and excellent 
business foresight of the gentlemanly and 
popular proprietor of this well known and highly 



appreciated establishment. The daily prod- 
uct at this time is lOO to 400 gallons of cream, 
beside ices of all kinds, and the manufacture 
of candies during the winter season, requiring 
the labor of eight skilled workmen and three 
delivery wagons, in order to meet the con- 
stantly increasing local and general demand. 
His first location was at No. 135 South Divis- 
ion street, where he continued six months; 
thence he removed to 273 Stocking street, and 
in 1896 located in his present commodious 
quarters. No. 81 West Bridge street. Mr. 
Fassett is to be congratulated on the signal 
success of his business venture; if the past is a 
just criterion by which to judge, it is perfectly 
safe to predict for him a future of still greater 
prosperity. 

The domestic life of Mr. Fassett is most 
agreeable, and the pleasant home at No. 407 
First street, is gladdened by the presence of 
three children, namely: Mabel, Ora and Bernice. 
His wife, to whom he was united in marriage 
onthe2ist day of October, 1883, was Miss 
Carrie S. Kent, of Watson, Mich., daughter of 
James E. and Mary (Monroe) Kent. The 
home was built in the fall of 1899, and is a 
large, commodious structure, which cost in the 
the neighborhood of $4,000. They worship at 
the Second street M. E. church. 




S.A P. FINCH, deceased, was a native 
of Orleans county, N. Y., was born 
May 2, 1862, and was a son of a 
farmer, whose name has lapsed from 
memory, but it is known that his mother's 
maiden name was Clara Blanchard and that 
she died in the state of New York, while her 
father died in Michigan. 

Asa P. Finch was reared to farming in the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



159 



Empire state and came to Grand Rapids, 
Mich., in 1853. He had had no very favor- 
able opportunities for an education beside 
those afforded by the common schools, but 
was thoroughly trained in agricultural pursuits. 
He married, November 23, 1854, at Grand 
Rapids, Miss Mary J. Dunham, a daughter of 
Abner and Loretta (Barker) Dunham, located 
on a farm after marriage and later engaged in 
the meat business, and finally settled in Grand 
Rapids and followed dealing in real estate until 
his death, which occurred December 17, 1883. 
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Finch was blessed 
with three children, viz: Albert, who is mar- 
ried and has two children; Daisy and Charlie; 
Jessie, wife of George W. Thayer, Jr., and 
Frederick, who married Mary E. Perkins and 
is the father of one child — Thelma. The fam- 
ily all reside in Grand Rapids. 

The father of Mrs. Asa P. Finch was very 
active and enterprising in the early days of 
Grand Rapids and erected the first house in 
the vicinity of the residence now occupied by 
his estimable daughter, who has witnessed 
much of the phenomenal growth of the city 
since she has resided here. He was a highly 
respected gentleman, esteemed for his strict 
integrity as well as business enterprise, and 
has left behind him a name that is referred to 
with pride whenever recalled to memory, as it 
frequently is, by many of his former friends 
and neighbors. 

In politics Mr. Finch was a democrat, but 
was never an office seeker, for the sake of 
emolument, preferring to devote his latter years 
to his real estate business as being more re- 
munerative and sure than the uncertainites of 
party politics. He was respected wherever he 
was known, and as a business man had but 
few, if any, superiors in the city of Grand 
Rapids in its early years. Mrs. Finch attends 
the Plymouth Congregational church and re- 
sides at No. 464 South East street. 




ERALD FITZ GERALD, an accom- 
plished attorney at law of Grand 
Rapids, Mich., is a native of the do- 
minion of Canada, and was born in 
the county of Perth, province of Ontario, 
March 29, 1858, a son of John and Juliet 
(Carpenter) FitzGerald, natives, respectively, 
of the island of Jersey and Canada, and both 
of Irish descent, and whose marriage took 
place in Canada. 

John FitzGerald was twenty years of age 
when he arrived in the New Dominion, and 
was there engaged in tanning until 1865, when 
he came to Michigan and entered the boot and 
shoe trade at Pontiac, in which he continued 
until his death, which occurred February 15, 
1893. He was a Protestant in religion, while 
his wife, who is now a resident of Seaforth, 
Canada, is a devout Catholic and a lady highly 
respected in her community. There were born 
to these parents seven children, in the follow- 
ing order: Sarah M., Julia, Gerald (the sub- 
ject), Agnes, Theresa, Mary H. and James P., 
of whom all are still living, with the exception 
of Theresa. 

Gerald FitzGerald was primarily educated 
in Stratford, Perth county, Canada, where he 
attended public school until fourteen years old, 
and then attended the high school at Pontiac, 
Mich., from which he graduated in 1875. His 
first business employment was for a short time 
in a carriage manufactory, and then for a year 
he was employed by the Pullman Car com- 
pany. His ne.xt employment was as a travel- 
ing collector for twelve years, and during this 
period he occupied his spare time in the study 
of the law, the result being that he was admit- 
ted to the bar of Kent county in 1894. Until 
1896 he was alone in practice, and then be- 
came associated with M. H. Walker, with 
whom he still continues in partnership, and 
is doing a remunerative business. 

November 19, 1885, at Grand Rapids, Mr. 



160 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



FitzGerald was united in marriage with Miss 
Elizabeth Pettibone, a native of this city, born 
May 15, 1858, a daughter of Knowlton S. and 
Catherine B. (Jackson) Pettibone, the former 
of whom was born in Vermont. This union 
has been blessed with one child, named Dor- 
othy Q. Mr. and Mrs. FitzGerald are members 
of the Unitarian church, and in politics Mr. 
FitzGerald is a democrat. He is a business 
man from head to foot, always alert and al- 
ways busy. He is secretary of the West Side 
Building & Loan association, deals in real es- 
state, is agent for several standard fire insur- 
ance companies, and is a stockholder in the 
Michigan Carving company and the Valley 
City Ice & Coal company, being a director in 
both. He and his estimable wife enjoy an en- 
viable social position, and both stand high in 
the general esteem. 




OHN C. FITZ GERALD, of Grand 
Rapids, is practically a native of Mich- 
igan. His mother, Sylvia Strickland, 
was of Puritan stock, while his father, 
Jeremiah FitzGerald, was a native of NewYork. 
He was born in Berlin, Huron county, Ohio, 
in 1835, and when an infant his parents re- 
moved to Springport, Jackson county, Miqh., 
where his father engaged in farming. Jere- 
miah FitzGerald served as a captain of volun- 
teers in the war of 1812, and after removing to 
]\Iichigan was one of the sturdy pioneers of 
Jackson county. 

The subject of this sketch had the advan- 
tages and the disadvantages in his early days 
of the average farmer's boy, with the obliga- 
tion to work as soon as able, and the privi- 
lege of attending the district school during 



a few months of the year. His early edu- 
cation was secured under difficulties which 
to many would have seemed insurmount- 
able. With money earned by teaching a 
district school he was enabled to attend Al- 
bion college. In his work at home and after- 
wards at Albion, he had steadily in view the 
purpose of studying law, and upon leaving 
school went to Jackson and entered the office 
of Austin Blair, afterward Michigan's war 
governor. His admission to the bar took 
place in 1858, after which he continued to 
practice in Jackson until early in i860, when 
he removed to Marshall, Calhoun county. 
The bar of Calhoun county at that time was 
second to none in the state, and Mr. FitzGerald 
was compelled to and did win his place 
through unflagging and energetic devotion to 
the business entrusted to him. He remained 
there until 1873, and built up a large and 
profitable practice. He held the office of 
prosecuting attorney from 1861 to 1865, and 
was also state senator in 1869, declining to 
serve beyond the one term. With the e.xcep- 
tion of a nomination for congress for the Grand 
Rapids district in 1884, he has at no other 
time engaged in politics. On this occasion he 
was defeated with his party. In 1873 he was 
invited to enter into a partnership with John 
W. Champlin and Roger W. Butterfield, of 
Grand Rapids, and the firm of Champlin, But- 
terfield & FitzGerald was continued for sever- 
al years in the enjoyment of a most excellent 
practice. On the dissolution of the firm, Mr. 
FitzGerald was without other partnership as- 
sociation until a coniparitively recent period. 
He is still in active practice and has shown no 
disposition to relieve himself of the arduous 
cares of his profession. He has a fine physi- 
cal development, a keen intellect, quick per- 
ception, strong convictions, and is a man of 
untiring industry. From the outset his am- 
bition has been to reach prominence in his 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



163 



profession and to bring to those intrusting busi- 
ness to his hands satisfaction and success. He 
has always displayed an unswerving loyalty to 
the interests of his clients. He believes in 
thorough preparation for the trial of every 
case, and is always well equipped to meet any 
position his adversary may take. He deserv- 
edly stands high in the ranks of the lawyers of 
the state. His whole strength and ambition 
have been devoted to legal practice, pure and 
simple, and he has never allowed himself to 
engage in speculative enterprises. 

He was married in 1859 to Addie F. Tay- 
lor, only child of Reuben and Harriet Tay- 
lor, of Albion, Mich. They have one child, 
the wife of Edmund D. Barry. Mr. Barry is 
also a lawyer, and for the past few years has 
been associated with Mr. FitzGerald in the 
practice. 

No biography of Mr. FitzGerald would be 
complete without making reference to his fam- 
ily life. His home has always been an ideal 
one, and no amount of distraction and worry 
in business has ever been allowed to interfere 
with his unfailing kindness to those dear to 
him. He is a lover of books, enjoys foreign 
travel, and is a close student of economic and 
financial questions. To add nothing to the 
above would be to leave the truth untold. 
Much of Mr. FitzGerald's position and success 
must be credited to the unfailing loyaltj', 
the devotion and the sound judgment of his 
wife. She brought to the union just the 
qualities most needed by her husband, and 
whatever his labors or disappointments else- 
where, he found at home such unfailing charm 
and sympathy that the labor was soon forgot- 
ten and the cares and perplexities soon dissi- 
pated. He would not care to have the story 
of his career told without this reocgnition of in- 
debtedness to one whose gentle character and 
genuine assistance has made his success be- 
yond doubt. 




EORGE CLAY FITCH, deceased, late 
of Grand Rapids, Mich., was born in 
Putney, Vt., December 20, 1823, and 
was a representative of one of the old- 
est and most prominent familes of New Eng- 
land, as he is in all probability descended from 
either Thomas or James Fitch, brothers, who 
came from England in 1634, the former as 
colonial governor of Connecticut, and the lat- 
ter as chaplain of Saybrook colony. From 
these early colonists lineal descendants to the 
number of 5,000 can now be traced in an un- 
broken line in various parts of the United 
States. 

James Fitch, father of George C. Fitch, 
the deceased subject of this sketch, was born 
in Putney, Vt., November 27, 1780, and his 
wife, who bore the maiden name of Abigail 
Wilmarth, was born in. Lyndon, Vt., April 24, 
1782. They were married at the bride's 
birthplace January 10, 18 10, and of the seven 
children resulting from this union, George C. , 
was the sixth in order of birth, but the most 
of them have now passed away. The father 
died when George C. was yet in his teens, and 
the latter was in consequence early forced 
upon the stage of active business life. He re- 
cei\ed an academic education in his native 
city, acquired habits of careful and thought- 
ful consideration of subjects as they came be- 
fore him, and retained these habits throughout 
his life. 

George C. Fitch came to Grand Rapids, 
Mich., in 1848, and established, in company 
with his brother James, the first carriage fac- 
tory in the city, and being thus early associat- 
ed with the business interests of the Valley 
city, his name become closely interwoven with 
its history. At his coming. Grand Rapids 
contained a population of 2,000 only, and Mr. 
Fitch was personally acquainted with each in- 
habitant. He was public spirited and pro- 
gressive, and to this characteristic was due 



164 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



much of the rapid growth and phenomenal 
success which he assisted in contributing to the 
little town. 

Mr. Fitch was a member oi the first fire com- 
pany of Grand Rapids, being a volunteer in 
1850, and he also early allied himself with 
St. Mark's Episcopal church, of which he re- 
mained a consistent and active member until 
life was no more. He served as a mem- 
ber of the board of education, as an alder- 
man, and was treasurer of the Kent County 
Agricultural society for a number of years, 
but his quiet and unobtrusive manner, to- 
gether with his devotion to his private affairs, 
rendered public office distasteful to him, yet 
he was ever ready to respond when called 
upon to perform a public duty likely to be of 
benefit to his fellow-citizens. He was a man 
of strong personality, notwithstanding his un- 
assuming disposition, was devoted to his fam- 
ily and friends, and his greatest happiness was 
found in their society. The following beauti- 
ful tribute to his memory was penned by "A 
Friend," and published in the city papers after 
his death: 

George C. Fitch, an old resident, a pio- 
neer manufacturer, a successful business man 
and honored citizen, has passed away. - * * 
But when such a man passes away, it is due 
to the conmiunity in which he lived that a little 
more be said, for such lives touch us only for 
good. Mr. Fitch was a modest and unas- 
suming man, possessing, to an unusual de- 
gree, the "homely' virtues of kindness, pa- 
tience, gentleness, integrity and friendliness, 
and in his life these virtues were beautifully 
though modestly and almost unconsciously 
illustrated. First of all, he was a Iiovic man, 
than which nothing better can be said of 
any man. Here he was at his best, and to 
see him in the midst of his family, where 
brothers and sisters had gathered from far and 
near, was something worth remembering. He 
neither knew nor desired greater happiness 
than the home circle could furnish, and that 



circle knew no greater happiness than his pres- 
ence afforded. Much could be said to his 
honor in relation to his business life; but when, 
after forty years of active business life, his em- 
ployees surround his tomb to shed tears of 
genuine sorrow, and call him their friend, his 
unquestioned integrity can never be doubted. 
But we prefer to remember him as a man 
possessed of an exalted ideal of the home and 
family life; such men help us to preserve and 
cultivate the richest blessings we may possess. 

For many years after he desired to discon- 
tinue active business, his factories were kept 
running for no other purpose than to give em- 
ployment to his tried and faithful workers, 
whose lives seemed to be so closely interwoven 
with his own. 

His death occurred at the beautiful home, 
No. 155 Jefferson avenue, March 9, 1898. He 
died possessed of extensive property interests, 
having a large number of tenements, which his 
his son, George E., manages for the benefit of 
the estate. 

But there is another element in the family 
of equal importance and interest. The purity 
of home, with all its endearing surroundings, 
is largely due to the influence of the wife and 
mother. The estimable wife, companion and 
widow of the subject bore the maiden name of 
Cadette Everett, whose residence in Grand 
Rapids ante-dated that of her husband by two 
years. They were married January 24, 1863, 
and Mrs. Fitch is a daughter of Prof. Franklin 
and Thirza (Cudworth) Everett, who located 
in Grand Rapids in 1846. 

Prof. Franklin Everett is well remembered 
as the first teacher in a school for the higher 
order of pupils in Grand Rapids, was a gentle- 
man of ripe scholarship and an educator of 
marked ability. He graduated from Colby 
(Me.) university in 1838, was a classmate and 
life-long friend and correspondent of Gen. 
Benjamin F. Butler, and began his profes- 
sional life as principal of the Black River 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



165 



academy in Ludlow, Vt. On coming to Grand 
Rapids in the fall of 1846 he was chosen prin- 
cipal of the academy, then in its experimental 
days, and subsequently the name was changed 
from the Grand Rapids to the Everett acad- 
emy, and this was continued by Prof. Everett 
as an independent institution until 1874. 
Many of the most prosperous business 
and professional men of the city to-day are 
those who can trace their success in life to the 
early instruction and kindly advice of Prof. 
Everett. He was the chief promoter of the 
Kent Scientific institute, which existed for 
many years as a source of higher scientific in- 
vestigation. 

Prof. Everett was a writer of more than 
ordinary ability, and contributed many inval- 
uable articles to some of the scientific jour- 
nals, newspapers and other periodicals of his 
day, and he also wrote a history of the Grand 
River Valley — a work of great interest and 
value. It dwells at length and in minute de- 
tail upon many pioneer experiences in Grand 
Rapids, and is treasured as an heirloom in the 
families who are descended from the early set- 
tlers. Prof. Everett died at the home of his 
daughter, Mrs. Fitch, February i, 1894, hon- 
ored and respected to a greater extent than 
many others who had lived in the city for a 
much longer period. 

To Mr. and Mrs. George C. Fitch have 
been born two children, of whom the elder, 
Miss Louie M., is a highly accomplished young 
lady, having graduated from the Grand Rap- 
ids high school, and having supplemented her 
studies at that school with a course at a ladies' 
boarding-school at Virginia City, Mont. She 
inherits a taste for music, and is especially 
proficient as an instrumentalist in piano music, 
to which her life seems to be devoted, as well 
as to the peace and comfort of the parental 
home. The second-born child of Mr. and 
Mrs. Fitch is George E., a young man of cul- 



ture and refinement, who graduated from the 
Grand Rapids high school, and later took a 
three-year course in the scientific department 
of the university of Michigan. Great responsi- 
bilities were early thrust upon him by the death 
of his father, and he now has control jointly 
with his mother of the extensive and compli- 
cated affairs pertaining to the estate. 

The Fitch family home, at No. 155 Jeffer- 
son avenue, is one of the pleasantest in the 
city, and is the seat of a refined and genuine 
hospitality. 



EORGE FORRESTER, president of 
the village of East Grand Rapids 
and postmaster of Paul, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of Rochester, Kent 
county, England, was born April 21, 1859, a 
son of John and Charlotte (Summers) For- 
rester. The father was a mechanic, and died 
in his native land at the age of sixty-four 
years; the mother resides in Chicago, 111., and 
is now Mrs. Gallier. 

Mr. Forrester is the youngest of a family of 
five children, of whom Ann McClintock is a 
resident of Chicago, 111. ; Eliza Watts resides 
in London, England; Charlotte McClintock 
died in Winnipeg, Manitoba; one brother died 
at Chatham, England; George is the subject 
of this sketch. The last named learned the 
trade of bricklayer in England and came to 
the United States in 1883, and first located in 
Traverse City, Mich., but passed the greater 
part of his time in Grand Rapids, and perma- 
nently settled here in 1885. 

Mr. Forrester was married in England, in 
May, 1879, to Miss Jane Clisset, a native of 
Cardiff, Wales, and this union has resulted in 
the birth of six children, of whom the eldest, 
Charlotte, aged nineteen years, is the assistant 



166 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



of her father in the post-office at Paul ; Frederick 
William is also employed by his father at his 
trade; Earle and Pearl are twins, aged eleven 
years; Edith Frank is the next in order, and 
Charlie died in childhood. Miss Charlotte 
takes exellent care of the younger children, 
being housekeeper for her father, her mother 
having died February 20, 1897. 

Mr. Forrester is a member of the K. O. T. 
M., of the B. & P. O. E., and of the Brick- 
layers' and Masons' union. In religion he and 
family are members of St. Mark's Episcopal 
church; in politics he is a democrat, and was 
appointed postmaster of Paul in 1S91, a posi- 
tion he has since satisfactorily filled, aided of 
late by his estimable daughter. 

For five years Mr. Forrester was a mem- 
ber of the board of trustees, and for three 
years president of the board, and for three 
years, also, was a school director. He is an 
especially fine workman in terra cotta and an 
expert as a bricklayer; he has always been in- 
dustrious and temperate, frugal and honest, 
and has well earned the esteem in which he is 
so highly held by his friends and fellow-citi- 
zens in general. 



HARLES FOX.— The student of hu- 
man nature, in his observation of men 
in this generation of business activity, 
feverish pursuit after wealth and the 
pleasure of life afforded by our present civiliza- 
tion, finds much to condemn and little to com- 
mend, more especially among what may be 
termed the younger element of those now in 
active life, for often those qualities which 
should predominate are lost in the advance- 
ment of self, and he finds "self" the ruling 
spirit governing actions. And the spirit of man- 



kind, onthe otherhand — " the exception which 
proves the rule" — is present, yet an e.xample 
is occasional!}- found of the sterling, honest, 
upright man. whose wealth but adds to his 
interest in the welfare of his fellows, whose 
character is a fitting guide to the young men 
growing up around him, and whose actions 
are guided by unselfishness, honesty and up- 
right moral character, and to this latter class 
belongs the subject of this sketch, Charles 
Fox, who was born at Ann Arbor, Mich., De- 
cember 15, 1853, the youngest of six sons, 
children of the late Rev. Charles and Anna 
M. (Rucker) Fox. 

The Rev. Charles Fox was of English par- 
entage, a native of Westoe, county of Dur- 
ham, England, and one of that old Durham 
family which sacredly preserves its fami- 
ly tree with all its branches, tracing its root 
back to the sturdy Englishman of the twelfth 
century. He first visited this country in 
1833, making many friends in his travels 
among those who have since gained promi- 
nence in various spheres of life, and developing 
a taste for natural history. He made a valu- 
able collection of birds, fish, and mineralogi- 
cal specimems, which through his father 
formed the nucleus for a museumof natural his- 
tory in Durham. He afterwards spent three 
years in study at the university at Durham, 
and, returning to America, completed his pre- 
liminary studies for the ministry, and was or- 
dained a deacon on June 11, 1830, at Hart- 
ford, Conn. His first call was to the Episco- 
pal church at Jackson, Mich., and two years 
later he resigned to accept the pastorate of the 
Trinity church, Columbus, Ohio, and shortly 
after became the assistant of the bishop of 
Michigan in St. Paul's church, Detroit. 

In 1843 Mr. Fox purchased a farm on 
Crosse Isle, and severing his church connec- 
tions in Detroit, devoted his energies to mas- 
tering the art of farming, practically as well as 




(y(^(^/\M^ ^^/H. 




AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



169 



theoretically. In 1852 he began the publica- 
tion of the Farmers' Companion; his untimely 
death July 24, 1S54, however, brought to an 
end this most valuable and successful enter- 
prise. Mr. Fox had been instrumental in es- 
tablishing a school of agriculture in the uni- 
versity of Michigan, and while occupying the 
chair of professor of agriculture, wrote and 
published the American Text Book of Practi- 
tical and Scientific Agriculture. His was a 
mo3t promising career, and much of good to the 
people of his adopted state and country was 
lost by his all too-early death. His widow, 
daughter of John Anthony Rucker, a native of 
Newark, F. J., was born September 7, 18 16, 
and in her old age is surrounded by all the 
comforts and happiness which can be pro- 
cured with money, and gracefully presides 
over the beautiful home of her sons, at Grand 
Rapids, Mich. 

Charles Fox, the subject of this sketch, 
was taken, shortly after birth, to Grosse Isle 
by his parents, and there his early childhood 
was spent. In 1861 his mother located in 
Detroit, and the next seven years of his life 
were devoted to study at the private schools 
of Prof. P. M. Patterson; later the family re- 
moved to Ann Arbor, Mich., and after gradu- 
ating at the high school in 1S71, Charles 
entered the university of Michigan, graduating 
from there in the classical course in 1875. Mr. 
Fox seems to have. early developed a desire" to 
see the world " in a literal sense, as much of 
his time since early manhood has been devoted 
to travel and exploration, and it is perhaps to 
this excellent educator that much of his suc- 
cess in life may be attributed. In 1872 he 
spent eight weeks on the gulf of St. Law- 
rence on a mackerel schooner for the benefit 
of his health, and immediately after gradua- 
ting from the university, in company with his 
mother, his brother, Dr. G. T. Fox, and his 
uncle and aunt. Sir William and Lady Fox, of 



New Zealand, spent a year in England, and 
on the continent, visiting France, Germany, 
Italy and Egypt. 

In March, 1876, Mr. Fox came to Grand 
Rapids and engaged in the manufacture of 
lumber, as a member of the Osterhout & Fox 
Lumber company, of which he is secretary and 
treasurer. In 1883 he again visited Europe, 
traveling in Ireland, Scotland, France and 
Spain; also Algiers, in Africa, and other coun- 
tries, devoting six months to the trip. In 
1886 he visited the provinces of New Bruns- 
wick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward island, 
and in 1890 made an extended tour through 
the state of Chihuahua, Mexico, traveling 
about 700 miles on mule-back over the Sierra 
Madre mountains. Another trip he made in 
1892 to Japan and China, among other places 
of interest visiting Pekin, touching at Corea and 
journeying to Seoul, the capital. 

In 1885 Mr. Fox organized the firm of Fox 
& May, which was afterwards changed into the 
Grand Rapids Tie & Lumber company, of 
which he became president. He also organ- 
ized the South Grand Rapids Improvement 
company, which has extensive interests in the 
southern part of this city, of which he was also 
made president. He is also director of the 
Michigan Trust company, and the Grand Rap- 
ids board of trade, of which he was for sev- 
eral years first vice-president, where, as chair- 
man of the lumber committee, he, with the 
remainder of the committee, lately issued new 
rules for the inspection of lumber, which have 
been very generally adopted. 

Mr. Fox became a member of the Masonic 
fraternity in 1881, in which he has taken all 
the degrees to the thirty-second, as well as 
the knight templar and also the mystic shrine. 
He is also a member of the Country and Golf 
clubs, being now president of the Country 
club. Politically he has always been an ardent 
republican and has exercised a potential in- 



170 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



fluence in the ranks of his party in western 
Michigan. 

On December 14, 1S93, Mr. Fox married 
Miss Corrine Hinsdill, daughter of Col. C. B. 
Hinsdili, of Grand Rapids. 

The following is from the pen of an inti- 
mate friend and fellow-townsman of Mr. Fox: 
" Socially, Mr. Fox has by his suavity of man- 
ner and speech, his superior intelligence and 
upright bearing, gained an enviable position; 
endowed with a generous public spirit, he is 
quietly and unostentatiously doing his full 
share as a private citizen towards the advance- 
ment of the city's best interests, and is a 
liberal contributor of his means to charitable 
purposes, whether the call be from private or 
public source. Popular among his fellows, 
his success in life is a matter of gratification 
and pride to the numerous friends his individ- 
ual worth has won for him." 




EORGE E. FOX, chief clerk in the 
Grand Rapids postoffice, is a native 
of Michigan, born on the 8th day of 
August, 1854, in the town of School- 
craft, Kalamazoo county. William H. Fox, 
M. D., of Genesee, N. Y., father of George 
E., was for many years a distinguished physi- 
cian and surgeon of Michigan, beginning the 
practice of his profession in 1S30 at the town 
of Schoolcraft, and continuing there until his 
death. Dr. Fox was a graduate of the New 
York School of Medicine, New York city, and 
achieved much more than a local reputation 
as a practitioner and amassed quite a fortune, 
the greater part of which was lost in the col- 
lapse of Jay Cooke's great Northern Pacific 
railway. scheme. He was public spirited, and 
to him as much as to anv one individual is the 



town of Schoolcraft indebted for much of the 
prosperity it now enjoys. He was a member 
of the Masonic order, in which betook a num- 
ber of degrees, including that of Sir Knight 
and for a number of years was prominent in 
the councils of the republican party in his 
section of the state. Dr. Fox married in his 
native state Miss Martha Wright, who bore 
him two children, George E. and Sarah, of 
whom the latter became the wife of Peter F. 
Pursel, of Chicago. The doctor died in the 
year 1879, and his widow is making her home 
with her daughter, Mrs. Pursel, in Chicago. 

The subject of this review was reared in 
Schoolcraft and received his education at the 
seminary there, which he attended regularly 
until his nineteenth year, making substantial 
progress in the meantime. Shortly after 
quitting school young Fox entered the railway 
mail service on the Lake Shore road, his route 
extending from Chicago to Buffalo, and he 
was thus employed until transferred to the 
Grand Rapids post-office as mailing clerk in 
May, 1884. He continued in the latter capa- 
city until 1895, when he was made foreman 
of the clerical force of the office, and after 
filling that station very efficiently until 1899 
was promoted chief clerk, a position he now 
holds. Mr. Fox is a very careful business 
man, kind and courteous withal, and every 
duty pertaining to his official station receives 
his careful and efficient supervision. He is 
popular with the employees of the office and 
the people have ever found in him a most oblig- 
ing public servant. 

Mr. Fox was married November 25, 1873, 
in Elkhart, Ind., to Miss Hettie Stabler — a 
union blessed with three children: Edward, 
an employee, of Armour & Co., of Chicago; 
Harry, a graduate physician of the Physicians 
& Surgeons Medical college, Chicago, and 
Clovis, deceased, The mother of these chil- 
dren died in August, 1S84, and in August, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



171 



1886, Mr. Fo.x married in Grand Rapids Mrs. 
Adele VVyeman, who was born in Troy, N. 
Y., daughter of Peter Lemrex; she has borne 
him one child, a son, Roscoe. 

Mr. Fox became a resident of Grand Rap- 
ids on taking his position in the post-office in 
1884, and now has a home at No. 93 Bost- 
wick street. Politically he is a republican and 
in religion a member of the Baptist church, 
to which his wife also belongs. 



^ 



AMUEL FOX, the gentleman whose 
sketch is herewith presented, hails 
from far away Netherlands and is one 
of the many sturdy yeoman whom 
Holland has furnished the great American re- 
public. 

Mr. Fox was born m the province of Zee- 
land, November 20, 1831, son of Nicholas 
and Anna (Schipper) Fox, both natives of the 
same country. He was reared in his native 
province and there attended in his youth the 
public schools. When a young man he be- 
came a carpenter and worked at the trade in 
Holland until 1854, when he came to the 
United States, landing in the city of New 
York May 8th, of that year. From New 
York, Mr. Fox came direct to Grand Rapids, 
Mich., and during the four years succeeding 
worked at his trade in this city. He then 
went to St. Louis, Mo., where he was simi- 
larly employed until October, 1859, at which 
time he made his way further south, finally 
reaching New Orleans; where he followed his 
vocation with varied success until his return 
to Grand Rapids two years later. After 
working in this city about one year, Mr. 
Fox went to East Saginaw, where he fol- 
lowed his trade for a period of one and 



a half years, when he again came to Grand 
Rapids, which has since been his home. 
Until 1866 Mr. Fox worked continuously 
at carpentering and building, but in that 
year he engaged in the tanning business, fol- 
lowing the same for three years, when he suf- 
fered a great loss by the complete destruction 
of his establishment by fire. For one and a 
half years thereafter he followed carpentering 
for a livelihood, and then engaged in the 
manufacture of croquet sets, base-ball bats, 
etc. , to which he gave his attention about three 
years, disposing of the business at the end of 
that time. In 1872, in partnership with a 
nephew, James Fox, he embarked in the re- 
tail grocery trade, and three years later be- 
came a wholesale dealer in the same line, con- 
tinuing the latter for a period of two years,- 
when he sold his stock and turned his atten- 
tion to other pursuits. In 1885 Mr. Fox be- 
came a member of the firm of Hester & Fox, 
dealers in agricultural implements, engines, 
boiler, buggies, harness, all kinds of farm ma- 
chinery, bicyles, etc., and in 1892 became sole 
proprietor of the business, which he has since 
conducted on quite an extensive scale, his 
stock at this time representing a capital of 
$8,000. 

As will be seen by reference to the record 
of Mr. Fox, he has had a varied experience 
since becoming a citizen of this country, but 
in his vocabulary there is "no such word as 
fail." He has met and triumphantly over- 
come many obstacles, bravely encountered 
every discouragement, and won success from 
what to many would have proved failure. He 
is now at the head of a good business, which 
returns him a handsome profit and assures him 
of competency for his remaining years. 

Mr. Fox was married in Grand Rapids, 
June 21, 1867, to Miss Aaltje Phernanbucq, 
who was born in the town of Ziariczee, prov- 
ince of Zeeland, Holland, November 15, 1840. 



172 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Her parents were Adrian and Cora N. (Newen- 
housej Phernanbucq, both natives of Holland. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Fox have been born three 
children: Nicholas A., whose birth occurred 
April 1 8, iS/O, is now associated with his 
father in business; Cora Marena, born June 14, 
1877, and Anna Louisa, born June 10, 1878. 
The family belong to the Dutch Reformed 
church of Grand Rapids. In politics Mr. Fox 
is a democrat, and while interested in all 
matters of a political and public nature, he 
has never seen fit to aspire to official honors, 
preferring to give his attention to the demands 
of his business. He is a splendid citizen and 
numbers his friends by the score in business 
and other circles in Grand Rapids. 

The eldest son, Nicholas A. Fox, is one of 
the city's promising business men. He was 
married December 28, 1892, to Miss Etta M. 
Barton, and is the father of two children — 
Harald N. and Samuel C. He also supports 
the principles of the democratic party, is a 
member of lodge No. 34, F. and A. M., and 
also belongs to the order of Maccabees. 



UY HENRY FRACE, M. D., 
whose suite of offices is at Nos. i and 
3, Porter block. Grand Rapids, was 
born in Saranac, Mich., September 
15, 1873, a son of Henry and Mary A. (Shaw) 
Frace, the former a native of Easton, Pa., 
and the latter of Saranac, Mich., where they 
now live, and where the father is engaged in 
mercantile trade. Of the four sons born to 
these parents Claude A., the eldest, is a clerk 
for his father; Dr. Guy H. is the second in or- 
der of birth; Howard, the third son, is a den- 
tist in Ironwood, Mich., and Lewis Ray, the 
youngest, is still at home. 

Dr. Guy H. Frace was educated primarily 



in the public schools of Saranac, next attend- 
ed the Business college in Ionia, Mich., then 
the Agricultural college at Lansing, from 
which he graduated with the degree of bache- 
lor of science. His professional education 
was begun in the fall of 1895 in the office of 
Dr. H. O. Walker, at Detroit, where he 
studied diligently for two years, and at the 
same time attended the Detroit Medical col- 
lege, graduating from this famous institution 
in May, 1898. Soon after this event, having 
been assured in advance of his appointment, 
he came to Grand Rapids and assumed his 
duties as resident physician at the Butter- 
worth hospital, which position he held until 
January i, 1899, when he entered into a gen- 
eral practice as physician and surgeon at his 
present elegant rooms in the Porter block, and 
this practice, in its success, has exceeded his 
most sanguine expectations. 

Fraternally, the doctor is a member of the 
Masonic lodge at Saranac; religiously he con- 
forms to the faith of the Congregational 
church, of which he is a consistent member, 
and politically he is a democrat. Personally, 
he is of most modest demeanor, and profes- 
sionally stands high in the esteem of his fel- 
low-practitioners as well as of the general pub- 
lic, with whom his success in life altogether 
depends, as he well knows, and which he can 
always command through his natural talents 
and practical skill. 




ROF. PETER J. FRANIv, the eminent 
musician and violin and cornet 'in- 
structor at Grand Rapids, with his 
class-rooms at Detrick's music store, 
Nos. 47 and 49 Monroe street, was born in 
New York city September 15, 1853, and is of 
German descent. His father, Philipp Frank, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



173 



was also a renowned performer on the cornet 
and violin, and for many years was a member 
of the leading orchestras of New York city, 
and from him, no doubt. Prof. Peter J. inher- 
its his remarkable musical talent. 

Peter J. Frank acquired his literary educa- 
tion in the public schools of New York city, 
and after graduating from the high school at 
once began the study of musical instrumenta- 
tion, taking his first practical lessons on the 
violin under Prof. A. Zeis, a well known per- 
former and instructor, and continued under in- 
struction for five years; his next instructor was 
Prof. Frederick Mollenhauer, who was at that 
time considered to be the foremost music 
teacher in the city, with whom he studied and 
practiced six years, but for the last three years 
under this maestro was a member of the fa- 
mous "Mollenhauer String Quartette." The 
following two years, Prof. Frank was " first 
violin" in the celebrated Dr. Damrosch's or- 
chestra, numbering seventy-five pieces, or per- 
formers. At the conclusion of this engage- 
ment, Mr. Frank accepted the position of first 
violinist in Theodore Thomas's orchestra, and 
was with that renowned leader four seasons. 
Mr. Frank then located in Brooklyn, N. Y., 
where he organized a band and orchestra of 
his own, composed of sixty-five performers, 
and this band still has an existence, under the 
leadership of John G. Frank, a brother of the 
subject of this sketch. During his residence 
in Brooklyn, Prof. Peter J. Frank acted as 
leader of the Twenty-eighth regiment band for 
three years, and also, for the same length of 
time, as leader of the Thirty-second regiment 
band, besides having entire charge of the pub- 
lic musical entertainments at Prospect and 
Washington parks. 

March 6, 1891, Prof. Frank came to Grand 

Rapids and engaged in the teaching of the 

violin and cornet, and, his abilities being 

speedily recognized, he was at once classed 
9 



with the leading musicians of the city, and 
still stands at the head of the professors of the 
divine art. In 1891 and 1892 he had charge 
of the orchestra at Powers' opera house, and 
during the summer season was leader of the 
orchestra at the Reed's Lake pavilion, a favor- 
ite pleasure resort near the city. In 1896 he 
accepted the position of leader of the orches- 
tra at the Florence hotel, San Diego, Cal., but 
returned to Grand Rapids the next season and 
resumed his profession as musical instructor. 
For the past two years he has had charge of 
the music of the Lakeside club, at Reed's lake. 
The classes of Prof. Frank at Grand Rap- 
ids have always been filled to repletion, both 
on the violin and cornet, and have been so 
competently taught that many of his pupils are 
now occupying remunerative positions in vari- 
ous orchestras throughout the country. Mr. 
Frank is an agreeable and affable gentleman, 
and his social relations are with the elite of 
the city of Grand Rapids. 



HOMAS S. FREEMAN, mercantile 
broker. Grand Rapids, was born near 
Burlington, Halton county, province 
of Ontario, Canada, October 3, 1834, 
and is a son of Joshua and Mary (Smith) 
Freeman, natives respectively of Nova Scotia 
and Wales. These parents were married in 
Burlington, Ontario, and there spent the re- 
mainder of their lives on a farm, the father 
dying March 4. 1893, and the mother in the 
year 1889. They had a family of ten children, 
the subject of this sketch being the eldest, and 
are remembered as most excellent people and 
leaders in the churches of their neighborhood 
— the father as a Methodist, and the mother as. 
an Episcopalian. 



174 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Thomas S. Freeman remained under the 
parental roof until his seventeenth year, at- 
tending meanwhile the public schools, in which 
he made rapid progress, fitting himself for en- 
trance into the grammar schools of Ancaster, 
province of Ontario, where he pursued his 
studies for some time. At the early age of 
eighteen years he was sufficiently advanced to 
obtain a teacher's license, and for one year he 
taught school in the vicinity of his home. Not 
being favorably impressed with the idea of 
making teaching his life-work, Mr. Freeman 
abandoned the profession, and for three years 
held a clerkship in a mercantile house in Dun- 
dee, Ontario. At the end of that time he lo- 
cated near Flint, Genesee county, Mich., and 
engaged in agricultural pursuits, and was thus 
employed until 1863, when he came to Grand 
Rapids and accepted a clerkship with a busi- 
ness firm, in which capacity he continued until , 
1866. In the latter year he embarked in retail 
merchandizing in partnership with Leonard H. 
Randall, his ' former employer. After 1872 
they carried on an extensive wholesale grocery 
business and were classed with the substantial 
merchants of the city. A few years later, L. 
E. Hawkins was admitted to the firm; later, 
Mr. Randall sold his interest, and the firm 
name became Freeman, Hawkins & Co. Sub- 
sequently, George R. Perry was admitted as a 
partner, and the firm thus constituted contin- 
ued until 1S87, at which time Mr. Freeman 
disposed of his part and retired from the busi- 
ness. From that day to the present time he 
has been engaged in mercantile brokerage, 
which has returned him liberal profit. 

On the 2 1st day of February, 1856, Mr. 
Freeman entered into the marriage relation with 
Miss Helen M. Randall, of Genesee county, 
N. Y., and the union thus solemnized has re- 
sulted in the birth of the following children: 
Mary F., wife of Elwood G. Wilson, of Logans- 
port, Ind. ; Claude D., a bicycle dealer in 



Grand Rapids; Edith A., wife of D. C. Scrib- 
ner, of the Grand Rapids Paint & Color com- 
pany; Jane R., at home, and Helen M. who 
married Prof. George H. Fairclough, instructor 
of music in the city of Kalamazoo. Mr. Free- 
man and family are members of the Episcopal 
church of Grand Rapids He is a Knight 
Templar and also a member of the Mystic 
Shrine; for sixteen years he was treasurer of 
De Molai commandery and several years treas- 
urer of Grand Rapids chapter, R. A. M., also 
treasurer of Saladin temple, Mystic Shrine, 
and takes an active interest in all matters per- 
taining to the fraternity. 

As a business man and citizen, Mr. Free- 
man's reputation is unassailable. In his polit- 
ical views he yields allegiance to no party, yet 
believes it to be his duty as a worthy member 
of the body politic to keep well informed upon 
all the great issues and questions of the day. 
He is independent in all the term implies, and 
has never been ambitious for public honors, 
his preference being the quiet walks of com- 
mercial activity. He has an attractive home 
on State street, where, surrounded by his fam- 
ily and numerous friends, he finds his chief en- 
joyment of life. 




UFUS S. FRENCH, Deputy Supreme 
Chief Ranger, I. O. F., located at 
Nos. 35 and 36 Wenhani building. 
Grand Rapids, Mich., is a native of 
Chatham, Canada, was born October 6, 1869, 
and is a son of Peter and Julia (Jacobs) 
French, natives of the same country — the 
father's family being of German and English, 
and the mother's of French extraction. 

Peter French is a farmer of Kent county, 
Canada, where he was born in 1822, and is 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



175 



still hale and hearty; his wife, born in the 
same county in 1S43, 's his second spouse. 
To his first marriage were born six children, 
all of whom are still living in Chatham, and 
by his second wife he is the father of three 
children, viz: Rufus S., the subject of this 
sketch; Ella, wife of D. McDonald, who is en- 
gaged in the commission business at Chatham, 
and Earnest, who is in the far west engaged in 
speculating. Rufus S. French was primarily 
educated in the country schools in the neigh- 
borhood of his birth place, next attended the 
Chatham Collegiate institute for three and a 
half years, and then took a six months' course 
in McLachlan's Business college in the same 
city. He began life on his own account as a 
bookkeeper for a commission broker in 
Chatham, but remained with him for less 
than a year, when he secured a similar posi- 
tion in a wholesale and retail grocery in the 
same town. He next made a start for British 
Columbia, but was induced to stay at Detroit, 
Mich., to fill a position in a grocery, but soon 
secured a more advantageous position as book- 
keeper in the office of the chief engineer of the 
Grand Trunk railway at Detroit, and a year 
later was transferred to Grand Rapids, to take 
charge of the books in the roadmaster's office, 
and was thus employed from 1S92 until July, 
1897, Mr. French had been a member of the 
Independent Order Foresters for the previous 
eleven years, but in 1897 he became identified 
with the active work of promoting the order's 
interests, prosperity and general usefulness. 
He began his effective work as an organizer 
of courts, etc., succeeded in securing numer- 
ous new members, and did much other good 
work until December, 1898, when he was 
given charge of the Grand Rapids office, with 
the title mentioned at the opening of this article, 
which carries with it a good salary and per- 
manency, and is the only office in Michigan 
established under the supreme court of the 



order. Since Mr. French began his active 
work in promoting the progress of the order, 
it has been increased from four to eight courts 
in the city of Grand Rapids, and the member- 
ship now exceeds 800. Mr. French also visits 
other localities, instructing new courts and 
stimulating those that are older, but which 
may be growing lax or indifferent. 

November 10, 1892, Mr. French married 
Miss Mabel A. Welch, only child of James H. 
Welch, foreman of the D., G. H. & M. ware- 
house, Grand Rapids. She was born in Lowell, 
Mich., and was educated in the Grand Rapids 
high school, and is now the happy mother of 
one child, Earle Forbes, born May 10, 1896. 
Mrs. French is a member of the Congrega- 
tional church, while Mr. French was reared 
in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church; 
but their home is the home of harmony. Fra- 
ternally Mr. French is a Knight of Pythias and 
in politics is a republican. 

Mr. and Mrs. French enjoy the friendship 
and esteem of a large circle of acquaintances, 
and their many personal merits make them 
general favorites in society. 




DAM FREY, deceased, was at one 
time a very prominent business man 
of Grand Rapids, Mich., and had a 
large interest in one of the early 
breweries. He was born in Germany May 14, 
1 839, and was a son of Christian Frederick and 
Christina Magadelena (Erhardt) Frey, the 
former of whom died in his native country, 
and the latter still living, having her home 
in Kent county, Mich. 

Adam Frey had but limited oppportunities 
for an education in youth, but attended school 
sufficiently long to secure a moderate educa- 
tion, which enabled him to take a comprehen- 



176 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



sive view and intelligent cognizance of events 
as they passed before him, and thus he be- 
came a practical business man. His earlier 
working days were variously employed, but 
when his judgment had been well matured he 
learned the trade of miller in all its details. 
He worked at this trade in Germany until 
1866, when he was induced by representations 
of friends already resident here to come to the 
United States, to better his fortune, if not 
secure a competence, and in the latter he suc- 
ceeded. He came direct to Grand Rapids 
and soon found employment at his trade, and, 
his knowledge of this being very com- 
prehensive and accurate, his services were 
eagerly sought by others than his first em- 
ployers. He kept fully abreast with the latest 
and most improved methods of milling and 
milling machinery, and was thus employed 
until 1S74, when he was offered a position in 
the Grand Rapids brewery, later became a 
stockholder and partner, and continued at the 
business until his death, July 5, 1883. 

The mother of Adam Frey now lives near 
Conklin, Ottawa county, Mich., about eighteen 
miles from Grand Rapids, with her daughter 
Mary, her three elder children, Adam, Chris- 
tian and Charles, being deceased. 

Adam Frey married, November 25, 1866, 
soon after his arrival here. Miss Magdalena L. 
Shaupp, whose acquaintance he had formed in 
the old country. They began their wedded 
life poor, but Mrs. Frey was a willing helpmate 
and a most amiable woman, and aided her 
husband in every way in her power, the result 
being a competency. To this marriage were 
born eight children, of whom five still survive, 
viz: Charles, who has his home in Grand 
Rapids, but not under the parental roof, being 
in business for himself, and Lena, Christian, 
William and Henry, still with their mother, at 
her pleasant home, No. 520 Ottawa street. 

In politics Adam Frey was for some years 



a republican, but during the latter part of 
his life affiliated with the democratic party; 
nevertheless, he was governed in the exercise 
of his franchise more by the character of the 
various nominees and their fitness for office, 
than by the dicta of party. He was always 
recognized as an upright, industrious and com- 
petent business man, was a fond husband, 
indulgent father and a firm friend, as well as 
a useful and progressive citizen. 

A brief extract from a not very recent 
publication will give some idea of the brewery 
with which the late Adam Frey was so long 
connected as a stockholder. It was established 
in September, 1871, in a frame building, 20 x 
50 feet, by Carl and Christian Frey, just then 
from Germany, and with the assistance of two 
men, they turned out 500 barrels of the amber 
fluid the first year. In 1881 this brewery, 
now known as the " Coldbrook " and operated 
then by Carl, Christian and Adam Frey, was of 
brick, Sox 40 feet, three stories and basement, 
with a wing, 60 x 20 feet, two stories high, 
devoted to the bottling department, and the 
out-put in the last named year was 10,000 
barrels. 




RANK C. FRYETT, the leading pho- 
tographer of Grand Rapids, was born 
in Stark county, Ohio, February 14, 
i860. Until eighteen years old he at- 
tended school in Alliance, Ohio, and at that 
early age became superintendent of an oil dis- 
trict in Pennsylvania, the duties of which he 
discha-rged for a period of three years. At the 
end of that time he went to Farmer City, 111. ; 
and engaged as an apprentice to learn photog- 
raphy, and after a careful study of one year's 
duration, made a trip through the west and 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



177 



southwest, traveling extensively over New 
Mexico and Colorado, and finally located at 
the town of Redlands, Cal., where he opened 
an art studio, which he conducted until 1893. 
In that year he disposed of his business and 
removed to the city of Los Angeles, where he 
again opened a gallery and did well until 1895, 
at which time he sold out, and, coming east, 
located the following year in Grand Rapids, 
Mich. Here he at once established an art 
studio at No. 84 Monroe street, and has since 
controlled his full share of patronage as a pho- 
tographer. His studio is supplied with all the 
latest modern appliances pertaining to the art, 
and the work therefrom is of a high grade, 
first class in every particular, and has been 
pronounced by competent critics to be supe- 
rior to that of any similar establishment in the 
city. As an artist, Mr. Fryett occupies a high 
place in the profession and keeps fully abreast 
of the times in all things pertaining to the art, 
and is widely and favorably known, not only 
in the city, where his work is always on pub- 
lic exhibition, but is known as a prominent 
photographer throughout the states. Finan- 
cially his success has been encouraging. 



DWARD PHILO FULLER, deceased, 
was born in Geneseo, Livingston 
county, N. Y., October 29, 1820, in 
a house which now stands on Second 
street in that town, and later occupied by 
Zirmi H. Austin, but which house, in 1820, 
stood on Main street, on the site of the Allen 
Ayrault residence, now known as the Big Tree 
Inn. He was a lineal descendant of Dr. Sam- 
uel Fuller, who came to America in the May- 
flower and was for years physician to the Ply- 
mouth colony, and also a deacon in the church. 



The descendants of this Pilgrim physician are 
very numerous and are scattered all through 
the United States, and many of the family have 
been prominent in state and national politics, 
being, as a rule, people of sound judgment 
and marked character. 

The immediate branch of this family from 
which Edward P. Fuller descended may be 
traced as follows: Five brothers Fuller, of 
Rehoboth, Mass., settled in Lebanon, Conn., 
between the years 1720 and 1726 — that is 
to say: Benjamin, in June, 1720; Amos, in 
March, 172 1; Joshua, in November, 1722, and 
Ezekiel and Abiel, in September, 1726. The 
land purchased by Joshua and Abiel remained 
in their families for five generations, or more 
than 1 50 years, and their dwellings built in 
1745 are still in good condition. 

Joshua Fuller, the great-great-grandfather 
of Edward P. Fuller, was born May 15, 1701, 
in Rehoboth, Mass., purchased land in Leba- 
non, Conn., of his brother, Amos, November 
5, 1722, first married Mercy Knapp, who died 
in 1732, and next married, December25, 1734, 
Experience Steadman, who died November 8, 
1783. The death of Joshua, however, had 
taken place March 23, 1771, he being the 
father of five children, viz: Joshua (great- 
grandfather of Edward P.), who was born 
September 21, 1725, and October 12, 1748, 
married Margaret Richardson; Samuel, born 
April 25, 1727; Mercy, born March 12, 1729; 
Abigail, born January 31, 1731, and Thomas, 
born February 18, 1732. Of these five, Joshua 
alone left offspring, and his grandchildren 
numbered fifty-eight, whose families are to-day 
to be found in Connecticut, Massachusetts, 
New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, 
California, Wisconsin and Canada. 

In 1763, Joshua Fuller, great-grandfather 

of Edward P., moved from Lebanon, Conn., 

to West Stafford, in the same state, but later 

I bought an adjoining farm in Monson, Mass., 



178 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



on which he died May 20, 1808, at the age of 
eighty-two years. His eleven children were 
named as follows: Bezeliel, who was born in 
Lebanon, Conn., January 10, 1750, first mar- 
ried Phebe Sprague, December 8, 1774, and 
next married Wealthy Carpenter, March 31, 
1785; he continued his residence in Lebanon, 
inherited from his uncle, Capt. Samuel, the 
old homestead purchased by his grandfather, 
Joshua, in 1722, and there died January 6, 
1825, the father of nine children — Eliza, Lu- 
cina, Ashel, James, Daniel, Chester, Thomas, 
Nancy and Philura. Joshua's second child, 
Eleazer, born March 7, 1752, in Lebanon, 
married Rachel Bartlett, moved to Monson, 
Mass., and died on his farm September 3, 
1 8 19, the father of Esther, Polly, Achsah, 
Eleazer, Ashel, Gorham, Hiram A., Alvin, 
Samuel S., Rachel and Ralph. The third 
child of Joshua, Sylvanus, born in Lebanon 
November 22, 1754, married Violata Towns- 
end, resided for some time in Monson, and 
died in Ware, Mass., February 6. 1831, the 
father of Boadicia, John T. , Sylvanus D., 
Joshua D.,Elthena, Violata, Chancey, Elea- 
nor and Hannah E. The fourth child, Thomas, 
was born in January, 1758, but died young. 
The fifth, Abigail, born in 1760, married 
Richard Gardner. The sixth, Samuel, was 
born March 17, 1762, in Lebanon, married 
Delia Cass, of Coventry, Conn., lived in New 
Marlboro, Mass., and died in May, 1792, the 
father of four children — Philo C. (father of 
Edv;ard P., subject), Paulina, Ammi R. and 
Samuel. The seventh child, Joshua, was 
born in 1766 in Stafford, Conn., married Re- 
bekah Strong September 25, 1792, lived on 
the old homestead in Monson and died April 
17, 1836, the father of Lorenzo, Calvin, 
Laura, Joel and Horatio N. The eighth child, 
John, was born in 1768, was a shoemaker, 
lived in Lenox and then in Monson, married 
Deborah Strong, of Columbia, Conn., and I 



died January 4, 1838, the father of seven chil- 
dren — Marcia, Orlando, Lucy, Lucina, Maria, 
George and Eldridge G. The ninth child, 
Elizabeth, was born in 1770, was married to 
Ichabod Post, and lived in Hinsdale, Mass. 
The tenth, Joel, was born in Monson January 
8, 1772, married Esther Loomis, of Lebanon, 
was a blacksmith, and died December 5, 1799, 
the father of Sally and Joel. The eleventh 
child, Huldah, was born May 29, 1776, and 
was married to Daniel Edgerton. 

Hon. Philo C. Fuller, father of Edward 
P. Fuller, was born in Berkshire county, 
Mass., and in 18 17 married Sophia Xowlen, 
daughter of Capt. Novvlen, of New Marlboro, 
Mass. , and this marriage was blessed with 
three children — Samuel L., born in 1818; Ed- 
ward Philo, and George Ami. 

Edward Philo Fuller's early days were 
passed in Geneseo, N. Y., where he attended 
the district school and later the Geneseo acad- 
emy, on Temple Hill, his tutor here being 
Prof. Felton, afterward president of Harvard 
college. Among his classmates were Eben 
N. Hosford, later a professor at Harvard; Hen- 
ry V. Colt, Charles Jones and Zimri H. Austin. 
Mr. Fuller finished his education at the Can- 
andaigua (N. Y.) academy at the age of seven- 
teen years, and then engaged in a country 
store as clerk, but the occupation was distaste- 
ful to him and he continued in it but a few 
weeks. In 1836, his father was elected pres- 
ident of the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad com- 
pany, whose road ran between Toledo, Ohio, 
and Adrian, Mich., and was the first in opera- 
tion west of New York; he was also appointed 
cashier of the Erie & Kalamazoo Railroad 
bank at Adrian, and therefore resigned his 
seat in congress, and removed with his family 
to Adrian, Edward P. accompanying him. 
Here the latter secured a position as clerk in 
a store, and later in a bank. He next became 
a partner in a commission house, and later in 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



179 



a flouring-mill, but in these he was only mod- 
erately successful. In 1845 he returned to 
Livingston county, N. Y., where he secured 
employment in the land office of Hon. Charles 
H. Carroll, who, with Lucius Lyon, was one 
of the early owners of the village of Kent, 
Mich., now the most valuable part of the city 
of Grand Rapids. 

In May, 1850, Mr. Fuller married Miss 
Cornelia Granger Carroll, eldest daughter of 
Charles H. Carroll (mentioned above) and 
from this date until 1S62 lived at Groveland, 
Livingston county, where he engaged in cattle 
raising and other branches of farming and in 
the management of his own and his wife's prop- 
erty. He reached considerable prominence at 
Groveland, being a practical business man and 
of a genial disposition, and served as a mem- 
ber of the board of supervisors in the years 
1851, 1S59, i860, 1861 and 1862. In the 
last-named year he returned to Geneseo, 
where he resided until 1S68. 

The death of Charles H. Carroll, father- 
in-law of Mr. Fuller, involved the care of a 
large landed estate in Grand Rapids, Saginaw 
and other parts of Michigan, as well as the 
care of several hundred thousand dollars worth 
of property in Rochester, N. Y. In order to 
manage this vast estate, Mr. Fuller and his 
brother, Samuel L., came to Grand Rapids in 
1 868, opened a banking house under the firm 
name of E. P. & S. L. Fuller, and this style 
was maintained until 1S75. In the mean- 
while, Edward P. Fuller erected several busi- 
ness blocks and residences in the city and was 
an important factor in the city's growth and 
prosperity, and to this fact his widow and chil- 
dren can take just and commendable pride. 

Personally Mr. Fuller was a man of few 
words, but was frank, outspoken and terse. 
He was unusually warm in his friendships, and 
for his early associates retained the fondest 
affection. He interested himself in the pros- 



perity of all his friends, and their misfortune 
only tended to strengthen his friendship and 
call from him munificent assistance. He was 
passionately fond of his birth-place, from which 
absence never weaned him, although he was 
strongly attached to Grand Rapids, the city of 
his adoption. As a man of business, he was 
methodical and foreseeing, and his success in 
life was not at all accidental, but the result of 
his sound judgment. His benevolence was an 
inherent part of his nature, but his charities, 
innumerable in themselves, were of that kind 
that never permitted "his left hand to know 
what his right hand " accomplished. As a 
husband, father, friend and neighbor, he was 
never excelled, but, as all things must have 
an end, so did the life of this true philanthro- 
pist, who passed away June 19, 1886, having 
retired fram business in 1875. 

To the marriage o.f Mr. and Mrs. Fuller 
were born three children, viz: Sophia, wife 
of E. P. Sweet; Philo C, a member of the 
firm of Rice & Fuller; and Charles Carroll, 
who died at the age of twelve and one-half 
years. 



WIGHT GOSS, who has been en- 
gaged in the practice of law in Grand 
Rapids, Mich., since 1S87, was born 
in Portage county, Ohio, February 18, 
1857, the only child of Sidney and Sarah 
(Gilmore) Goss, the latter of whom died July 
27, 1859. 

Sidney Goss is also a native of the Buckeye 
state, and his deceased wife was born in Con- 
necticut. They were married in Ravenna, 
Ohio, March 17, 1856, and located in Ran- 
dolph township. Portage county, where Mrs. 
Goss passed away at the date mentioned 
above. Mr. Goss, who is a farmer by voca- 



180 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



tion, continued to reside on the homestead un- 
til July, 1892, and then came to Grand 
Rapids, where he has since made his home 
with his son. 

Dwight Goss attended school in Portage 
county, Ohio, until ten years of age, and then, 
his father having moved to Clinton county, 
Mich., he entered the common schools, which 
he attended until eighteen, and then attended 
Ionia high school, from which he graduated in 
the Latin and scientific courses in 1879. The 
following year he occupied himself in farming 
and school-teaching, then entered the literary 
department of the Michigan university, and 
studied two years; was then employed a year 
and a half as a commercial traveler, after 
which he returned to the university and took 
a course in law studies. After graduating, he 
came to Grand Rapids and for a year and a 
half passed his time as a student and clerk in 
the law office of Smiley & Earle. In 1886 he 
was admitted to the bar by Judge Mont- 
gomery, and January I, 1887, began practice 
on his individual account, and has been alone 
ever since, with the e.xception of the years 
1888, 1889 and 1890, when he was associated 
with Police Judge Haggerty. His career has 
been a most successful one, and his standing 
at the bar is cordially recognized by his fellow- 
practitioners, as well as by the court and the 
public at large, as being that of a legal light 
in the settlement of affairs of litigants in Kent 
county. So able has he proved to be in the 
exercise of his legal abilities, that he was ap- 
pointed in May, 1897, as assistant United 
States attorney for the western district of 
Michigan, and still fills the position to the 
satisfaction of all concerned. 

Mr. Goss was united in marriage, July 7, 
1891, at Muskegon, Mich., with Miss Jose- 
phine Ahnefeldt, a native of Canada and a 
daughter of August and Faith (Elston) Ahne- 
feldt, the result of the marriage being two 



children — Faith and Henry. In their church 
relations, Mr. Goss adheres to the Universal- 
ist faith, while Mrs. Goss worships with the 
Lutheran congregation. In politics Mr. Goss 
is a republican, and fraternally, is a knight 
templar Mason. His professional earnings 
have placed him in good circumstances, and 
his charming home is the resort of the best 
members of the society of the city of Grand 
Rapids. 




ILLIAM FULLER, M. D., of Grand 
Rapids, was born on a farm five 
miles north of London, Ontario, 
July 5, 1842, a son of Rodolphus 
and Jemima (Morden) Fuller, both natives of 
Canada. His grandfather, William Fuller, was 
one of the earliest settlers of Middlesex county, 
Canada. His father's family removed to Lon- 
don, when he was eight years of age, and he 
received his earlj* education at the union 
school, and subsequently at Mr. Baylie's gram- 
mar school, of that city. At the age of four- 
teen years he began the study of medicine in 
the office of Dr. John A. Nelles, of London. 
In 1857, on account of financial difficulty 
which involved his father's family, he aban- 
doned the study of medicine, obtained a 
certificate from the board of education of 
Middlesex county, and devoted himself to 
teaching a district school for a period of five 
years. In 1862 he resumed the study of medi- 
cine under the tuition of the late Dr. Alexan- 
der Anderson, of London, matriculated in the 
medical department of McGill university, 
Montreal, in 1863, from which he received the 
degree of M. D., C. M., in the spring of 1866, 
receiving the senior prize for practical anatomy, 
and standing in the honor class of that year. 
In 1867 Dr. Fuller was appointed to fill a 





2i^l 



^0^^^^^ 




Sk^^^:^^^^^c^ i^i^^T- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



183 



vacancy as demonstrator of anatomy and cura- 
tor of the museum of McGill university, medi- 
cal department, which post he continued to 
occupy with satisfaction for a period of seven 
years, until he resigned to accept the chair of 
anatomy in Bishop's college, Montreal, which 
he retained for three years previous to his re- 
moval to Grand Rapids. During the same 
period he was one of the attending physicians 
to the Woman's hospital of Montreal. He is 
a licentiate and member of the College of 
Physicians & Surgeons of Quebec, of the 
American Medical association, of the British 
Medical association, has been a member of the 
Canada Medical association since its organiza- 
tion; is a member of the Medical and Surgical 
societies of Montreal and Grand Rapids, and 
the Michigan Medical society. He has also 
from time to time contributed many valuable 
and original papers to medical science, which 
have been highly appreciated. 

Dr. Fuller was married in Montreal, in 
1868, to Miss Emeline Wickham, of Grand 
Rapids, Mich. He removed to Grand Rapids 
with his family, consisting of his wife and four 
children, in 1878, where he rapidly acquired a 
reputation and lucrative practice as a family 
and consulting physician and surgeon. Dr. 
Fuller is particularly noted as a skillful sur- 
geon. His chief characteristics are self- 
reliance, energy and perseverance, and he has 
justly won the confidence of the communities 
in which he has resided. 



ON. SAMUEL L. FULLER (deceased), 
the first president of the Michigan 
State Horticultural society, was a na- 
tive of Geneseo, l^ivingston county, N. 
Y. , was born January 29, 1818, and received 




an excellent academic education, graduating 
from the celebrated school of Dr. Beck at 
Albany. In the spring of 1S36 he came to 
Michigan, passed the summer in traveling over 
the state, and in the autumn settled in Grand 
Rapids as a surveyor and civil engineer. He 
found employment here and elsewhere on some 
of the most important state work, and assisted 
in laying out the city of Grand Rapids and the 
canal at Sault Ste. Marie. 

In 1840, Mr. Fuller was recalled to Liv- 
ingston county, N. Y., to become private sec- 
retary to Hon. Charles Carroll. In 1844 he 
left Mr. Carroll to take charge of his own 
father's estate at Conesus, in Livingston 
county, and in 1853 went to Europe to pur- 
chase thoroughbred cattle for an association 
of Livingston county farmers. On his return 
he purch,ased the state premium farm at 
Geneva, known as the estate of Oakland — 
sometimes called Delsfield farm, but ill health 
compelled him to relinquish it and retire to the 
homestead at Conesus, known as Centremont, 
to recuperate. During this period of rest he 
was elected to the state legislature and served 
two years, and was, indeed, during all his resi- 
dence in Livingston county, ever active in pro- 
motmg any measure that might prove bene- 
ficial to the community, and enjoyed its full 
confidence and respect. For years he was a 
member of the board of supervisors, and presi- 
dent of the school board, was constantly in 
office as a magistrate, and a trusted referee in 
legal disputations and in the settlement of 
estates. His patriotism was beyond impeach- 
ment or suspicion, and his physical disability 
alone prevented his joining the army when the 
war of the Rebellion broke out in 1861, but he 
aided the Union cause with his means and 
influence. 

In the spring of 1863, Mr. Fuller became 
interested in the Central Express company, 
was made its superintendent, and moved to 



184 



'HE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



New York city. In 1868, the company hav- 
ing sold its interests to the Merchants' Union 
Express company, he returned to Grand 
Rapids to join his brother, Edward P. Fuller, 
in private banking, which business was suc- 
cessfully conducted several years, and will be 
found mentioned in detail in the biography of 
Edward P. Fuller on another page. 

No part of the state of Michigan has been 
more fortunate in the accession of valuable 
citizens than the Grand River valley was in 
the coming of the Hon. S. L. Fuller. He 
early enlisted himself in the cause of agricult- 
ure and horticulture and was persistent in his 
efforts for their development. He signed the 
first call for a meeting to organize the State 
Horticultural society and was made chairman 
of that meeting. He was unceasing in his ef- 
forts to build up the embryo organization and 
make it a power for good. He gave office 
room for meetings and consultation, and 
seemed to see, more clearly than others, the 
great possibilities of the state becoming a 
fruit center per se. He made a trip through 
Wisconsin, Minnesota and the Dakotas, and 
on his return told the society to push their 
work — that the great northwest was waiting 
and was hungry for Michigan fruit. His en- 
thusiasm over the subject seemed to know no 
bounds, and he prophesied that the northwest- 
ern states would prove ready consumers of all 
the fruit Michigan could produce. 

Mr. Fuller was also an early worker in the 
Grand River Horticultural society and in the 
West Michigan Farmers' club, and was the 
life of both, as he attended all their meetings, 
and acted officially most of the time as presi- 
dent, secretary, etc., anc} although he frequent- 
ly expressed a desire to be relieved of official 
duties, the members as frequently declared 
"No; we cannot get along without you; 3'ou 
are half the meeting." He had a cheerful 
word for everybody, was a firm friend of farm- 



ers' institutes, and was one of the first to ad- 
vocate an appropriation sufficient to enable 
them to hold a meeting each year in every 
county of the state. Public spirited, he never- 
theless wanted no office for pecuniary gain. 
To benefit his fellow-men in the field of labor 
was to him an ample reward. He came from 
that part of western New York made famous 
by the first thorough work in tile-draining by 
the veteran farmer, John Johnston, and was 
himself the first to introduce ensilage in Mich- 
igan and to feed it. He was not afraid of in- 
novations, and was heartily in favor of consul- 
tation and the interchange of views and expe- 
riences, as he argued that no two men ever 
saw the same process with identical eyes. 
The Kent Scientific institute was languishing 
when he returned; he became an influential 
member and was assiduous in its support, al- 
ways attending its meetings and urging others 
to do so, and thus revived the organization. 

Mr. Fuller was twice married. He first 
wedded Miss Elizabeth Stevens, and two chil- 
dren were born to that union; the only one liv- 
ing is Mrs. A. C. Torrey, of Grand Rapids. 
After Mrs. Fuller died, Mr. Fuller next mar- 
ried Mrs. A. S. Van Vechten, in 1S56. No 
children were born to the last marriage. 

Mr. Fuller was a stanch republican in pol- 
itics, and in religion was a devout member of 
the Episcopal church, being one of the charter 
members of the St. Mark's church at Grand 
Rapids, to the support of which he was a most 
liberal contributor. 

He often spoke of the value of the counsel 
he received from his helpmates, as it was his 
wont to consult them on all important occa- 
sions, even to details, and had great confidence 
in their judgment, and believed this course to 
be the true life matrimonial. He reached the 
ripe age of seventy-nine years, and passed 
away in peace April, 27, 1897, leaving to his 
offspring the priceless heritage of a spotless 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



185 



name, and one that will endure in all the fu- 
ture days of the existence of the city of Grand 
Rapids. 




EORGE H. GERE, to whom these 
lines are devoted, traces his ancestral 
history back through many generations 
to the town of Hevitree, Devonshire, 
England, in which county there was living, in 
1635, one George Gere, who came to Boston 
that year and became the founder of the family 
in America. From Boston he removed to 
Groton, Conn., and there engaged in farming, 
and in common with others helping forward 
the development of the country. 

A descendant of the aforesaid George, Rob- 
ert Gere, moved from Ledyard, Conn., to 
Syracuse, N. Y. , in 1820, and his son, Nathan 
Stanton Gere, was born in the latter city on 
the i6th day of August, 1832. Nathan Stan- 
ton Gere was married in 1855 to Mary L. 
Sweet, of Camillus, N. Y. , and became the fa- 
ther of seven children, of whom four are living 
at this time, viz: Mrs. Joseph B. Tiffany, of 
Yonkers, N. Y. ; Robert Gere, of the same 
place; Dr. James B. Gere, of New York city, 
and George H., the subject of this biography. 
Nathan Stanton Gere resided in Syracuse, 
and was a successful builder of railroads and 
canals for many years, being associated in 
those rmd numerous other business ventures 
with his father. He was one of the leading 
men of central New York, public spirited, and 
accumulated a valuable estate. 

George H. Gere was born in Syracuse, N. 
Y., May 3. 1859. He received his element- 
ary education in the schools of his native city, 
and subsequently entered the university of Sy- 
racuse, in the class of 1879. Immediately 
after leaving the university, Mr. Gere entered 
one of the large banking houses of Syracuse 



and later was engaged on the construction of 
several important public works, notably the 
West Shore railway, between Syracuse and 
Utica, and the enlargement of the Welland 
canal in Canada and the Erie canal in New 
York until 1889, when he became a citizen of 
Grand Rapids. Here he succeeded in inter- 
esting a number of business men in the forma- 
tion of the Adamant Plaster company, and, 
after its organization, acted as manager several 
years, building up a large and prosperous busi- 
ness in the meantime. The enterprise passed 
into the hands of some Detroit parties in 1892, 
since which time Mr. Gere has given his time 
and attention to the manufacture of yachts and 
launches, operating a factory in the village of 
East Grand Rapids, on the shores of Reed's 
lake, and near the city of Grand Rapids. For 
a number x>i years previous to engaging in this 
business he had given much thought and study 
to the construction of pleasure boats, first as a 
mere pastime, but when gasoline began to be 
used as a motive power he became satisfied 
that a launch so propelled could be placed on 
the market with every assurance of financial 
success. Since opening his manufacturing es- 
tablishment Mr. Gere has succeeded in prac- 
tically verifying his preconceived ideas, and 
the business from a comparatively small be- 
ginning has steadily increased in volume until 
at the present time his yachts and launches 
may be found in nearly all the states, besides 
which, several consignments have been made 
to foreign countries. He makes only the high- 
est grade vessels, the smallest being a sixteen- 
foot launch, and the largest sixty feet. In 
order to meet the constantly increasing de- 
mand he employs a large number of skilled 
mechanics in the construction of both launches 
and engines. The factory on the lake is one 
of the fixtures of Grand Rapids, and Mr. Gere 
occupies a conspicuous place among the sub- 
stantial men of the city and county. 



186 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Mr. Gere was united in marriage October 
2 1, 18S5, to Miss Belle Stewart, who is a 
daughter of V. B. Stewart, a prominent mer- 
chant and manufacturer of Utica, N. Y. Mr. 
and Mrs. Gere have one child, Doris Stewart 
Gere, whose birth occurred in Grand Rapids, 
in the year 1S90. 






PSEPH GRACHTRUP, a respected re- 
tired farmer residing at No. 229 First 
street. Grand Rapids, Mich., was born 
in the province of \\'estphalia, Germany, 
February 10, 1844, a son of Heinrich and 
Margaret (Nolte) Grachtrup, natives of the 
same province. Of these parents, the mother 
was called away about the year 1854, and the 
father in 1874 — their remains now resting side 
by side in their native land. 

Joseph Grachtrup, in early manhood, was 
a teamster in Westphalia, which country he 
left when twenty-two years of age and came to 
America, making his way direct to Grand Rap- 
ids. On reaching this city he had $5 he could 
call his own, and at once sought employment, 
which he found on the farm of John Platte, 
in Alpine township, with whom he worked for 
three years, and who subsequently became his 
father-in-law. From his compensation of $12 
per month, Mr. Grachtrup saved, during these 
three years, $360. 

Mr. Platte now died, leaving a family of 
nine children; Mr. Grachtrup married the 
eldest, Bernardina, September 18, 1870, and 
at once took charge of the family and reared 
and educated the younger members, in the 
meanwhile renting the farm, for which he paid 
$500 per annum for five years, and then $300 
per annum for eight years, but during these 
thirteen jears did not acquire a great deal of 



wealth, owing to his heavy family expenses. 
When the estate was administered, Mrs. 
Grachtrup received $1,000 as her dower, and 
this sum, together with some meager savings, 
enabled Mr. Grachtrup to purchase sixty acres 
of the old Platte homestead for $3,800, sub- 
ject to a mortgage of $2,000. On this farm 
he built a house at a cost of $2,300, in which 
he lived seventeen years, and was very pros- 
perous. Recently, Mr. Grachtrup disposed of 
this Alpine township farm for $5,150, and 
came to Grand Rapids to pass his remaining 
3'ears in quiet retirement, at the street and 
number mentioned at the opening of this 
sketch. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Grach- 
trup have been born six children, named as 
follows: Louisa, who is the wife of Peter 
Saur, of Alphine township; John, who is ,a 
widower at the age of twenty-five years and 
the father of one child; Agnes, with her par- 
ents; Clara, deceased; Ella and Joseph. The 
family are devout members of Holy Trinity 
Catholic church, in Alpine, and have ever 
been most liberal in their contributions to its 
support. 

Of Mr. Grachtrup's two brothers, Barnard 
is a well-to-do resident of Germany, and Will- 
iam was killed on subject's wedding-day, Sep- 
tember 18, 1870, while serving in the German 
army in the Franco-Prussian war. The par- 
ents of Mrs. Grachtrup were natives of Prus- 
sia, came to America in childhood, and were 
married in Alpine in 1849. The mother died 
March 30, 1869, and the father in August of 
the same year, aged forty-one and forty-seven 
respectively. Their children, nine in number, 
were born in the following order: Bernardi- 
na, now Mrs. Grachtrup; John, deceased; Lou- 
isa, now Mrs. Rusche, of Alpine township ; 
Joseph, a farmer on the old homestead; \\'ill- 
iam, also a farmer of Alpine; Frank, a sales- 
man, residing in Grand Rapids; Matilda, wife 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



187 



of S. Schweitzer, a farmer in Alpine township; 
Frederick, manager of the Star clothing house, 
at Grand Rapids, and Albert, farmer and 
fruit grower in Walker township. Mr. and 
Mrs. Grachtrup have three granddaughters, 
one of whom, Bernardina, daughter of the de- 
ceased son, John, is by them being reared with 
all the care and affection her grandparents 
can bestovv upon her. Mr. Grachtrup has won 
many warm friends since he came to reside in 
Grand Rapids, and he and wife are greatly 
respected by their neighbors for their quiet 
ways, unostentatious charity and christianlike 
mode of like. 



lAVOOD GRAHAM.— A little more 
than eighty years ago, a man by the 
name of Thomas Graham embarked 
on board an emigrant ship, in the 
north of England, for the new world. He 
was descended from the famous historical 
clan of Grahams, which figures so conspicu- 
• ously in Scottish history and a part of which 
later dwelt in the north of England. The 
natal place of Thomas Graham was Carlisle, 
the date of his nativity being in the year 1798. 
He was a young man of some twenty-two 
years when he sailed from England, and after 
a four months' voyage landed in Nova Scotia, 
with the expectation of meeting a brother 
there, but later abandoned all hope on account 
of the brother's removal elsewhere. After a 
year or two he married Miss Hannah Wil- 
son, who was born in New Jersey and taken 
to Canada in infancy. Thomas Graham 
was a cooper by trade and in Ontario he 
cleared up a timbered farm and later moved 
near Port Stanley, Elgin county, where both 
died, he at the age of eighty-four and she ten 
years younger. They left a family of nine 



children, six of whom now live, and three 
brothers, John, Thomas and Elvvood, settled 
in Kent county, Mich. Thomas was a car- 
penter at Grand Rapids and died in 1896. 
John still resides in Walker township, near the 
suburbs of the city. 

Elwood Graham, the subject of this biog- 
raphy, was born on December i, 1822, in 
Ontario, Canada, where the village of Wel- 
land now stands, the site of the town being the 
location of his father's farm. In Canada he 
worked for some time as a carpenter and soorr 
began to contract for himself, employing 
twenty-five or thirty men. Later he built a 
large sash, door and blind factor}-, and a saw- 
mill, and continued in this business for eight 
years, engaged in the erection of all kinds of 
timber and stone buildings until 1856, when 
his factory was destroyed by fire, with a loss 
of $15,000. 

By this calamity Mr. Graham was left 
with about $300 to begin anew with. The 
great west was opening with a boom in Min- 
nesota, and he decided to go into that state. 
The journey was made by rail to Chicago, 
thence by rail to Dunlieth, and bj' river steamer 
to St. Peter, Minn., where building had just 
started. Here he engaged in his old business 
of contracting with great success. He had' 
made a claim of land a few miles from St. 
Peter in Nicollet county, and this he began to 
convert into a farm. In Minnesota, during those 
years, the redman was retiring sullenly before 
the fatal advance of the whiteman's frontier. 
Shooting, scalping and plundering forays still 
occurred, and in the self-complaisant reminis- 
cences of the old settlers of that day, the mer- 
ciless and mysterious savage is apt to lend to 
narrative the lively coloring of mortal danger. 
Large portions of the state then consisted of 
wilderness, with magnificent forests, alive with 
game, and with luxuriant meadows along the 
river banks, inviting the settler's cabin and the 



188 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



plow. The fearless emigrants, who ventured 
to rear their dwellings there at that time, 
found it necessary ever to be prepared for an 
attack, as very little reliance could be placed 
even in the friendly protestations of the vaga- 
bond savages, ever prowling about, and almost 
as devoid of intelligence as conscience. 

In 1863 Mr. Graham took up another 
claim of land opposite New Ulm, and had but 
begun improvement when the Sioux outbreak 
occurred just at the time when all the soldiers 
had been taken south to participate in the 
campaigns of the Civil war. The Indian 
agency was at Fort Ridgely, some three miles 
distant from where Mr. Graham had his 
claim. The Indian agent had, instead of 
paying the Indians in gold as the law required, 
kept them waiting for weeks, and finally paid 
in greenbacks. The trader had sold the Indians 
supplies at exorbitant prices, and they re- 
fused the "rag money." Accordmgly the 
agent returned to St. Paul to get the gold. He 
was gone three weeks, and the Indians became 
so angered that they began a massacre of the 
traders. The outbreak came suddenly on the 
16th of August, 1863, and as soon as it was 
realized that squads of Indians were maraud- 
ing and burning houses and stacks of grain, Mr. 
Graham loaded his four children, and, in com- 
pany with his brother, drove out into the 
prairie far away from the dwellings, and, as 
he camped on the plain that night, saw the 
sky reddened with the flames of the burning 
houses. Some neighbors returned to their 
homes to procure their abandoned valuables, 
but were slain by the merciless savages. The 
second day saw them continuing their journey, 
now joined by hundreds, and one day subse- 
quent they met a squad of soldiers, who had 
been taken from Fort Ridgely the day before 
the outbreak, but had been recalled to quell 
the uprising. All the arms of the settlers 
were gathered together, and the company of 



about forty soldiers followed the river down 
until they came opposite Fort Ridgely. Here 
they were fired upon by the Indians and killed 
and wounded to the last man. 

Mr. Graham reached Le Sueur, and there, 
in company with two or three hundred others, 
fortified themselves, and auout two weeks later 
the outbreak was quelled by Gen. Sible\'. In 
the meantime Mr. Graham had returned to 
St. Peter; his team had been employed to 
carry war material to Fort Ridgely, and as 
he had lost all his buildings and stock, he did 
not therefore return. 

The uprising resulted in the massacre of 
about 1,700 victims, and in most cases the 
mutilation of their bodies. Three hundred 
women and children were captured, and after 
weeks of effort by Gen. Sibley about 120 were 
rescued, the others having died either from 
abuse or exposure. Mr. Graham was a wit- 
ness to the pitiable condition of the captives 
after they were secured six weeks later, and 
was out for a month to attend to. the burial of 
the 1,700 massacred. He was also a specta- 
tor of the hanging of thirty-nine Indians at 
Mankato, Minn., and after all signs of hostil- 
ity and trouble had passed he re-located near 
St. Peter, on another farm at Kasota, and 
there remained two years longer, until the 
fall of 1864, when he came to Michigan. His 
father-in-law, Jesse Kipp, had recently settled 
in Walker township, Kent county, and so he 
decided to remain at Grand Rapids after sell- 
ing what he then owned in Minnesota. He 
bought a farm in the above-named township 
and there lived for twenty-four years, finally 
disposing of the property and coming to the 
cit}'. He now devotes a great deal of time to 
travel. He and family spent one winter in 
England, making a tour of the old country 
whence the family came, and has enjoyed a 
stay in California for four winters. Beside 
farming, Mr. Graham had some interest in 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



189 



other lines of business. He owns several 
houses and lots in the city, and has also built 
a beautiful residence on Sunset avenue, where 
he now passes his declining days in peace. 

Mr. Graham was united in marriage on 
January i, 1S50, near St. Thomas, Ontario, 
to Miss Anna M. Kipp, daughter of Jesse and 
Eliza (Morgan) Kipp, she of Nova Scotia and 
he of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and who in the 
year 1864 made their home in Walker town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., and there died, he 
at seventy-eight and she at eighty years. A 
son, Charles E. Kipp, resides on and operates 
the old homestead. 

The Graham family consists of four chil- 
dren, viz: Isabella, the wife of George Hoga- 
done, of Walker township; Robert D. ; Eliza, 
and Thomas E. Eliza married C. C. Micha- 
elides, a Greek gentleman of a Greek firm, 
wholesalers in cotton and wool, at Liverpool, 
Eng. , the largest firm in that business in the 
world. She had visited a wealthy widow at 
Manchester, England, who took her about the 
continent, thus becoming acquainted with her 
husband, and, returning to her parents, was 
married soon after. Thomas E. Graham, the 
youngest in the family, lives on the old home- 
stead in Walker township, which he purchased 
of his father. 




B. GRISWOLD, M. D., a leading 
physician and surgeon of Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., has been in active practice 
in this city since 1873, having pre- 
viously had an extensive exprience in the medi- 
cal department of the military service of his 
country during the Civil war, and at other 
points outside the Valley city. His practice 
while in the army may be said to have been 
the ripening process which culminated in 



bringing his earlier studies to perfection 
through constant and onerous work, especially 
in the treatment of surgical cases. His has 
been an active and useful life, as the following 
record will fairly make manifest. 

Dr. J. B. Griswold is a native of Vermont- 
ville, Eaton county. Mich., and was born 
June 21, 1842. His father, R. W. Griswold. 
was a son of the Green Mountain state, and a 
representative of one of the oldest and best 
families within its borders, and one of the 
original settlers of Vermontville. His mother, 
Abigail (Bascom) Griswold, was also a native 
of Vermont, and descended from an ancestry 
of unblemished record. 

Dr. Griswold interspersed the life of a 
farmer's son with attendance at the academy 
of his native place until sixteen years of age; 
in 1859 he entered the Agricultural college 
at Lansing; in 1861 he enlisted as a member 
of the band connected with the Second Michi- 
gan cavalry, and afterward was leader, but 
was discharged in 1862 on account of disabil- 
ity. As soon as his health permitted, he be- 
gan the study of medicine with Prof. R. C. 
Kedzie, of the State Agricultural college at 
Lansing. He attended the courses of lectures 
of 1863 and 1864 at Ann Arbor, and in 1864 
was commissioned assistant surgeon of the 
Fourth Michigan infantry. He was com- 
missioned regimental surgeon in 1865, and 
served as such until mustered out in May, 
1866; was also medical inspector of the de- 
partment of San Antonio, Te.xas. On return- 
ing from the war he matriculated at the Rush 
Medical college at Chicago, and received his 
degree in the winter of 1867-6S. He engaged 
in practice at Taylor's Falls, Minn., until 1S73, 
when he located at Grand Rapids; has been 
city physician two years, and was elected 
alderman of the Fourth ward in 1S80, and for 
four years was a member of the board of edu- 
cation, of Grand Rapids. He is a member 



190 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



of the Grand Rapids academy of Medicine, 
of which he has been president; also of 
the Michigan State Medical society, of which 
he is ex-president; also member of the Ameri- 
can Medical association. International associa- 
tion of Railway Surgeons, and honorary mem- 
ber of the Minnesota State Medical society. 
His practice in this city is extensive, popular, 
and comprehensive in its scope, and embraces 
all departments of the science which he has 
made his life-work. The doctor is chief of 
staff of U. B. A. hospital, also a member of 
the staff of Alma Sanitarium, at Alma, Mich. 
He is a member of the Michigan commandery 
of the Loyal Legion; also of Custer post, No. 
5, G. A. R. He is a Mason, Blue lodge. No. 
34, Royal Arch chapter, No. 7, and a member 
of the council, and is also a member of the 
society of the Army of the Cumberland. 

Dr. Griswold was married at Ann Arbor, 
in 1868, to Mary B. Wisner. They have two 
sons and one daughter, viz: Roger W., secre- 
tary of the Widdicomb Furniture company; 
Grace H., at home, and Joseph H., in the en- 
gineering department of the university of 
Michigan. The residence is at No. 184 North 
Lafayette street. 



R. SCHUYLER COLFAN GRAVES, 
of Grand Rapids, was born in Kala- 
mazoo, Mich., March 6, 1858, a son 
of Samuel and Mary (Williams-Bald- 
win) Graves. 

Rev. Samuel Graves, D. D., father of the 
subject, was born in New Hampshire March 
25, 1820, was educated at Madison univer- 
sity (now Colgate), Hamilton, N. Y., and in 
early manhood entered the ministry of the 
Baptist church. For about seven years he 
was in charge of a congregation at Ann Arbor, 



Mich., and was then called to the Greek chair 
at Kalamazoo college, and it was during his 
incumbency of this professorship that his son. 
Dr. Schuyler C. Graves, was born. Rev. 
Samuel Graves was called from Kalamazoo to 
the pastorate of the Central Baptist church of 
Norwich, Conn., where he officiated from 
1859 to 1869, and in that city the boyhood 
days of young Schuyler C. were passed. The 
Rev. Samuel Graves next accepted a call 
to Grand Rapids, Mich., built the Fountain 
Street Baptist church, and was its pastor from 
1870 until 1885, and then was called to the 
presidency of the Atlanta Baptist Seminary at 
Atlanta, Ga., an institution for the education 
of colored boys in theology and the liberal 
arts. For nine years Dr. Graves acted as the 
president of, or professor of theology in, this 
institution, and then returned to Grand Rapids 
in the fall of 1894, and here, on January 17, 
1895, ended his long and useful career in life. 

Mrs. Mary Graves, relict of Rev. Dr. 
Samuel Graves, is a direct descendant of the 
Schuylers and Colfaxes of New Jersey and is 
a member of the order of the D?.ughters of 
the Revolution. Her family consists of two 
sons and two daughters. Of these, the eldest 
is Mrs. Henry H. Bowman, whose husband is 
a banker of Springfield, Mass. ; the next in 
order of birth is Mrs. Lawrence P. Eddy, 
whose husband is a prominent lawyer of Grand 
Rapids; the third is Dr. Schuyler C, the sub- 
ject proper of this article, and the youngest 
is William Colfax, one of the editors of the 
Chicago Tribune. Mrs. Graves, the mother 
of this family, is passing her declining years 
at the home of her son. Dr. Schuyler C. 

Dr. Schuyler C. Graves came to Grand 
Rapids with his parents in January, 1S70, and 
here graduated from the high school in 1877. 
He then entered the literary department of 
the university of Michigan, took the freshman 
year, then entered the medical department 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



191 



and completed a three-year course of study in 
iS8r. He was at once appointed assistant 
demonstrator of anatomy in the universit\', 
but resigned this position at the close of a 
year to enter upon the general practice of 
his profession at Charlevoix, Mich., where he 
enjoyed a good practice from 1882 to 1885, 
and was for a portion of this period surgeon 
for the Delaware Coppermine, Lake Superior, 
and part of the time coronor of Charlevoix 
county. 

In 1885 Dr. Graves came to Grand Rapids, 
and here for ten years devoted his attention 
exclusively to surgery. The year 1896 was 
passed by Dr. Graves abroad in visiting clinics, 
particularly those of London and Germany, 
and upon his return to America he took spec- 
ial courses in surgery in Philadelphia, and also 
under Dr. Charles McBurny, in New York city. 
June 4, 1898, he was appointed, by President 
McKinley, as major and brigade surgeon, to 
serve, during the recent war with Spain, in the 
First brigade. Third division. Fourth army 
corps, on the staff of Brig-Gen. Jacob Kline, 
and did duty at Tampa and Fernandina, Fla., 
and at Huntsville, Ala., and then, hostilities 
having come to a lull, was granted a leave of 
absence, after which he was honorably dis- 
charged the service. 

Dr. Graves is one of the surgeons em- 
ployed by the Michigan Central Railroad com- 
pany; he has served two terms as county phy- 
sician of I\ent county; was professor of sur- 
gery in the Grand Rapids Medical college, but 
resigned at the close of the year 1898; is visit- 
ing surgeon to the Union Benevolent Associa- 
tion hospital, and has been lecturer on anato- 
my at the Union Benevolent Association hos- 
pital for training nurses ever since its estab- 
lishment in 18S7. The doctor has also 
served as president of the Grand Rapids acad- 
emy of Medicine, and is a member of the local, 

the State and the National Medical societies; 
10 



is also an honorary member of the Grand 
River Valley Medical association, the Wayne 
county Medical association, the Detroit, Eaton 
and Barry county Medical associations, and 
the Northern Tri-State Medical society, tO' all 
of which he has contributed many valuable 
papers on the science and practice of medi- 
cine. He is also a member of the Alpha Delta 
Phi Peninsular chapter, and of the Sons of the 
American Revolution. He is, beside, the 
author of the medical chapter in the History 
of Grand Rapids recently published by Albert 
Baxter, as well as of many interesting contri- 
butions to medical magazines antl the public 
press. The doctor was also elected chairman 
of the surgical section of the Michigan State 
Medical society, and to the oralorship on sur- 
gery in the same. 

Dr. Graves was united in marriage Octo- 
ber 9, 1883, at St. Louis, Mo., to Miss Annie 
M. Dryden, youngest daughter of Hon. John 
D. S. Dryden, ex-supreme court judge of the 
state of Missouri. After eighteen months of 
married life, he had the misfortune to lose his 
bride, who left behind, to grieve her sad de- 
parture, beside himself, an infant daughter — 
Annie Dryden — now a charming miss of fif- 
teen years and an attendant at school in Grand 
Rapids. 

The doctor's religious membership is with 
the church of which his father was the pastor 
for so many years — the Fountain street Bap- 
tist. In politics he is a stanch republican. 



ILLIAM HENRY HAGGERTY, for- 
merly police justice of Grand Rapids 
but at present engaged in an exten- 
sive law practice, was born in Muske- 
gon county March 19, 1854, and is a son of 




192 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Barton and Maryl Cannavan) Haggerty, natives, 
respectively, of New York and Ireland. 

Barton Haggerty, after his marriage with 
/Miss Cannavan, which marriage took place in 
Chicago, 111., located in Mnskegon countv, 
Mich., in 1848, and engaged in farming and 
lumbering. He had served all through the 
Me.Kican war, and at the outbreak of the 
Civil war again Volunteered to defend the flag 
of his country, and served in the Union army 
three years. He continued farming in Muske- 
fjoii and Oceana counties, Mich., until 1895, 
when he returned to his birthplace in the east, 
■where he now resides. Mr. and Mrs. Barton 
Haggerty are parents of seven children, of 
whom there are four still living, viz; Mary, 
wife of L. M. Shafer, of Oceana county; Net- 
tie, who was married to a Mr. Storrey, but is 
now a widow; Thomas, in Los Angeles, Gal., 
and William H. In politics Barton Haggerty 
is a republican, and in religion is a Baptist. 

William Henry Haggerty was reared a 
farmer and was preliminarily educated in a dis- 
trict school; after reaching his majority he en- 
tered Hillsdale college, worked his way through 
by teaching school during the winter seasons, 
and graduated, in 1881, with the degree of Ph. 
B. For two years thereafter he taught in an 
academy in the state of New York, and then, 
for two years, taught school in Oceana county, 
Mich. In I S85 he entered the law department 
of the Michigan university at Ann Arbor, grad- 
uated two years later with the degree of LL. 
B., and at once located in Grand Rapids. He 
secured desk-room in the office of William E. 
Groves, and, after the latter's election to the 
bench, retained the entire office outfit. In 
1888, Mr. Haggerty formed a partnership with 
Dwight Goss, and together they conducted a 
remunerative business. Mr. Haggerty was 
elected judge of the police court in the fall of 
iSgt. to fill a vacancy caused by the death of 
Judge Holmes. Mr. Haggerty attended to the 



duties that devolved upon him as police judge, 
as well as to his private practice until the 
spring of 1S92, when, in order that he might 
give his entire attention to his official duties, 
the firm of Haggerty & Goss was dissolved, and 
Mr. Haggerty was re-elected, as a recognition 
of his abilitv, at the election following., Mr. 
Haggerty filled this -office six and one-half 
3'ears, all told, and to the entire satisfaction of 
his party and the public. Since retiring from 
office, Mr. Haggerty has resumed the active 
practice of his profession, in which he is again 
rapidly forging to the front. 

The marriage of Mr. Haggerty took place 
in Oswego county, N. Y. , June 27, 1883, to 
Miss Madalia S. Howard, a native of that 
place, and born March 17, i860, a daughter 
of George and Susan (Hall) Howard. This 
marriage has been blessed with three interest- 
ing daughters, who are named, in order of 
birth, Lillah, Mildred and Edith. Mr. and 
Mrs. Haggerty are members of the Division 
street Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. 
Haggerty is a director of the Young Men's 
Christian association, in which humane and 
pious body he feels an unusual interest. 



J 

2 



ILLIAM E. GROVE, judge of the 
circuit court. Grand Rapids, was 
born near Geneva, N. Y., Novem- 
ber 27, 1833. He is descended 
from Pennsylvania families, who were among 
the very early settlers of that state. His an- 
cestors were plain, honest and unpretentious 
people. 

His early life was passed quietly on the 
farm, brightened with aspirations of attaining 
something better in the future. He was ani- 
mated by a desire to gain the largest possible 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



193 



education, and persisted in accomplishing his 
desire. . He was an onmiverous reader, appro- 
priating the contents of all the books he could 
secure, and during boyhood attended the win- 
ter schools in the country. From si.xteen lo 
twenty-one his attendance at school during 
half of each year was rendered possible by 
teaching a part of the time. Upon reaching 
his majority he began a course of study at 
Swift's academy and the union high school at 
Geneva, N. Y., which was a preparation for 
college. Afterwards he entered Hobart col- 
lege, Geneva, from which he was graduated. 
While there he became a member of the col- 
lege Greek fraternity. Alpha Delta Phi. 

Having completed his literary education, 
he came to Michigan and located in Grand 
Rapids, April i, 1857. He became a student 
of law in the office of J. T. Holmes, who was 
afterwards judge of the superior court, and was 
admitted to the bar in March, 1859. He en- 
gaged in practice without delay, and in i860 
was elected justice of the peace. In 1867 he 
removed to Kansas and located at Neosho 
Falls, where he was elected prosecuting at- 
torney for Woodson county. During the same 
period he held the office of city attorney of 
Neosho Falls. After a residence of five years 
in Kansas he returned to Grand Rapids in 
March, 1872, and resumed practice. For 
si.xteen years thereafter he remained at the 
bar and controlled a fair practice, which was 
general in character. His partnerships were 
with George W. Thompson, two years, J. M. 
Harris, four years, and J. S. Lawrence, two 
years. He was industrious, plucky and per- 
sistent, giving to every branch of his practice 
close personal attention and careful super- 
vision. His good judgment, indomitable 
energy, perseverance in investigation and hon- 
esty of purpose, made him a safe counselor. 
His tiuency and ability to' express his convic- 
tions in terse language made him a strong ad- 



vocate. His evenness of temper under all cir- 
cumstances, his clearness of perception and 
unbiased mind qualified him admirably for 
service on the bench. 

In August, 1888, he was appointed judge 
of the Seventeenth judicial circuit, to fill a 
vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge 
Montgomery, and in the November following 
was elected to serve the remainder of the term. 
In 1893 he was again nominated by the repub- 
lican party and elected for a full term, which 
expired December 31, 1899, but declined 
candidacy for re-election and resumed prac- 
tice in 1900. The last election was won with- 
out a contest, as he was the choice of all 
parties. Having first been nominated by the 
republican convention, he afterwards received 
the endorsements of the democratic and popu- 
list conventions. 

Judge Grove's record on the bench has fur- 
nished additional proof of his fitness for such 
service. His decisions, carefully considered, 
have generally been sustained by the consensus 
of intelligent opinion in the bar and by the de- 
cisions of the supreme court. He is a gentle- 
man of urbane disposition and engagin',' man- 
ners, and one who has fairly earned the uni- 
versal esteem of his fellow-citizens. He was 
married, in 1884, to Miss Jennie Caswell, of 
Grand Rapids, Mich. 




ILLIAM FREDERICK HAKE, M. 
D., the well-known physician and 
surgeon of No. 47 East Bridge 
street. Grand Rapids, is a native of 
this city, was born July 29, 1861, and is a son 
of William and Mary (Schittler) Hake, na- 
tives of Germany, who came to .America prior 
to their marriage, have been residents of Grand 



104 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Rapids half a century and have had born to 
them a familj' of sixteen children, twelve of 
whom are still living. Of this large family, 
Dr. \\'illiam F. is the second son and third- 
born child. 

The doctor received his early education in 
the public schools of the Valley city and 
then for three years attended Notre Dame 
iiniversit}', St. Joseph county, Ind. His first 
entry into business life was as a prescription 
clerk for William Thum, a well-known drug- 
gist of Grand Rapids, with whom he remained 
two years, then became a student in the office 
of Dr. Charles Shepard for one year. He 
afterward entered the university of Michigan 
at Ann Arbor, from the medical department 
of which he graduated, after a three years' 
course, in 1882, being the youngest member 
of his class. In fact, he would have been 
graduated earlier, but he was retained until he 
had quite attained his majority. He at once 
began practice in his native city, with Dr. 
Charles Shepard, remaining there until 1890. 
He then selected for his office a room in the 
oldest building in the city, and one of its land- 
marks, and here he has been actively en- 
gaged ever since, standing now in the foremost 
rank of his professional brethren. 

Dr. Hake was an original member of the 
Grand Rapids Academy of Medicine, which 
was organized by him and Dr. Kirkland. He 
is also a member of the Michigan State Med- 
ical society and the American Medical assso- 
ciation. He was identified with the Michigan 
militia as surgeon in the Second regiment for 
eleven years, and is a member of the Military 
Surgeons' association of the United States. 
Besides these medical associations, the doc- 
tor is a member of the Maccabees order, of 
the M. W. of A., of the Germania society, 
of the Heerman's Sons, the C. M. B. A., an 
honorary member of the Turners' society, and 
of other local organizations. He was reared 



in the faith of the Catholic church, and is 
faithful in the performance of his duties there- 
to, and in his polities he is a liberal democrat. 
Dr. Hake was united in the bonds of mat- 
rimony in Grand Rapids, in 1893, with Miss 
Clara Voigt, a daughter of a prominent mer- 
chant and mill owner. This lady is quite ac- 
compfished, and is a graduate of Grand Rap- 
ids Business college. The doctor has met 
with abundant success in his professional ca- 
reer, and few persons are more highly esteemed 
by the general public, or in the professional 
or social circles of his native citv. 




KARLES HENRY HALL, superin- 
tendent of mails, Grand Rapids post- 
office, was born in Troy, N. Y., Oc- 
tober 25, 1852, and is the son of 
Charles Joseph and Emma Louisa (\'oliam) 
Hall, both parents natives of London, Eng- 
land. Some time after their marriage, which 
took place in London, Charles |. and Emma 
L. Hall came to the United States, landing in 
New York about the year 1830 and remaining 
for several years in that city. Mr. Hall at 
first engaged in various kinds of trading for a 
livelihood and later dealt in groceries until his 
removal to the city of Troy, where for several 
years he was a contractor for different kinds of 
public work. He died in Troy, and of their 
ten children, eight are living at this time, 
Charles H. being the youngest son of the fam- 
ily. Mrs. Emma L. Hall died in Traverse 
City, Mich., in August, 1884. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hall were members of the 
Established church in their native country, 
and continued true to the Episcopal faith after 
becoming residents of the United States. Mr. 
Hall early fell into the wa\'s of his adopted 



AXD KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



195 



country, became an active political worker in 
the democratic party and is remembered as 
an intelligent and exemplary citizen, reliably 
honest and honorable in all his intercourse 
with his fellow men and not without a good 
education acquired before lea\'ing the scenes 
of his native cit}'. 

Charles Henry Hall remained in the city of 
his birth until the age of twelve, attending 
meantime the public schools. He came to 
Grand Rapids, Mich., in company with an 
uncle, W. T. Powers, in his thirteenth year, 
and a few months after his arrix'al was joined 
by the rest of his brothers and sisters, who 
concluded to make this city their future home. 
After a couple of years' attendance at the city 
schools, young Hall found employment in a 
furniture factqry as a scroll sawyer, and this 
he followed until 1873, in May of which year 
he accepted the position of general delivery 
clerk in the Grand Rapids post-office. After 
discharging the duties of his post for a period 
of six months, he was promoted to chief mailing 
clerk, and then to head clerk, and subsequently 
became superintendent of mails, a position he 
still fills with credit to himself and satisfaction 
to his superiors in the office. 

It is appropriate, in connection with the 
sketch of this old and reliable employee, to 
give in brief outline the gradual progress of the 
mail service in this city; this is gleaned from 
the columns of the Grand Rapids Herald, 
bearing date of February 23, 1898. "The 
oldest employee in the local post-office in point 
of service is Charles H. Hall, superintendent 
of mails and secretary of the Civil Service 
board. Mr. Hall entered the post-office May 
28, 1873, when he was appointed to a clerk- 
ship by Hon. A. B. Turner. The office was at 
that time located in the Eagle building on 
Lyon street, and the first work he did was at 
the general delivery window, a position of 
great responsibilit}' and requiring much hard 



and laborious service. The general public re- 
ceived their mail either through lock-drawer, 
call-box or general delivery. Every day, after 
the distribution of mail, morning and evening, 
there would be a solid line of callers, extend- 
ing from the deliver}- window out to the side- 
walk in front. On September istof the same 
year, the carrier service was established with a 
force of four men, which has since been in- 
creased to fift}'; there were then eight clerks; 
at this time there are thirty-two. In Novem- 
ber, 1878, the office was moved to its present 
location, the moving being accomplished on 
Saturday night after business hours by a man 
with a one-horse wagon, assisted by Hon. 
James Gallup, then postmaster, and his force 
of clerks and carriers. They worked the entire 
night, and the following forenoon, getting the 
mail assorted in the proper place for the regu- 
lar Sunday noon deliver}'. The new quarters 
seemed then adequate for all time, but the 
rapid growth of the service has necessitated 
the adJition of more cases from time to time, 
until the question of how long the post-office 
can get along in its cramped condition is daily 
becoming a serious matter." 

In January, 1874, Mr. Hall was promoted 
to the position of mailing clerk and continued 
in that capacity until 1887, when he became 
head clerk of the mailing division. His ap- 
pointment to his present position as superin- 
tendent of mails was made on the first day of 
July, 1897. In June, 1S89, during the late 
Hon. James Blair's term as postmaster, the 
office was included in the classified list of civil 
service, and at that time the members of the 
United States Civil Service commission, con- 
sisting of Hons. Charles Lyman, Theodore 
Roosevelt and Hugh Thompson, visited Grand 
Rapids and appointed a local board of examin- 
ers, of which Mr. Hall was made secretary, a 
position which he has since filled. 

In all of his official relations Mr. Hall has 



196 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



acquitted himself to the satisfaction of the de- 
partment and his long retention in responsible 
capacities is a compliment to his ability as 
a faithful and painstaking public servant. 

Mr. Hall was married June 14, 1877, to 
Gertrude Slocum, a native of Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Mrs. Hall was born November iS, 1854, and 
she is a daughter of William R. Slocum. She 
has borne her husband three children, namely, 
Florence S., a graduate of the university of 
Michigan; Marion \'ollam, a student of the 
Grand Rapids high school, and Mildred G. 

Mr. Hall and wife are members of the 
Universalist church, belonging to All Souls 
congregation. Grand Rapids; he is identified 
with the Royal Arcanum order, is a charter 
member of the Lincoln club, and ever since at- 
taining his majority has been a supporter of 
the republican party. 



HARLES STORM HAZELTINE, M. 

D., has for a number of years been 
prominent in the city of Grand 
Rapids and Kent county. He is a 
native of Jamestown, N. Y. , was born Octo- 
ber I, 1844, and is a son of Dr. Gilbert W. 
and Caroline (Boss) Hazeltine, the former of 
English and the latter of German extraction, 
but both American born. 

Dr. Gilbert W. Hazeltine was one of the 
most eminent physicians and surgeons of his 
part of the country, and was demonstrator of 
anatomy in Philadelphia and New York city; 
he was prominent in his profession and as a 
local historian, and after an active practice of 
medicine for over half a century, died, full of 
years and honors, in 1891 or 1892, his wife hav- 
ing preceded him to the gra\e in 1856. Of 
their four children. Dr. Charles S. is the eld- 
est and he and his brother, Robert VV. , a chem- 



ist in Michigan, are the only survivors. The 
parents were membirs of the Episcopal 
church, but up to within two }'ears of his 
death the father had been an agnostic. In 
politics he was a republican. 

Dr. Charles S. Hazeltine was primarily 
educated in the Jamestown academy, which 
he attended until eighteen years old, and then 
entered the medical department of the Michi- 
gan university at Ann Arbor, where he took 
his first course in medicine; he then attended 
the Albany (N. Y.) Lying-in hospital for four 
months, and then returned to Jamestown, and 
practiced for about eighteen months. He 
then relinquished the profession and engaged 
in the retail drug business in Jamestown, 
which he successfully continued until Novem- 
ber, 1872; but his native town proved to be 
too limited a field for a person of the doctor's 
ambition, and he sought the advantages af- 
forded by the city of Grand Rapids, Mich. 

Here, for a short time, he was employed in 
the wholesale saddlery and hardware trade in 
the Brown, Smith i5c Co. establishment, but the 
drug trade better suited his taste, and in 1875 
he formed a partnership with the late Charles 
N. Shepard in the wholesale drug trade, under 
the firm name of Shepard & Hazeltine, which 
name was later changed to Shepard, Hazeltine 
& Co. The business was prosperous from the 
start, and at the death of Mr. Shepard a joint 
stock company was formed, which was later 
incorporated as the Hazeltine, Perkins Drug 
Co., with a capital stock of $150,000, and of 
this company the doctor has been president 
since its organization, it being now the most 
extensive concern in its line in the state of 
Michigan. Dr. Hazeltine was first joined in 
wedlock in Jamestown, N. Y., with Miss Ella 
Burwell, who bore him two children — Eliza 
Irene, the wife of George B. Douglas, a cap- 
italist of Cedar Rapids, la., and Madison B., 
of Chicago, 111. Mrs. Eliza Hazeltine was 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



197 



called away in 1873, and for his second help- 
mate the doctor chose Miss Anna O. Fox, who 
was born in Lowell, Mass., and is a daughter 
of George H. Fox, a wealthy manufacturer at 
Lowell and Boston. To this second marriage, 
which took place in Chelsea, Mass., Septem- 
ber. 16, 1875, have also been born two children 
— Fannie D. and Delia H. The family are 
members of St. Mark's Episcopal church, in 
which the doctor has been for many years a 
trustee, as well as an earnest worker in St. 
Mark's hospital. 

In politics Dr. Hazeltine is a gold demo- 
crat, and in September, 1S93, was appointed 
by President Cleveland as consul to Milan, 
Italy. This is one of the most important con- 
sulates in the kingdom, but was not sought by 
the doctor, yet he was induced to hold this 
position one year longer than he expected, 
and resigned in 1895, to return to his import- 
ant business duties in Grand Rapids — those of 
president of the Haseltine, Perkins Drug Co., 
and director of the Grand Rapids National 
bank, the latter oi which he has held for sev- 
eral years. 

The doctor has one of the handsomest 
homes in Grand Rapids, situated on John 
street hill. He stands high in the Masonic 
fraternity, being a knight templar and a 
shriner. and he is also a member of various 
social and literary clubs. 




EORGE A. HESS, M. D., a dis- 
tinguished regular practitioner of med- 
icine and specialist at Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in Belleville, Hast- 
ings county, province of Ontario, dominion of 
Canada, June 7, 1843, but was early taken by 
his parents to Rochester, Monroe county, N. 
Y. , where he was reared to manhood. His 



education was acquired in the common 
schools of Rochester and at Falley seminary, 
in Oswego county, and his business life was 
begun as principal of a school at Charlotte, 
where he achieved a fine reputation as an 
educator and remained two years. He con- 
tinued to follow this vocation for three years 
longer at different places, and at the age of 
twenty-three years began the study of medi- 
cine at Rochester, under the tutorship of Dr. 
J. F. Whitbeck, with whom he remained 
three years. 

At the age of twenty-five years, Dr. Hess 
entered the university of Pennsylvania at Phil- 
adelphia, from which he was graduated March 
I I, 1870, when he returned to Rochester and 
engaged in the active practice of his profession 
for ten years, winning golden opinions from 
the general public as well as from his fellow- 
practition'ers. While in that city he was a 
meinber of the Rochester City Pathological 
society, the Rochester City Medical society, 
the Monroe County Medical society, and the 
New York State Medical society, to all of 
which he contributed many valuable papers 
on medical jurisprudence. 

In May, 1880, Dr. Hess came to Grand 
Rapids, and has here almost entirely confined 
himself to office practice, making the treat- 
ment of cancer a specialty, in which he has met 
with phenomenal success and acquired a con- 
tinental renown, his practice extending from 
the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, per mail, 
and hundreds of patients from all quarters 
seeking the benefit of his skill and experience 
in his elegant apartments at No. 511 South 
Division street. 

The marriage of Dr. Hess took place at 
Rochester, N. Y., May 23, 1873, to Miss Mil- 
lie Clements, a native of that city, and this 
happy union has been blessed with four chil- 
dren, three of whom still survive, viz: Frank 
A., a practicing attorney at No. 6 Canal 



198 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



street; Arthur \\'., a dental student, and Car- 
rie L., a student — all in Grand Rapids. The 
deceased child, Clara E., passed awaj- at the 
age of three years. 

Politically, Dr. Hess is a republican, and 
Tor three years was count}- physician of Mon- 
roe county, N. Y. Fraternally, he is a Knight 
of Pythias; also a member of the Maccabees, 
of which he is surgeon-general of the uniform 
rank. In religion he is inclined to Method- 
ism, having been reared by Methodist parents, 
but he does not affiliate with any religious or- 
Ijanization. 

The parents of Dr. Hess, Francis and Al- 
mira (Rose) Hess, were born in Canada and 
were of Mohawk-Dutch descent. Francis 
Hess was a contractor in iron, but retired 
from business with a competency and passed 
his declining years at the home of the doctor, 
where he died in 1896, at the age of seventy- 
five years. Mrs. Almira Hess still sur\-ives at 
the age of seventy-seven years and resides 
with the doctor. Dr. Hess is the only son 
and the eldest of the four children born to 
these parents, the daughters being Sarah A., 
now wife of James Riley, a farmer of Gratiot 
county, Mich.; Cecilia H., married to Bela 
Kentner, a contractor and builder of Monroe 
county, X. Y., and Minnie E., wife of \'incent 
Chapman, of Grand Rapids, Mich. 




.VRVEY J. HOLLISTER, cashier of 
the Old National bank, of Grand 
Rapids, Mich., was born at Romeo, 
Macomb county, Mich., August 29, 
1830. For his ancestry he goes back to the 
pioneers of Connecticut, the first settlers of 
his family in this country being Lieut. John 
Hollister, who came from England in 1642, 
at the age of thirty, and settled in Wethers- 



field. The subject of this sketch is a repre- 
sentative of the eighth generation from Lieut. 
Hollister, the son of Col. John Bently Hol- 
lister, who was one of the early pioneers in 
Michigan. Col. Hollister gave distinguished 
service as a civil engineer in the territorial or- 
ganization of this state. 

At the time of Harvey J. Hollister's birth 
Michigan was a frontier territory, not becom- 
ing a state until several years later. Its peo- 
ple had at that early day little save courage, 
energy and hope, and the advantages for an 
education were very limited. Mr. Hollister 
seems to have made the most of what offered, 
was a faithful student when at school and a 
hard worker on his mother's farm. When but 
seventeen years old he taught school for a 
winter near Romeo, then entered into the em- 
ploy of a drug firm in Pontiac. Two years 
later he joined his family, who had moved to 
Grand Rapids. For a few months he was a 
clerk in a mercantile house, then for a time in 
a drug store, but in 1853 he became confi- 
dential clerk in the banking house of Daniel 
Ball & Co., and later a partner in the firm. 
The troublous times of 1861 compelled Daniel 
Ball & Co. , the last of the three banking 
houses in the city, to close out their business 
at a great loss to themselves, but their obliga- 
tions were all met in full. Hon. M. L. Sweet 
opened almost at once another bank, with Mr. 
Hollister as manager. This continued until 
1864, when the First National bank, of Grand 
Rapids, was organized. The Sweet bank was 
merged in it, and its manager made cashier 
and director. The bank was successful, and 
when its charter expired was succeeded by the 
Old National bank, with Mr. Hollister as 
director and cashier. He is the pioneer 
banker in the city and the oldest banker in 
active service in the state, having served 
nearly forty-seven jears continuously in these 
relations. 



|ifp;7T;'T;:'-'i 




AND KENT COUXTY, UP TO DATE. 



201 



^Ir. Hollister is always a busy man, and 
besides his banking business has been identi- 
fied with many other interests. He is presi- 
dent of the Grand Rapids clearing-house, a 
position he has held since its organization ten 
years ago; director and stockholder in the 
Grand Rapids & Indiana railway; director in 
the Michigan Trust company; president of the 
Michigan Barrel company; director in the 
Grand Rapids Brass company and the Antrim 
Iron company, of Mancelona, Mich.; director 
and treasurer of the Cummer Lumber com- 
pany, of Norfolk, \'a., and Jacksonville, Fla. 
It has been Mr. Hollister's wish and aim that 
all his business connections should work in 
harmony with and be of benefit to the inter- 
ests of the community at large. 

In addition to his business interests, Mr. 
Hollister, as president of the Charity Organi- 
zation society, and formerly one of the board 
of control of the State public school, trustee 
of Olivet college, trustee of Butterworth hos- 
pital, and president of the Michigan Social 
Science association, has become identified 
with the charitable and educational institu- 
tions of the state and country. He is a strong 
supporter of the principles of the republican 
party, and although at no time actively en- 
gaged in politics, is closely connected with the 
councils of that party in the state. 

He has been a member of the First Con- 
gregational church for fifty years, is one of 
its deacons, and has been its treasurer for 
twenty years. He has been identified with 
the Y. M. C. A. since its organization, and is 
greatly interested in anything that can benefit 
young men and better fit them for their life 
work. 

When Mr. Hollister went to Grand Rapids 
fifty years ago it contained less than 3,000 
souls. Now the small hamlet has become one 
of the most attractive and enterprising of our 
western cities, with a population of 100,000. 




VRON HESTER, the well-known 
undertaker at Grand Rapids, Mich., 
was born in Norwich township, 
Huron county, Ohio, January 30, 
1842, the second in a family of ten children 
born to Samuel and Emily (Barnum) Hester, 
of whom three died in infancy, the others be- 
ing Martha, widow of Thomas Banks, and re- 
siding at Wellsville, Mo. ; Myron, whose name 
opens this paragraph; Mary, who died in 1868; 
James, in Oklahoma; Albert \Y., in Chicago; 
Emma, wife of William Cherry, of Cleveland, 
and Frank S., a jeweler of Lawrence, Kans. 
Samuel Hester, also a native of Huron 
count}', Ohio, was the son of a Virginian, was 
reared a farmer, but later became a merchant, 
a dealer in stock and a lumberman, and died 
in Chicago, 111., at the age of seventy-eight 
years. His wife was of the same ancestry as 
the famous Phineas T. Barnum, and died at 
Pa.xton, 111., aged fifty-si.v. 

Myron Hester was reared a farmer and at- 
tended school until sixteen years of age, and 
then for two years attended the college at 
Oberlin. He acquired some experience in his 
father's general store, and first engaged in mer- 
chandizing at Waterloo, Ind., where he re- 
mained three years; he ne.xt followed the same 
business at Angola one year, then at Nashville. 
Mich., five years, and in 1872 came to Grand 
Rapids, and here his first work was as a car- 
penter. He had never learned this trade, but 
he was possessed of a natural genius for 
mechanics and was ver}' handy with tools. 
For ten jears he was next employed by W. C. 
Denison, in the implement trade, and this he 
learned in all its details. Being now desirous 
of engaging in business for himself, he formed 
a partnership with Samuel Fox, with whom he 
conducted the same class of business for seven 
years, when he sold out to his partner, united 
with his son, Carl S., and formed the Hester 
Machine company, dealing in mill supplies. 



202 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



etc., for three years, when the}' sold out to 
Studley & Berkley and Mr. Hester engaged in 
his present business. 

Mr. Hester was united in marriage Febru- 
ary 23, 1S63, with Miss Catharine Ouacken- 
bush, but this lady was called from earth in 
the spring of i8go, leaving three children, 
viz. : Delia, wife of Peter B. Schravsend, a 
civil engineer, and their union has been blessed 
with one child, Hester; Carl S., formerly in 
business with his father, is now with the Macey 
company; he married a daughter of Mai. 
Scranton, and has one daughter, Margaret; 
Cora is the wife of Frank Matheson, of Grand 
Rapids, who is also connected with the Macey 
company. 

In politics Mr. Hester is a republican; 
fraternally, he is a member of Valley City 
lodge. No. 34, F. & A. M., and of chapter No. 
7, at Grand Rapids. His religious belief rests 
with the Christian Scientists, in the support of 
which he is very enthusiastic, and can give ex- 
cellent reasons for the faith that is in him. 

Mr. Hester is now married to Georgie 
Cornwell, and with her occupies a most pleas- 
ant home at No. 169 Cass avenue, while his 
office is at No. 169 Ottawa street. He has 
made his own way through life, and main- 
tains a business reputation free from stain, 
and enjoNS the unlimited confidence and es- 
teem of his fellow-citizens of Grand Rapids, 
and, indeed, the respect of everybody where 
he has ever lived. 



EN. LEWIS W. HE.\TH.— Michigan 
has been especially honored in her 
public men. Not only is this true of 
the state, but in every city, town and 
hamlet, there are, rising above the masses, 
individuals distinguished beyond others, who, 



by reason of pronounced ability and force- 
ful personality, have always commanded the 
homage of their fellow-men, and who have 
revealed to the world those two resplendent 
virtues of a superior race — perseverance in 
purpose and a directing spirit which never 
fails. Throughout the great northwest are 
found men who mark with deeds the vanish- 
ing traces of time, and whose accomplish- 
ments have done much in directing and con- 
trolling the destinies of the communities 
where their lots have been cast. 

Of this class Gen. Heath ranks among the 
distinguished citizens of Kent county, and has 
stamped the impress of his strong individual- 
ity not alone upon the local community, for 
he has figured prominently in the public affairs 
of the state, political and social. He has 
been a man among men, progressive and pub- 
lic spirited; he stands for that which is high- 
est and best, and has ever been a recognized 
leader in supporting and disseminating pro- 
gressive ideas. He entered upon life's career 
with but little to commend him, other than 
a vigorous constitution, indomitable energy, 
and a good education. 

Lewis W. Heath was born in Ashtabula 
county, Ohio, June 22, 1837, and is a son of 
James and Mary A. (Mann) Heath — the latter 
a cousin of Horace Mann, the eminent Massa- 
chusetts statesman. When a lad of eight 
years his parents removed to Geauga county, 
Ohio, locating near Hiram college, where his 
boyhood and early manhood years were spent 
as a student. There he formed the acquaint- 
ance of James A. Garfield, then a student and 
under-teacher in the college. This acquaint- 
ance ripened into warm friendship, which was 
continued throughout the remaining years of 
the late president's life. .After leaving col- 
lege they coi.tinued in regular correspondence. 
Gen. Heath having at present some letters- 
which reveal the close relationship of the two 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



203 



} oung men after each had merged into life's 
\vori<. In 1857 the subject left college and 
came to Lenawee county, Mich. , where he was 
engaged in teaching until the beginning of the 
Civil war. He offered his services to the 
country, at the first enlistment in Michigan, 
becoming a member ot company K, of the 
First Michigan infantry, April 18, i86r, and 
serving under the "three months' call." Re- 
turning in August, 1 86 1, he assisted in rais- 
ing company F. of the Eleventh Michigan 
infantry, in which he was commissioned sec- 
ond lieutenant. In April, 1862, he was pro- 
moted to captain and placed on detached 
service. In the spring of 1S63, he resigned 
his commission in the army by reason of im- 
paired health, and returned to Adrian, Mich. 
The succeeding four years were spent in life 
insurance work, he being connected v/ith the 
Michigan Life Insurance association. In 
1867, he came to Grand Rapids as their gen- 
eral agent, serving here in that capacity until 
1869, when he engaged in mercantile life and 
transacted a large and prosperous business in 
hats and furs for many years. 

Immediately preceding the nomination of 
President Garfield, he manufactured a hat for 
him and took it to Washington. Just pre- 
vious to the inauguration he made him another 
one which was worn during that ceremony, 
and is the hat which the president wore at the 
time of his assassination. The hat was sub- 
sequently returned to Gen. Heath, and is now 
treasured among the family relics. This fea- 
ture of the subject's life-work is simply re- 
cited here to show the close relationship which 
existed between himself and the martyred 
president. 

Gen. Heath has been prominently con- 
nected with state and national politics. He 
has always been an ardent and uncompromis- 
ing republican, and served twelve years as a 
member of the state central committee; was 



elected to fill the vacancy created by the death 
of Senator Chandler as a member of the na- 
tional committee, and was appointed a mem- 
ber of the executive committee of the national 
republican committee. In 1877 he was ap- 
pointed inspector-general of the Michigan 
state militia, serving four years in that capac- 
ity. In April, i88r, he was appointed post- 
office inspector, a position he held for several 
years. Gen. Heath also served as alderman 
from the Third ward of Grand Rapids, and 
has ever taken an active interest in local and 
general politics. 

As a prominent official in the military af- 
fairs of the state, he has been zealous and in- 
fluential in elevating the standard of morality, 
punctuality and discipline in the state militia. 

In 18/8 the general officers of the military 
service of the different states met in New 
York and oYganized the National Military as- 
sociation, for the purpose of raising the stand- 
ard of the militia ot the states, establishing a 
more uniform system for the government of 
that service, and securing more liberal recog- 
nition from the general government. Gen. 
Heath was a delegate from Michigan. At this 
meeting a bill was formulated and presented 
later to the various legislatures of the states, 
which have since established a uniform sys- 
tem of discipline and raised the national guard 
or state, militia to its present high grade of 
efficiency. 

September i, 1863, Gen. Heath was first 
united in marriage, at Medina, Mich., with 
Miss Jennie Worcester, a native of New Hamp- 
shire, in which state she grew to wom.anhood 
and was educated. Two children were the 
fruit of this felicitous union, viz: Jennie 
Alicia, wife of Frederick Tinkham, who is en- 
gaged in the furniture business in Grand 
Rapids, and Ferry Kimball, who is associated 
with John Byrne, in the insurance business in 
Grand Rapids. Both these children are gradu- 



204 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



ates of the Grand Rapids high school, and 
Ferry spent two years in the university of 
Michigan, at Ann Arbor. The latter also was 
a soldier in the Thirty second Michigan infan- 
try, during the recent Spanish-American war. 
The Heath family has ever been noted 
for its patriotism, its members having been 
identified with every American war since that 
of the Revolution. William Heath, great- 
grandfather of Gen. Lewis W. Heath, was 
captain in 1770 of the '• ancient and honorable 
artillery " of Boston, and was afterward a 
prominent commander under Washington, 
with the rank of major-general; he was also a 
member of the provincial congress of 1774- 
75, and died at Roxbury, Mass., January 14, 
1814. On the maternal side, Major-Gen. James 
'Wadsworth, of Revolutionary fame, was an 
uncle of the mother of the subject, and his son, 
Major-Gen. Wadsworth, was killed in the 
Civil war. Gen. John Parker Boyd, the 
"hero of Tippecanoe," was a cousin of 
Mrs. Mary A. Heath, the subject's mother, and 
was a resident of Newburyport, Mass. The 
■Civil war also found members of this family on 
the adverse side, and one of them was a major- 
general in Lee's army. The final link in the 
connection of the Heath family with the wars 
of the country is supplied by Col. William 
Angier, a relative, who served under Gen. 
Winfield Scott in the war with Mexico. The 
first assistant postmaster-general of the United 
States, Perry Heath, is also a cousin of the 
subject, once removed. 

Mrs. Jennie (Worcester) Heath was called 
from earth m July, 1881, and in September, 
1882, Gen. Heath formed a second happy 
matrimonial union, his bride being Miss, Mary 
H. Parker, a native of Marine City, Mich., 
and a daughter of L. B. and Jane (Sparrow) 
Parker, the former a retired physician of that 
city, but who has two sons in the active prac- 
tice of medicine. To this second marriage of 



the general have been born four children, viz: 
Marcia Helen, Lewis, Delos and Parker. 
The family worship at the Congregational 
church. 

Gen. Heath is a knight templar Mason; he 
is also a member of the G. A. R. , and assisted 
in organizing the first post in the state, and is 
likewise a member of Michigan commandery, 
Loyal Legion. The general is now president 
of the Grand Rapids Duplicate \\'hist & 
Novelt}' company, manufacturer's of duplicate 
whist boards and counters. 




OBERT J. HUTCHINSON, M. D., phy- 
sician and surgeon of Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in the province of 
Ontario, Canada, November 13, 1869, 
a son of George and Sarah (Shields) Hutchin- 
son, the former of whom was a native of Shef- 
field, England, and the latter of the dominion 
of Canada. For many years the father was a 
merchant at Alliston, Ontario, where his life 
was principally passed, and where he died in 
1891, but had lost his wife in 1875. Of the 
six children born to these parents, the doctor 
is the youngest; John is a farmer in Canada; 
William is a merchant in Cleveland, Ohio; 
George succeeded to his father's business and 
is still a merchant at Alliston; Martha South- 
wick lives in Stratford, Ontario, and Mary Or- 
merod resides at Stratford, same province. 

Dr. R. J. Hutchinson acquired his literary 
education at Albert college, Belleville, On- 
tario, but prior to his graduation assisted in 
his father's store for three years. He was next 
employed, for one year, by W. R. Brock & 
Co., of Toronto, and then, for two years, by 
Edson, Moore & Co., of Detroit, but resigned 
this position to engage in professional study in 
the office of his cousin. Dr. S. S. Shields. He 



i 






AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



207 



next entered the Detroit College of Medicine, 
(rem which, after a three-years' course of 
study, he graduated in 1896. Having secured 
a position as house surgeon of the Union Be- 
nevolent Association hospital at Grand Rap- 
ids, he at once came to this city, and filled 
the position of interne so satisfactorily that, at 
the end of five months, he was elected super- 
intendent of the institution, being the first in- 
cumbent after the creation of the office. Two 
and a half years later he resigned this position 
to assume charge of the practice of Dr. S. C. 
Graves during the absence of the latter as sur- 
geon in the army. 

Dr. Hutchinson is a member of the Grand 
Rapids Medical & Surgical society, of the Nu 
Sigma Nu society, connected with the Detroit 
College of Medicine, and also of a number of 
fraternal associations or orders. His religious 
affiliations are with the Division street Afeth- 
odist church. In politics, he is republican. 
The doctor is the only representative of his 
family in Grand Rapids, but since coming to 
the city has made many warm friends, and has 
enjoyed an e.xtensive and lucrative general 
practice. 




OHN B. HILLIKER, M. D., at No. 
460 South Division street. Grand Rap- 
ids, is a native of Walker township, 
Rent county, Mich. ; was born May 
18, i860, and is a son of William H. and Han- 
nah (Thurston) Hilliker, both natives of the 
state of New York and of German extraction. 
The parents were born, respectively, in 1824 
and 1827, and were married in Jackson coun- 
ty, Mich., the result of the union being four 
children. Of these, Ellen, the eldest, died at 
the age of twenty years; the second, Charles 
B.,died in 1897; the doctor is the third in 



order of birth, and Ethloine, the youngest, is 
the wife of Peter McFarlane, a farmer of Me- 
costa county, Mich. The mother passed away 
at their home in Kent county in 1870, and the 
father is now living near Big Rapids, Mecosta 
county. The latter has been an agricultural- 
ist all his life, and during the late Civil war 
served his country well and faithfully for three 
years in a Michigan regiment. 

Dr. John B. Hilliker was educated in the 
district schools of Ivent county and the Grand 
Rapids high school, and after having become 
thoroughly versed in the ordinary English 
branches entered the medical department of 
the university of Illinois, and graduated from 
the college of Physicians cS: Surgeons, at Chi- 
cago, in 1892. He at once entered upon his 
lifework as physician and surgeon in the ele- 
gant suite of rooms he at present occupies, 
and here has established an extensive and re- 
munerative practice. 

Dr. Hilliker is a member of the Michigan 
State Medical, society and of the Grand Rap- 
ids Medical & Surgical society. Fraternally, 
he is an Odd Fellow and Knight of Pythias; 
politically, a republican, and he is serving his 
third year as a member of the board of educa- 
tion of Grand Rapids. 

Dr. Hilliker was united in marriage in 1 882, 
in Kent county, with Miss Hattie Finton, a 
native of Kent county and a daughter of C. H. 
Finton. Mr. Finton was a gallant soldier dur- 
ing the Civil war and served three years. To 
the happy marriage of Dr. and Mrs. Hilliker 
have been born three children, viz: Charles 
F., December 17, 1884; Blanche Rosamond, 
March 18, 1888, and Marion Lucile, May 30, 
1895. Mrs. Hilliker, a most estimable lady, 
holds membership in several ladies' societies, 
including the Rathbone Sisters, the St. Celia 
society, and the Daughters of Rebekah. The 
family reside in their fine modern mansion at 
No. 447 South Lafayette street, and this is not 



208 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



only the home of domestic fehcity, but of a 
■cheerful hospitalit}". 

Dr. Hilliker has been self-dependent from 
€arly childhood, has worked his way through 
college, and has established for himself an hon- 
orable and lucrative profession. Personally, 
he is an affable and agreeable gentleman, and 
imperceptibly impresses all with whom he 
comes in contact with an idea of his culture 
and moral attributes. 




LBERT HIMES, a leading dealer in 

coal, lime, cement, etc., in Grand 

Rapids, with office at No. 6=; Pearl 

street, and yards on Shawmut avenue, 

is a native of Oswego, N. Y. 

Prior to coming to Grand Rapids, Mr. 
Himes had been largely engaged in the manu- 
facture of cement in Oswego, and this busi- 
ness, in his younger days, had been a profit- 
able vocation, but Oswego, for some reason, 
ibegan to sink into decadence, and Mr. Himes 
wisely decided to come west. In May, 1888, 
he settled in Grand Rapids, and located on 
the square on Shawmut avenue, which was 
then little better than a swamp, but most 
admirably suited for his proposed business in 
the near future. Without going into details, 
it will suffice to say that the square is now 
furnished with four railroad sidings and is 
admirably adapted in every respect for the 
purpose to which Mr. Himes intended from 
the start to apply it. As Mr. Himes cannot 
bear confinement, he attends altogether to the 
management of outside affairs of this now 
extensive business, while the details of the 
office work are left to the management of his 
son, Fred P. 

Albert Himes was united in marriage with 



Miss M. Louise Munger, a native of Oswego, N. 
Y., and this union was blessed with five chil- 
dren — four boys and one girl — all born in 
Oswego. Two of these, William O. and John 
M., are now in business in Chicago; a third, 
Percy A., a is mechanical engineer; Fred P., 
the eldest, as already mentioned, is with his 
father, and the daughter, Lois L. , is at home. 

Mr. Himes is a thirty-second degree Mason 
and politicall}' he affiliates with the republican 
party. In religion,' the family worship at the 
Baptist church. 

Fred P. Himes was born May 11, 1869, 
and from 1888 to the present time has been 
with his father in business. Mr. Himes was 
married June 10, 1891, to Amelia Flower 
Babcock, a native of Watertown. N. Y., and 
by this marriage they have one child, George 
Anson. Fraternally Mr. Himes is a Mason. 
In politics he is a democrat, and he and his 
wife attend the Episcopal church. 




OSEPH C. HERKNER, jeweler, of 
Grand Rapids, Mich., is a native of 
Germany, born December 1, 1840. 
His parents, Joseph and Elizabeth 
Herkner, came from the " Faderland " to 
Grand Rapids, November 15, 1849; his father 
died in August, 1850. 

Joseph C. Herkner was educated in the 
city schools, and in 1856 went into the busi- 
ness house of N. T. Butler, to acquire the de- 
tails of the jewelry trade. He served his 
apprenticeship and found employment in this 
city until 1861. At the breaking out of the 
war, he enlisted in company D, ist Michigan 
engineers and mechanics, and served valiantly 
and faithfully until honorably discharged Sep- 
tember 30, 1865. He enlisted as private, and 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



209 



soon recei\'ed the appointment of orderly-ser- 
geant, and in November, 1861, that of first 
lieutenant, and in February, 1864, became a 
captain. At the close of the war he returned 
to this city, and in 1870 established himself 
on Monroe street, where he has since man- 
aged a successful and creditable business. His 
store is elegantly arranged and fully stocked. 
He was married, in 1867, to Clara L. Calkins, 
daughter of Charles P. Calkins, of this city. 
They have one daughter. 

Mr. Herkner was one of the organizers of 
company B, of the Second regiment, na- 
tional guard, in 1872, and acted four 
years as its captain. He afterward was 
on the brigade staff of Gen. Smith as lieu- 
tenant-colonel and inspector-general of bri- 
gade, and continued as such during the term 
Gen. Smith was in command. 




OL. CHESTER B. HINSDILL, quar- 
termaster at the Michigan State Sol- 
diers' home, Grand Rapids, was born 
in Kalamazoo county, Mich., Septem- 
ber 4, 1836, a son of Myron and Emily (Kel- 
logg) Hinsdill. In 1861, being then a resi- 
dent of Grand Rapids, he was appointed com- 
missary of subsistence, with rank of captain, 
in the volunteerservice, and was later promot- 
ed to be lieutenant-colonel in the same depart- 
ment and brevetted colonel, and served in the 
commissary department . throughout the late 
Civil war. 

In 1875, Col. Hinsdale was appointed 
clerk of the court of the western district of 
Michigan, and filled the position with com- 
mendable ability for several years, and in July, 
1890, was appointed to his present position as 
commissary and quartermaster at the Sol- 



diers' home, and this he has also filled in a 
most satisfactory manner, winning for him- 
self a reputation for strict integrity and as a 
thoroughly competent business man. 

Fraternally, the colonel is a member of 
Custer post. No. 5, G. A. R. 

September 4, 1868, the colonel was unit- 
ed in marriage with Julia M. Matthews, the 
union resulting in the birth of one child: 
Cora M., wife of Charles Fox, lumberman of 
Grand Rapids. 

In politics the colonel is a republican. 



MBROSE C. HINDMAN is one of the 
younger bright lights of the Grand 
Rapids bar, with his offices at Nos. 
301 and 303 Widdicomb block, 
where he is associated in practice with A. R. 
Rood. He was born in Carroll county, Ind., 
December 23, 1869, a son of William T. and 
Maggie (Smith) Hindman. 

William T. Hindman is a native of Butler 
county, Ohio, was reared to farming, and Miss 
Smith, of Burlington, Ind., the union being 
crowned with two children — Ambrose C, the 
subject of this notice, and Everett E. , also an 
attorney of Grand Rapids. After farming for 
some years in Carroll county, Ind., subsequent 
to his marriage, Mr. Hindman engaged in mer- 
chandizing in Burlington, where he still resides. 
He is a robust man, is very practical, and is in 
quite comfortable circumstances. . Mrs. Hind- 
man is a highly accomplished lady, was for- 
merly a school teacher, and was largely in- 
strumental in preparing her children for an 
advanced education. Mr. and Mrs. Hindman 
are consistent members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, and in politics Mr. Hindman is 
a republican. 



MO 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Ambrose C. Hindman entered the Burling- 
ton high school in 1884, and graduated in 
1886. For the following four years he taught 
school in Carroll county, but during this pe- 
riod also attended the State Normal school at 
Terre Haute, and later entered the law depart- 
ment of the university of Michigan, and gradu- 
ated from this famous institution of learning 
in the summer of 1893, with the degree of 
bachelor of law. In October of the same 
year he came to Grand Rapids and entered 
the law office of Taggart, Knappen & Denison, 
with whom he worked and studied until Janu- 
ary, 1897, when he became a partner of A. R. 
Rood, and has since been favored with a good 
share of legal business. 

Mr. Hindman was united in the bonds of 
matrimony at Middleville, Mich., Decembe.r 
-S' 'S93> with Miss Luna P. Parkhurst, who 
was born in Middleville, November 28, 1863, 
a daughter of the late Dr. Silas S. Parkhurst, 
a pioneer, and his wife, Orpha L. (Simons) 
Parkhurst, and this happy union has been 
blessed with one child — Will P. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hindman reside in their own handsome home 
at No. 99 Clinton street, and enjoy the full re- 
spect of all their neighbors. Both are members 
of the Congregational church, and fraternally 
Mr. Hindman is a member of York lodge, F. 
& A. M., and is also a Knight of Pythias, a 
Woodman and a member of the Sons of Vet- 
erans. In politics he is a republican. 



3ENEZER GREGG DANFORTH 
HOLDEN, a former attorney of 
Grand Rapids and insurance agent, 
is the youngest of five sons, and was 
born February i'8, 1834, in a pioneer's cabin 
at Kirkland, Cuyahoga county, Ohio. His 



parents, Josiah Rhodes and Joanna Reed (Dan- 
forth) Holden, natives of New Hampshire, 
were married January 24, 1824. They li\ed 
together si.xty-three years, when death took 
the father at the advanced age of ninety. 

On the father's side the genealogy of the 
family in America has been traced back 280 
years, and on the mother's 171 — the father 
being a descendant from English Puritan 
stock and the mother from Scotch-Irish, whose 
origin, under the surname of Gregg, appears 
in the history of Londonderr)-, Ireland, as 
early as 1690. Oliver Holden, of Charles- 
town, Mass., was the author of the world- 
renowned hymn. Coronation. The Hon. 
Samuel Holden, president of the Bank of 
England, though he never saw America, erect- 
ed a chapel at Harvard university in 1744, 
which is still in use and has always been known 
as the Holden chapel. The brick of which 
it is built were brought from England, as none 
were then made in America. The dqnor of 
this then magnificent building also endowed 
the college with 2,000 pounds sterling a year, 
which, by his will, continued to be paid many 
years after his death, or until the opening 
days of the Revolution cut of? fraternal rela- 
tions between the t<vo countries. Man\' of the 
Holden descendants in America have been ed- 
ucated at old Harvard, but the subject of this 
sketch never saw it or the chapel until 1877. 
The Holden chapel is now used as a lecture 
room, and after the lapse of 145 years is still 
in good preservation — its street gable being fin- 
ished with a carved bas relief of the Holden 
arms. The parties last above named and 
many others of note were among the ancestors, 
near and remote, of the Holden of this sketch, 
whose life, until he became his own man, was 
that of a pioneer's boy, his father, moving 
from Ohio to Illmois while "Gregg" was yet 
an infant, and finally becoming a settler in the 
South Woods (now the township of B_\Ton), 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



211 



Kent count}-, Mich., November i8, 1845. He 
died ai?d was buried there. 

E. G. D. Holden has been in nearly every 
state in the Union, but had forty-four years of 
residence in Kent county, and is now a resi- 
dent of Florence, Ore. At the age of seven- 
teen years, with only about two months' 
schooling all told, he set about educating him- 
self, and succeeded so well that he entered 
college, later taught school, and studied law — 
the records of Ivent county circuit court show- 
ing him to have been admitted to the bar 
March 5, i 859. 

Being republican in politics, he early took 
an active interest in the success of his party. 
He was eight years secretary of Kent county 
republican committee, and si.x years its chair- 
man. He was si.x years chairman of the con- 
gressional committee, and served four years as 
a member of the state central committee. 
Amid the deflections of 1872, as chairman of 
the county committee, he achieved one of the 
most noted victories his party ever rejoiced 
o\'er in this county. Every ward in the city 
went republican e.xcept one, and every town- 
ship in the county except one, and the com- 
bined opposition majority in these was only 
nine. The republican county candidates were 
elected the same year by from 2,000 to 3,000 
majority. 

He was prosecuting attorney from 1863 to 
1867, and secretary of state from 1875 to 
1879, both inclusive — two full terms. Al- 
though twice nominated for secretary of state, 
no state convention ever cast a ballot for him. 
He was always nominated by acclamation. 

For more than fifteen years he was inti- 
mately connected with the schools of Grand 
Rapids, as trustee, moderator, and director of 
the West side union school. He was one of 
the first to favor the consolidation of all school 
interests under one management, and rejoiced 
when this union was accomplished. Teachers 

1 L 



and scholars never had a more stanch friend 
than he. 

He was grand master of the Odd Fellows 
of Michigan seven years after his initiation, 
but subsequently severed his connection with 
that order, owing to the position assumed by 
the grand sire, in regard to the uniform degree 
of the Ivnights of the Patriarchal Circle. He 
has since been at the head of the latter order 
in the United States, serving one term, and 
was an officer on the staff of the supreme 
commander, with the rank of brigadier-general. 

In 1870, in connection with his partner at 
that time, he originated and assisted in organ- 
izing and incorporating the Grand Rapids 
Savings bank, and was a member of its first 
board of directors. He engaged in the local 
insurance business in May, i860, and for more 
than thirty-five years adhered steadily to in- 
surance work. He has been special agent, 
state and general agent and adjuster for many 
companies, and as such has traveled extensive- 
ly. His two sons, Charles and Henry were 
admitted to partnership in May, 1888 — the new 
firm making law and real estate a part of their 
business, and having an office on each side of 
the river. 

Mr. Holden married, August 24, 1S58, Miss 
Melissa E. Smith, of Marion, X. Y. , who, like 
himself, was the child of New England parents. 
They have three children---the two sons above 
mentioned, and Mary H., the wife of Judge 
Willis B. Perkins, of the firm of |udl<ins& Per- 
kins, attorneys at law in Grand Rapids. Mr. 
Holden is not a member of any church; is lib- 
eral in his religious views, believes in the good 
and true everywhere, and recognizes these 
essentials in all creeds, but gives none an ex- 
clusive jurisdiction. 

Mr. Holden is an exceedingly well-propor- 
tioned man, stands five feet ten inches, and 
weighs T 80 pounds; is still a very active man 
and is a severe student. He has been much 



212 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



on the lecture platform, and his contributions 
to the press, both prose and verse, have been 
man}- and varied. The nom de plume of 
"Robert Roland" was at one time quite famil- 
iar to the public, and though he has not aban- 
doned it, yet of late generally puts out his pro- 
ductions over his somewhat lengthy nomen. 
He is a voracious reader, and a ready, rapid 
writer. He has a cordial hand, a cheery word 
and a smile for e\ery friend, and goes about 
everything he undertakes with a certain assur- 
ance of success. 




OEL C. PARKER, the oldest resident 
dentist of Grand Rapids, Mich., and 
the second to establish himself in the 
profession in the city, was born in 
Gainesville, Wyoming county, N. Y., July i8, 
1829, and is a son of Tilley and Minerva 
Parker, the former a native of Vermont and 
the latter of New York state. 

Tilley Parker, the father, was a tanner and 
located in the Empire state when about si.x- 
teen jears of age. He married Minerva Chase, 
and in 1854 moved to Madison, Ohio, where 
his wife died at the age of seventy-four years, 
when he returned to Wyoming county, N. Y. , 
and:. died at the home of his daughter, aged 
eighty-three. There were four children born 
of their marriage, of whom Dr. Joel C. is the 
eldest and the only survivor. Of the other 
three, Lois became the wife of the Hon. El- 
bert Farman, who was surrogate of Wyoming 
county, N. Y., was for some years consul- 
general at Cairo, Egypt, appointed by Presi- 
dent Hayes, and was one of the judges of the 
international tribunal in Alexandria appointed 
by several Christian nations for a general con- 
ference, and is now engaged in the practice of 
law at Warsaw, N. Y., his wife having died at 
Warsaw in 1S81; Sarah was married to Rev. 



Lawrence S. Atkins, a Methodist minister, and 
died at Lima, N. Y. , about 1884, her husband 
being also deceased; the only brother, J. 
Byron, came to Grand Rapids, learned den- 
tistry under Dr. Joel C, was established in 
the profession here for a number of years, 
and, at the age of fifty-five years, died in 
Asheville, N. C, whither he had gone for the 
improvement of his health, leaving a wife, 
who has since passed away, and two children. 
Dr. Joel C. Parker was educated in the 
common schools of his native county and at 
the Wesleyan university, in Licna, Livingston 
county, N. Y. Until twenty-one years of age 
he continued to assist his father at leather- 
making, and then, in the winter of 1851-52 
taught a school in Pennsylvania. In 1852, 
also, he began the study of dentistry with Dr. 
McCullough, at Castile, N. Y. , and a year 
later came to Grand Rapids, Mich., and has 
remained here ever since. In 1857 Dr. Parker 
married Miss Emily J. Stone (daughter of 
Charles Stone), also a native of Wyoming 
count}', X. Y., born February 28, 1832, and 
of this union have been born four children: 
Mary S.; Charles S., now practicing dentistry 
at Seattle, Wash.; Theodore S., who died in 
1870, at the age of si.\ years; Grace S., now 
Mrs. Joseph P. Luxford, of Grand Rapids. 

Dr. Parker has kept fully abreast with the 
front rank in the onward march of the mem- 
bers of the profession, and has absorbed all 
the phenomenal changes and improvements 
made in its progress as rapidly as they have 
been developed, and stands high as a profes- 
! sional man as well as a useful citizen. He is 
a member of the Michigan State Dental so- 
ciety and of the local dental associations, and 
has been president of each of these bodies. 
For fourteen years he was a member of the 
board of educition of Grand Rapids, and for 
the same number of years a member of the 
state board of fish commissioners, and under 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1^18 



all circumstances has exercised his influence 
for the promotion of the public welfare. 

Dr. Parker has contributed many articles 
to the literature of his profession, and is a 
recognized authority on the science of dentis- 
try. He is a thoroughly practical operator at 
the dental chair, is a constant student, a deep 
thinker and philosopher, and an inventor of 
unsurpassed ingenuity. He is justly entitled 
to the credit of inventing the telephone about 
I 8/4, and this fact can be abundantly attested 
by Prof. E. A. Strong, of the State Normal 
school at Ypsilanti, ^Jich. But the doctor's 
professional duties were so onerous and press- 
ing that year that he neglected to put his in- 
vention in practical form and push his claim 
at the patent office. In substantiation of the 
doctor's claim as inventor of the telephone, 
the following correspondence should furnish 
ample evidence: 

Gk.^nd I-^apids, May 9, '99. 

My Dear Strong: — Will you kindly write 
me whether the inclosed drawing is not a sub- 
stantial reproduction of a rude drawing I made 




for your inspection some time in the early 
'seventies, to illustrare my ideas for an elec- 
tric telephone ? It occurred to me a short 
time ago that possibly I might fiK the almost 
exact date of my invention. In going back 
over the mental path that lead to it, I found 
that my first hint was a representation of the 
" Reiss telephone." That was published in a 
journal devoted to the interests of telegraphy 
— published, I think, in New York, and called 
— if my memory is correct — " The Telegraphic 
Journal." It was within a week after seeing 
the current number that the combination 
represented in the cut had taken form in my 



mind and was shown to you. If I could find 
a copy of that paper, it would fix the date 
very definitely. You are the only living wit- 
ness of this early effort of mine; all the others 
to whom I showed it have passed away. Bj- 
replying to this j'ou will greatly oblige. 
Yours sincerely, 

J. C. P.\RKER. 

To this letter Prof. Strong made the follow- 
ing reply: 

My Dear Doctor Parker: — I have always 
had the dreadful consciousness that I kept you 
out of a great world-fame and the triumph and 
profit of a great invention. I say always, for 
it seems long ago that you came to my house 
and broached the possibility of telephonic com- 
munication. Soon after you came again with 
your ideas more matured. You expressed your 
notion of a combined sender and receiver by 
a hastily-drawn sketch. My remembrance is 
on the back of an envelope that I handed you 
from my- pocket for the purpose. The next 
day I read what t could find on that head 
and left the drawing at the place of my 
last search — page 464 of the first volume 
of the old three-volume edition of Muller 
Ponillek Physik — the description of the Phon- 
autograph. I saw it there afterward, but 
forgot it until at Philadelphia during the con- 
tinued celebration, second visit, when we all 
heard about the work done on Sunday at the 
Expo.-ition building, with descriptions of the 
apparatus. Then I recalled your sketch, which 
seemed to me essentially similar. Going home 
I tried to find it, but even after an immense 
amount of search have never been able to do 
so. Some years later I tried to reproduce my 
memory of it by a drav/ing, but found that my 
definite recollection was too vague. I could 
not remember whether you represented the 
complete circuit or not; whether the electro- 
magnet had a continuous core or a back-piece 
screwed on; whether you drew a spring to regu- 
late contact between armature and pole, or 
simply put in the word " spring," etc. 

Nor can I remember definitely what I said 
to you; I only remember that I felt distinctly 
unfavorable to yourendeavoring to perfect and 
exploit the invention, arising mainly froin the 
fact that the making of a complete merchanta- 



214 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



ble article and getting it before the world has 
always been found so expensive and exacting 
of time and thought. I knowthat I indicated 
this pretty clearly, and here kes my great re- 
gret, that I hadn't sense enough to see that 
any sacrifice should have been made to render 
the invention practicable. Of course you 
might have worked along false lines and have 
failed to reach the goal ahead of others, but 
you ought to have had your chance. I felt 
there was no question but that the diaphragm 
would reproduce the vibrations of the vocal 
tones, but I did not believe with force enough 
for complete audition. This is my confession. 
Permit me still to subscribe myself 
Your friend, 

E. A. Strong. 

The doctor has also invented several valua- 
ble appliances to the art of dentistry, chief 
among which is a '-shot swager, " which he 
patented in 1S95, and which is now in uni- 
versal use throughout the dental world. 

The doctor has passed a lifetime in Grand 
Rapids, and is recognized by its people as an 
affable, intelligent and moral citizen. In poli- 
tics he was early a whig, and cast his first 
presidential vote for Winiield Scott. With 
the coming of the republican party he became 
a republican, voted for John C. Fremont, the 
first presidential nominee of this party, and 
also voted for the Brst republican mayor elected 
in the Union, viz; W. D. Foster, of Grand 
Rapids. Fraternally, the doctor was made a 
Mason in 1S55, in Grand Rapids, has held the 
highest office of his lodge, that of \V. M., 
Valley City, No. 86. He is also a member 
of Grand Rapids chapter. No. 7. 



.BERT J. PATTERSON, M. D., a 

regular practicing physician and sur- 
geon of Grand Rapids, with his office 
and residence at No. 134 Plainfield 
avenue, was born in Paris township, Kent 




county, Mich., February 18, 1859, a son of 
John and Martha (Spaulding) Patterson, na- 
tives of the state of New York, who accom- 
panied their parents to Michigan in 1836, were 
married in Kent county about 1846, and are 
now living on their farm in Paris township, 
aged seventy-two and sixty-four years, re- 
spectively To John and Martha Patterson 
have been born four children, of whom the eld- 
est, Charles E., is a physician of Grand 
Rapids; Albert T- is the subject of this sketch; 
Alice, twin of Albert J., is the wife of Dr. 
Pressey, of Cleveland, Ohio, and Robert is 
caring for his parents on the old homestead, 
to which his own farm lies adjacent. 

The early life of Albert J. Patterson was 
passed on the farm, but at the age of eighteen 
years he began teaching, and for four years 
taught the village school of Cascade, Mich. 
While thus employed he devoted his leisure 
hours to the study of medicine, attended De- 
troit Medical college three years, and grad- 
uated at the age of twenty-four. He began 
active practice in Kent county, at Sparta, 
where he remained two years, then practiced 
four years tn Cannonsburg, and Jannary 15, 
1888, settled in Grand Rapids, where he has 
achieved an enviable professional reputation. 
He has secured a competency through his 
medical skill, and, indeed, has never had a 
dollar given to him or donated to him, and 
even paid for his education with his own 
earnings. 

The doctor married, September 5, 1882, 
at Cascade, Mich., Miss Janet Brown, daugh- 
ter of Hugh B. Brown, J. P., and to this union 
was born one daughter — Lois Alice — Ma\- 10, 
1884, at Sparta. 

Fraternally, the doctor is a member of 
Grattan lodge. No. 196, F. & A. M. ; of the 
Knights of Pythias lodge at Grand Rapids; of 
the A. O. U. W., the I. O. F. , the K. O. T. 
M. , the United Friends, and other orders. He 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



215 



held the office of high physician, state of 
IMichigan I. O. F. in 1898, and during iiis in- 
cumbency suggested the division of the state 
into two high courts, which suggestion was 
adopted. He is the high vice-chief ranger of 
western Michigan, is chief officer of the local 
court, and has been the examining physician 
of the same ever since its formation; he is also 
chancellor commander of Lily lodge, K. of P. 
The doctor is likewise a member of the Michi- 
gan State Medical society, the Grand Rapids 
Academy of Medicine, and is a member of the 
medical staff of the U. B. A. hospital. 

In politics. Dr. Patterson is a republican, 
has taken a warm interest in local and general 
politics, and, although never an office seeker, 
is now serving his second term as coroner of 
Kent count)', to which office he was first elected 
in 1S96. 

Dr. Patterson is a trustee of the Second 
Congregational church of Grand Rapids, and 
modestly attributes a share of his success in 
the city to the friendship of his pastor, Rev. 
J. T. Husted — and while this, to some e.Ntent, 
may be true, his own ability and skill will be 
found.to be the true secret of his prosperity. 

January i, 1899, the doctor established an 
office for practice, and the more con\enient 
discharge of his official duties in connection 
with the I. O. F., on Monroe street, and here 
a portion of each day is spent in attending to 
the needs of his numerous patients. 



OHN PAUL, farmer and dealer in real- 
estate, is an illustrious example of that 
successful class of individuals known as 
self-made men. His father, also named 
John Paul, was born in Whithorn, Wigton- 
shire, Scotland, November 15, 1S22, and in 




1852 became a resident of Grand Rapids. He 
lived in Kent county from that time until his 
death, November 8, 1893, spending the last 
twenty-five years of his life at Reed's 
lake. He was one of the leading spirits 
of East Grand Rapids, and it was through 
his influence that a post-office was se- 
cured and named in his honor, and the 
place brought to the notice of the public. 
He was twice married and left a family 
of five children, four sons and one daugh- 
ter, his second wife dying several years prior 
to his own departute. The subject of this 
sketch is the only child of the first marriage; 
the other children are Henry B., a carpenter 
of East Grand Rapids; William W. , a painter; 
Edwin S., carpenter and builder, and Margaret 
Jane, wife of Charles Davis, who resides at 
Pasadena, Cal. 

John Paul, Jr. ,.was born on the ist day of 
April, 1850, in the town of Whithorn, Wigton- 
shire, Scotland, and at the age of three years 
was brought to Kent county, Mich., where he 
has since resided. While he was quite young 
his parents moved from Grand Rapids to a 
farm near what the old settlers call "The 
Saddlebags Swamp," and there he grew to 
manhood, assisting his father in the rough 
work of clearing land and attending in the 
winter seasons such indifferent schools as the 
country afforded. Notwithstanding his meager 
educational advantages, Mr. Paul early mani- 
fested a decided taste for study, and he eagerly 
read such books as fell into his hands, and 
long ere reaching manhood's estate he was the 
possessor of a fund of knowledge much greater 
than many obtain in long courses in the 
schools. Additional to his general love of 
literature, his inquiring mind led him into the 
domain of the practical, and this, with his 
strong and vigorous phjsique, in due time 
made of him a splendid specimen of sjm- 
metricall}- developed manhood. 



216 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



When quite a small child, Mr. Paul lost 
that best of all earthly friends, mother, and 
one of the pathetic phases of his life is that he 
retains no recollection whatever of her. When 
sixteen years old he .began life for himself, and 
the position he has since attained is due to his 
unaided exertions; in fact, it maybe truthfully 
observed the he is indeed the "architect of 
his own fortune." With an energy born of 
determination to succeed, he accomplished 
within a few years what many do not achieve 
in a much longer life, and in due time he be- 
came the possessor of valuable real estate in 
the vicinity of Reed's lake, which he has 
since platted as an addition to East Grand 
Rapids. The terrritory embraced within tiie 
present limits of the place was then in its 
primitive condition, and it seemed like a long 
ride from the subject's home to Grand Rapids, 
a trip which now requires .but fifteen minutes' 
ride on the electric line to the very heart of 
the city. 

Mr. Paul has in his possession the original 
deed issued by Andrew Jackson, January 20, 
1836, conveying the tract of land he now owns 
from the government to Ezekiel Davis, and 
upon this land he has made his home continu- 
ously for over forty \'ears. 

In addition to agriculture, Mr. Paul, some 
years ago, became interested in real estate, 
and to him more than to any one man is due 
the credit of inducing investments in lands in 
and around East Grand Rapids, until the 
town has become one of the handsomest and 
most desirable suburbs of the metropolis of 
west Michigan. He has erected, in all, over 
thirty residences in Paul's addition and dis- 
posed of the same on terms to suit purchasers, 
thus bringing to the place an intelligent and 
desirable class of citizens. He has been an 
accommodating dealer, favoring in every rea- 
sonable way the purchaser of moderate means, 
until it is now possible for almost any man. 



possessed of thrift, to obtain a comfortable 
home in East Grand Rapids. 

Mr. Paul was largely instrumental in in- 
ducing the Consolidated Street Railway com- 
pany, of Grand Rapids, to extend their line 
eastward and otherwise make substantial im- 
provements, which finally led to the estab- 
lishment of the well-known and popular pleas- 
ure resort of Reed's lake. He has been in- 
defatigable in his efforts to give this lake a 
wide publicity, and not without encouraging 
results, for every summer the village is 
thronged with tourists, who find it indeed one 
of the most pleasant and most restful resorts 
in a state noted for such places. 

Mr. Paul has been called by his fellow- 
citizens at different times to fill positions of 
trust, among which may be named those of 
justice of the peace and treasurer of Grand 
Rapids township, president of the village 
board and member of the school board of East 
Grand Rapids. He was reared in the political 
faith of the republican party and still believes 
its principles to be to the best interest of the 
country; consequent!}* he takes an active part 
in every campaign involving party measures 
and has contributed much to the succe.-s of his 
ticket. He is a member of Valley City lodge, 
No. 86, F. & \. M., and with his wife belongs 
to Oriental chapter, No. 32, O. E. S. 

The marriage of Mr. Paul was solemnized 
June 7, 1876, with Miss Agnes Gilmore. of 
Grand Rapids, Rev. J. Morgan Smith offici- 
ating at the ceremony. Mrs. Paul was born 
in the same town in Scotland where her hus- 
band first saw the light, but had never met 
him until the year 1873 in Grand Rapids. 
She is the mother of three living children, the 
eldest of whom, Mary A., is the wife of Fred 
Van Bloois, an employee in a wholesale house 
of Grand Rapids; the second, Elizabeth Agnes, 
is still under the parental roof, and the only 
son, \\'illiam J., is a bright lad of ten years. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



217 



The mother and two daughters are members 
of the Park avenue Congregational church; 
Mr. Paul, although a friend and contributor to 
the cause of religion, does not subscribe to 
any creed or article of faith. 

This brief outline of the leading facts of 
Mr. Paul's life and business career is given be- 
cause the world claims a certain property in 
the lives of all its people, and biography is the 
lamp of experience to guide and encourage 
others in the path of success. He is regarded 
as one of many public-spirited and enterprising 
citizens of I\ent county, and for years has been 
foremost in every project for advancing the 
material interests of its flourishing seat of 
justice. In every relation of life his character 
has been above adverse criticism, and his past 
reflects the greatest credit upon him. 




HOMAS H. PE-ACOCK, engineer at 
the Masonic Temple, Grand Rapids, 
was borr. in Stoughton upon Tees, in 
the county of Durham, England, on 
8th of August, 1847. He is a son of Isaac 
and Jane (Smith) Peacock, natives 01 the 
same place. 

Isaac Peacock, the father, a inachinist by 
trade, remained in his native country until 
about 1853, when he came to America. For 
a number of years he was in the employ of the 
New York & Erie railroad, and was also engaged 
in business on his own account at Canandai- 
gua, N Y., where he remained for several 
years and prospered. He is now connected 
with the machinery and plumbing department 
at the Masonic home in this city, at the age 
of eighty years. In the spring of 1872 he 
came to Greenville, Mich., bought a foundry 
and machine shop, and did a prosperous busi- 



ness until December, 1873. when the plant 
was destroyed by fire. He rebuilt the follow- 
ing spring and remained there until the spring 
of 1876, when he sold out and went to Reed 
City for a time. 

Thomas H. Peacock and his father were 
business partners in their various enterprise^, 
the firm being I. & T. H. Peacock. At Green- 
ville and Reed City, they started a machine 
shop, a foundry and a small grist-mill, and 
later went into the sash and door business, 
continuing in all lines named. They were very 
prosperous until the entire plant and stock was 
destroyed by fire m August, 1894. While at 
Reed City, they did 100,000 feet of lumber- 
planing daily. The fire left the firm practi- 
cally helpless, and not having sufficient re- 
sources to rebuild, Thomas H. Peacock came 
to Grand Rapids, where, in 1883, he pur- 
chased his father's interest in the planing-mills 
and lumber business while his father continued 
in the foundry and machine shop. On the 
first of January, 1896, the subject assumed 
charge of his present duties, and now has 
general control of the machinery, elevators, 
etc., at the Masonic temple. 

The family of Thomas H. Peacock com- 
prised two brothers and one sister, the eldest 
being Joseph, a machinist now working at 
Avon, N. Y. He was a soldier in company 
H, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New York 
infantry, during the Civil war. The other 
brother, Isaac, Jr., was a member of the 
Fourteenth United States infantry, and was 
killed near City Point, Va. The sister is 
Sarah, wife of Frank Jessupp. a machinist and 
millwright at Brockport, N. Y. 

Mr. Peacock had very limited educational 
advantages and is practically self-educated in 
the school of business. .'\t the age of seven- 
teen, on September 6, 1864, he enlisted in 
company K, Second New York cavalry, and 
was promoted sergeant soon after, drawing 



218 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



pay as such from the date of his enlistment. 
He served with the army of the Potomac, 
under Gen. Custer, as brigade commander, 
and P. H. Sheridan as commander-in-chief. 
He participated in all the general engagements 
of the cavalry forces, and was with Sheridan 
at the final capitulation at Appomatto.x. He 
also took part in the famous battle of Cedar 
Creek with "Sheridan twenty miles away," 
and was mustered out of service at Alexandria, 
\'a., in June, 1865. Then followed the ex- 
perience in the business above mentioned. 

-Mr. Peacock was united in marriage Oc- 
tober 19, 18S2, at Hastings, Mich., to Miss 
Eugenia J. Cole, a native of Waterloo, N. Y.,. 
and a daughter of John and Jane Cole, also 
natives of New York; she accompanied her 
parents to Hastings, Mich., in her childhood, 
and was there educated. Two children have 
blessed this union, viz; Thomas I., aged 
seventeen, and a student in the high school, 
and Florence May, a little miss of thirteen 
years, also in school. 

Mr. Peacock is prominently identified with 
the leading fraternal orders; was past post 
commander of Steadman post. No. 198, G. 
A. R., at Reed City, and is now a member of 
Custer post, at (irand Rapids, of which he is 
senior vice-commander; is a charter member 
in Reed City lodge. No. 363, F. and A. M. ; 
Reed City chapter. No. 112, R. A. M. ; Reed 
City lodge, No. 316, I. O. O. F., of which he 
is a past grand, and Fitz James loJge, No. 
95, K. of P., at Alma, Mich. He has been 
very active in all society work, serving in 
various official capacities. He was D. D. G. 
M. of the I. O. O. F. , organized a number of 
lodges, and also was an organizer of G. A. R. 
posts. He has always beeii a public-spirited 
citizen, active and energetic in every good 
work. 

Mr. Peacock has always been a stalwart 
republican, as were also his father and 



brothers. He has held various official posi- 
tions in Reed City and elsewhere, and re- 
ceives a pension by reason of frozen limbs and 
general disability, incurred in January, 1864. 
His business and social relations have brought 
him into contact with a large circle of ac- 
quaintances, and among them he has many 
warm friends. His success is most creditable, 
resulting from well-directed and honorable 
efforts, and he well deserves his prosperity and 
the regard in which he is held. 




AI5BI GUSTAVE N. HAUSMANN, 
Grand Rapids. — In the sufjject of this 
biography we have one of the most 
distinguished men of Michigan, who 
has attained to distinction in his chosen work 
by acting as an earnest and discriminating 
student. "Earn thy reward; the gods give 
nothing to sloth," said the Sage Epicharmus, 
and the truth of the admonition has been ver- 
ified in all human affairs, in all the ages which 
have rolled their course since his day, and es- 
pecially in the subject to whose life-history we 
now direct attention. 

Rabbi Gustave N. Hausmann, of the Tem- 
ple Emanuel, Grand Rapids, Mich. , was born in 
Rzeszow, Austro-Hungary, in 1869, a son of 
Naphtali and Rose Hausmann, but when 
three years of age lost his father, a very schol- 
arly gentleman, and a direct descendant of 
the Spanish and Portuguese Iraelites who were 
expelled from those countries during the inqui- 
sition of 1492. Of the Hausmann family, how- 
ever, in later years, there were several very 
eminent rabbis. 

The early education of Rabbi Gustave N. 
Hausmann was acquired in the Austrian 
gymnasium (high school) at Rzeszow, and he 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



221 



next attended the rabbinicial seminary at Press- 
burg, Hungary, the most famous of its kind in 
the empire, and there received his diploma as 
rabbi. At the age of twenty-one years he 
came to America, landed at Boston, Mass., 
and remained in that city three months, pre- 
paring for entrance into Harvard university, 
but lack of means thwarted his laudable desire. 
He then went to New York city and at that 
place attended several educational institutions 
in order to prepare himself for the American 
pulpit. In 1894 he went to Chicago, where 
he attended the Athenaeum college for several 
years, also engaged in some university e.xten- 
sion work. After finishing his preparatory 
studies for the American pulpit. Prof. Rabbi 
Emil J. Hirsch, who had been his preceptor. 



i gave him the following certificate: 



•Rabbi 



G. N. Hausmann is well qualified to fill most 
of our pulpits." Rev. Dr. B. Falsental, one 
of the most famous Herbraic scholars in Amer- 
ica, has fully endorsed this certificate, and has 
beside, paid Rabbi Hausmann many personal 
compliment on his attainments. Rabbi Haus- 
mann next spent one year in traxel through 
the states in order to study American manners 
and customs, and on June i, 1897, was called 
to the charge of Temple Emanuel, where he 
hassince remained performing his sacred duties 
in a most satisfactory manner. 

The Rabbi is a member of the Pastors' 
union of Grand Rapids and is the first Hebrew 
priest admitted to this society. Through his 
influence, the closing session of the liberal 
mass meeting, held under the auspices of Uni- 
versalists. Unitarians, Liberals and Jews, took 
place at the Temple Emanuel in 1898. Since 
the beginning of his residence here. Rabbi 
Hausmann has had several honors bestowed 
upon him by the governor of the state and 
the mayor of the city, to-wit: He was ap- 
pointed chaplain of the state senate at the 
■extra session held in the spring of 1898; was 



appointed by Gov. Pingree a delegate to the 
meeting of the National society of Correction 
and Charities, held in New York city in the 
same year, and was appointed a member of 
the executive committee organized for the 
purpose of welcoming the Thirty-second regi- 
ment, Michigan volunteers, on their return 
from the Hispano-American war for the liber- 
ation of Cuba. 

At the close of the Jewish holiday, the day 
of atonement, September 30, 1898, Rabbi 
Hausmann was presented by his congregation 
with a very fine gold watch and chain and a 
purse of money, in appreciation of his valua- 
ble services at the temple and as a mark of 
their personal esteem; the watch bears the in- 
scription: " From the members of the con- 
gregation of Temple Emanuel to their min- 
ister. Rabbi Gustave N. Hausmann." 

Rabbi Hausmann opened the house of rep- 
resentatives at Washington, with prayer, Feb- 
ruary 28, 1899, being the youngest minister 
that ever officiated in the United States con- 
gress. On the 20th of April, in the same 
year, he opened the house of representatives of 
Michigan, both pra^'ers having been widely 
published, from which extracts are here in- 
serted: 

Father of All the World 1 Thou whoguid- 
est, formest and shapest the destinies of or- 
ganizations, societies and nations, we pray to 
Thee to lead us in the right path. We are 
aware that Thou, O God, hast conferred upon 
the American nation the most glorious mission 
to teach the world the needed lesson of free 
government, but we also know of the responsi- 
bilities which are involved in this privilege. 
We implore Thee, therefore, to inspire us with 
that noble patriotism that we may never shirk 
our post and shrink from our duties. Bless, 
O God, the representatives of this state. Help 
us, O God, that the barriers and walls of the 
various sects and denominations which divide 
the American people may speedily pass away 
and be destroyed, so that whenever the ques- 



ooo 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



tion of patriotism confronts us that each and 
every American citizen may say with Daniel 
Webster, the great apostle of free government, 
"Thank God that I, too, am an American." 
Amen. * * -" We humbly and meekly 
pray to Thee," .=aid the rabbi, "to bless these 
representatives in this present crisis of the gov- 
ernment's history with thy divine wisdom to 
legislate for the welfare of the country. Even 
as we have seen thy guiding hand in the first 
epoch in the history of our government, when 
the Father of the Republic, in his wisdom, 
gave liberty to his countrymen, and again, in 
the second epoch, when the irnmortal martyred 
president gave liberty to all who were born 
under the protection of the Hag, so to-day we 
see Thy guiding hand in the third epoch in our 
history, when our government gave liberty even 
to those who were beyond our boundary lines. 

Bless, O God, the speaker of the house. 
Especially we prayerfully beseech Thee to 
bless the president of the United States with 
Thy divine wisdom while he guides the ship of 
state in these stormy days of our histor}'. We 
pray all ihis because we love our country, be- 
cause we love liberty, because we love human- 
ity. Amen!" 

On April 25, 1899, the evening session of 
the Woman's Suffrage society was begun with 
prayer by Rabbi Hausmann, who also wrote 
an article entitled " Women and theTalmud," 
which was well received by the public. By 
an invitation from Mayor Perry he became one 
of the speakers at John Ball park, where, on 
on park day, the most prominent orators of 
the city were participants. 

The congregation of Rabbi Gustave N. 'I 
Hausmann consists of thirty families, founded 
by Julius and Joseph Hausmann. He is the 
owner of property \'alued at $15,000, with 
good location and well cared for. He has been 
an ardent and earnest worker for the church 
and well deserves the eminent position which 
he has attained through his piety and devotion i 
to duties. Benevolent in his nature, he is ' 
consequently gentle in his demeanor, and has 
won the heartfelt love of his congregation, not 



only through his amiability but through his- 
profundity in knowledge and eloquence in the 
pulpit. 




H.ARLES HOERTZ, general contrac- 
tor and builder, with his residence 
at Xo. 1 87 West Bridge street, 
Grand Rapids, Mich., was born in 
New York city, April 11, 1852, is descended 
from hardy German ancestry, has combined 
German frugality with American ingenuity in 
his mentality, and has made a success of life. 
Michael and Barbara (Schmultz) Hoertz, 
parents of Charles Hoertz, natives of Witten- 
berg, Germany, came to the new world in 
early life and for about twelve j'ears resided in 
New York city, where several of their children 
were born and where the father worked at his 
trade of cabinetmaker, but later removed to 
Cleveland, Ohio, where he and several mem- 
bers of his family resided many 3'ears. 

Charles Hoertz acquired a fair education 
in the schools of New York and Cleveland, 
and at the age of fifteen years began an ap- 
prenticeship at the cabinetmaker's trade; two 
years later he entered into carpentering and 
building, and these he has embraced as his 
life-work, being naturally a mechanic and fa- 
miliar from youthhood with the use of tools. 
He began contracting in early manhood in 
Cle\eland, followed it successfully until 1S85, 
and then secured a contract to construct a 
pail" factory at Midland, Mich., where he 
passed a year, and then came to Grand Rap- 
ids and at once became identified with its 
building interests. He has erected a large 
number of fine buildings in this city, among 
which may be mentioned the Kennedy and 
Hannish blocks, the Leonard refrigerator fac- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



228 



tory, the Everett residence and other elegant 
mansions; but his construction work has not 
been confined to Grand Rapids, as he has 
built a fine hotel at Ottawa Beach, and a 
swimming-pool at Charlevoix, a railway sta- 
tion at Bay \'iew, and is now constructing the 
United States life-saving station at Charlevoix 
and a depot for the G. R. & I. railway at La 
Grange, Ind. ■ His pay roll numbers at present 
thirty-eight names, and he never has less than 
twenty-five. In selecting his assistants, he 
considers mechanical skill rather than the 
wages to be paid, and is thus able to turn out 
the most satisfactory results. 

The private residence of Mr. Hoertz is " a 
thing of beauty and a joy forever." It oc- 
cupies a ground space of 3S.\50 feet and is two 
stories high, and the style of architecture is 
combined Gothic and Corinthian. The base- 
ment is eight feet in the clear, and is of stone, 
cut and coursed above ground; the first story 
is of sand brick — an imitation of stcjne — and 
the second story and attic are finished in hand- 
some wood-designs. At the front entrance 
are Corinthian columns in rubble work, care- 
fully selected and harmonized as to color, giv- 
ing an idea of solidity combined with beauty. 
The dwelling is richly and tastefully furnished, 
its walls adorned with costly paintings, and an 
air of home comfort and conjugal happiness 
pervades the whole. The material and finish- 
ing of this model home cost .$5,200. 

The summer residence of Mr. Hoertz is at 
Ottawa Beach, is constructed of wood, is 
36.\8 5 ground plan, has hardwood floors, is 
finished in pine, stained cherry color, and cost 
$3,000. Besides these properties Mr. Hoertz 
has several residences in Grand Rapids, which 
net him handsome rentals. It may be added, 
incidental!}-, that his possessions are wholly 
the result of his own efforts. 

Mr. Hoertz selected for his life-companion 
Miss Elzabeth, daughter of William and Bar- 



bara (Schaffer) Hummell, born in Cleveland, 
Ohio, September 8, 1S54, to whom he was 
married December 24, 1876. 

William Hummell was a native of Heidel- 
berg. Germany. He was a designer and builder 
of more than local reputation, and, among 
buildings of note, designed and erected the 
Architectural school at Heidelberg. His wife 
was born in Munheim. Germany, and the two 
families came to America in 1848. William 
and Barbara were married in Cleveland, and 
the result of their union was two sons and 
three daughters, viz: Mrs. Hoertz, Henry, 
George, Mrs. Katie Borone and Mrs. Lizzie 
Ellenbash, all residing in Cleveland, with the 
exception of Mrs. Hoertz — George, who is 
unmarried, still living with his mother. Dur- 
ing the Civil war Mr. Hummell was connected 
with the bridge constructing branch of the 
army, contracted disease while in the service, 
and died from its effects at the age of forty- 
nine years. His widow is well known and 
highly respected in Cleveland, and is in quite 
comfortable circumstances. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Hoertz has 
been blessed with one son and one daughter, 
who are the especial care of their loving and 
indulgent parents, and who fully reciprocate 
in their exemplary lives. The elder child, 
William C , is a graduate of the city high 
school and of the Grand Rapids Business col- 
lege, and also a graduate in civil engineering, 
which he intends to follow as his life profes- 
sion. The heart of the mother overflows with 
gratitude that her only son abstains from the 
use of liquors and narcotics, as well as the evil 
influences of dissolute companions. The 
younger child, Miss Elsie B., is a student in 
the city high school, has already attained an 
enviable standing with her classmates as a 
musician, and her parents contemplate for her 
a trip abroad, for instruction under some o£ 
the famous musicians of Europe. 



•22i 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Mr. Hoertz stands very hiRh in the Masonic 
fraternity, having attained the thirty-second 
degree. He was made a Mason in Grand Rap- 
ids, holds membership in Valley City lodge. 
No. 86, F. & A. M. ; Grand Rapids chapter, 
No. 7, R. A. M. ; Tyre council. No. 10, 
R. & S. M., and De Molai commandery, No. 5, 
K. T., and also belongs to Saladin temple. An- 
cient Arabic order, Nobles of the Mystic shrine. 
He and wife are members of Peninsula chapter, 
No. 33, O. E S., and Mr. Hoertz is also as- 
sociated with a number of the fraternal in- 
surance societies. 

Previous to 1896 Mr. Hoertz was demo- 
cratic in his political views, but allied himself 
with the part}' of sound money and protection 
at the last presidential election. \^'hile not 
fully in sympathy with the national admmis- 
tration on some of the history-making features 
of the present day, he is nevertheless a repub- 
lican, but leaves the affairs of state to those 
competent to deal with them and disposed to 
their manipulation. The familj' are Unitarians 
in their religious proclivities and none more 
highly esteemed in the city of Grand Rapids. 




EUBEX HATCH.— Among the men 
whom New England has furnished to 
the great northwest is Judge Reuben 
Hatch, who was born October 11, 
1847. m the town of Alstead, N. H. His an- 
cestors came to America from England in 
1630 and settled in Massachusetts, where the 
township of Falmouth, in Barnstable county, 
is now situated. His father, also named Reu- 
ben, was a learned and able divine of the 
Congregational church, and during a long and 
useful life ministered to congregations in \\"in- 
■dom, Vt., York, Ohio, Union City, Mich., 
and other places. 



The elder Hatch was married December 
16, 1846, in Hudson, Ohio, to Miss Elmira 
Rilbourne, a native of Hudson, and by her 
had a family of si.x children, namely: Reu- 
ben, whose name introduces this article; Ju- 
lia, who died at the age of three years; Azel, 
a talented young man of ripe scholarship, 
who prepared for the ministry, and who, at 
the time of his death, in 1889, had charge of 
an institution for the education of colored peo- 
ple at Lexington, Ky., maintained by the 
American Missionary association; Edward 
died when but twelve years old; Jennie at 
the age of two, and Mina while but an infant. 
The mother of these children, a lady of cult- 
ure and refinement, was called from the earth 
life in August, 1858. Subsequently Mr. 
Hatch was united in marriage at York, Ohio, 
to Miss Marion J. Pierce, who has borne him 
the following children: Wirilield P. , of Ober- 
lin, Ohio; Arthur, a stenographer of Grand 
Rapids, Mich. ; Leonard, who holds a posi- 
tion in the statistical department of the state 
of New York; and Walter, who is still under 
the paternal roof. Mr. Hatch has reached 
the ripe old age of eighty-five years and makes 
his home in Oberlin, Ohio, where he and his 
estimable wife are widely and favorably known. 
He has ahva3'S taken a deep and active inter- 
est in the cause of higher education, and was 
one of the leading spirits and founders of Oli- 
vet college, Michigan, and also assisted in 
planting a similar institution at Benzonia, this 
state. He was, for some years, a member of 
the prudential committee of Oberlin college, 
and, notwithstanding his advanced age, still 
takes an active interest in religious and educa- 
tional work in the town where he resides. 

Reuben Hatch, |r. , the leading facts of 
whose life are here set forth, attended the 
schools in the different towns where his father 
held pastorates, and also received instruction 
in the higher branches of learning und^r his 



/ % 





AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



227 



father's immediate tutelage. After receiving 
a liberal literary training, he began reading 
law at the age of twenty in Traverse City, 
Mich., and on the I2th day of May, 1870, was. 
admitted to the bar. He practiced his pro- 
fession at Traverse City until 1875, and such 
was his success that in that year he was elected 
judge of the Thirteenth judicial circuit, enter- 
ing upon the duties of the position in January, 
1876. He continued on the benchfor a pe- 
riod of si.\ years, and, after retiring therefrom, 
resumed the practice at Traverse City until 
1888, at which time he removed to Grand 
Rapids, where he has since conducted a large 
and lucrative practice in the state and federal 
courts. For a limited period, Judge Hatch 
was associated with Hon. Harry D. Jewell, 
and later effected a co-partnership with Hugh 
E. Wilson, with whom he has since practiced. 

The professional career of fudge Hatch been 
highly creditable, and he occupies a conspicu- 
ous place among the leading attorneys in a city 
noted for the high order of its legal talent. As 
a lawyer, he is well grounded in the principles 
of his profession and the high character he has 
attained as a practitioner is attested by the 
large volume of business which has come to 
him since locating in Grand Rapids. For a 
number of years he was a leading spirit of the 
Traverse City bar, where he maintained a lu- 
crative practice, being generally engaged in 
the prosecution or defense of cases requiring 
the highest order of legal talent, and not in- 
frequently were his services retained in impor- 
tant litigation in courts remote from his place 
of residence. 

The honorable distinction acquired at the 
bar was not dimmed by his judicial experience. 
He acquired a high reputation for soundness 
in the knowledge of law, and for the clearness 
of his rulings. But few of his decisions ever 
met with reversal at the hands of the supreme 
court of Michigan. One of these cases was 



later carried to the supreme court of the 
United States, where the decision of the state 
supreme court was reversed and Judge Hatch's 
decision affirmed. He presided with dignity, 
and his impartiality in dispensing justice made 
him popular with both lawyers and litigants. 

The judge possesses a vigorous personality 
and commanding presence and impresses all 
with whom he comes in contact as a typical 
representative of symmetrically developed 
manhood — one of the best products physically 
and mentally of American soil and American 
institutions. 

With all his eminent ability as a lawyer 
and judge, Mr. Hatch is entirely without 
ostentation, and to the humblest of his fellow- 
citizens he is easily accessible. Profound as a 
jurist and popular with his fellow-men in the 
private walks of life, it may be truly said of 
him that he is indeed one of the notable men 
of his adopted city. He was married in 
Traverse City, August 28, 1872, to Mrs. 
Esther H. Sprague Day, and resides in a hos- 
pitable home at No. 81 Sheldon street. 
Politically he is a republican, and in religion 
an attendant of the Congregational church, to 
which his wife belongs. 




ILBUR FORCE, whose music par- 
lors are at Julius A. J. Friedrich's 
music store, Nos. 30 and 32 Canal 
street, is a talented violinist, teacher 
and orchestral director. He is a native of 
Grand Rapids, born March 31, 1859, and is 
well known as a musician in this and neighbor- 
ing cities. 

.^t the early age of six years his violin- 
playing astonished his parents and friends, 
and gave promise of an artistic career, which 



■228 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



has since been more than verified. His first 
teacher was Carl Zoberbier, then a young 
man just from the conservatory at Leipsig, 
and a most excellent teacher. This was fol- 
lowed by instruction from Ivarl Henning, a tal- 
ented Vienna violinist, whose life was cut 
short in the midst of a brilliant career. Mr. 
Force employed the ne.xt two years of his life 
as director of a traveling musical company, 
during which time he traveled extensively 
throughout the United States and Canada, 
aquiring valuable experience as an orchestral 
conductor; later he passed a year in Cincin- 
nati, under the greatest of German masters, 
Henri Schradieck, who was so highly im- 
pressed by the talent and skill of Wilbur Force, 
that he used every endeavor to induce him to 
remain in Cincinnati as first violin in the Phil- 
harmonic orchestra but Mr. Force declined. 
Since then Mr. Force has been actively en- 
gaged as a director and teacher in Grand Rap- 
ids. As a teacher he possesses the highest 
qualifications of patience, perseverance and 
accuracy. Upon the student with whom he 
comes in contact his highly sensitive and 
artistic temperament exercises the greatest 
influence. At the present time Mr. Force has 
over forty pupils on the violin, a nutuber of 
them coming from ne'ghboring cities to receive 
his instruction. He was instructor (violin) 
in the West Michigan Conservatory of Music 
for several years, and a number of his former 
pupils are now holding professional positions 
in colleges of music and as conductors of or- 
chestras. He is an honorary member of the 
Schubert club of this city and has appeared 
with them in a number of their concerts. 

In 1SS5 Mr. Force married Miss Sara L. 
Jones, of Detroit, Mich., and two boys have 
been born to them: Wilbur G. , twelve years 
old, and Clayton I., aged nine. 

Mrs. Force is a fine performer upon the 
piano, and formerly taught this instrument. 



but since her marriage has ceased giving in- 
structions. The}- reside in a pleasant home 
at No. 283 North Ionia street, and are happily 
surrounded by a large circle of sincere friends. 
Mr. Force's parents are still living at Rock- 
ford, Mich , his father, Britton Force, being a 
prosperous farmer of that place. 




HARLES A. WATT, attorney at law 
and justice of the peace, is a New 
Englander, born on the 28th day of 
May, 1858, in the town of Pittsfield, 
Mass. He is the eldest of the six children born 
to William and Jane (Churchill) Watt, also 
natives of the above-named town and state. Mr. 
Watt remained under the parental roof until 
his sixteenth year, and attended meanwhile 
the common schools, where he mastered the 
elementary branches and also made commend- 
able progress in the higher grades of learning, 
fitting himself for the teacher's profession. At 
the age of twenty years he began to teach in 
the public schools of his native state and fol- 
lowed the profession for three years, devoting 
his leisure time to the study of law. In the 
spring of 18S2 Mr. Watt came to Grand Rap- 
ids and short!}' thereafter entered the law of- 
fice of Hon. Peter Doran, under whose able in- 
struction he continued three years, and 
was then duly admitted to practice in the 
courts of Kent county. During the interim 
between his admission to the bar and the year 
1890 he assisted Mr. Doran in the transaction 
of that gentleman's large legal business, and 
then for a limited period filled the unexpired 
term of Hon. Frank Rogers as assistant prose- 
cuting attorney of the county of Kent. Retir- 
ing from the position, Mr. Watt devoted his 
attention to the general practice of his profes- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



2-29 



sion until 1S95, when he was elected justice of 
the peace for Grand Rapids — an office of much 
responsibility, requiring of the incumbent go jd 
legal abilit}' and clear judgment. Upon tak- 
ing said office he was appointed assistant judge 
of the police court, which office he still holds. 
Since his election Mr. Watt has paid close at- 
tention to the duties of the positions he so ablj' 
fills and in addition thereto also practices in 
tHe municipal and county courts, where his 
ability has won him a conspicuous place. As 
a public offi ial he is honest and impartial in the 
adjudication of matters referred to him for 
decision, and as an attornej' is well qualified 
for legal practice both by natural adaptation 
and comprehensive reading, and he has a well 
established business. 

On the 3d day of June, 1885, in Grand 
Rapids was solemnized the marriage of Mr. 
Watt to Miss Mary E. O'Donnel, a member of 
one of the city's prominent Catholic families 
and a lady quite popular in church and social 
circles. He is a republican ia his political be- 
lief, and as such was elected to the office he 
now fills. Fraternally he belongs to lodge No. 
48, B. P. O. E., and Lily lodge. No. 110, K. P. 




ORACE J. WATERS, well known as 
a retail dealer in wood and coal at 
Grand Rapids, with office and yard 
at No. 180 Taylor street, is the eldest 
of the three children born to Oliver and 
Louise J. (Spalding) Waters, the two others 
being named Lewis J. and Mamie — the latter 
the wife of George McMullen — and all resi- 
dents of Grand Rapids. 

Horace J. Waters was born in Grand 
Rapids June 7, 1S68, w^as educated in the 
common schools primarily, and then attended 
the Michigan Military academy at Orchard 
Lake. His first employment was in a barrel 



factory in which his futher held an interest, 
and of which subject became foreman of the 
yards and lumber inspector, and filled the 
place four years, and then engaged in his 
present business on his own account. His 
present yards (the second site he has occupied) 
are situated very favorably for his purpose, 
having advantages possessed by none other. 
At this point the railroad runs on an elevated 
grade above the jards, thus rendering the un- 
loading of wood and coal into the various 
receptacles a very easy task. Mr. Waters is 
full of enterprise and energy and is very oblig- 
ing in his disposition and genial in manner, is 
of inflexible integrity, and thus commands the 
confidence of his patrons. He is favored with 
a large share of the trade done in his line, 
and the future evidently has in store for him 
an increased volume of business. In May, 
1899, he purchased the feed-store at No. 210 
East Bridge street, where he also has a 
branch office of his Ta3-lor street co.hI and 
wood establishment. 

Mr. \\'ater3 was joined in matrimony in 
Grand Rapids, in 1891, with Miss Maud E. 
Ouackenbush, daughter of Reynard Ouacken- 
bush, but he was bereft of his companion 
March 2Q, 1896, who le't him one child — 
Oliver R. — to cheer his home. This lad is 
now a school-boy. February 8, 1899, Mr. 
Waters, married Adga L. Hemple, of Grand 
Rapids, and a daughter of John F. Hemple.- 
This lady is highly accomplished, and was 
educated in Grand Rapids. 

In politics Mr. W'aters is independent and 
votes for the man of his mdividual choice, 
rather than for the nominee of any particular 
party. In religion he was rearej in the Bap- 
tist faith, yet he is not a member of any con- 
gregation, although he attends divine services 
punctually with this denoaiination. Frater- 
nally, he is a Knight of Pythias, and a member 
of the orders of Foresters and of the Modern 



230 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



\\'oodmen of America. Being a native-born 
citizen of Grand Rapids, he has hosts of 
acquaintances, and his happy disposition has 
made for him many warm friends. 




;.IVER S. WATERS (deceased), for- 
merly one of the leading business men 
and manufacturers of Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in Erie county, N. 
Y. , December 4, 1845, a son of Asa and Annie 
(Dudley) Waters, the former a life-long farmer. 
Oliver S. Waters received a sound prac- 
tical education in youth, and was reared on 
his father's farm. In 1866 he came to Grand 
Rapids at the solicitation of his brothers, 
Daniel H. and Elijah D. , at that time pro- 
prietors of a bo.\ factory, and remained with 
them until the plant was sold. In 1870 he 
assisted in organizing the Michigan Barrel 
company, of which his brother, Daniel H., 
was the first president, and of which Oliver S. 
Waters was the general manager for si.xteen 
years. He was then elected its presiJent, 
which office he filled until too close attention 
to business broke down his health and led to 
his resignation in 1894. 

Mr. Waters was united in marriage with 
Miss Louise J. Spaulding, a nati\'e of Erie 
county, N. Y., and this union was blessed with 
three children, viz: Horace ]., whose life- 
sketch appears on another page of this work; 
Mary L., wife of George McMulJen, and 
Lewis D., now attending school. 

Near the close of the Civil war Mr. Waters 
was appointed as second sergeant of com- 
pany F, Si.xty-seventh New York volunteer in- 
fantry, and started at once to participate in 
the struggle, but before reaching the scene of 
the conflict the news of Lee's surrender came 
and the necessity for Mr. Waters' services ended. 



Oliver S. Waters, the pioneer box-maker 
and cooper, was called to rest March 22, 1898. 
He was one of the most energetic and enter- 
prising manufacturers of Grand Rapids, was 
e.xtremely popular, was of a generous disposi- 
tion and a tender husband and loving and 
indulgent father. He acquired a competency 
by his business tact and ability, albeit he 
labored hard and was fully entitled to all he 
possessed. Some twelve years ago he pur- 
chased the pretty residence at No. 28 North 
Prospect street, where his bereaved widow 
still resides with her unmarried children, 
honored and respected by all who ha\e the 
pleasure of being acquainted with her. 

Politically, Mr. Waters was a republican, 
and in religion was an attendant of the Bapist 
church; fraternally he was a member of the 
Chosen Friends, and few men have been more 
sincerely mourned than Oliver S. Waters. 



R.\NK E. HODGES, alderman from 
the Eleventh ward. Grand Rapids, and 
popular proprietor of a livery barn at 
No. 610 South Division street, was 
born in \'ergennes township, Kent county, 
Mich., January 5, 1S57, a son of Sylvester and 
Martha (Gould) Hodges, natives of the state of 
New York. Sylvester Hodges was a farmer 
and came to Michigan, a pioneer, in 1836. 
On his father's farm Frank E. was reared un- 
til twenty-five years of age, bi-it in the mean- 
time dro\e stage from Lowell to Greenville, 
and on other routes. In 1883 he came to 
Grand Rapids and engaged in the livery busi- 
ness and at once became a favorite. On the 
i6tH day of November, 1881, he married Miss 
Frank Matthews, a native of Kent county, and 
this union has been crowned with two children 
— Oneta and Floyd J. — and he now resides in 
domestic felicity at No. 617 Madison a\'enue. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



■2-61 



In politics Frank E. Hodges has always 
been a sound democrat and has been univer- 
sally popular with his party as well as with the 
voting population generally, and this statement 
is well attested by the fact that he was elected 
alderman in April, 1898, by a majority of 343, 
and was the first democrat ever elected from 
the Eleventh ward, and has since ably served 
as a member of the committees on streets and 
health. Fraternally he has been a Knight of 
Pythias for nine years and a member of Equity 
lodge, I. O. O. F., for three years, and is also 
a member of the Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
ica and the Ivnights and Ladies of Security. 

His livery barn is one of the best equipped 
in Grand Rapids, and his pleasant manners 
and square and liberal treatment of his patrons 
have made him a prime favorite with all who 
have dealings in his line. 

Sylvester Hodges, father of Frank E.,\vas 
born in Jefferson county, N. Y. , and was a son 
of Amos and Content (Lucas) Hodges, natives 
of Vermont and of English descent. He was 
reared a farmer, and, as has been stated, came 
to Michigan in 1836, and became a member of 
the Knockdown society, which was that year 
organized in Vergennes for the protection of 
actual settlers from the nefarious acts of land- 
sharks. He was the first settler in Vergennes, 
and filed a claim for a tract of 160 acres in 
the wilderness under the homestead laws, and 
, finally received his title-deed with the signa- 
ture of John Tyler attached, as president of 
the United States. He underwent many hard- 
ships at the outset, made his household furni- 
ture himself for the most part, and it, like his 
farming implements, was necessarily of a prim- 
itive, character. But he worked manfully, and 
finally succeeded in wresting from the forest a 
profitable farm and in establishing, with the 
march of time, a com'fortable and even an ele- 
gant home. 

Sylvester Hodges married, in 1836, Miss 
12 



Martha Gould, a native of Tompkins county, 
N. Y., and of the seven children born to this 
union, Frank E., the subject of this sketch, is 
the youngest, the others being Henrietta, Har- 
riet, James L. , Chester D., Oren S. and Fred- 
erick L. Mrs. Martha Hodges had learned to 
be a tailoress in New York, and on coming to 
Michigan was for many years the only person 
of her calling between \^ergennes and Grand 
Rapids; her services were in request by all 
classes, even among the Indians. In the earli- 
est days she spun, wove and made all the fam- 
ily clothing, and spun the first flax on Flat 
river, the lint being purchased by the Robin- 
son family. In those days, too, grist had to 
be carried to Ionia, Grandville or Kalamazoo, 
to be ground, and there were but two stores in 
Grand Rapids — those kept by Louis Campau 
and a Mr. Watson. The family were all reared 
in the Baptist faith, and were ever ranked 
among the most respectable residents of Kent 
county. 




ON. CHARLES HOLDEN, fire in- 
surance and real estate and loan agent, 
at No. 69 Pearl street. Grand Rapids, 
is a of native Grand Rapids, was born 
February 7, 1 860, and is the eldest of the three 
children that have resulted from the marriage 
of E. G. D. and Melissa E. (Smith) Holden, 
his brother, Henry S., being secretary and 
treasurer of the Grand Rapids Carved Molding 
company, and his sister Mary H., being the 
wife of Judge Willis B. Perkins, of the circuit 
court of Kent county. E. G. D. Holden, a 
native of Ohio, came to Kent county, Mich., 
in the 'fifties, located in Grand Rapids in 1858, 
and established the agency which his son, 
Hon. Charles Holden, still successfully con- 
ducts. In i860 he began the study of law, 



232 



THE CITY OF, GRAND RAPIDS 



was admitted to the bar, and served as pros- 
ecuting attorney in 1861 and 1862. He be- 
canie actively interested in politics and one of 
the most ardent workers in the republican 
party, became chairman of the republican 
county committee, and also a member of the 
republican state central committee. In the fall 
■of 1S74, he was elecied secretary of state, as- 
sumed the duties of the office in January, i S75, 
was re-elected in 1876, and closed his second 
term in December, 1879. At each election he 
carried the full vote of his party, having the 
largest majority of any candidate on the state 
ticket. In May, 1896, he retired from active 
business and now resides at Florence, Ore. 

Hon. Charles Holden received a sound 
■education in the common and high schools of 
■Grand Rapids, and from early boyhood has 
been self-sustaining. Though having a good 
home and indulgent parents, he also possessed 
■a self-reliant spirit, and early earned his 
pocket-money by selling papers and doing odd 
jobs, and when but fifteen years old was ap- 
pointed a messenger in the state department 
at Lansing. This ultimately led to his ap- 
pointment to a clerkship, which he retained 
eight years, when he resigned, in 1883, to ac- 
cept the secretaryship of the committee on 
state affairs and appropriations and finance 
jointly in the stale senate. Following this, he 
returned to Grand Rapids and studied law for 
a year, and then took an e.xtended vacation 
and traveled for a year all through the United 
States, e.xcepting the southeast portion. On 
his return he resumed the study of the law, 
but lack of funds caused him to relinquish this 
study for the time being, and he accepted a 
position with the firm of Eaton & Lyon, the 
largest book concern in western Michigan. 
Later, better financial inducements were of- 
fered him by the Grand Rapids board of trade, 
with which he became identified. At the same 
time, he had charge of the Lyon collecting 



agency for Grand Rapids, then doing the 
largest business in its line in the northwest. 
He was also a correspondent of the .\merican 
Cabinetmaker, a trade journal published in 
Boston. Again he studied law for a short time, 
but was induced to accept the agency of a 
large wholesale grocery concern in Chicago, 
which agency he held in western Michigan 
until offered a better one, of a similar charac- 
ter, bj' a firm in Covington, Ky. For this firm 
he had charge of all their trade in the states 
of Michigan, Indiana and Ohio, and with it he 
remained until he became a partner in busi- 
ness with his father and brother, under the 
firm name and style of E. G. D. Holden & 
Sons. Three or four years later the brother's 
interest was purchased by the father and his 
son Charles, and in 1S96 the latter succeeded 
to the entire business. 

Mr. Holden has always taken an active 
interest in politics and has been an influential 
factor in the councils of the republican party. 
In 1894 he received the nomination for repre- 
sentative from the First district, and was tri- 
umphantly elected at the general election, as- 
sumed the duties of office in January, 1895, 
and served one term of two years. He was 
greatly interested in the measure for the abo- 
lition of capital punishment, which measure 
he opposed bitterly, and the press at the time 
made verj' complimentary mention of his 
speeches on the bill, attributing to his elo- 
quence and persistent work, the fact that the 
bill was killed. This was really the most im- 
portant measure that was brought before the 
house that session. Since the expiration of 
his legislative office, Mr. Holden has declined 
further political honors, although he has kept 
in close touch with the leaders of his party. 

Fraternall}', he is prominently identified 
with the popular young men's order — the 
Knights of Pythias. He is a charter member 
of Imperial lodge, No. 154, of Grand Rapids, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



233 



and he also organized and equipped uniform 
rank division, No. 57, of whicfi he was first 
lieutenant; subsequently he was appointed to 
the rank of major on the staff of Brig. -Gen. 
Hastings, by Maj.-Gen. Carnahan, who has 
stojdat the head of the "rank" for many 
years. 

Since 1SS3 Mr. Holden has been a mem- 
ber of and active worker in the First Univer- 
salist church of Grand Rapids, and at various 
times has held the of^ce of church trustee, 
assistant superintendent and superintendent 
of the Sunday-school. 

Since his retirement from political life, he 
has devoted his time and attention almost e.\- 
clusively to his present business, which has in- 
creased with the passing years and has pros- 
pered greatlv under his fostering care. He 
has been strictly upright in all his transactions, 
and no blemish or stain has ever marred his 
good name. July 10, 1899, he married Miss 
Marie Sprague, daughter of E. W. Sprague, of 
Jamestown, N. Y. 



^ 



ON. BIRNEY HOYT, e.\-circuit judge 
and attorney at law, Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born at Sinclairville, 
Chautauqua county, N. Y., October 
13, 1 84 1. His parents moved to Farmington, 
Oakland county, Mich., in 1845, and seven 
years afterward to Detroit, where their son 
attended the old Capital and other schools. 
In 1855 he attended Castleton (Vt.) seminary 
and spent two terms ( 1856-57) at Birmingham 
academy, in Oakland county. In 1857 his 
father located in Grand Rapids, one-half mile 
south of the fair grounds, where he still resides. 
Judge Hoyt attended the high school at 
Grand Rapids until 1S60, when he entered 



upon the study of law, which he pursued two 
years in the office of Steven G. Champlin, 
Holmes & Champlin and C. C. Rood. At 
the age of twenty years, in 1862, he enlisted 
in company A, Si.xth Michigan cavalry, and 
ser\ed until the termination of the war under 
Gen. George A. Custer. He was proinoted to 
first sergeant, first lieutenant and captain, 
and successively commanded a company, a 
squadron and a regimental battalion. He was 
permanently disabled at Liberty Mills, Va., 
September 22, 1863, by a shot through the 
left shoulder, was captured and sent a pris- 
oner to Libby prison at Richmond, Va. Being 
paroled after a short time, he was sent to the 
United States hospital at Annapolis, where 
he remained eight mouths. He participated 
in the following battles with his regiment: 
Hanover, Hunterstown, the third day of Get- 
tysburg, Monterey, Smithburg, Williamsport, 
Boonsboro, Hagerstown, Falling Water, Ash- 
by's Gap, Newby's Crossroads, Front Royal, 
Culpeper Court House, Somerville Fort, Madi- 
son Court House, Liberty Mills, in \'irginia, 
in 1863. In 1864, Deep Bottoms, Front 
Royal, Shepherdstovvn, Smithfield, Winches- 
ter, Luray, Millford, Port Republic, Wood- 
stock Races and Cedar Creek, Va.. In 1865, 
Dinwiddle Court House, Five Forks, Sailor 
Creek, Battle of the Ridge, and Appomato.x 
Court House. 

The regiment was mustered out in June, 
1865, and Judge Hoyt resumed the study of 
law in the winter following at Ann Arbor, be- 
ing admitted to the bar in June, 1866. He 
remained in practice until 1871, being a part 
of the time associated with Col. George Gray. 
He was city recorder and held the recorder's 
court four years, from May i, 1867. 

In 1 87 1, on the creation of the Seventh- 
teenth judicial circuit, he was elected circuit 
judge, entered upon the duties of that office 
May I, 1 87 1, and was re-elected in the spring 



234 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



of 1875 for the term of six years. His nomi- 
nation by the republican judiciary convention 
was by acclamation. Since 1881 he has been 
engaged in the practice of his profession in 
Grand Rapids. 




I:NRY HUBER, proprietor of Huber's 
Summer Garden, Reed's Lake, the 
leading resort of the kind in this part 
of the state, is a German, born on the 
24th day of December, 1S41, in Adelsheim, 
Baden. Until fourteen years of age he at- 
tended the schools of his native town and 
then began learning the furrier's trade, which 
he has followed for a livelihood in both Ger- 
many and the United States. 

Thinking to better his condition in a 
country which offered better opportunities for 
young men than his own, Mr. Huber in 1865 
came to the United States, landing in March 
of that year in New York, in which city he 
followed his vocation until 1869. In the 
spring of the latter year he established him- 
self in the furrier business in Detroit, Mich., 
and there remained with fair success until he 
removed in 1874 to Grand Rapids, where he 
again began working at his trade. He was 
thus occupied until 1881, doing a prosperous 
business during that time, but in the latter 
year opened a restaurant on Pearl street, 
known as the Chicago Exchange, a venture 
which proved satisfactory in a financial sense. 
Subsequently Mr. Huber moved his business 
to the corner of Lyon and Kent streets, where 
he soon had a liberal patronage. He con- 
ducted the restaurant very profitably until 
18S9, in May of which year he purchased a 
tract of land at Reed's Lake, a short distance 
east of Grand Rapids, and erected thereon the 
large pavilion which he has since occupied. 



This structure stands in the midst of a beauti- 
ful grove, and is one of the most attractive 
features of this most popular of all Grand 
Rapids' summer resorts. 

Mr. Huber is a gentleman of scholarly 
tastes and has given much time to the study 
of ancient and modern ornaments and imple- 
ments of war among all nations of the world. 
Thirty years ago he began collecting, not only 
arms but ancient relics and curiosities of his- 
toric and general scientific value; and his large 
collection, which is always open to the inspec- 
tion of the public, represents an expenditure 
of several thousand dollars in money and ex- 
tensive travel throughout the United States 
and parts of Europe. In 1895 he spent sever- 
al months in the old world, and while there 
secured some very rare and valuable additions 
to his collection. 

The collection is the largest owned by any 
individual in the city, and one of the largest 
in the state, and Mr. Huber certainly deserves 
great credit for getting together so many rare 
and interesting articles in this wide field of 
research. 

Mr. Huber spent several years in the mili- 
tary service of his native country, and during 
i860 and i86i was a drillmaster in the Ger- 
man arm}'. Shortly after reaching the United 
States he accepted the position of instructor 
in gymnasiums in Boston, Detroit and Grand 
Rapids, and also taught 'military tactics and 
general athletics in those and other institu- 
tions of similar character in Michigan and else- 
where. 

Mr. Huber was married in Grand Rapids, 
December 29, 1885, to Miss Clara Martini. 
They have an interesting family of four chil- 
dren, as follows: Elsie, aged fourteen; Hen- 
ry, aged twelve; Fritz, ten years old, and 
Clara, who has reached the age of eight years. 

Mr. and Mrs. Huber are popular with the 
large number of people who daily resort to 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



23") 



the lake for recreation and rest, and, as al- 
ready stated, have done their part in making 
the place attractive. They have many friends 
in the city and have mastered the art of enter- 
tainment to a very satisfactory degree. 



HOMAS S. HUDSON, D. D. S., with 
rooms Nos. 72 and Jl, in "The Gil- 
bert," Grand Rapids, Mich., is a na- 
iwQ. of Cleveland, Ohio, was born 
April 19, 1867, and is a son of Asa and Nancy 
■( Hendershott) Hudson, also natives of Cleve- 
land and the parents of eleven children, viz: 
Kallon, Herbert, Robert Anderson, Vila, 
Thomas S., Clarence, Howard, Chauncey, 
Delphia, Gertrude and Florence, all of whom 
have reached maturity, and with the excep- 
tion of subject, reside in Cleveland. Of the 
sons, Herbert and Howard are also dentists; 
Chauncey and Robert are physicians, and of 
the daughters one is married. 

The Hudson family is of English origin 
and was established in New England prior to 
the Revolutionary war, in which Elias Hudson, 
great-grandfather of the doctor, served gallantly 
as a colonel of New England troops; the 
grandfather of the doctor served in the war of 
1812, and the father in the war for the sup- 
pression of the Rebellion. 

Asa Hudson, father of the doctor, was in 
his earlier years a contractor and builder, but 
is now living in retirement with his wife on a 
farm near Cleveland. At the opening of the 
Civil war he enlisted at Grand Rapids, Mich., 
in the First regiment, Michigan engineers and 
mechanics, served faithfully until the close, 
and was honorably discharged with the rank 
■of first sergeant, after which he returned to 
his old home at Cleveland. 



Dr. Thomas S. Hudson was preliminarily 
educated in the public schools of his native 
city, and later graduated from the high school 
at Chardon, Ohio. He received his profes- 
sional education under the tutorship of several 
practical dentists of eminence and at a dental 
college. In 1891 he came to Grand Rapids, 
where he has risen to distinction in his pro- 
fession and has been favored with a lucrative 
patronage up to the present time. 

Dr. Hudson was united in marriage at Char- 
don, Ohio, in 1886, with Miss Sallie Hastings, 
a native of Chardon, where she was educated, 
and a daughter of Edwin Hastings, a merchant, 
but now deceased. To the doctor and wife 
have been born four children — Burleigh, Ken- 
neth, Clare and Amy — ranging from two to 
eleven years of age. The doctor and his fam- 
ily affiliate with the Church of Christ, and 
fraternally the doctor is a member of several 
insurance societies. In politics he is inde- 
pendent, but is of republican proclivities, and 
individually he is held in the highest esteem 
by his fellow-professionals as well as by soci- 
ety at large. 




OHANXES HOOGERHYDE, the well- 
known wood and coal dealer, with his 
residence and office at No. 373 Turner 
street, Grand Rapids, was born in Hol- 
land, May I, 1842. His parents were not at 
all wealthy, and the only schooling he received 
was one winter's term when a small boy.. He 
was reared mainly to farm work, and when 
twenty years of age came to the United States 
with his parents, who are now deceased. 

On arriving in America the Hoogerhyde 
family came directly to Michigan, and here 
the subject found employment on a farm — 
about the only labor with which he was at all 



2S6 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



acquainted. Six or seven months later he 
secured a place in a planing-mill, made him- 
self very useful and retained the position seven 
and a half years. He was ne.xt employed in a 
lumber yard for ten jears, then went back to 
the mill, but in the meantime worked for 
awhile in a furniture factory — all this time 
learning something of men and business ways. 

About eight )'ears ago, Air. Hoogerhyde 
started for himself in the wood business, soon 
afterward adding coal to his stock in trade. 
He has built up a good traffic, has done his 
own hauling and delivering, and has been a 
very busy man, but the result has been very 
gratifying. On June 14, 1867, he married 
Miss Delia Ball, a native of Holland, and to 
this union has been born twelve children, viz: 
Jennie, wife of Cornelius Gondzwaard, of 
Grand Rapids, and the mother of three 
children — Krenie, John and Nellie; Cornelia, 
deceased; David, in Grand Rapids; Cornelia, 
deceased; Martin and Cornelius, in Grand 
Rapids; Cornelia, deceased; John, Cornelia 
and James, deceased; James and Maria. 

In politics Mr. Hoogerhyde is a republican, 
and his religious tendencies are toward the 
Holland Reformed church, which he attends, 
but of which, however, he is not a member. 



,m 



IMEON HUNT, late register of deeds 
:ind abstracter of titles at Grand 
Rapids, Mich., was born in \'ermont 
July 7, 1S21, a son of Ormond and 
Adelia (No3'es) Hunt, who were pioneers of 
Michigan, having come to the state in 1836, 
and for two years having resided in Kalamazoo. 
The father was a farmer, and leaving Kalama- 
zoo bought land in Lowell township, Kent 
county, and in the adjoining county of Ionia, 



and aided in clearing up the country and in 
pioneer farming the remainder of his life. 

Simeon Hunt was reared on his parents' 
farm, but his opportunities for a school educa- 
tion were somewhat limited at that early day 
yet he was able to attend, for a short time, a 
common school across the line in Ionia county, 
and being a close observer and a diligent 
reader, he qualified himself lor teaching, and 
in the fall of 1844 taught school one term at 
Grand Rapids. He then returned to the farm, 
which he assisted in cultivating the ten years 
following and then went to Lowell, where he 
engaged in general merchadizing until 1872, 
when he was elected register of deeds and re- 
moved to Grand Rapids. He was re-elected 
to the office at the close of his first term, and 
while filling this position formulated a set of 
abstracts books, and later engaged in the 
abstract and insurance business, under the firm 
name of Hunt & Davis. This was for a time 
the only set of abstract books in the county and 
was the source of a considerable income. .\t 
the death of Mr. Hunt, which took place De- 
cember 4, 1 889, the abstract branch of the busi- 
ness was disposed of to one of the clerks, and 
the insurance branch to another. 

Mr. Hunt was married in Michigan to Miss 
Ruby Train, a daughter of Sylvester and 
Lucinda (W'illard) Train, the former a native 
of Massachusetts and the latter of \'ermont, 
but who came as pioneers to Michigan in 1840. 
The union of Mr. and Mrs. Hunt was graced 
with three children, viz: Agnes, John F. , and 
Louis E. — all now deceased. Louis E. was 
in business with his fathfer, but died November 
3, 1889, leaving a widow and one child — Anna 
Isabel — who now make their home with Mrs. 
Ruby Hunt, at her pleasant dwelling on Paris 
avenue. 

In politics Simeon Hunt was a life-long 
republican, and as a rule was active in every 
campaign in his support of his party. He was 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



237 



a member of the board of supervisors when he 
came from Lowell to Grand Rapids in 1S72, 
but though active in local politics in this city 
never sought further public office. He was 
patriotic, genial and strictly honorable, and ' 
passed away respected by all who knew him. ; 
His widow, a most estimable lady, is now 
passing her declining years in the house pur- 
chased by her deceased husband in the spring 
of 1S74 on Paris avenue, and is greatly 
honored by the entire community of Grand 
Rapids, with whom she has passed a quarter 
of a century. 




RANCIS W. HUNTER, an accom- 
plished lawyer and the private secre- 
tary of Mayor Perry, of Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., was born in the city of 
New York June 3, 18 58, the only child of 
John H. and Jenny (DeVere) Hunter. 

John H. Hunter was also born in New 
York city and was of English-Scotch descent. 
He was a man of means, and married Miss 
DeVere in his native city. He was a member 
of the famous Seventh regiment, N. Y. N. G. 
— the crack regiment of the city and composed 
entirely of gentlemen in the higher walks of 
life. Miss Jenny DeVere, also a native of 
New York, traced her descent to France far- 
ther back than the days of the Huguenots, and 
is now a resident of Bridgeport, Conn., being 
the wife of William A. Day, of that city. 

Francis W. Hunter attended the public 
schools of New York until fourteen years of 
age, then passed two years in the Peekskill 
(N. Y.) Military academy; he ne.\t passed 
three years at Cornell universit}', and then one 
year in the Agricultural college at Lansing, 
ISlich., from which he was graduated with the 
degree of B. A., and was admitted to the bar 



of Lansing in 1878. He at once began prac- 
tice in that city, and at the same time acted 
as private secretary to Judge Cooley until 
1880, when he went to Pratt county, Kans. , 
passed one summer, and then returned tc^ 
Michigan and engaged in the lumber trade at 
Cedar Springs, Kent county. In consequence 
of a disastrous conflagration, Mr. Hunter 
abandoned this business in 1888 and came to 
Grand Rapids, where he has since been en- 
gaged most successfully in the practice of the 
law. From 1892 until 1896 he was assistant 
prosecuting attorney under Alfred Wolcott, 
and since then has practiced alone. October 
10, 1898, Mr. Hunter was appointed private 
secretary to Mayor Perry. The office was 
created this year^ and. consequently, Mr. Hun- 
ter is the first incumbent. 

The marriage of Mr. Hunter took place it> 
Lansing, Mich., January 20, 1879, to Miss 
Emma A. Johnson, a native of that city and a 
daughter of William and Lucy A. (Nichols) 
Johnson, of a very old and respectable family 
of pioneers. One child. Fay, has come to 
brighten the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hunter, 
and she is now a bright little miss of fourteen 
years. Mr. Hunter is a member of New York 
lodge, F. & A. M., of New York city, and as 
a Knight of Pythias is P. C. of Eureka lodge. 
No. 2, at Grand Rapids. The family are 
great favorites in social circles and are uni- 
versally respected. 



RED B. HUNTER, the gentleman 
whose brief biography is herewith 
presented, has been a resident of the 
city of Grand Rapids for more than 
twent}' years, and has become widely and favor- 
ably known throughout the city and county by 



238 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



reason of his personal contact with so many 
people in the discharge of his official duties. 

Mr. Hunter comes from the historical old 
•city of Norfoli<, Va.., where his birth occurred 
on the iith day of November, 1868. His 
father, who had been a member of the Elev- 
'enth Pennsylvania ca\alry throughout the war 
of the Rebellion, had, at the close of the war, 
brought his family south, and had been as- 
signed to duty at the Portsmouth navy yard, 
where he remained for several years, until fail- 
ing health brought him back north to Illinois, 
"where his death occurred in 1878. 

The mother, whose maiden name was Kate 
Randall, resides with her son in this citj'. 

Fred B. Hunter received his educational 
training in the schools of Grand Rapids, of 
which city he became a resident in 187S. He 
fitted himself for a commercial career by com- 
pleting a full course in a business college, and 
after receiving a certificate of graduation, 
accepted a clerkship with a mercantile firm, 
continuing in that capacity for different houses 
until 18S9. In that year he became substitute 
inail carrier for the Grand Rapids post-office, 
and within a short time was promoted to a 
clerical position inside, the duties of which he 
discharged until made assistant superintendent 
of the city delivery. By reason of great 
efficiency displayed in the positions mentioned, 
Mr. Hunter, .in October, 1898, was promoted 
to the superintendency of city delivery, a place 
of much responsibility, and he has since at- 
tended to the duties connected therewith in a 
manner creditable to himself and satisfactory 
to the department. Mr. Hunter's several pro- 
motions followed in quick succession and show 
him thoroughly honest and withal popular 
with the public, who have ever found him to 
be a painstaking and courteous official. He 
was married in this city in August, 1889, to 
Miss Minnie Smith, who was born on the 31st 
day of July, 1870, in Canada. This union has 



been blessed by the birth of one child, a son, 
Leo Hunter. 

Mr. Hunter for some time has been a 
member of the Letter Carriers' band of Grand 
Rapids, an organization of much more than 
local repute. He is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, belonging to Blue lodge. No. 34, 
and chapter No. 7 of this city, beside which he 
is a member of the Royal Arcanum. A repub- 
lican in his political affiliations and having the 
courage of his convictions in all questions of 
public moment, he is not a partisan or aspirant 
for official honors. The home of Mr. and 
Mrs. Hunter is at No. 818 Garden street, and 
there he meets his many friends and associates 
with a hospitality liberal in its dispensation 
and genuine in all the term implies. 




ri3GE HARRY DIMICK JEWELL. 
Grand Rapids, Mich. Among the 
members of the Kent county bar who 
have achieved more than local repute 
is the gentleman for whom this sketch is 
prepared. 

Judge Jewell is a native of Illinois and a 
son of Oliver P. and Hannah (Dimick) Jewell. 
Oliver P. Jewell was a descendant of an old 
Connecticut family, and the ancestry is trace- 
able in a direct line to the first settlers of 
Massachusetts, who came over in the May- 
flower in 1620. He was a farmer in early life. 
Later he became editor of the Seneca Count}' 
Sentinel, published at Ovid, N. Y., which he 
conducted during the early part of the war of 
the Rebellion. After removing to the state of 
Michigan he was for some time employed on 
the Grand Rapids Eagle, and was also con- 
nected at various times with several of the 
leading papers of Chicago. 

Upon coming to this state Oliver P. Jewell 



lif&^A 




AND KENT COUXTY, UP TO DATE. 



241 



located on a farm near Cedar Springs, Kent 
county, where he resided until within a few 
years of his death. His latter years were de- 
voted to journalism, ill health occasioned by 
the breaking of a limb having rendered more 
active life impossible. His death occurred on 
the 20th day of April, 1898. His widow still 
makes her home in Grand Rapids. Oliver P. 
and Hannah Jewell were the parents of two 
children — Marshall H., editor of the Bismarck 
(N. D.) Daily Tribune and state printer of 
North Dakota, and Harry D. , the subject of 
this sketch. By a previous marriage with 
Mary C. Strong, Mr. Jewell had one child, 
named Charles E. Jewell, a manufacturer in 
Auburn, N. Y. 

In many respects Mr. Jewell was more 
than an ordinary man. He acquired a thor- 
ough education, and was a man of unusual 
energy and perseverance. His natural ability 
was quickly recognized and appreciated wher- 
ever he displayed his talent. It is a fact 
worthy of note that he was one of the founders 
of the first typographical union in New York 
city. He was supervisor of the township of 
Solon, Kent county, Mich., for a time, and 
otherwise bore an active part in the material 
advancement of the community. 

Harry Dimick Jewell was born in Wheaton, 
111., March 5, 1869. He received his primary 
•education in Cedar Springs, where he pursued 
his studies until his seventeenth year, grad- 
uating from the high school of that town. 
His vacations and other spare time he spent 
upon the farm which, on account of his father's 
ill-health, he was obliged to assist in the man- 
agement of at an early age. During the suc- 
ceeding three years he read law in the office 
of D. C. Lyie, of Cedar Springs. In 1889 he 
entered the university of Michigan, from which 
he was graduated with the degree of LL. B. 
in 1S91. He also took a post-graduate course 
and received the degree of LL. M. in 1892. 



During the last two years in the university he 
was assistant law librarian, and was also for 
one year assistant to the Marshall Professor 
of Law, appointed as such by the board of 
regents of the university. It will thus be seen 
that he laid broad and deep a solid literary 
and professional foundation. He began the 
practice of his profession in partnership with 
Judge Reuben Hatch, of Grand Rapids — a 
firm which continued until January, 1893. In 
that year Mr. Jewell was appointed register of 
probate for Kent county, discharging the duties 
of that position until elected to the higher and 
more responsible office of judge of probate, in 
1896. He entered upon the fulfillment of the 
duties of the latter office January i, 1897, and 
his career as judge has been creditable to 
himself and highly satisfactory to the public in 
general. His adinission to the bar of the 
Michigan supreme court dates from June, 1891. 
and he was admitted to practice before the 
United States supreme court in October, 1894. 

Judge Jewell was one of the founders and 
first editors of the U. of M. Daily, the first 
college daily published in the west. He was 
also for several years editor of the Michigan 
Law Journal, and as such displayed much 
ability as a writer. He has also been a con- 
tributor to the American and English Encyclo- 
pedia of Law, and to various journals and other 
periodicals, professional and literary. He was 
one of the organizers of the American Repub- 
lican College league, and also assisted in found- 
ing the Young Men's Republican club of Grand 
Rapids, of which he served as president three 
consecutive terms. 

As a lawyer Judge Jewell, from the begin- 
ning of his professional career, has exhibited a 
high order of talent, especially in that he has 
aimed to acquire a critical knowledge of the 
law, coupled with the ability to present and 
successfully maintain the soundness of his opin- 
ions. As judge, he has been able and impar- 



242 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



tial, and those having business to transact in 
his office have ever found him a courteous and 
high-minded gentleman. Since his elevation 
to the bench he has become an active member 
of the Michigan Probate Judges' association. 
Of that body he is secretary of the committee 
to draft a code of rules to provide for uniform 
practice in the probate courts of the state, and 
made the original draft of the rules finally 
adopted by the supreme court. 

Judge Jewell is a thirty-second degree Ma- 
son, holds the office of past chancellor in the 
Pythian fraternity, and also belongs to the 
Woodmen, the Maccabees and the Knights of 
Honor. He is president of the Fountain Bath 
Brush company, and is otherwise identified 
with public and private enterprises having for 
their object the promotion of the general wel- 
fare of the people. 

Judge Jewell was united in marriage at 
Churdan, Iowa, August 8, 1894, to Miss Eu- 
phemia Smith, daughter of the Rev. J. Mal- 
com Smith, of that city. 




OHNSOX Z. HUSBAND, D. D. S., 
located in the Porter block. Grand 
I-lapids, Mich., is a native of TorontOi 
Canada, was born April 24, 1858, and 
is a son of George and Elizabeth (.Aiken) 
Husband. 

George Husband is a native of Ireland, was 
reared a saddler, and in that country married 
Miss Aiken, a native of England, to which 
marriage have been born nine children, viz: 
Levi, Hugh, George, Robert, Johnson Z. 
(subject), Walter, Ellen, Mary and Susie. 
These names, however, are not classed in the 
order of birth, as Dr. Johnson Z. is next in 
age to the youngest, and of the nine three are 
deceased, viz: Levi, who was a bookkeeper 



bj' profession and died in Michigan at the age 
of forty-eight years; George died at the age of 
twenty-one years in Canada, and Walter, 
quite recently, at the age of thirty-eight years, 
in Buffalo, N. Y., where he had been em- 
ploj-ed as a clerk. The parents now reside in 
Hagersville. Canada. 

Johnson Z. Husband received his element- 
ary education at \'ienna, Canada, and there 
graduated from the high school. His profes- 
sional education was acquired at the Phila- 
delphia Dental college, where he completed a 
three-year course of study in iSSi. He be- 
gan practice in Wisconsin, but, health failing 
him, he returned to Philadelphia, where he 
passed three years, and then returned to his 
parental home in Toronto, and for three 
years or so was engaged in the commission 
business. He then came to Michigan, and for 
about eight years engaged in the active prac- 
tice of his profession at White Cloud, but 
while there lost his office furniture, library, 
books of account and household goods by a 
conflagration. In 1895 he came to Grand 
Rapids and again commenced at the bottom 
of the ladder, establishing his present office, 
and succeeded in building up a very satis- 
factory practice. 

The marriage of Dr. Husband took place 
in Hamilton. Ontario, September 5, 1884, to 
to Miss Lida A. Harris, who was born near 
Hamilton. Three children came to crown 
this marriage — Winifred, Russell and Mar- 
guerite — but the son was called away at the 
age of eighteen months. 

Dr. Husband is a member of the Modern 
\\'oodmen of America, and he and wife are 
members of the Park Congregational church 
congregation, in the esteem of which they 
hold an exalted position, as in that of the 
general public. In politics the doctor is a re- 
publican, though he is not at all aggressively 
partisan. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



243^^ 






ROF. JOHNR. HUNZICKER, A. M., 

principal of the North Ionia street 
school at Grand Rapids, Mich., was 
born in Watertown, Jefferson county. 
Wis., Februar}' 6, 1S67, the second of the 
family of five children born to John and I\ath- 
erine (Vingar) Hunzicker, natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. John Hunzicker was born in Reading, 
was there married in 1852, and wiih his wife 
emigrated to Watertown, Wis., where he was 
engaged in contracting until 1892, when he re- 
moved to Detroit, Mich., where he and wife 
still reside. The remaining four children, be- 
side the professor, born to this venerated 
couple, were named, in order of birth, Will- 
iam, who has passed away; Marj', wife of 
Charles Asam, of Detroit; Lizzie, still with 
her parents, and Walter, a rattan worker, also 
living in Detroit. 

Prof. John R. Hunzicker was educated 
primarily in the public schools of Watertown, 
\\'is. , and then attended Wartburg college, at 
Waverly, Iowa, for the purpose of perfecting 
himself in the German language, of the teach- 
ing of which he has since made a specialty. 
After graduating from Wartburg college. Prof. 
Hunzicker taught, at Detroit, a German-.Amer- 
ican school founded by himself and Prof. P. 
H. Haber, but at the expiration of two years' 
time this school, from lack of proper financial 
support, was transferred to the church of the 
Holy Cross. Prof. Hunzicker then went to 
Saginaw, Mich., as principal of the Fifteenth 
ward school, of which he had charge for eleven 
years, and then, in September, 1S9S, came to 
Grand Rapids to assume the duties of his pres- 
ent very responsible position. 

The marriage of Prof. Hunzicker was sol- 
emnized in Detroit, .April 7, 1889, with Miss 
Anna Virgin, who was born in Port Huron, 
Mich. , a daughter of John Virgin, a well- 
known contractor and builder, and this mar- 
riage has been blessed with three children. 



viz: -Alfred, now (December, 1899) aged 
eight years; Leah, aged five years, and Dor- 
othy, still an infant. 

Fraternally, Prof. Hunzicker is a member 
of Joppa chapter. No. 63, F. & \. M., at Sag- 
inaw, Mich. He is recognized as an educator 
of extraordinary merit, and he has the satisfac- 
tion of knowing that, since the age of seven 
years, when he was placed at school among 
entire strangers, he has paid his way for his 
education, even through college, without any 
extraneous pecuniary assistance. He and 
wife enjoy the esteem of the best circles in 
Grand Rapids, and well deserve it. 




EFFERSON D. J.\CKSON, D. D. S., 
of Grand Rapids, is a native of Shia- 
wassee county, was born on the 28th 
day of May, 1862, and is a son of Rich- 
ard and Jane E. (Rowe) Jackson, who were 
respectively born in the states of New York 
and Connecticut, and were married in Michi- 
gan in 1S49. 

Richard Jackson was originally a wagon- 
maker by trade, and on setthng in Michigan 
became a farmer. He and wife both died in 
Shiawassee county in the same year — 1889 — 
he on the 12th day of January, at the age of 
seventy-six years, and she on the 31st day of 
August, aged sixty-seven. They were the par- 
ents of seven children, viz: Sarah, wife of Jef- 
erson Kent, a farmer near Bancroft; Mrs. Alice 
Beardsley, of Bennington; Alfred, a farmer; 
Hattie, wife of William Cook, nearOwosso, all 
in Shiawsasee county; Dr. E. K., a dentist of 
Grand Rapids; Louise, living with her sister, 
Mrs. Cook, and Dr. Jefferson D., the subject 
of this sketch. 

Jefferson D. Jackson was educated at the 



244 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Fremont high school and was reared a farmer. 
He began the study of dentistrj- with his 
brother, Dr. E. R., and commenced practice in 
1879, was registered in 1882, and after 
practicing four years at Bancroft, in his na- 
tive county, went to Lansing, where he fol- 
lowed his profession one year, and then came 
to Grand Rapids, but after remaining here two 
weeks only, was recalled to Bancroft, owing to 
his father's illness, and there remained in 
practice again for three years, meeting with 
abundant success. 

In 1890, the doctor settled in Grand Rap- 
ids permanently, and worked for his brother 
one year, but was then taken ill and tempo- 
rarily returned to his Shiawassee home, where 
he remained from April until August. On 
coming back to Grand Rapids he opened his 
present neat dental parlors in the Widdicum 
block, and has here, since then, been favored 
with an unvarying prosperity in the practice of 
his profession, in which he stands admittedly 
in the foremost rank. 

Dr. Jackson was united in marriage, at 
Grand Rapids, September 25, 1892, with Dora 
Adell Young, a native of Grand Junction, 
Mich., and a daughter of \\'illiam Young, and 
this union has been crowned by the birth of one 
daughter, Mildred Beatrice, who was born 
January 27, 1896. Mr. and Mrs. Jack- 
son stand quite high in the social circles of the 
city, and well deserve the regard in which they 
are universally held. 



EORGE KINNEY JOHNSON, M. D. 
— Grand Rapids has had her full share 
of skillful and honorable physicians, 
and amongst them no one, perhaps, 
holds a more secure place than the gentleman 
whose name opens this paragraph. He is one 



of the oldest physicians in the western part 
of Michigan, and may be classed among the 
pioneer medical men of the state, as he has 
been in active practice since the early part of 
the summer of 1846, and from the beginning 
his career has been uninterruptedly successful, 
but of this success more may be told in a 
concise narrati\e of his life, given in the same 
form and manner as those adopted thoughout 
this work. 

George Kinney Johnson, M. D., was born 
in Cayuga county, N. Y., January 17. 1822. 
He came to Michigan in 1826 with his father, 
who settled in the township of Brighton. Liv- 
ingston county. There and in that vicinity 
the embrjo phjsician spent three or four years, 
helping his father to make a farm and a home. 
The country was new and wild, and almost 
without a settlement, but he regards that ex- 
perience of pioneer life and of the incidents 
of earl}' settlement as wholesome. School 
advantages were scant}' or absent, but he read 
with avidity such books as fell in his way. At 
eighteen years of age he resolved to secure an 
education, but the difficulties wene great. 
There were no schools in the vicinity, but at 
Ann Arbor, twent}--two miles away, an old- 
fashioned academy, known as the McNiel 
academy, had its existence. This he attended 
two or three years, and was at that school 
when the corner-stone of the Michigan uni- 
versity was laid. During that time, as well 
as while pursuing professional studies after- 
ward, he eked out his scanty means by leach- 
ing school when the exigency demanded. 

At the age of twenty-one }ears he entered 
the office of the late Dr. Ira Bingham, at 
Brighton, and began the study of medicine. 
Dr. Bingham was a brusque old bachelor, but 
was a well instructed and successful practition- 
er, and took great pains with and interest in 
the }oung men he admitted to his office. 

In March, 1S46, Dr. Johnson received his 





t^^-tn^^ 



AXD KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



247 



degree in medicine from the Cleveland Med- 
ical college (medical department of the West- 
ern Reserve university), and in June following 
he established himself in Pontiac, this state, 
and began his professional work. Here for- 
tune favored him, and he soon found himself 
sufficiently occupied. In a fewyears his prac- 
tice ranged over large portions of Oakland 
county; but at length his health broke under 
excessive labor. In 1852 or 1853 he removed 
to Detroit and undertook light practice, but 
his health did not return, and began to look as 
if it would not. In 1856, being unable to do 
the work of his profession, he came to this city 
in charge of the interests of the Detroit & Mil- 
waukee railroad, then in course of construction, 
and in which some of his friends were largely 
concerned. In 1857 he spent several months 
in England, partly in pursuit of health and 
partly in the interest of the road referred to 
above. In the spring of 1859 he was elected, 
as a democrat, mayor of Grand Rapids, and 
served one term, but declined to be again a 
candidate. In the autumn of i860, havinsr 
regained sufficient health, he resumed his 
profession. 

In 1 86 1 the great war drew him into its 
vortex. He became surgeon of the First 
Michigan cavalry and went with it to the field. 
He served with it during the e.xciting cam- 
paign of Gen. Banks in the valley of the 
Shenandoah, in the early months of 1862; 
later in the same season he served as medical 
director of a brigade of cavalry, commanded 
by Gen. John Buford, in the very stirring but 
unfortunate campaign of Gen. Pope. He 
was at second Bull Run, and had the grief to 
see his friend Col. Brodhead, the commander 
of his regiment, yield up his life. In February, 
1S63, congress created a corps of medical 
inspectors of the army, with increased rank. 
It consisted of eight inspectors, four of whom 
were to be taken from the regular service and 



four from the volunteer service. Dr. John- 
son was commissioned as one of the four from 
the latter, was at once assigned to duty with 
the army of the Potomac, and was in this 
service during the campaigns of 1863. He 
was present at the battles of Chancellorsville 
and Gettysburg, as well as at some minor 
affairs. From the end of 1863 to the first 
of October, 1865, he was medical inspector 
of the Middle military department. As such 
it was his duty, a responsible and laborious 
one, to inspect the field and general hospitals 
of that large department, extending from Phil- 
adelphia to New Berne, N. C. 

In November, 1865, after a military serv- 
ice of four years and four months, Dr. John- 
son returned to his home in this city, at once 
resumed his profession, and from that time to 
the present has been in full and laborious 
practice. He has been an active member of 
the various medical societies of the city, has 
long been and still is a member of the State 
Medical society, and was president of that 
society in 1879. He has frequently contrib- 
uted papers and addresses to the proceed- 
ings of that society. He is a member of the 
American Medical association, also of the 
National association of Railway Surgeons, and 
is surgeon-in-chief of the Grand Rapids & 
Indiana R. R., chief surgeon of the Chicago 
& West Michigan, and the Detroit, Lansing & 
Northern. By reason of his army service he 
holds membership in the society of the army 
of the Potomac and in the order of the Loyal 
Legion of America. Dr. Johnson was ap- 
pointed pension examining surgeon of Grand 
Rapids shortly after the war, and was the 
only surgeon on that service in this city for 
several years, until the Grand Rapids board 
was organized, after which he served as presi- 
dent of the board a number of years. He is 
also chief of staff and consulting surgeon to 
Butterworth hospital. 



248 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



In 1847. Dr. Johnson was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Adeline M. Stewart, a native 
of Ithaca, N. Y. , and this marriage has been 
blessed with two children — George Stewart, 
president and general manager of the Grand 
Rapids Consolidated Street Railroad company, 
and Mary A., widow of George T. Kendall 
and now residing with her parents. 

The doctor adhered to the democratic 
party until 1896, when he declined to support 
Bryan and free silver and allied himself with 
the gold democracy. 




OHN GEORGE JACKSON, the gentle- 
man to whom these lines are devoted, 
is the genial and popular proprietor of 
the fine tonsorial parlor at No. 43 
Pearl street, Grand Rapids — an establishment 
which, in the elegance of its appointments and 
artistic character of work done, is second te 
no other of the kind in the cit\'. Mr. Jackson 
has had a varied life, and unlike the majority 
has made every e.xperience redound to his in- 
terest. He was born in Ontario, Canada, May 
17, 1861, and" is a son of Thomas and Marj' 
(Davidson) Jackson. The father was a railroad 
contractor in both Canada and the United 
States, and a man of good intellect and gener- 
ous impulses, and financially successful in all 
his undertakings. He died in August, 1861. 
His wife survived him many years, dying in 
1895. They reared a family of four children, 
whose names are as follows: Hannah, Mary, 
George and John G., of whom all are living 
but George. 

John G. Jackson was brought by his parents 
to DansviUe, Ingham county, Mich., when 
three months old, and there he lived the greater 
part of the time until his eighteenth year, at- 
tending meanwhile the public schools and 



working as occasions permitted at the barber's 
trade. When but twelve years old he began 
barbering, .soon displaying decided ability as 
an operator, and was trusted with a chair 
when so small that a box was necessary upon 
which to stand in order to bring him on a level 
with the customers. He received the greater 
part of his practical instruction in the town of 
Roscommon, Mich., where he first began the 
trade in 1873, and one year later located at 
Pinconning, where he remained about nine 
months. Some time thereafter Mr. Jackson 
purchased a farm in the county of Otsego. 
For one year he tried his hand at agricultural 
pursuits, when he let go of the plow and again 
resumed barbering, locating at the town of 
Gaylord, where he continued for a period of 
three years, removing at the end of that time 
to Manchester, where he carried on a shop 
with much more than ordinary success for two 
years. 

Mr. Jackson's next move was to Grand 
Rapids, where he located in 1886. He oper- 
ated his first parlors in this city until 1887, at 
which time he established himself in his pres- 
ent quarters on Pearl street, v\ here he is now 
the proprietor of the finest and most con- 
venient parlor in the city. He has spared no 
pains or expense on his establishment, and 
employs only the most skilled workmen, nine 
of whom are constantly employed in order to 
wait upon the numerous customers who daily 
visit the place. There is connected with the 
parlor elegantly appointed bath rooms, seven 
in number, and the establishment throughout 
is furnished with the latest and most conven- 
ient modern appliances. The success with 
which Mr. Jackson has met is well deserved, 
and the extensive patronage of his parlors is a 
credit not only to the skill displayed in the 
line of work there done, but to his genial 
nature and popular standing among the people 
as well. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



249 



Mr. Jackson is married and has a family of 
two children, Pearl and Florence. His wife, 
to whom he was united December 25, 1882, 
was Miss Cordie M. Berch, a native of the 
town of Brighton, Mich., where her birth oc- 
curred on the 15th day of May, 1865. Mr. 
and Mrs. Jackson have a beautiful home at 
No. 365 Broadway, which they own, and are 
there surrounded by many of the conveniences 
and lu.\uries of life. In addition to his home, 
Mr. Jackson owns other valuable real estate in 
various parts of the city and state. 

In addition to his regular calling Mr. Jack- 
'son is much interested in the culture of fruits 
and vegetables, and he has also been identified 
with the drug trade and several other lines of 
business since locating in Grand Rapids.' He 
is a member of \'alley City lodge, F. & A. M., 
of Grand Rapids — also belongs to the I. O. O. 
F., Ro3'al Arcanum and Maccabees frater- 
nities. In politics he is a republican. 



BURTON JACQUES, M. D., physio- 
medico physician, room No. 320 
W'iddicomb block, Grand Rapids, is 
a representative of one of the early 
pioneer families of Michigan, being the daugh- 
ter of Lewis F. and Jane C. (Clarke) Burton 
— the former of whom enjoys the distinction 
of being the first white male child bora in the 
township (now the city) of Grand Rapids. 

Lewis F. Burton was born August 4, 1834, 
at a point now on South Division street. (Bur- 
ton avenue, one of the handsome resident 
streets of the city, is laid out across the old 
Burton farm, and was named in honor of his 
uncle, Barney Burton.) Mr. Burton has 
passed nearly all his life in this city, but is 
now residing on a farm in Ada township, with 



his wife, who was born in Ypsilanti, Mich. 
The Burton family is of English origin, and 
the American branch was founded in Vermont 
by Josiah Burton, great-great-grandfather of 
the doctor, while the Clarke family is of Hol- 
land descent. The children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Lewis F. Burton were three in number, 
the eldest of whom was Emily, who was mar- 
ried to Martin Gilbertson, of Grand Rapids, 
but this lady died here in 1890, at the age of 
twenty-seven years, and the mother of two 
children. The doctor was the second born, 
and Arthur, the third born, is a buttermaker at 
the Ada creamery. 

Dr. L. Burton Jacques early graduated 
from the Ionia high school and then spent two 
years in the U. B. A. Hospital training school 
in Grand Rapids, where she laid the founda- 
tion for her future professional work. She 
then, in 188/", entered the Indianapolis Physio- 
Medico college, from which she graduated in 
1890; she also took a course in surgery at the 
Bellevue Hospital college in New York city, 
and in the spring of 1890 began active prac- 
tice in Grand Rapids. In January, 1892, 
however, she went to Lake Odessa, Mich., 
and practiced four years, and while there was 
united in marriage, November '9, 1S92, with 
James Jacques, D. D. S., a native of Canada 
and a graduate of the Indianapolis Dental col- 
lege, and at the time of his marriage was fol- 
lowing his profession at the Lake. But he 
was afflicted with consumption, contracted 
while attending the world's fair at Chicago, 
and this insidious disease so gained upon him 
that he was obliged to relinquish his practice 
at the Lake and return to his Canadian home, 
where his death took place March 27, 1896. 
The only child borne by the doctor is a bright 
little boy, George Burton Jacques, born May 
18, 1894. 

After her husband's death. Dr. Jacques re- 
turned to her native city and resumed prac-. 



250 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



tice, and has secured a very satisfactory line 
of patronage, particularly among women and 
children. She is a member of the State 
Physio-Medico association and of the local 
society of the same designation, is also a mem- 
ber of the Ladies of the Tented Maccabees, of 
which she has been the examining physician 
for six years; also of the South End Literary 
club. She is a lady of refinement, taste, intel- 
ligence and conversational talent, with the 
faculty of securing and retaining friends, 
and her medical skill has won for her an en- 
viable reputation with the fraternity as well as 
with the public at large. 




OX. JULIUS McLAIN J AMISpN, who 
does an extensive general law business 
at Grand Rapids, Mich., in partner- 
ship with R. H. Ferguson, was born 
in Wooster, Ohio, April 30, 1854, a son of 
Obed E. and Sarah J. (Bonnewit;;) Jamison, 
natives, respectively, of Ohio and Pennsylvania, 
and now residing in Allen county, Ind., where 
the father is engaged in farming. They are 
Protestant Lutheran in religion, and in politics 
Mr. Jamison is a republican. 

Julius McL. Jamison is the second in 
order of birth of the nine children that blessed 
the union of the above-named parents. He 
attended public school until eighteen years 
old, and then studied for two years at the 
State Normal school in Terre Haute, Ind., and 
then for four years taught school in Allen 
county, Ind., and LaSalle county, 111., and 
during this period also employed his time in 
studying law. In 1876 he entered the law 
office of Judge Ninde, under whose tuition he 
studied until 1878, and then entered the law 
school of the university of Michigan, at Ann 
Arbor, Mich., from which he graduated in 



April, 1880, with the degree of LL. B. Until 
November, 1882, he passed his time in travel- 
ing through northern Europe, visiting Stock- 
holm, Christiania and St. Petersburg, and had 
scarcely left the last-named city when an at- 
tempt was made to assassinate the czar of 
Russia by annihilating him with dynamite. 
Altogether Mr. Jamison has crossed the Atlan- 
tic six times. 

On settling in Grand Rapids, in 1882, Mr. 
Jamison engaged in the practice of law, doing 
an extensive general business. In 1898, he 
formed a partnership with R. M. Ferguson, 
which still continues. 

In politics Mr. Jamison is a republican, and in 
the fall of 1894 was elected by his party to the 
state senate, which office he filled with credit 
to himself and to the entire satisfaction of his 
constituents. 

July 27, 1898, Mr. Jamison wedded Miss 
Mary I. Lukens, a native ot Pennsylvania. 
She was born in June, 1864, and the happy 
couple now make their home at No. 318 Mad- 
ison avenue. Grand Rapids, Mich., where 
their many friends always receive a hospitable 
welcome. Mr. Jamison is a Knight of P\"thias, 
and the social standing of himself and wife is 
with the best people of the city and count)'. 
Professionally, Mr. Jamison stands among the 
leaders at the bar and enjoys equally the 
respect of the bench and that of his fellow- 
practitioners. As a lawyer he is a close stu- 
dent, and is thoroughly grounded in the science 
and philosophy of the law. 



LAUDE \V. JOHNSON, D. D. S., of 
No. 10 Canal street, Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in Mount Carmel, 
Pa., August 7, 1874, and is a son of 
Lloyd W. and Susan C. i Milleri Johnson, na- 
tives of the same place. 




AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



251 



Lloyd W. Johnson was engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits nearly all his life, but never- 
theless found the time to rtght in defense of 
his native Union in the Civil war, in which he 
received such injuries as eventually led to his 
death, which occurred April 14, 1892. His 
widow is still a resident of Mount Carmel. 
Their children, seven in number, are Claude 
\V., S. Howard, L. Wellington, Frederick R., 
Nellie E., Mabel and Margaret M., all at home 
with the exception of the subject of this sketch. 
The mother still carries on the mercantile- 
business left by her husband, in which she is 
assisted by her sons, although Howard has 
been a school-teacher for the past five years. 

Claude W. Johnson received a thorough 
education in the English branches at the 
Mount Carmel high school, after graduating 
from which he assisted in his father's store for 
a year or two, and then took up the study of 
dentistry under Dr. H. S. Hollenback. After 
due preparation under this preceptor, he en- 
tered the Pennsylvania college of Dental Sur- 
gery at Philadelphia and completed a three 
years' course of study in 1898. After passing 
a few months at home, he came to Grand 
Rapids in November, 1898, was associated 
with Dr. H. P. Snyder a short time, and then 
opened his present office, at the address 
given above, this being conveniently and 
pleasantly situated in a central location, and 
his patronage has been as great as could be 
reasonably expected. His skill has been 
promptly and favorably recognized by the 
public, and he has already secured a promi- 
nent place among the successful dentists of the 
Valley city. 

Dr. Johnson is a member of the C. N. 
Pierce Dental society of Philadelphia, also of 
Washington camp, No. 35, P. O. S. of A., at 
Mount Carmel. He is likewise a member of 
the Division street Methodist Episcopal church 
of Grand Rapids and of the Young Men's 

13 



Christian association, in which he is an active 
worker, as well as in the church and Sunday- 
school. He is an affable and pleasant young 
gentleman and has made many warm friends 
since he has taken up his residence in the Val- 
ley city, where his professional success is 
already assured. In politics he is a republican. 




ILLIAM AUGUSTUS JOHNSON. 

— The gentleman for whom this 
biography is prepared is one of the 
many sturdy sons of New England 
who have contributed so liberally to the moral 
and material well being of the great northwest. 
He was born in the town of Ashby, Mass., 
December 20, 1859, the son of Augustus W. 
and Georgianna Johnson, both natives of the 
same state. The elder Johnson was a farmer 
and died at the place of his birth at the early 
age of twenty-four years. His wife, whose 
family name was Page, subsequently married 
Henry S. Wright, an accomplished musician 
of Massachusetts, by whom she had one son, 
Ed. Wright, who at this time is one of the 
most distinguished musicians of Boston. She 
died at the age of forty-si.x from the effects of 
injuries received in a runaway. 

The early life of the subject was spent on 
the old Johnson homestead, Ashby, Mass., 
where for many years his ancestors had resided, 
and after the death of his father, which oc- 
curred when William was but six months old, 
he was taken by his paternal grandparents, 
with whom he remained until the age of seven- 
teen years. He then found employment in a 
hotel in his native town, and after two years thus 
spent began working in a chair factory in the 
same place, continuing the latter for a period 
of three years. Severing his connection with. 



252 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the factory, Mr. Johnson, in company with 
three young companions of Ashby, started for 
Los Angeles, Cal., and on the journey thither 
reached Grand Rapids, Mich. Being pleased 
with the city he concluded to discontinue further 
his western trip, and within a short time he 
became salesman in a second-hand store, till- 
ing the position about two years. He then en- 
tered the employ of Messrs. Berkey & Gay, 
manufacturers of furniture, with whom he con- 
tinued for about seven years, and spent a like 
period in the same line of work with Nelson & 
Matter, among the leading manufacturers of 
the city. In the month of August, 1893, Mr. 
Johnson established his present business, stor- 
ing, moving, packing, shipping and expressing 
furniture, and since that time has built up a 
large and lucrative business. He runs two 
large moving-vans, gives emplojment to three 
assistants and has ample facilities for all kinds 
■of work in his line. His storage and ware- 
rooms, located at No. 46 Bridge street, are 
large and commodious and are usually utilized 
to their utmost capacity. 

.Mr. Johnson was married in Grand Rapids 
■on the 30th day of March, 1892, to Miss Anna 
W. Phillips, daughter of John \V. and Anna 
M. (Schermerhorni Phillips, who were among 
the pioneer settlers of Kent county, moving 
from Canada many years ago, and settling in 
what is now the township of Walker. John 
W. and Anna M. Phillips had five children, 
two sons and three daughters, Mrs. Johnson 
being the youngest of the family. The others 
are Ella E.. wife of John J. Deem; Charles 
H.. dealer in spices, etc., in Grand Rapids, 
and a member of the city council from the 
Seventh ward: Etta F., wife of D. P. Aldrich, 
engineer on the Chicago & Alton I^. R., with 
home in this city; and Lewis C. , an employee 
on the Chicago & West Michigan R. R. The 
father of these children, a native of Canada, 
died on the 24th day of June, 1S87, at the age 



of sixty-seven years. The mother, who was 
born in the state of New Jersey, is still living 
on the old homestead established by her hus- 
band in the early days of the county. 

Mr. Johnson is a man of progressive ideas, 
takes an active interest not only in his busi- 
ness, which has proved very successful, but 
also in all matters pertaining to the advance- 
ment of the city's industrial growth. In poli- 
tics he is a stanch republican, and fraternally 
a member of the Masonic, Elks and Maccabees 
orders; while not visibly identified with any 
church or religious organization, Mr. Johnson 
is nevertheless a believer in religion and exem- 
plifies in his life its great fundamental and un- 
derlying principles. 




UGENE WILSON JONES, of the 
firm of Houseman & Jones Clothing 
Co., the fashionable tailors and deal- 
ers in clothing and gent's furnish- 
ings, on Monroe street. Grand Rapids, Mich., 
was born in this city August 11, 1856, and is 
the fourth child born to Wilson and Elizabeth 
(McGraw) Jones, who were among the earli- 
est settlers of the Valley city. 

\\'ilson Jones and his wife were both born 
in New York, but their marriage took place 
in Chicago, 111., whence they came to Grand 
Rapids in 1843, and here Mr. Jones engaged 
at his trade as carpenter and joiner, at which 
he was expert, working first as journeyman 
and conducting business later on his own ac- 
count, until 1887, when he retired from active 
labor and is now living in ease and comfort at 
No. 104 Washington street. To his marriage 
with Elizabeth McGraw were born five chil- 
dren beside the subject, viz: Helen E., re- 
siding with her father; William H., vice-presi- 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



253 



dent ot the William A. Berkey Furniture com- 
pany, Grand Rapids; Charles W., with the 
Widdicomb Furniture company; Elizabeth, 
at home with her father, and Mary F., de- 
ceased. The beloved mother of these chil- 
dren, a most estimable lady, was called away 
May 4. 1898, in the faith of the Presbyterian 
church, of which Mr. Jones is also a member. 

In politics, Mr. Jones formerly was a most 
acti\e worker in the 'ranks of the republican 
party, with which he was very popular, and 
under its auspices served as deputy sheriff and 
city marshal, but on retiring from business he 
naturally withdrew from active participation 
in political work also. 

Eugene Wilson Jones attended the public 
schools of Grand Rapids until fourteen years 
of age and then was employed for a year 
in a furniture factory; he ne.\t entered the 
clothing store of E. M. Kendall as errand boy, 
and, being quick of apprehension and quite 
observant of things in general, was soon pro- 
moted to the position of general clerk, then to 
that of salesman, and during the seven years 
he remained in this establishment became thor- 
oughly acquainted with the business in all its 
details. His next position was with House- 
man cS: May, as salesman, and he filled this 
situation in so satisfactory a manner that, in 
1882, he was admitted into partnership, and 
the firm became Houseman, May & Co., and 
this firm-style was continued until 1886, when 
the death of Mr. May took place and the firm- 
name was changed to Houseman, Donnally & 
Jones, which continued until January i, 1895, 
when the concern now known as the Houseman 
& Jones Clothing company came into e.xistence 
— the leading house in its line in the state of 
Michigan. This firm employ 100 people in 
their departments at the corner of Monroe and 
Market streets, carry a stock valued at $100,- 
000, and beside its merchant tailoring, men's 
and children's clothing and gent's furnishing 



trade, wholesale and retail, they make a 
specialty of manufacturing uniforms on a large 
scale. 

Eugene W. Jones was united in marriage 
at Marietta, C, May 27, 1896, with Miss 
Effie Green, a native of Fremont, Mich., and 
now has his happy home at No. 237 South 
Union street, Grand Rapids, where they are 
surrounded by a circle of warm-hearted friends, 
to whom they extend a general and generous 
hospitalty. 

Fraternalh', Mr. Jones is a Knight of 
Pythias; in 1898 he was elected exalted ruler 
of B. P. O. E. lodge, No. 48, having been an 
esteemed leading knight the previous two 
years, and in 1899 was elected by the grand 
lodge, at St. Louis, Mo., grand tyler of the 
grand lodge, for the years 1899 and 1900. 
He has, beside, been a member of the state 
militia for eleven years, has served as second 
and first lieutenant of company B, Second 
regiment, Michigan N. G., was four years on 
the staff of Gen. I. C. Smith, brigade com- 
mander, as captain and aid-de-camp, and one 
year, in the same capacity, with Gen. Eugene 
Robinson. Mr. Jones is also a member of the 
Lakeside club and of the board of trade; he is 
a director in the Michigan State Agriculture 
society and a member of the business com- 
mittee. He filled the important position of 
chairman of the executive committee and 
treasurer of the Grand Rapids carnivals of 
1897 and 1898, and led both to a financial 
success. In fact he has been active and use- 
ful in all movements that have tended to in- 
crease the general prosperity of Grand Rapids, 
and that he has been competent to do so is 
evidenced by the fact that he has raised him- 
self from a mere errand boy to a membership 
in the largest manufacturing concern in its 
line in the state of Michigan. He has ever 
been a gentleman in his deportment, is affable 
and polite to the poor as well as ths rich, and 



254 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



well deserves the high position he has attained 
in the esteem of his fellow-citizens. He is fully 
posted in the manual at armfe, and is a drill 
master of exceptional ability in infantry tactics. 
In politics he is a republican, but, although 
one of the most popular men in Grand Rapids, 
has never sought public office. 




OL. GEORGE E. JUDD. a gallant 
and disabled soldier of the late Civil 
war and the present commandant of 
the Michigan State Soldiers' home 
at Grand Rapids, was born in South Hadley, 
Mass., March 23, 1838, and came to Grand 
Rapids in October, 1852. He here acquired 
the greater share of his education, and for two 
years was engaged with his father in the 
butcher business as a start in life, but about 
this time the stern call to war was issued, and 
April 19, i86r, he enlisted in company A, 
Third Michigan volunteer infantry, and on the 
organization of his regiment was elected ser- 
geant of his company. August i, of the same 
year, for meritorious conduct, he was com- 
missioned second lieutenant, and in a short 
time afterward was promoted to be first lieu- 
tenant. 

The first battle in which Col. Judd took 
part was that of Blackburn Ford, and three 
days later participated in the battle of Bull 
Run. He also fought at Williamsburg, Va. , 
and later at Fair Oaks, where his brother, 
who was captain of the company, lost his life, 
and Lieut. Judd succeeded him in command. 
Subsequently, while gallantly leading his men, 
our subject was wounded in the left arm. 
This wound led to amputation, and this mis- 
fortune brought his career at the front to a 
short but gloricu; terminatiori. In recogni- 



tion of his valiant services in this battle he was 
commissioned captain on June 23 following. 
After convalescence, and after having received 
an honorable discharge, Capt. Judd, in 1864, 
was made captain in the veteran reserve corps, 
was placed in charge of the Indian prison at 
Davenport, Iowa, and from 1 866 to iSjowas 
employed in the Freedmen's bureau at the 
south. In 1868, however, he had been com- 
missioned second lieutenant in the regular 
army, and in May, 1870, was promoted to the 
rank of captain and placed on the retired list. 
May I, 1898, he assumed the of^ce of com- 
mandant at the Soldiers' home. 

The marriage of Col. Judd took place Sep- 
tember 23, 1859, to Miss Lucinda Leach, of 
Grand Rapids, and this union has been blessed 
with one son, George H., who was born 
April 21, 1 86 1. He has been an active poli- 
tician since his majority and served as a mem- 
ber of the Michigan state legislature from the 
Second district, Kent county, from 18S9 to 
1890, as a member of the republican party, 
over which he exercises an immense influence 
in both local and state affairs, and was deputy 
United States marshal for the western district 
of Michigan from 1890 to 1894. 




OX. J. BYRON JUDKINS. ex-judge 
of the Nineteenth judicial circuit of 
Michigan, and one of the leading 
lawyers of the Kent county bar, is 
well known throughout the state. He is a 
native of Ohio, born in the county of Mercer, 
and son of James and Mary A. Judkins. His 
father, James Judkins, removed from Ohio to 
Michigan in 1870, and is now living in Mecosta 
county. He is a veteran of the late Civil war, 
and was captain of company I, One Hundred 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



liOD 



and Fifty-sixth Ohio infantry. The family of 
James and Mary Judi<ins consisted of five 
children, of whom but two are living at this 
time: Lewis F. , a station agent at Fife Lake 
on the G. R. & L R. R., and the subject of this 
review. 

Judge Judkins received his elementary 
training in the common schools of his native 
■county, and later became a student of the 
high school at Celina, Ohio. He then entered 
Liber college, Ind., where he pursued his 
studies two years, after which he came to 
Michigan, studied law, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1874. Shortly after his admission, 
he began the practice of his profession at Her- 
sey, Mich., where he remained until 1880, 
during which time he was a member of the 
law hrm of Burch, Beardsley & Judkins. In 
the latter year he was appointed judge of the 
Nineteenth judicial circuit, by Gov. Croswell, 
and served as such until January i , 1 894, having 
been elected and re-elected three times with- 
out opposition, all parties supporting him. He 
voluntarily declined a renomination and came 
to Grand Rapids, where he is now engaged in 
the practice of his profession. 

Judge Judkins is a lawyer of ability, thor- 
oughly informed in the principles of law, and 
takes high rank among the leading lawyers of 
this city and state. 

As a judge he presided with dignity, was 
ready at arriving at conclusions, and prompt 
in announcing them. He was pleasant and 
affable on the bench, yet firm and decided in 
his views. During his several terms on the 
bench the amount of business in his court was 
exceedingly large, his circuit being one of the 
most important in the state, and it is a fact 
worthv of note that but few appeals were ever 
taken from his decisions, considering the num- 
ber of cases decided, and he was usually sus- 
tained by the supreme court. A smaller per- 
centage of his judgments was reversed by the 



supreme court than those of any other judge in 
the state. He decided some of the most impor- 
tant cases ever tried in the circuit courts of the 
state. 

Judge Judkins was united in marriage at 
Cedar Springs, Mich., October 31, 1876, to 
Miss Anna L. Haskins, who was born 
in Ada township, county of Kent, Mich. The 
parents of Mrs. Judkins were Abram and Mar- 
garet Haskins; the father was a soldier during 
the late Rebellion and his remains now lie in 
the National cemetery at Nashville, Tenn. 
Mrs. Haskins departed this life in 1893. 

Judge and Mrs. Judkins have a family of 
three children: Laverne M., Carolyn A., and 
Edna C. Judge Judkins is a republican in 
politics. He is a director of the First Nation- 
al bank at Reed City, and its counsel. In the 
fall of I'SgS he was elected regent of the 
Michigan university at Ann Arbor, but it sub- 
sequentl)- transpired that there was no vacan- 
cy and he never filled the office. 

He is thrifty and energetic in business, and 
a man of affairs. The religious creed of Judge 
Judkins is represented by the Congregational 
church, with which he and family are identi- 
fied, his wife and eldest daughter being mem- 
bers of the Park street church in Grand Rap- 
ids. The judge and his family stand high so- 
cially, and are respected by all who know 
them. 




ACOBUS KEUKELAAR, an under- 
taker with twenty years of expe- 
rience, with his office at No. 350 Ot- 
tawa street. Grand Rapids, was born 
in Holland July 17, 1838, received his ele- 
mentary education in that country, and there 
grew to manhood. About the year 1867, hav- 



256 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



ing received favorable accounts from friends 
in the United States of the opportunities 
afforded here for a poor man to rise in the 
world, he embarked, with some misgivings, 
on board a sailing vessel, and after a passage 
of forty-seven days landed in New York city, 
whence he came to Grand Rapids. Here, for 
a long time, he worked at whatever he could 
find to do, was very economical, and in 
course of time was able to buy a horse and 
wagon, with which he did miscellaneous haul- 
ing, peddled wood, etc., and steadily forged 
ahead. He also worked about the furniture 
factories considerably, and eventually learned 
undertaking under Peter McCallum. In due 
course of time he became able to embark in 
business for himself, about 1878, since when 
prosperity has followed his undertakings. 

Mr. Keukelaar, on April 13, 1870, was 
united in marriage with Miss Tryntje Kimm, 
also a native of the Netherlands, and this 
marriage has resulted in the birth of two chil- 
dren, viz: John, now twenty-seven years old, 
who is in the printing business and who is 
married to Miss Martha Hendricks, who has 
borne him one child — Jennie; Henderika, the 
second child born to Mr. Keukelaar, is now 
eighteen, is highly accomplished, and is quite 
proficient in music, the piano being her favor- 
ite instrument. The mother of Mrs. Keu- 
kelaar died in the old country and her father 
in the United States about twenty years ago; 
the mother of Mr. Keukelaar passed away in 
1862 and his father in 18S3. Mr. Keukelaar 
was reared in the faith of the Holland Chris- 
tian Reformed church, of which he is still an 
active member and a trustee. He has been 
very industrious through life, as well as frugal, 
and has earned for himself a comfortable 
home, and built up a business that yields him 
a steady and satisfactory income and places 
him in a position that commands the respect 
of his fellow-citizens. 




ERBERT MAXON KING, M. D., of 
Xo. 86 Jefferson avenue. Grand 
Rapids, Mich., is a native of Jeffer- 
son county, in the state of New York. 
He received his preliminary education and was 
prepared for college at North Adams, Mass., 
and pursued his literary course of study at 
Dartmouth college, in New Hampshire, but 
before passing through the entire curriculum 
there he began the study of medicine. He 
then entered the university of the City of 
New York, from the medical department of 
which he graduated in 1886, and was shortly 
afterward appointed to the externe service of 
Bellevue hospital, occupying at the same time 
a private office for his personal general prac- 
tice in the city. He was attending physician 
at St. Chrysostum dispensary, was instructor 
in diseases of the nose and throat in the New 
York Post-graduate school, and at the same 
time was clinical assistant in the Manhattan 
Eye and Ear hospital. 

In the early part of 1S90, owing to ill 
health. Dr. King was obliged to relinquish his 
professional labors and spend the summer in 
the Adirondack mountains. In the fall of 
1890 he was appointed surgeon in the United 
States and Brazil mail service, and remained 
on the ocean, mostly in South Atnerican 
waters, until June, 1892, when he returned to 
New York city and resigned his commission. 
He passed the summer in recuperating, and in. 
November of the same year came to Grand 
Rapids, where he has ever since been engaged 
in active practice. 

In 1897 the doctor attended the National 
Medical congress at Moscow, and the re- 
mainder of the year was passed in visits to 
Paris, Switzerland, England, and other parts 
of Europe, and on his return to Grand Rapids 
he resumed his practice. 

The marriage of Dr. King took place Feb- 
ruary I, 1S93, to Miss Lucy Maples Pinchot, 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



■257 



daughter of Hon. Edgar Pinchot, of Pennsyl- 
vania, a member of one of the most prominent 
families of the I\eystone state. She was born 
in New York city, however, was there educated 
in private schools, and passed much of her 
early life in European travel. 

Dr. Iving was a member of the New York 
County Medical society when a resident of the 
Empire state, and is now a member of the 
Michigan State Medical society, the Grand 
Rapids Academy of Medicine, the Chicago 
Pathological society and the American Medical 
association, to all of which he has contributed 
many medical piapers of great value. He and 
wife are consistent members of St. Mark's 
Episcopal church, and the doctor is, beside, a 
member of and director in St. Andrew's 
brotherhood. 




\LACHI I>:iNNEY, elected alder- 
man from the Fourth ward of Grand 
Rapids in April, 1899, is not a new 
man in either the city or the council, 
ha\ing come herefrom the city of Buffalo, N. 
Y., thirty-two years ago and having twice be- 
fore been elected a member of the city council 
of Grand Rapids. 

Mr. Ivinney was born in Ireland July 12, 
1S41, a son of Malachi and Margaret (Killian) 
Kinney, and was but six years of age when his 
parents and their children embarked for Amer- 
ica in a sailing vessel carrying 500 passengers. 
This vessel was thirteen weeks crossing the 
ocean, and an epidemic — possibly ship fever — 
having broken out on board, the number of 
passengers w-as so depleted that but 240 sur- 
vived to land, and among those who perished 
were the father and mother of the subject. 
' Left an orphan at this tender age in a strange 
land, young Kinney found himself in a sad pre- 



dicament, indeed, but the little hero did not 
give way to despair. He made his way from 
the Atlantic coast to the city of Buffalo, N. Y., 
near which he had an uncle living, and there 
passed twenty years of his life, in the mean- 
time having an opportunity of attending the 
village and country school for a limited peri- 
od. His knowledge, however, was not alto- 
gether acquired at school or from text books, 
but greatly from observation during his years 
of labor and early business life. 

At the age of si.xteen years, young Kinney 
began learning the blacksmith trade with a 
brother, and remained with him until 1S67, 
when he came to Grand Rapids. Here he 
worked hard, saved his earnings, secured him 
a home and a shop, and continued his indus- 
try until November, 189S, when he rented his 
shop and4:ools and retired from active work as 
horse-shoer, which was his principal business, 
although he was quite an expert in iron work 
generally. 

On the 1 2th day of April, 1863, Mr. Kin- 
ney married, in Buffalo, N. Y., Miss Ellen 
Welch, who was born in Toronto. Canada, 
1845, but who, after a happy wedded life of 
thirty-one years was called away June 12, 
1S94, in the faith of the Catholic church, 
and the mother of eleven children, viz: Mary 
Catherine, of Alpena, Mich. ; Charles, de- 
ceased; John, of Chicago, 111.; William, of 
Denver, Colo. ; Edward, of Montreal, Canada; 
Hannah, at home; Ethel, deceased; James, 
Blanche, and Clara and .Angelina (twins), all 
at home, at the family residence. No. 12 
Clancy street, Grand Rapids. 

Always a democrat, Mr. Kinney has inter- 
ested himself greatly in local politics, not so 
much from a desire for emolument as from a 
sense of public duty. He was elected alder- 
man from his ward in 1890, and was so watch- 
ful over the interests of his constituents, that 
he was re-elected in 1892, and again, so well 



258 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



satisfied were his people with his sound judg- 
ment and vigilance, he was called upon to serve 
once more in 1899. He has, at various times, 
held positions as member of the committees 
on sidewalks, on parks (of which he was chair- 
man), on license, on public lights (of which he 
was also the chairman), on the fire depart- 
ment, and as chairman of the committee on 
bridges. Mr. Kinney is a self-made man, as 
the foregoing record well shows, and no man 
in Grand Rapids is more deservedly entitled 
to the high esteem in which he is held from 
one end of the city to the other. 




EORGE STEWART JOHNSON, one 

of the distinguished business men of 
Grand Rapids, is a native of Michigan 
and a son ot G. K. Johnson, a leading 
phjsician of the city, an appropriate mention 
of whom will be found elsewhere in these 
pages. He was born in the city of Pontiac, 
December 8, 1850, and obtained his early 
education in the schools of Grand Rapids, 
which was supplemented by attendance at an 
institution of a higher grade in Philadelphia, 
Pa., where he made substantial progress in the 
more advanced branches of learning. 

Having early manifested decided abilities in 
the line of mathematics, Mr. Johnson devoted 
much of his time to the study of the same 
while attending school in Philadelphia, and in 
1869 entered upon a thorough course of civil 
engineering in the university of Michigan, 
which institution he attended for a period of 
four years, graduating in the profession in 1873. 
The most important heritage that came to 
3'oung Stewart was a sound constitution, as 
an active mind, a genuine brand of true 
American grit and an intelligent comprehen- 



sion of the way in which to put these to the 
best use. While in school his progress was 
marked, and in both literary and professional 
courses he distinguished himself far beyond the 
success usually attained by the ordinary stu- 
dent. After he graduated he at once engaged 
in the active practice of his profession at 
Ludington. Mich., where for a period of two 
years he was employed in laying out streets, 
establishing a sewage system, superintend- 
ing the construction of the water-works, and 
looking after the paving of streets and side- 
walks. The work in Ludington was the be- 
ginning of the career of Mr. Johnson as a civil 
engineer, and so satisfactory did it prove that 
it soon earned him much more than a local 
reputation as a thorough master of the pro- 
fession. He next entered the service of the 
English government, and for about two and a 
half years assisted in the government survey in 
the province of Ontario, returning to Michi- 
gan at the end of this time and accepting 
the position of assistant engineer on the G. R. 
& I. R. R. , the duties of which he discharged 
in a manner highly creditable to himself and 
satisfactory to the company for the period of 
five years. During the succeeding ten years 
he filled the responsible position of chief engin- 
eer for the above corporation, his long con- 
tinuance therein attesting the high esteem in 
which he was held personally, as well as his 
superior prefessional qualifications. 

Mr. Johnson severed his connection with 
the above road in 1894 to accept the manage- 
ment of the Consolidated Street railway com- 
pany of Grand Rapids, in which capacit}' he 
continued until elected to the presidenc\- of 
the same two years later. In the manage- 
ment of this company, Mr. Johnson has dis- 
played executive abilities of. a very high order, 
and since assuming control the system has 
been greatl)' enlarged and the lines extended 
to all the parks and resorts contiguous to the 



pr'T 



ifiniiniii II III III! II II iiiiiii ■'iiiii niiiiiiii 1 111 (If I ■iiiiiiiiiiiii 1 1 III 1 1ll iiiii II I mm ■ iiiiiihfi ii ^ '<i«Fiii«Dn 



1 




AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



['61 



city. The corporation is one of the most 
extensive business enterprises of Grand Rapids, 
representing a capital in excess of $1,500,000 
and giving employment to 400 men. It owns 
North park and Reed's lake lines, and plans are 
now being matured to extend its lines toother 
and more remote points beyond the confines of 
the city. 

The busy life Mr. Johnson has led and his 
long connection with railroading and other 
large interests have brought him prominently 
to the notice of the public as one of the repre- 
sentative men of the city and state. He has 
always read and studied extensively along the 
line of his chosen calling, and his thorough 
knowledge of every detail pertaining thereto, 
and its practical reduction to the various 
works over which he has had supervision, have 
won for him the reputation of being one of the 
ablest civil ejigineers of the northwest. It 
might be well in this connection to state that, 
prior to his entering the university, Mr. John- 
son had two 3'ears' practical experience on the 
construction of the railroad from Grand 
Rapids to Kalamazoo, now the Lake Shore, 
and was also employed for a considerable 
period on what is now the Chicago & West 
Michigan, between Muskegon and Big Rapids. 
From the first his career has been character- 
ized by a series of continued successes, and 
being still in the prime of vigorous manhood, 
his many friends have every reason to predict 
for him a long and still more prosperous future. 

Mr. Johnson was happily united in mar- 
riage September 2, 1873, at Grand Rapids, to 
Miss Anna E. Sinclair, a native of the city, 
and daughter of Thompsori Sinclair, a promi- 
nent citizen of the place. Mr. and Mrs. John- 
son have had two children, George K., and 
Adaline, the latter deceased. 

In politics, as in business, Mr. Johnson 
has ever taken an active interest, but not as a 
partisan or seeker after honors or emoluments 



of office in the former. He is a close student 
of political movements and a firm believer in 
that wing of the democracy which stood for 
sound money in the last national contest — in 
other words, he is a gold democrat. His close 
connection with vast business interests has not 
prevented him from mingling with his fellow- 
men socially, and to-day he is a leading spirit in, 
and one of the founders of, the Lake Side club, 
of which he is treasurer, and he also belongs 
to the Peninsula and Country clubs. Frater- 
nally he is a Mason of high degree, belonging 
to De Molai commandery and the Mystic 
Shrine. The Episcopal church represents his 
religious creed, to which body his wife also 
belongs. 

Although engrossed in business and social 
affairs, Mr. Johnson never carries them into 
the quiet atmosphere of home. As soon as he 
leaves his office, by a wonderful power of self- 
control he shakes off all care and busi- 
ness worry and goes happily to a domestic 
circle, comfortable in all its appointments and 
restful in its luxury. There, environed by the 
tenderness of family ties, and surrounded by 
many evidences of culture and refinement, he 
welcomes his friends to a generous, hospitable 
and enjoyable entertainment. ■ 




TTO H. KLUGE, the subject of this 
biographical sketch, is one of the lead- 
ing musicians of Grand Rapids. He 
is a German, born in Chemnitz, Sax- 
ony, September 21, 1866, and received his 
educational training in the city of his nativity. 
When quite young he displayed extraordinary 
musical talents, and at the early age of twelve 
years took up the study of the violin, first tak- 
ing private lessons under competent instructors, 



202 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



and later entering the Orchestra] Music school 
at Limbach, Saxony, where he remained for a 
period of four years. After completiof^ the 
prescribed course in that institution Prof. 
Kluge became a student in the Conservatory 
of Music in Leipsic, from which he was gradu- 
ated after a two-years' course. Among his 
teachers at that place was the celebrated Prof. 
Frederick Herman, acknowledged by compe- 
tent critics everywhere to be one of the most 
distinguished violinists in the world. He is now 
teaching in the city of New York. 

After his graduation Prof. Kluge played 
first violin in Langenbach's orchestra at Bad- 
Ems, Germany, and subsequently became a 
member of Buchner's celebrated orchestra at 
Leipsic, where he played the same instrument 
for one year, devoting his leisure, during the 
period, to close and critical study of the world's 
great musical masters. Leaving Leipsic, Prof. 
Kluge accepted the position of concert master 
and director of Lange's orchestra, Eilenburg, 
Saxony, and continued there until 1894, when 
he came to the United States, proceeding di- 
rect to Grand Rapids, where he at once began 
instructing a large number of pupils in the vio- 
lin. To say he has met with flattering suc- 
cess in his profession since locating in the city 
is putting it very mildly indeed, as his fame as 
a master had preceded him, and the large 
number of pupils who have received his in- 
struction have spread his reputation far and 
wide. In addition to his private classes he is 
leader of the Concordia orchestra,- the largest 
amateur musical organization in the city, num- 
bering twenty-five members, all of whom are 
musicians of marked abilit}-. The high stand- 
ing the professor has attained in the musical 
world, and the efificiency with which his in- 
structions have been imparted, are attested by 
the fact that many of his pupils at the present 
time are holding professional positions in some 
of the leading musical organizations, several 



being directors of orchestras in Michigan and 
other states. 

As a soloist Prof. Kluge has gained much 
more than a local reputation. He plays the 
most difficult classical music, and has partici- 
pated in a number of concerts in this and other 
cities of the state, and won the applause of 
critical audiences wherever he has appeared. 

} When the professor came to this country he 
brought with him several very valuable violins, 
one an Albani and another bearing the name 
of Steiner, both of which have been pronounced 
genuine by the most celebrated violinists in 
America. Among these may be mentioned 
Prof. Adolph Resenbecker, director of the 
Redpath Concert company, and a man whose 
professional renown is world wide. 

Prof. Kluge's ancestors for generations 
were musical people, consequently his high 
professional standing is partly the result of 
heredity, but his efficiency is for the most part 
directly traceable to the long years of close 
and patient study which he has given to his 
beloved instrument. His father, Henry Kluge, 
was a violinist of note in Saxony, but did not 
follow music as a profession. 

A brother of the subject, Paul Kluge, is 
one of the distinguished musicians of Germany, 

i being director at this time of one of the larg- 
est orchestras in Sol-bad, Elmen, Saxony. 

During Prof. Kluge's residence in Grand Rap- 
ids he has received several flattering offers to 
join celebrated concert troupes, but always re- 
fused on account of the large classes he had suc- 
ceeded in organizing in this city. Mr. Silcox, 
manager of the Camilla Urso Concert com- 
pany, offered him the position of violin soloist 
with a liberal salary, and only recently he was 
tendered the directorship of the City orchestra 
of Burgstadt, Saxony, a most flattering com- 
pliment to his high professional ability, but he 
saw fit to decline both places. 

I The professor is not only a skillful per- 



AXD KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



268 



former, but is known in musical circles as a 
composer of music, who has met with most 
favorable reception. 

Prof. Kluge was united in marriage Sep- 
tember 7, 1S95. to Miss Emma Weller, of 
\\"urtemberg, German}', a union blessed with 
the birth of one child — Irma Kluge. 




iSTONORSONKXOWLES, M. D.. 
and a gallant ex-officer of the Civil 
war, was born in Genesee county, 
N. v., December 8, 1845, passed 
his early life on a farm, and was educated in 
the country schools of his neighborhood. 

He came to Michigan in 1859, and, when 
the Twenty-seventh Michigan volunteer in- 
fantry was organized, enlisted in company D, 
\ was commissioned second lieutenant, and soon 
afterward was promoted on the battle field of 
Ream's Station, Va., to the rank of first lieu- 
tenant, and transferred to the command of 
company F, of the same regiment. His war 
record includes a list of thirty-six general en- 
gagements, in which he took an active part, 
beside many skirmishes. He served in the 
army of the Tennessee, went south under Gen. 
Burnside, fought at the battle of Bristol, Straw- 
berry Plains, Blue Springs, Knoxville, Vicks- 
burg Jackson, Campbell's Station, siege of 
Knoxville (November 18 to December 5, 
1863), Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, 
Bethesda Church, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, 
Cemetery Hill, Weldon Railroad, Ream's 
Station, Poplar Grove Church, Hatcher's Run, 
all in 1864; and during the closing year of the 
war assisted in digging and changing the fa- 
mous mine at Petersburg, and also led his com- 
pany in the attack on the city immediately 
following. His next engagement was at Fort 



Mahone ; the occupation of Petersburg; and the 
collapse of the Confederacy at Appomattox. 
Some of the skirmishes in which Lieut. 
Knowles took part were very serions, such as 
those at Jamestown, Ky. ; Big Black, Miss.; 
Huff's Ferry, Tenn. ; Pine Woods, Va. ; Yellow 
Tavern, Va. , and Peeble's Farm, Va., and 
thus served from February 26, 1862, until 
July 9, 1865, when he was mustered out as 
first lieutenant and brevet captain. 

On returning from the war, Capt. Knowles 
engaged in farming near Ovid, Clinton county, 
Mich., where he purchased 160 acres of unim- 
proved land, on which he was engaged for three 
years in clearing off the heavy timber from 
thirty acres, doing the work himself, assisted 
by a yoke of steers. He also built a log house, 
aided by his neighbors at the raising only. 
This was dedicated on completion, so to 
speak, with a large dance, which the entire 
community of backwoods people heartily 
joined, as well as in the accompanying feast. 
Shortly after this, the captain sold his farm 
and located in Ovid, where he was engaged in 
the commission business three or four years. 
In 1871 he went to Saginaw, Mich., entered 
upon the study of medicine, and practiced 
there until 18S0, when he came to Grand 
Rapids, and here has successfully been engaged 
in active practice ever since, making a specialty 
of treating nervous disorders by magnetism, 
and also enjoying an extensive general prac- 
tice. The doctor has a pleasant cottage home 
at No. 247 Goade avenue, formerly known as 
East Grove street, and here entertains a large 
circle of warm friends at seasonable hours. 

Dr. Knowles first married in 1865, at 
Ovid, Mich. , Miss Jennette Burt, who was born 
in Ingham county, Mich., and was his sweet- 
heart during his army days. This lady died 
in Grand Rapids in 1883, leaving three chil- 
dren, viz: Loyal D.,Jennieand Jessie (twins); 
of these Loyal D. is contracting freight agent 



264 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



for the Missouri Pacific Railroad company, 
with headquarters at No. 1 1 1 Adams street, 
Chicago; he married Miss Myrtle Smith, a 
telegraph operator for the Western Union 
Telegraph company, also of Chicago. Jennie 
is the wife of Henry Covert, a farmer of Lake 
View, Mich., and Jessie is Mrs. Archie \\'est 
of the same place, her husband also being a 
farmer. The second marriage of Mr. Knowles 
•was in 1885, with Mrs. Mary Dixon, a native 
of Port Hope, Canada, and whose maiden 
name was Spry, but to this marriage no chil- 
dren have been born. 

The parents of Dr. Knowles were Benja- 
min G. and Alice M. (Philleo) Knowles, the 
former of whom was a native of Vermont and 
the latter of Genesee county, N. Y., where 
their marriage took place. The father was a 
Baptist minister and also a farmer; both par- 
ents died in Niagara county, N. Y., the mother 
in 1869 and the father in 1872. Their family 
■consisted of four sons, viz: Wells R., whore- 
sides at No. 144 Hanson street, Buffalo, N. 
Y. ; \\'iiiiam Ward, who enlisted in the Thir- 
teenth Michigan infantry and was killed in a 
skirmish; Weston O. is the subject of this 
sketch, and the fourth child is Albert Fre- 
mont, e.xpressman and drayman, on Main 
street, Lockport, N. Y. 

Dr. Knowles is a member of Greenwood 
lodge, of Good Templars; of Champlin post. 
No. 29, G. A. R.', of the Chosen Friends, and 
of the Knights of Essenes. Politically he is 
liberal, but may be denominated a free-silver 
republican. He was a candidate for coroner 
of Kent county in 1896, but, his party being 
in the minority, he did not, of course, expect 
to be elected. He has been an ardent sup- 
porter of the greenback theory, and is an 
earnest worker and orator during political 
campaigns. 

In reh'gion the doctor is a spiritualist, is a 
decided medium, and devotes his Sundays en- 



tirely to public demonstrations. He is in 
general demand as a medium before intelligent 
audiences both in Grand Rapids and elsewhere, 
and has given some peculiar and convincing 
proofs of the presence of the spirits of lost 
loved ones. 




HE GRAND R.^PIDS ENGRAVING 
COMPANY, which was organi;:ed as a 
joint stock compan}' under its present 
name March 21, i89r, was in fact es- 
tablished in 1882 by Frank K. Cargill, and is 
now officered as follows: Frank K. Cargill, 
president; George T. Cargill, vice-president; 
Charles C. Cargill, secretary, treasurer and 
general manager. Frank K. Cargill, president 
of the Grand Rapids Engraving company, and 
the eldest of the three Cargill brothers consti- 
tuting the firm, was born here October 19. 
1 86 1, and is a son of Hawley Nathan and 
Frances (Kraal) Cargill. 

Hawley Nathan Cargill, the father, was of 
Scotch descent and came from an old-settled 
family in America. He was born in Ontario 
county, state of New York, was left an orphan 
at the early age of thirteen years, from which 
time forward he was compelled to battle with 
the world as best he might. His parents im- 
migrated to this state in 1831, and settled in 
Plymouth, Wayne county. His only brother, 
Henry, still living, is a coal merchant in New 
York. Hawley N. had but slight opportunities 
■for attending school and his education was ac- 
quired chiefly through his business contact 
with the world, although he graduated from 
the pioneer Commercial college at Detroit 
about 1852. He was employed in various 
callings in Detroit, Mich., and Buffalo, N. Y., 
until 1854, when he came to Grand Rapids. 




^J^/ 



FRANK K. CARGILL 
CHAS, C. CARGILL GEO. T. CARGILL 



GRAND RAPIDS ENGRAVING CO. 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



267 



He was first employed by Miller & Grinnell in 
the old Masonic Hall building on Canal street, 
wholesale and retail grocers. Sometime later 
he took charge of the up-river steamboat ware- 
house, but in the second year the D. & M. R. 
R. being completed, the boats were taken be- 
low the city. The steamboat "Porter" was 
launched over the old dam and down the canal 
by him under a contract with Daniel and 
Sidney Ball. He next had the superintendence 
of the McReynolds &• Stewart plaster plant 
(formerly the John Ball & Courtney mill). 
Competition becoming strong, a combination 
was formed, the trade was divided, and one 
general office established, and Hovey & Chas. 
H. Taylor were given control in 1859. During 
the, hard times of i860 and 1861, he was em- 
ployed by C. C. Comstock, who had a large 
stock of lumber and a bankrupt factory on his 
hands; fortunately machine-made furniture was 
being introduced. He and a Mr. Ham and his 
son, through the solicitation and management 
of Mr. Cargill, made the first shipment by 
water to Chicago, of twenty-four bureau-wash- 
stands, had them sold by auction, which opened 
the jobbing trade, and revealed the possibilities 
in that direction. Finished black walnut and 
cherry was at the time offered for $6.00 per 
thousand, but no sale; the market advanced 
from that time. Mr. Cargill was next employed 
by Richard E. Butterworth, and from there was 
engaged by Leitelt" Bros. , where he had charge 
of office and finances for about nine years. 

He was appointed member of the board of 
healt-h in 1882, and was elected president the 
first year, and for eight years thereafter served 
as secretary. His connection with the board 
was during its pioneer days. The two impor- 
tant events of that time was the outbreak of 
smallpox, 1882, and the great fiood of 1883. 
The placarding of houses was introduced, com- 
pulsory vaccination was enforced, an act for 
the inspection of animals as well as persons 



was passed, and provisions were made for pur- 
chasing the ground, and building the present 
Contagious Disease hospital. 

Mr. Cargill is of an ingenious turn of mind,, 
and invented a plan and machine for building 
tunnels under rivers, and secured a patent for 
the same in 1876, which was deemed to be 
most feasible by a committee formed for con- 
structing a tunnel under the Detroit river at 
that time; he is a scholarly gentleman, and is 
held in high esteem among men of elevated 
mechanical ability. 

During his investigations of the problem of 
tunneling Detroit river, he became aware of 
the great value of Portland cements, and has 
assisted materially in its introduction general- 
ly; from that time he has been engaged in 
artificial stone building, and sidewalks, in this 
city. 

Mr. Cargill married, in Grand Rapids, in 
1856, Miss Frances E. H. Kraal, a native of 
Holland, who came to the United States when 
but ten years of age, in the vessel with the 
Lancasters, DuPreas, and others. Her father 
and grandfather were artists. She has her 
father's portrait painted by himself. They 
have seven sons and one daughter living. 

Frank K. Cargill attended the public 
schools of Grand Rapids, and when still in his 
teens began learning drawing and engraving 
with Fuller & Reed, who were proprietors of 
the only establishment of this kind in the city, 
and with this firm he remained six years, al- 
though the firm's style was changed several 
times in the meanwhile. In 1881, in company 
with William A. Reed, he engaged in the same 
business, but this partnership lasted one year 
only, when Mr. Cargill became sole proprie- 
tor. Three years later William Averill be- 
came his partner, but this partnership was 
dissolved in 1S91 by the death of Mr. Averill, 
and then the present firm came into existence. 

Mr. Cargill married, at Englishville, Kent 



268 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



county, Miss Agnes Cargill, a distant relative 
and a daughter of David Cargill. This union 
has been blessed with one child, Yula Frances. 
Mr. Cargill, with his family, attend the church 
of Christ; fraternally he is a Knight of Pythias 
and a member of the Lakeside and the High- 
land Park Camping club. His residence is at 
No. 158 Cass avenue, Grand Rapids. 

Charles C. Cargill was born in Grand 
Rapids May 5, 1863. received his education in 
the public schools of Grand Rapids. His first 
introduction to a business career was as time- 
keeper and general storekeeper in a lumber 
camp for Fuller & Avery Lumber Co. on the 
head waters of the Muskegon river. He ne.\t 
went to the Menominee river, and at Marinette, 
Wis., where he was bookkeeper in the Boom 
company's office for two years, and then be- 
came head bookkeeper for the Menominee 
River Lumber company; he afterwards was 
connected with the Quinnesse Logging com- 
pany, and moved to Iron Mountain, where the 
company was building a railroad to do a gen- 
eral logging business. A year after entering 
its employ, he was given full charge as its 
superintendent. The company employed from 
300 to 400 men, did a very extensive business, 
and with it he remained until 1894. 

In the year last mentioned, Mr. Cargill 
came to the Valley City to take charge of the 
business department and general management 
of the Grand Rapids Engraving Co. 

Mr. Cargill was joined in marriage, in 
Menominee, Mich., April 12, 1888, with Miss 
Ida May Hubbard, who was born in George- 
town, Ottawa county, Mich., September 26, 
1863, and is a daughter of George and Martha 
(Lowing) Hubbard. Her father, George Hub- 
bard, deceased, was a hero of the Civil war, 
and was advanced for his gallantry and meri- 
torious conduct from the ranks to a captaincy, 
and was likewise an honored member of the 
Grand Arm\- of the Republic. 



Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cargill have three 
children, viz: Martha Frances, Charles Rod-' 
ger and Richard Irving. The family attend 
Grace Episcopal church, and have their resi- 
dence at No. 18 HoUister street. In his 
societary relations Mr. Cargill is a knight 
templar Mason, and a member of the Lake- 
side club. 

George Thomas Cargill, vice-president of 
the Grand Rapids Engraving company, was 
born in this city November 12, 1864, the fifth 
child of the family. He attended the city 
schools until fourteen years of age, and was 
then employed in the manufacture of cigar 
boxes. For the next four years he was em- 
ployed in the furniture factory, and then ap- 
prenticed himself to his brother, Frank, to 
learn the arts of drawing and wood engraving. 
In 1893 he was admitted to the company as a 
partner, and upon the organization of the com- 
pany was elected to his present position of 
vice-president. 

George T. Cargill married in Grand Rapids, 
November 12, 1888, Miss Georgiana Leffing- 
well, who was born in this city, and 
a daughter of Henry H. Leffingweli, 
a pioneer of Grand Rapids. Two chil- 
dren bless their home — Florence E. ^d Irma 
Marie. The family has its residence at No. 
143 Fairbank street, attend the Second Con- 
gregational church, and fraternally he is a 
Knight of Pythias. 

The Grand Rapids Engraving company 
does printing, wood engraving, etching on cop- 
per and zinc, and copper half-tone process. 
The work comprizes plain work, fine engrav- 
ings, show work, and the blue print process 
plate. Catalogues are furnished complete^ 
engraved, printed and bound. Work is done 
for every state in the Union, from Maine to 
California, from Texas to the lakes, for Bos- 
ton, New York, Atlanta, Minneapolis, St. 
Louis, and all the large cities, and this work is 



AND KEXT COUXTY, UP TO DATE. 



269 



just as fine as any in the world. The work on 
the Century, Harper's, Scribner's or any other 
magazines, does not surpass it. 




RASTUS U. KNAPP, a retired gentle- 
man living at No. 301 Plainfield ave- 
nue, Grand Rapids, Mich. , was born 
in Oswego county, N. Y., five miles 
from the city of the same name, February 10, 
1820, and is a son of Zadoc and Flavia (Mc- 
Graw) Knapp, natives, respectively, of New 
York and \'ermont. The Knapp family origi- 
nated in Germany, but for some reason emi- 
grated to England, where they were ranked 
with the nobility, as one of the family was en- 
dowed with a coat of arms, but whether this 
distinction was inherited by him from Germany 
or conferred on him in England is not known. 
Three brothers of the Knapp family came 
from England to America many years ago, and 
here became separated, but old tombstones in 
New York trace the immediate ancestry of our 
subject up to the grandfather, whose remains 
lie interred in Cayuga county, that state. 
Zadoc Knapp, father of Erastus U., was a 
tanner, currier and shoemaker, and died at the 
age of nearly seventy years. Of his children, 
one is living in New York, past eighty years of 
age, Jared is a carpenter at Grand Rapids, 
Sj'lvanus is a farmer in Grand Rapids town- 
ship, and Erastus U., the subject of this bio- 
graphical sketch, came to Michigan in 1847. 
Erastus U. Knapp, at the age of twelve 
years, began to work out by the month and 
turned in his earnings to his father until about 
twenty years old, when he worked out one 
summer on a farm, and retained his wages for 
his personal use. He next hired a saw-mill 
that was considerably dilapidated, but repaired 



the mill and dam, and cleared, the first year 
that he operated it, $300, or more. He and 
his brother then bought another saw-mill, but 
shortly afterward sold it at a profit of $100. 
Mr. Knapp then bought forty acres of timber 
land, which he cleared up and sold, and then 
worked his father-in-law's land until it was 
sold. In the spring of 1847 he came to Mich- 
igan in company with his brother-in-law, Cor- 
nelius Ackerson, who died about 1896, and lo- 
cated in Calhoun county. The two were part- 
ners in producing one crop, and in June of the 
same year they purchased farms just northeast 
of and adjoining Grand Rapids, but each on 
his individual account. The tracts were all 
covered with timber at that time, with no roads 
near by, but the same spring Plainfield avenue 
was cut through and Mr. Knapp assisted in 
cutting thrpugh Knapp avenue nearly to Grand 
river. There were but very few settlers in 
that vicinity at that time, but among the few 
was Obed H. Foote, who lived just east of the 
Knapp farm. It was thought in those days 
that "tame" grass would not thrive, but Mr. 
. Knapp sowed some grass seed that grew to ma- 
turity and produced hay far superior to that 
indigenous to the surrounding marshes. It was 
thought, also, that fruit trees would not fruc- 
tify, but Mr. Knapp and his father-in-law 
packed a lot of trees on their backs, from the 
south end of the city, planted them and met 
with splendid success. Mr. Foote. who had 
lived here for several years, had no faith in 
fruit culture until he saw apples on Mr. Knapp's 
trees — and what is Michigan to-day in the way 
of fruit.? 

Mr. Knapp also had the first peach orchard 
in Kent county; he also permitted others to 
set out peaches and cultivate grapes on his 
land, receiving $10 per acre yearly for the 
privilege, and those who grew the fruit made 
a great deal of money during the twenty-one 
years they had this pri\ilege. Mr. Knapp also 



270 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



induced several families he had known in New 
York to come and settle about him, thus pro- 
moting the prosperitj' of the township. Mr. 
Knapp was also about the first to use a mower, 
became agent for the Buckeye mower and 
reaper, and eventually erected a warehouse in 
Grand Rapids and handled a full line of agri- 
cultural implements for twenty-eight years. 
He exhibited the Buckeye mower at all the 
fairs throughout Kent and Ottawa counties, 
and in all contests was invariably the winner. 
He invested in a furniture factory and in bank 
stock, was a director in the first fair associa- 
tion, and in company with Maj. L. S. Scranton 
located the old fair grounds on Hall street, and 
for this service was made a life member. He 
was a member of the Horticultural society and 
secured from the State society a premium for 
having the best peach orchard in the state. 
He also introduced sheep in the early days, 
but the uncontrollable raids of voracious dogs 
caused him to abandon this industry. 

When the city of Grand Rapids was incor- 
porated, Mr. Knapp's farm was not included 
within its limits, and when the township was. 
organized he became the first highway com- 
missioner, and assisted in laying out and im- 
proving nearly all the roads passing through 
the township. He served as justice of the 
peace four years, yet never issued a summons 
or tried a suit, but always counseled settle- 
ment, and thus kept his neighbors on good 
terms. In politics a republican, he was fre- 
quently found, in the early days, in the con- 
ventions of his party, in which he wielded a 
strong influence. On one occasion, when 
there were about twenty aspirants for the 
sheriffalty and no choice of a candidate being 
reached by the convention after frequent 
balloting, Mr. Knapp suggested the bringing 
in of a '• dark horse," and as the result Sluman 
S. Bailey was nominated, and this was the be- 
ginning of the latter's public career. 



The marriage of Mr. Knapp took place in 
New York, April 14, 1841, to Miss Mary Ack- 
erson, a daughter of William Ackerson, who 
brought his family to Kent county at the same 
time that Mr. Knapp came, and died here 
when past eighty years of age. To this mar- 
riage were born four children, viz: John, Bet- 
sey, Harriet and Flavia. Of these, John was 
a member of the Twenty-first Michigan vol- 
unteer infantry, under Gen. Sherman, and 
served from Tennessee all through to the At- 
lantic ocean. At Stone River, Tenn., he was 
taken prisoner, but was paroled. His father 
went down there and met the regiment, car- 
rying the first letters to the soldiers after that 
battle. In company with six others of the 
boys, young Knapp was sent to Camp Chase, 
Ohio, whence he walked home, but not hav- 
ing the proper papers, remained one night 
only and rejoined his regiment in time to take 
part in the next battle. As his father had 
kept a blacksmith shop on the farm, he had 
familiarized himself with the use of tools, and 
part of his service was with the Michigan 
Engineers and Mechanics corps, but he took 
part in every engagement in which his regiment 
participated until at the battle of Bentonville, 
S. C, when, on the skirmish line, the company 
fell back from in front of a masked battery. 
He stopped a moment to aid a wounded com- 
rade, and was himself shot through while per- 
forming this humane act. He crawled along, 
while thus wounded, for more than a mile, 
but died a few hours later, at the age of twen- 
ty-three years, after a gallant service of nearly 
three years. 

Betsey, the second child born to Mr. and 
Mrs. Knapp, is married to S. S. Bacon, whose 
sketch appears on another page; Harriet, the 
third child, is the wife of Albert Lamphear, ard 
lives on the old homestead, while their daugh- 
ter. Mary, lives with her grandparents; Fla- 
via, the fourth child, was married to Charles 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



271 



Alcumbrack, but died three years after mar- 
riage, at the birth of her only son, Fay. 

Mr. Knapp erected his present dvvelHng on 
Plainfield avenue, from his own plans, about 
seven years ago, and is now living in quiet re- 
tirement, honored by all who know him, and 
there are very few in Grand Rapids who do 
not. In the early days he joined the Division 
street Methodist Episcopal church and has 
been a church worker ever since, t,tarting an 
infant Sunday-school in the school-house near 
his farm, and he is now a trustee of the Plain- 
field avenue church. 




™I:TER IvORNOELJE. a well-known 
yM resident of Grand Rapids, where he 
has lived for the past thirty years, 
and for twenty years has been en- 
gaged in the undertaking business, was born 
in Holland. A sister had preceded him to 
America and settled in Grand Haven, Mich., 
sending home accounts so glowing of the pros- 
perity that attends upon industry in this coun- 
ty, that Peter determined here to seek his for- 
tune. With this object in view, he married 
Miss Mary Kloet, and eight days later 
started with his bride, his father and his moth- 
er, and arrived at Grand Haven, but remained 
there, however, two months only, when he 
came to Grand Rapids, as he was anxious to 
get a start in business. He began work here 
as a common laborer, as he was entirely with- 
out capital, and then for a time dealt in and 
peddled fish, and engaged in divers kinds of 
work and trade for about ten years. By close 
application to his various callings and by strict 
economj-, he was enabled, about twenty years 
ago, to embark in his present business, to 
which he diligently applied himself and soon 

14 



made himself master of all its details. He 
succeeded in securing for himself a fair share 
of the trade of the city—indispensable, as it is 
to all, sooner or later — built himself a com- 
fortable home and won for himself and family 
the general respect of the citizens. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Kornoelje 
have been born nine children, of whom five 
still survive, viz: Annie, Mary, Jennie, Sarah 
and Martin, all having received good school ad- 
vantages. The parents of Mr. Ivornoelje are 
now deceased and passed to rest in the faith of 
the Holland Reformed church, of which Mr. 
and wife are also faithful members. 

Mr. Ivornoelje has alwa\'s been a worthy 
and useful citizen since his residence in Grand 
Rapids and has taken great interest in the 
progress of the city which has become his per- 
manent hoilie, and in which he has witnessed 
so many remarkable changes in growth and 
character, especially during the past twenty 
years, and has soconducted himself as to well 
deserve the high esteem in which he is held by 
the public. 



hlORGE L. KRIDLER, real-estate and 
loan agent, at No. 45 Pearl street. 
Grand Rapids, Mich., was born in 
Lima, Ohio, October 2, 1866, and is 
a son of William and Frances (Sherman) Krid- 
ler, natives of the same city, where the mother 
died when George L. , the subject, was an in- 
fant; the father, who is a mechanic, is now a 
resident of Grand- I^apids, and having never 
remarried, makes his home with his sons, of 
whom there were five in the family, besides 
two daughters. 

Of the seven children born to William and 
Frances Kridler, Frank, the eldest, died at 
the age of thirty years in the state of Michigan;. 



272 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Charles is a mechanic in Grand Rapids; Ella 
is the widow of Josiah Clark, also in Grand 
Rapids; Andrew J. is in the real-estate busi- 
ness in Grand Rapids; William died in mature 
years; Florence is a widow, and resides in 
California; and George L. is the youngest. 
The Kridler family is of German ancestry, but 
has been resident in America for several gen- 
erations, while the Sherman family is of Irish 
extraction, and this particular branch has long 
dwelt on American soil. 

George L. Kridler was reared on a farm in 
Jamestown township, Ottawa county, Mich., 
whither his father had removed from Ohio at 
the death of his wife; he was educated in the 
district schools, and on attaining eighteen years 
of age, sold his farm and came to Grand Rap- 
ids, about 1884, and for six years was engaged 
in the furniture business, and then became a 
real estate and loan agent, as well as a han- 
dler of his own property-. He buys and sells 
improved or vacant lots, and other real estate, 
builds houses and sells them, and loans both 
eastern and local capital in sums to suit. 

Mr. Kridler was married in this city August 
I, 1 888, to Miss Mary Laubenthal, a daughter 
of Nicholas and Ann Katherine Laubenthal, 
natives of Germany, who came to America soon 
after marriage and located in Grand Rapids in 
1856. They have had born to them eleven 
chddren, of whom six are still living, viz: 
Mrs. Minnie Lafave; Philip, a machine hand 
in a furniture factory; Joseph, a cigar manu- 
facturer; Matthias, a cabinetmaker — all of 
Grand Rapids; Mrs. Kittie Grannis, who lives 
at Conklin; and Mrs. Kridler, the youngest of 
the family. Mr. and Mrs. Kridler have two 
children — William M.,born February 4, 1889, 
and Lloyd F., born December 7, 1892. The 
family, although true Christians and devout 
believers in and upholders of the Gospel, do 
not affiliate with any church organization. 

In politics Mr. Kridler is a democrat, but 



prefers business to politics. Fraternally, he 
is a member of Equity lodge, No. 459, I. O. 
O. F., of Grand Rapids. 

Mr. Kridler has been very successful as a 
dealer in real estate, and is recognized as one 
of the most upright men in the business. He 
has a delightful home at No. 585 Grandville 
avenue, and he and fainil}' mingle with the 
best social circles of Grand Rapids. 




ELMER KUIPER, claim agent for the 
Chicago & West Michigan and the 
Detroit, Grand Rapids & Western 
railroad companies, with his head- 
quarters at Grand Rapids, was born on the 
loth day of August, 1869, in the Netherlands 
of Europe, and is a son of the late Rev. R. T. 
Kuiper. 

In April, 1879, the Rev. R. T. Kuiper 
came to America with his family in answer to 
a call from one of the 'Holland Christian Re- 
formed churches in Allegan county, near Hol- 
land, Mich. As he had for a long time been 
inspired by the American spirit of freedom and 
independence, he readily affiliated himself with 
American institutions and learned to love 
American manners and customs. The church 
work, commenced in the Netherlands, he 
entered upon with increased vigor in this 
country. F"or years he was a trustee of the 
theological school at Grand Rapids, was presi- 
dent of the general synod and chairman of the 
board o'f foreign missions. In 1889 he took 
charge of a church at East Harvey, III., and 
remained there in active church work until his 
lamented death in 1894. 

Gelmer Kuiper was educated at Hope col- 
lege, Holland, Mich., received the A. B. and 
A. M. degrees from that institution, then 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



273 



entered the universit}" of Michigan and re- 
ceived the degree of LL. B. from the law de- 
partment in 1893. Immediately after his 
graduation he entered the general practice of 
law in the city of Grand Rapids. In 1894 he 
became associated with Hon. William Alden 
Smith, congressman of the Fifth district of 
Michigan, and general attorney for the De- 
troit, Grand Rapids & \\'estern and Chicago 
& West Michigan railway companies. As a 
reward for his ability, close attention to his 
duties, and general usefulness, Mr. Kuiperwas 
appointed claim agent of these same roads in 

1897, and has now general charge of this 
branch of their legal department. 

Mr. Kuiper is a typical representative of 
that sturdy race of Hollanders who form the 
best blood of the nation. They readily and 
eagerly absorb American ideas and affiliate 
thoroughly and readily with American institu- 
tions, and are loyal to the American flag. Mr. 
Kuiper is a conscientious worker and student, 
and is admirably qualified in native ability and 
learning for his profession. On December 22, 

1898, he was married to Miss Angeline Cooper, 
■of Chicago, 111., and their home is at No. 336 
South College avenue, Grand Rapids. 

Mr. Kuiper is of a very pleasant and social 
disposition, and is extremely popular, for to 
know him is to like him. Since his tenth 
year he has continued to imbibe the sentiment 
and spirit of his adopted county. He was one 
of the organizers and promoters of the Knicker- 
bocker society, of Grand Rapids, and is at 
present one of its trustees. 



HRISTOPH KUSTERER, deceased, 
was one of the most enterprising 
business men that ever lived in 
Grand Rapids, and although he 
came here comparatively poor, died one of 




the wealthiest of her citizens, and even then 
was untimely bereaved of life. He was born 
at Gumpelcheur, ^^'urtemberg, Germany, 
May 24, 1823, and was early baptized in the 
faith of the Lutheran church. At the age of 
fourteen years, having finished his attendance 
at the public school, he was apprenticed to a 
brewer in the town of Freudenstadt, eighteen 
miles from his home, and after learning his 
trade continued to work at the same place 
until twenty-one years of age, when, in accord- 
ance with the laws of his country, he returned 
to the place of his nativity to take his chance 
of being drafted into the army, but escaped 
being drawn. He then determined to come 
to America, and arrived in New York in 1845, 
whence he came direct to Michigan as had 
been pre-arranged, and located at Ann Arbor 
and engaged in tanning. There he became 
acquainted with Miss Mary D. Dauble, whom 
he married in the spring of 1847. This lady 
was born in Wurtemberg, January 8, 1825, 
and was brought to America by her parents 
in 1835. Her father, John George Dauble, 
was a man of excellent education, was a pro- 
fessional teacher in the old country, and on 
coning to America taught the village school at 
Ann Arbor. He was also a fine musician 
and a teacher of vocal music, and lived to be 
sixty-five years of age, his wife, nee Mary 
Doroth}' Rinderknight, surviving until she had 
attained the advanced age of over ninety-three 
years. 

Mr. Kusterer remained in Ann Arbor until 
the j-ear of his marriage, when he came to 
Grand Rapids and joined William Parmell, an 
Englishman, in the brewing business, but the 
latter, in 1849, was seized with the gold fever, 
sold his interest in the brewery to Mr. Kus- 
terer, and departed for California. In 1850, 
Mr. Ivusterer built the City brewery on Iowa 
street, but this was later consolidated with the 
Grand Rapids Brewing company. When Mr. 



274 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Kusterer started his brewery he had a capital 
of $Soo, brewed the small number of four 
barrels at a time, did his own work and him- 
self made the deliveries, but eventually the 
business attained immense proportions. In 
September, 1855, he purchased the fine resi- 
dence property where his widow still resides, 
at No. 75 East Bridge street, and with admir- 
able foresight improved and enlarged the 
dwelling, which was one of the first erected in 
the neighborhood, and there all his children 
were born, ten in number, of whom two died 
in infancy and eight reached mature years, viz: 
Maria Matilda, wife of Henry Lovell and the 
mother of two sons, Louis and Wilder, and 
grandmother of Norris, son of Wilder; Louisa, 
wife of Dr. James Mulhern, and mother of one 
son, William; Pauline, unmarried and living 
with her mother; Charles Frederick, who died 
the father of three children, Arthur, Carl and 
Robert; Emma, wife of W. F. Kelso, of Hal- 
lock, Minn., and the mother of five children, 
Florence, Edith, Fred, George and Louise; 
Helen Dorothea, wife of George Newhall, and 
the mother of three children, Dorothy, George 
and Joseph; Christopher E. , of the Grand 
Rapids Brewing company; he married Carrie 
C. Correy and resides at No. 142 North La- 
fayette street; and Gustavus Adolphus, of the 
same company, and all residents of Grand 
Rapids with the exception of Mrs. -Kelso. 

Beside the brewery and residence he ac- 
quired a largcainount of real estate in Grand 
Rapids, held-a large interest in the Hydraulic 
companyTand^in the Star Flouring mill and 
other business enterprises. In politics he was 
a democrat, 'and in religion he was a member, 
and his family are all members, of the Lutheran 
church, Mrs. Kusterer having been baptized, 
in childhood, l^in Germany. 

The sad and tragic death of Mr. Kusterer 
took place on^Friday night, October 15, 1880. 
He had taken 'passage on board the ill-fated 



steamer Alpena at Grand Haven, together 
with about sixty other passengers, and when 
far out on the lake the unfortunate vessel went 
to the bottom, with all on board, including 
Mr. Kusterer, Frederick Spaeth and George 
Hottinger, of Grand Rapids, the disaster oc- 
curring on the date mentioned above. That 
this calamity was a shock to the people of 
Grand Rapids and the immediate family of 
Mr. Kusterer may well be imagined, for no 
man in the city had been more enterprising 
than he, and none more charitable, kind and 
public spirited. His loss has never been and 
probably never will be filled, but his widow 
and children have consolation in the fact that 
he was honored by all who knew him and 
that he left behind a spotless name. 



EORGE A. LAMBRIX. alderman 
from the Eighth ward of Grand Rap- 
ids and youngest member of the board 
of councilmen, was born in this city 
February 15, 1870, a son of Joseph and Ot- 
tilia Lambri.x, still residents here and among 
the city's most respected inhabitants. Their 
family is comprised of si.x children, viz: Joseph 
P., Robert M., Albert H., Paul V., Edwin J., 
besides George A. , the subject of this sketch, 
who is the eldest. 

In his youthful days young George A. Lam- 
brix received an excellent preparatory educa- 
tion in the Grand Rapids common schools, 
and being a studious and bright scholar, was 
rapidly advanced and passed to the Normal 
Business college, and at the very early age of 
sixteen years engaged in the news and sta- 
tionery business on his own account, and for 
four years carried on a profitable trade. He 
then sold out his establishment and joined his 
father in the grocery trade, which they car- 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



275 



ried on toc;ether several j'ears, and then, con- 
crete pavements coming into vogue, he em- 
barked in this line and did very well for two 
years, when competition became so great that 
he wisely relinquished a trade that was no 
longer remunerative and became a stockholder 
in a furniture manufacturing concern. 

In politics a democrat, he was elected a 
member of the city council in 1897, in which 
body he has served as a member of the com- 
mittee on sewers, and as chairman of the com- 
mittee on streets, and also as a member of 
the committee on health. Having been reared 
ill Grand Rapids he is well posted as to the 
requirements of its citizens, and no better 
man, for that reason, could have been selected 
by the democracy of the Eighth ward to rep- 
resent and advocate its interests. 



^ 



AMUEL R. LANDES, osteopathic phy- 
sician of extended reputation, at No. 
147 Monroe street, Grand Rapids, 
Mich., is a native of Creston, Iowa, 
was born February 28, 1861, and is a son of 
James M. and Elizabeth (Miles)Landes, natives 
of Indiana. 

James M. Landes was a class-mate of 
Indiana's famous statesman, Daniel Voorhies, 
was about his age, passed his earlier life in 
school-teaching, but died on his farm in Iowa 
at the age of si.\ty-four years. After his death 
the family removed to Kirksville. Mo., where 
Mrs. Elizabeth Lanes now resides. Their 
seven children were born and named in the 
following order: Walter G., who is a farmer in 
Missouri; Samuel R., the subject of this sketch; 
John E., a merchant at Kirksville, Mo.; Henry 
E. , in the osteopathic practice; W'illiam S., a 
railroad employee at Springfield, Mo. ; Agnes 
B., an osteopathic physician in Chicago, 111.; 



and Martha M., wife of Rev. Charles C. 
^^'imple, Methodist Episcopal minister at Kirks- 
ville, Mo. 

Dr. Samuel R. Landes received his 
elementary education in the public schools of 
Creston, Iowa, Kirksville, Mo., and the 
Missouri State Normal school, and graduated 
from the latter in 1887. He then went to 
Idaho, engaged in mining for a short period, 
and next went to Salt Lake City, where he 
lived four years. 

In 1893, Mr. Landes returned to Kirks- 
ville, Mo., where he entered the Osteopathic 
college, on its organization, pursued a two 
years' course of study,' and after graduation 
was for a year or two professor of theory and 
practice of osteopathy in the same institution. 

In April, 1897, Dr. Landes came to Grand 
Rapids, and began the practice of his profes- 
sion. In the winter of the same year the leg- 
islature of the state of Michigan legalized the 
oractice of this science, to which, theretofore. 
no attention had been, save in the general 
study of anatomy by the ordinary medical and 
surgical student; now it is a legally recognized 
school, and the treatment has been made a 
special study in colleges established for the 
purpose — as dental colleges have been created 
for educating for the special study of "teeth." 

Dr. Landes has had a grand success in the 
practice of his specialty since coming to Grand 
Rapids, and numbers among his patrons many 
of the best people of the city. Not only is 
this the fact, but many people from abroad 
come to him and are successfully treated by 
him, even as far as from Washington, D. C. 

During the summer of 1899. Dr. Landes 
visited Petoskey, Mich., for recreation, leav- 
ing his office in Grand Rapids in charge of his 
brother, Henry E., but while at that pleasure 
resort found more professional work to do 
than he found time to take recreation. 

Dr. Landes married, in Salt Lake City, 



276 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Utah, in August, 1892, Miss May Crosby, a 
native of the state of New York, but this lady 
passed away in July, 1898. Dr. Landes 
now resides at the Livingstone hotel. 



OUIS L. LAUXIERE, a prominent 
and influential business man of Grand 
Rapids, Mich., was born at Quebec, 
Canada, on the 12th of August, 1S37, 
a son of George G. and Catherine (Greniere) 
Launiere, the parents of nine children, of 
whom, in order of birth, the subject was the 
seventh. The father was a landlord and a 
prominent, energetic and successful man, re- 
siding at Quebec until he departed this life. 
Both parents were devout Catholics and were 
highly respected in the church. 

Louis L. Launiere, their son, received his 
primary education in a common school and 
later was a student in LaSalle university, 
which he attended until his seventeenth year. 
He then came to the United Statesand located 
in New York city, where he remained a short 
time, after which he went to Haverstraw, 
Rockland county, N. Y., at which place he 
was engaged in brick work. He then returned 
to New York city and received a position as 
clerk with the French glass importers, which 
position he held for si.x months, thence going 
so Burlington, Vt., where he was engaged 
for one year in handling sashes, doors and 
blinds. 

In 1857 he came to Grand Rapids, Mich., 
and went to work in the same kind of business 
with C. C. Comstock & Co., and remained 
with them until 1S61, when he enlisted in 
company H, First Michigan volunteer regiment, 
under Capt. C. C. Wendall. He served three 



years and three months and was discharged 
honorably by a general order from the war de- 
partment. During his career in the army he 
was twice wounded, once at Malvern Hill, and 
again, in the knee, at Chancellorsville, and 
now draws a pension of $6 per month. 

After his difcharge he returned to Grand 
Rapids and resumed work with the sash and 
door company until 1868, when he engaged 
with the Nelson & Matter Furniture company, 
with which he worked for fifteen years. He 
was engaged in the grocery business on West 
Bridge street during the two succeeding years, 
and in 1892 sold out to his sons, when he was 
appointed to the registry department of the 
post-office under Cleveland. On November 
15, 1864, Mr. Launiere was united in marriage 
to Miss Emma J. Collier, a native of Grand 
Rapids, who died in 1867. To this union 
were born two children — Charles L. and Eu- 
gen'a. He was married, the second time, at 
Grand Rapids, on the 4th of October, 1869, 
to Miss Bridget L. Quinn, who was born at 
the same place. This union was blessed by 
the birth of three children, viz: Albert ]., en- 
gaged at present with a bicycle and leather 
company; L. W., of Bailey, Mich., and Eva 
May, who is living with her parents. The 
Launiere family are members of the Catholic 
church, in which they are greatly respected. 

Mr. Launiere is now the owner of a fine 
home and vacant lots at 29 South Pine street. 
He was alderman three terms, weighmaster 
one term, and street commissioner three sea- 
sons. He is a member of C. M. B. A. and K. 
of H., and in his association with his brethren 
of these fraternities he has won their high re- 
gard. Genial and sympathetic in nature., up- 
right and honorable in all his actions, small 
wonder is it that his friends are mnumerable, 
and that his name is a synonym for noble 
christian manhood among his associates and 
acquaintances. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



277 




EORGE W. LAW. M. D., with his 
office at No. 501 South Division street, 
Grand Rapids, and his residence at 
No. 367 Cass avenue, is a native of 
Richmond Hill, Ontario province, dominion 
of Canada, was born July 31, 1S56, and is the 
eleventh of the thirteen children born to 
Abraham and Elizabeth (I-ilinck) Law, natives, 
respectively, of Pennsylvania and Canada, the 
mother being of Scotch descent. 

Abraham Law was during his early busi- 
ness life a general merchant and dealer in 
leather, and was also engaged in the manu- 
facture of harness and saddlery, but later be- 
came a justice of the peace and an insurance 
agent at Richmond Hill, province of Ontario, 
where his death took place at the age of 
seventy-eight years and four months. Mrs. 
Elizabeth Law still resides in Richmond Hill, 
at the age of eighty-four years, although much 
of her time is passed with her married children, 
eight of whom are still living. Of these. Rob- 
ert, the eldest, is a druggist at Richmond 
Hill; Priscilla, now Mrs. Grant, resides at the 
same place, her husband being a contractor 
and builder; Theodore V. is a physician of 
Detroit, Mich. ; Arrilla C. is the wife of Dr. 
Atwood, of Chicago; Wellington J. is a real- 
estate dealer in Detroit; George W. is the sub- 
ject of this biographical notice; Armenia Myrtle 
is married to Dr. Blakely, of Manitoba, and 
Lucetta Elizabeth is the wife of Amos J. 
Wright, a member of the Canadian parliament. 
Dr. George W. Law received a thorough 
elementary education in his native city, and 
then joined his brother. Dr. Theodore V. 
Law, at Detroit, under whom he learned the 
drug business, became a registered pharmacist, 
and also secured a diploma in chemistry. 
Under the careful and able supervision of this 
brother, young Law likewise pursued a three- 
year course in the study of the science of 
medicine, at the conclusion of which he en- 



tered the Michigan College of Medicine at De- 
troit, from which he graduated in 1S82, and 
at once established himself for practice at 
Baldwin, Lake county, where for three years 
he enjoyed an enviable reputation, although 
the field was somewhat contracted for a 30ung 
physician of his superior ability, and where, 
also, he filled the office of county physician 
nearly the whole period of his stay there. 
The succeeding three years he passed in Mus- 
kegon, where he secured a lucrative practice, 
but- the conditions there being of about the 
same complexion of those at Baldwin, he de- 
cided to come to Grand Rapids in 188S, where 
the field is broader in its scope, and where his 
merits have met with a keener appreciation. 

.After becoming a resident of Grand Rap- 
ids, Dr. Law served as city physician under 
Mayor Stowe's administration for two years, 
and was later appointed to the same office by 
Mayor Perry, to fill a vacancy caused by the 
absence in the army of Dr. Burkhart, the 
regular incumbent. Dr. Law has occupied his 
present business office for the past four years, 
and that he has become one of the city's most 
popular practitioners is proven by the fact that 
he has realized sufficient funds to erect for 
himself a fine dwelling in 1898. Beside at- 
tending to his large list of patients, Dr. Law is 
the regular e.xaminer for a number of standard 
life insurance companies — another evidence of 
his popularity, ability and practical experience. 

The marriage of Dr. Law took place in 
Grand Rapids April 14, 1888, to Miss Emma 
Louise Ayge'r, a native of Seneca Falls, N. Y. , 
where she was educated and where she grew to 
womanhood. 

Fraternally Dr. Law is a member of the 
Ivnights of Pythias, Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, .Modern Woodmen of America, Inde- 
pendent Order of Foresters, Knights and 
Ladies' Security, Royal Neighbors, Order of 
Rebekah, and Rathbone Sisters, and of the 



278 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



four societies last named Mrs. Law is also a 
member. The doctor was reared in the faith 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, but he is 
not at present a member of any religious or- 
ganization. In politics he is a sound repub- 
lican. Socially the doctor and wife enjoy the 
esteem of a large circle of friends promi-nent 
in society, and their home is the abode of do- 
mestic happiness and genial hospitality. 




UCIUS D. HARRIS.— The present 
age is essentially utilitarian. Prog- 
ress in all lines of commercial and in- 
dustrial activity is attained not by 
might or favor, but by the inherent capabilities 
of the individual. There is no standard for 
the building of character, and success is not 
achieved by adhering to rules evolved from 
the brain of economist or philosopher. The 
man who can rise from the ranks to a position 
of eminence among his fellows is he who sees 
and utilizes the opportunities that surround 
him. It is a noteworthy fact that the essen- 
tial conditions of human life are ever the 
same. The surroundings of individuals differ 
but slightly, and when on the highway leading 
to the goal of prosperity one man overtakes 
and passes others who, before him, had per- 
haps started under more favorable conditions, 
it is because he has power to use advantages 
which are the common heritage of the whole 
human race. Success is the direct. result of 
energy directed and controlled b}- wisdom and 
forethought, traits possessed in a limited de- 
gree by the majorit}-, but developed to com- 
pleteness by the few. With the latter class it 
is a compliment well bestowed to number the 
gentleman, a brief review of whose life is here- 
with presented. 



Lucius D. Harris is a native son of Michi- 
gan, born on the 26th day of May, 1850, in 
the county of Wayne. His parents, James 
and Delia (Willmarth) Harris, were natives of 
Canada and Michigan, respectively, and early 
located in Wayne county, of which they were 
among the first pioneers. The father bore his 
part in the development of that section of the 
country, and while not highly successful in the 
matter of accumulating large possessions, ac- 
quired a comfortable competence of this 
world's goods, and left behind him a reputa- 
tion unsullied by any dishonorable act. 
He reared a family of four children, all of 
whom are living, the subject of this sketch be- 
ing the first born. 

Lucius D. Harris was reared amid the 
peaceful scenes of the rural home and is in- 
debted to the public schools for his elementary 
training, attending the same during the winter 
seasons until arriving at manhhood's estate. 
In order the better to prepare himself for 
grappling with life's duties he subsequently 
entered Bryant & Stratton's Businees college, 
Detroit, in which he took a complete course, 
receiving a diploma of graduation in the year 
1874, and also taught two winters in that in- 
stitution. Previous to this time, howe\er, he 
taught school in his home county for three 
years, and such was his success as an instructor 
that had he seen fit to pursue the profession 
would no doubt have distinguished himself in 
the field of education. 

After completing his commercial course, 
Mr. Harris became bookkeeper for the firm of 
Cornwell, Price & Co., Detroit, filling the 
position acceptably for a period of si.x years, 
and then engaged in business for himself as 
dealer in hardwood lumber, to which he gave 
his attention two years, meeting with success in 
the meantime. Disposing of his lumber 
interest in Detroit, he went to Minneapolis, 
Minn., as assistant general manager of the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



281 



Minneapolis Harvester works of that city, and 
one year later resigned the position and re- 
turned to Detroit to take charge of the busi- 
ness of the firm by which he was formerly em- 
ployed — it having in the interim fallen into 
narrow straits. Owing to this depression the 
firm found it necessary to make an assignment, 
and Mr. Harris was chosen assignee. The 
duties of this position, together with the look- 
ing after other bankrupt stocks which mean- 
while had been intrusted to him, occupied his 
time and attention for two years, and for a 
like period he was interested as administrator 
for several estates, all of which he settled with 
commendable fidelity. 

Mr. Harris" next venture was in the whole- 
sale paper business at Detroit, in company 
with Morris M. Peck, under the firm name of 
Harris & Peck, a partnership which lasted 
until 1885, when Mr. Peck disposed of his in- 
terest to E. S. Marvin. The business under 
the style of Harris and Marvin continued in 
Detroit till the latter part of the following 
year, at which time the stock was removed to 
Grand Rapids and largely increased. One 
month after locating in this city he purchased 
his partner's interest and remained sole pro- 
prietor until 1893, at which time the Harris 
Paper Co. was organized, with Mr. Harris 
as president and manager — a position he has 
ever since filled. The other officers of the 
company are Clark Cornwell, of Jackson, 
Mich., vice-president, and Ed. C. Cornwell, 
of Ypsilanti, secretary and treasurer, both be- 
ing men of superior business qualifications. 
Since that time the business has constantly 
grown, rendering it necessary to increase the 
capital and otherwise enlarge the facilities in 
order to meet the demands of the trade. In 
May, 1893, articles of incorporation were filed 
with a paid up capital of $25,000, which has 
since been increased, and at this time the 
house is the largest of its kind in the state 



and one of the most prosperous and highly 
rated in the entire northwest. The stock 
includes all kinds of paper, stationery, print- 
ers' supplies and other articles usually found 
in such establishments, and the annual busi- 
ness is conservatively put down at $250,000. 
but as a matter of fact is considerably in 
excess of that amount. The success of the 
enterprise has surpassed the expectations 
of the stockholders of the company, and 
is due to the vigilance, business sagacity and 
wise foresight of the clear-headed president. 
The executive ability which he has displayed 
in the management is of a high order and 
easily places him in the front rank of the 
city's representative business men. In a word, 
the salient features in his entire business career 
thus far are close application, thorough inves- 
tigation and mastery of every detail that comes 
within his range, unflagging perseverance and 
resolute purpose — and to these he owes his 
steady advancement from a comparatively 
humble beginning to a prominent place among 
the successful and honored mercantile men, 
whose endeavors make them deserving of 
classification with the benefactors of the city 
and state. 

A number of years prior to embarking in 
the mercantile trade, Mr. Harris achieved con- 
siderable distinction as a civil engineer, and 
while surveyor of Wayne county, a position he 
held two years, made a complete map of the 
river front of the county, besides re-establish- 
ing the lines of the original French claims, 
the records of which had been lost in the de- 
struction by fire of the office of the register of 
deeds. This work proved of incalculable 
value to the county and will ever a remain a 
silent testimonial to his skill as a wise and 
capable public official. 

Mr. Harris was happily married in New- 
burg, N. v., in November, 1S77, to Miss Emma 
A. Goldsmith, who was born in that place on 



9SO 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



the 14th day of May, 1S53. Mrs. Harris is 
the daughter of Joseph and Susan (Woodruff) 
Goldsmith, and has borne her husband three 
children, named as follows: Louis G., Ada W. 
and Jessie E., all still under the paternal roof, 
the first named being his father's trusted busi- 
ness assistant. 

Mr. Harris is unswerving in his allegiance 
to the democratic party and one of its able 
counselors in Grand Rapids. While he has 
always devoted the greater part of his time to 
his business interests, he has by no means al- 
lowed them to shut him off from other duties 
and relations of life. Socially' he is a valued 
and esteemed member of the Masonic fratern- 
ity, holding membership as follows: York 
lodge, No. 410, F. cS: A. M. ; Columbia chap- 
ter. No. 132, R. A. M.; Tyre council, No. 
10, R. and S. M.— P. E. C. ; DeMolai com- 
mandery. No. 5, K. T.— P. T., P. G. M. ; 
Moriah Grand Lodge of Perfection, fourth to 
fourteenth degree, inclusive; Cyrus council, 
P. of J., fifteenth and si.xteenth degrees; 
M. W. and P. M. Robinson chapter Rose 
Croix, seventeenth and eighteenth degrees; 
De Witt Clinton consistory, S. P. R. S., 
nineteenth to thirty-second degree. In Sep- 
tember, 1898, at Cincinnati, Ohio, was con- 
ferred on Mr. Harris the thirty-third degree. 
It will thus be seen that Mr. Harris has been 
prominent in the deliberations of the order 
locally and otherwise, and is widely known 
among the members of the Mystic Tie as the 
author of Knight Templar tactics, a work 
which has received great favor throughout the 
entire country. 

The foregoing is a brief record of the lead- 
ing facts in the life of a very busy man, who 
in many ways has contributed much to the 
commercial and social welfare of one of 
Michigan's most prosperous cities. Possessing 
in full measure the respect and confidence of 
his fellow-citizens, and still in the prime of 



vigorous manhood, his present lot is indeed 
most favorable, and the future beckons him on 
with all that is encouraging. His beautiful 
home at No. 83 Henry street, supplied with 
conveniences and luxuries which make life 
pleasant and desirable, is the abode of refine- 
ment and good cheer, which he dispenses 
without stint to those claiming his hospitality, 
and when weary of the trials of business, he 
bids dull care begone and finds quiet and re- 
pose in a delightful summer residence at 
Macatawa Park, on the shores of Lake 
Michigan. 



RANCIS J. LEE, M. D., a popular and 
rising young physician of Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., is a native of Durham 
county, province of Ontario, Canada, 
was born January 22, 1869, and is a son of 
Robert and Mary (Reinbird) Lee, natives, re- 
spectively, of Canada and Ireland, and the 
parents of eight chlidren, viz: John H., a 
builder in Bethany, Canada; Robert A., prin- 
cipal of high school. Port Hope, Canada; 
Charlotte E., married and residing in '\'an- 
couver; William H., a farmer in Canada; Sam- 
uel, inspector of street railways, Detroit, Mich. ; 
Margaret, married to a Mr. Jamison, a farmer 
and residing in Bethany, Canada; Francis J., 
the subject, and Albert, of Toronto, in the 
dry-goods trade. The father is a builder and 
contractor, and with his wife makes his home 
at Bethany, Durham county, Ontario. 

Dr. Francis J, Lee received his elementary 
education in Port Hope, Ontario, and after- 
ward graduated at Mitchell Collegiate institute, 
at Mitchell, Ontario, and then took a one-year 
course at Trinity university, of Toronto, On- 
tario, and began business as a dry-goods clerk, 
which vocation he followed five years, and was 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



283'- 



then in business for two years on his own ac- 
count in Bethany, when fire destroyed all his 
property. This misfortune was the probable 
cause of his taking up the study of medicine. 
However this may be, he was for eight months 
employed again in the dry-goods trade at Sault 
Ste. Marie, and in October, iSgi, entered Mc- 
Gill Medical college, took a four-year course 
and graduated therefrom in March, 1S96. He 
at once entered on active practice at Ada, 
Mich., ten miles from Grand Rapids, and con- 
tinued there until June, 189S, when he went to 
Chicago, 111., took a course in the West side 
Post-graduate school, and thence came to 
Grand Rapids, and has since had his office 
with Dr. William Fuller on Monroe street, 
where he has already established an excellent 
reputation that promises much for the near 
future. 

The marriage of Dr. Lee took place in 
Grand Rapids, in October, 1897, to Miss Avil- 
da Kelton, an accomplished young lady, a 
member of one of the most prominent families 
of the city, and who received a high class edu- 
cation in Brooklyn, N. Y., and Chicago, 111. 
The doctor and his wife are members of the 
Episcopalian church and socially mo\-e in the 
best circles. 

Fraternally, the doctor is a member of F. 
& A. M., the K. O. T. M., and the M. W. of 
A., and in politics is a republican. 



UGENE HUTCHINSON LONG, who 
has been prominent in the practice 
of law in Grand Rapids since 1893, 
was born in Albany, N. Y. , June 6, 
1850, a son of William and Mary J. (Lay ton) 
Long, natives, also, of the Empire state. 

W'illiam Long was a furniture manufac- 
turer by occupation, and this trade he followed 
until his death in 1897; his widow is now a 



resident of Buffalo, N. Y. Mr. Long was a 
republican in politics, and served his party in 
the city council of Buffalo, from the Ninth 
ward, from 1S61 until 1863. He was a gen- 
tleman of moderate means, but stood very 
high in the esteem of many public men, 
among whom may be mentioned President 
Abraham Lincoln. Fraternally he was an Odd 
Fellow, and in religion a Baptist, to which 
faith his widow still clings. To the marriage 
of Mr. and Mrs. Long were born four chil- 
dren, viz: George W'., deceased; Eugene H., 
the subject of this sketch; William E., M. D., 
of Buffalo, and Anna M., wife of F. W. 
Burke, of the same city. 

Eugene H. Long, after passing through 
the public schools of Buffalo, N. Y., graduated 
from the high school in i860, and was at once 
apprenticed" to a watchmaker and jeweler, 
with whom he remained five years, learning 
the trade thoroughly. He then began the 
study of law in the office of William L. Jones, 
read faithfully and assiduously, and in Feb- 
ruary, 1 87 1, was admitted to the bar. Sooii 
afterwards, he was appointed United States 
consular agent at the port of Dunville, Can- 
ada, filled the position with much credit to 
himself for twoand a half years, and then re- 
turned to Buffalo, whence he removed to 
Jatnestown, N. Y., and next, in 1888, located 
in Detroit, Mich., practicing law, in the mean- 
while, at each place. After a very successful 
course of practice, in Detroit, until 1893, Mr. 
Long came to Grand Rapids, and from April of 
that year has here been engaged in the active 
practice of his profession, among his clients 
being the noted firm of R. L. Polk & Co., pub- 
lishers of numerous valuable state directories. 

Mr. Long is a thirty-second degree Mason 
and also a member of the A. O. U. W. ; in 
politics he is a republican, and his social 
standing, like his professional, is all that could 
be desired. 



284 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 




ANIEL E. LOZIER, alderman from 
the Eleventh ward, Grand Rapids, 
r.otary public and hardware merchant, 
has been a resident here for the past 
twelve years, and during this period has al- 
ways held a prominent position before the 
public. He was born near Canton. Ohio, 
March 24, 1858, and is a son of Zadoc and 
Margaret (Petit) Lozier, parents of five chil- 
dren, of whom three are still living, viz: Jen- 
nie, widow of William H. Baxter, of Oakfield 
Center, Kent county; Daniel E., whose name 
opens this paragraph, and Anna, wife of John 
Refenberg, of Antrim county, Mich. 

Zadoc Lozier is also a native of Ohio, is a 
carpenter by trade, came to Michigan in the 
fall of 1876 and settled in Antrim, where he is 
still living, having reached the age of seventy- 
five years on the 22d day of April, 1899. His 
wife is of Pennsylvania extraction, and is of 
Quaker descent paternally. 

Daniel E. Lozier was reared on a farm un- 
til twenty-one years old, and in the meantime 
was educated in a graded school at Alliance. 
Ohio. He began his business career as a 
bookkeeper in a saw-mill, and then kept books 
for the G. R. & I. Railway company at Alba, 
Mich.; next for T. R. Van Wert & Co., mer- 
chant and manufacturer at Alba, Mich., and 
then for the South Grand Rapids Ice company 
for one year. After traveling through the 
west and the south for some time, he bought 
a grocery from Samuel Beecher, at the corner 
of ^^'ealthy and Jefferson avenues. Grand 
Rapids, subsequently sold out, and in Decem- 
ber, 1893, purchased a stock of hardware on 
Madison avenue, and has since been one of the 
leading business men of this city. 

July 4, 1883, Mr. Lozier was united in 
marriage with Miss Ona A. Van Wert, who 
has blessed him with one child. Addie EUura, 
born June 9, 1885. 

Fraternallv, Mr. Lozier is a member of the 



Royal Arcanum and of the Royal Circle, Court 
of Honor and I. O. O. F. Politically he is a 
democrat, and has held a notary public com- 
mission since twenty-one years of age. He 
had been elected deputy town clerk before he 
had reached his majority, but was unable to 
qualify on account of his minority. For two 
terms he served as supervisor of his township, 
in Antrim county. Ever since living in the 
Eleventh ward of the city of Grand Rapids he 
has wielded a strong influence in its politics, 
and was elected alderman in 1S99. 

In religion, Mr. Lozier is a Presbyterian, 
and his residence is at No. 25 \\'oodlawn 
avenue, where he ranks as high socially as he 
does politically. 




;XRY GODFREY KALMBACH, su- 
perintendent of Station A, post-office 
of Grand Rapids, and a man of re- 
markable talent, was born in this city 
on the 6th of March. 1868, a son of Godfrey 
and Anna M. (Steincke) Kahnbach. The fa- 
ther was bj' vocation a shoe merchant and both 
parents were natives of Germany. 

Henry Godfrey Kalmbach was educated in 
the city schools and graduated from the high 
school with the class of 1890. He secured a 
position in the post-office as night clerk, 
then as day clerk, which position he held 
for three years, or until April i, 1897, 
when he was appointed superintendent 
of Station A, on the establishment of that 
office, and has held it since, having entire 
charge of the business. In this branch there 
are one clerk and twelve carriers. In 1898 
there were sold: Stamps, amounting to $I0, 
884. S8; domestic money orders, $30,656.11; 
international orders, $1,549.42, and this year 
there will be an increase of thirtj' per cent. 




jtLc<^ </ - yZ^<i^^^6-t.<x^zi.^^ 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



28T 



Mr. Kalmbach in his political predilections 
is faithful to the principles of the republican 
party. Socially, he is an esteemed member of 
Valley City lodge, No. 124, K. of P.; Knights 
of Khorassan, Kabbe temple, and Royal Arch 
Mason, Columbian chapter, of Grand Rapids. 
He is also a member of the Lakeside club, and 
of the Gamma Delta Psi, the oldest high school 
fraternity near Grand Rapids. 

Mr. Kalmbach stands high in the social 
world as a man of unimpeachable character. 
In the discharge of his duties he is prompt, 
faithful and progressive, and he is recognized 
as a capable official. In this capacity he gives 
a zealous support to all progressive measures 
for the public good. He is characterized by a 
human sympathy and kindness, which, taken 
together with his integrity and honor, have 
gained for him the esteem of all. 




OHN LUCAS, a wholesale and retail 
dealer in every variety of fuel and posts 
and shingles, with his office and yard 
at No. 137.J West Bridge street, and 
his residence at No. 403 Lane avenue. Grand 
Rapids, was born in Hanover, Germany, Oc- 
tober 27, 1827, and landed in America in i S47, 
at once settling in Grand Rapids. 

When Mr. Lucas settled in this city he 
had no capital save a willing disposition to 
work and an equally willing pair of strong 
hands. For two years he worked at anything 
he could find to do to make an honest living, 
and then found employment in a tannery, in 
which he worked seven years; next engaged 
in farming and butchering, and other work, in 
all of which he was both industrious and 
frugal. With the money saved while thus em- 
ployed he was enabled to start his present 



business, which has led on to fortune. Although 
his education was limited, as far as schools are 
concerned,' his apt observation and retentive- 
ness of memory, aided by reading and self- 
instruction, furnished him with a sound prac- 
tical knowledge of business affairs, which in- 
the end wrought out for him a competency, 
which he now enjoys, although his active mind 
and business habits hold him down to an at- 
tention to trade for which there is no necessity 
for pursuing, but which to him is a mere 
matter of enjoyment. 

Mr. Lucas was first married to Miss Han- 
nah Brink, the result of this union being one 
child — Stephen, who is still living. After the 
death of his first wife he married Geesje Gu- 
nint, and to this union seven children have been 
born, of whom two only survive, viz: Henry 
and George;- Fannie, who died about five years 
ago, was married to Henry Nisint, and had' 
two children, Tonie and Annie, who are now 
making their home with Mr. Lucas. 

In politics Mr. Lucas is a conscientious re- 
publican, and cast his first presidential vote 
for John C. Fremont. His religious affilia- 
tions are with the Holland Reformed church, 
and his social standing is all that can be de- 
sired. He is a self-made man, in the business 
sense of the phrase, and may well congratu- 
late himself on his success through life — a suc- 
cess due to his industry, tact and strict integ- 
rity. 



,m 



MEON LeROY, M. D., of No. 196 
East Bridge street, and No. 250 
North LaFayette street. Grand Rap- 
ids, was born in Wayne county, N. 
v., April 5, 1876, a son of Simeon and Jane 
(Jagt) LeRoy, natives of France, who came 
to Grand Rapids, when single, about 1861, 



288 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



were here married, and then went to New 
York, but returned here in 1S65, but in 1866 
went to New York again, and tinally returned 
to Grand Rapids in 1876, where they have 
lived ever since, he being known as a mer- 
chant, and now reside at No. 250 North 
LaFayette street. They have had born to them 
a family of six children, viz: John, a grocer 
of this city.; Katie, who died June 19, 1891, 
at the age of nineteen years; Anna, Simeon 
and Cornelius — the last named being in part- 
nership with his father in the wood business. 
Dr. Simeon LeRoy received his elementary 
education in the public schools of Grand Rap- 
ids, and this was supplemented by an attend- 
ance at Welton's Business college. He stud- 
ied medicine at Saginaw, Mich., and gradua- 
ted from the Grand Rapids Medical college in 
1898. For a time after graduating he served 
as surgeon of the Union Benevolent Associa- 
tion hospital, and then, early in the present 
year, engaged in general practice, and may, 
when not out upon professional business, be 
always found at either one or the other of his 
two offices. The doctor is e.xamining phy- 
sician for the M. \\\ of A., for the A. O. U. 
W., D. of H. and I. O. F., in al.l of which he 
is a member, and has already laid the foun- 
dation for a lucrative list of patients and a re- 
munerative general practice in medicine and 
surgery in the near future. The doctor's re- 
ligious relations are with the Fountain street 
Baptist church, and in his political views he is 
republican. 



OBERT M. LUTON, M, D., a homeo- 
pathic physician and surgeon of great 
repute at Grand Rapids, Mich., with 
his office in room No. 6, Gilbert build- 
ing, was born in St. Thomas, in the province 
of Ontario, dominion of Canada, August 31, 




1850, and is a son of William and Elizabeth 
(Crane) Luton, both natives of the same 
province, but of whom the' father, all his life 
a thriving farmer near St. Thomas, died in 
1896. The faniih', beside the parents, was 
comprised of five sons and three daughters, of 
whom si.x of the children are still li\'ing, be- 
sides the mother. 

Dr. Luton received a collegiate education 
in his native city, and was professionally edu- 
cated at Trinity college and the university of 
Toronto. His early medical studies were 
along the line of allopathy, or the "regular" 
school of medicine, particularly during his so- 
journ in Toronto, and about the year 1872 he 
located in Newaygo, Mich., where he practiced 
until his graduation from the Hahnemann 
Homeopathic college at Chicago, in 1873, he 
having, of course, been under training in the 
latter institution for the prescribed course 
necessary for an advanced student, and already 
in practice. For two years he practiced in 
Newaygo as a homeopathist, and then (1875) 
came to Grand Rapids, and here he has made 
his home ever since, with the e.xception of 
four years — from 1882 to 1886 — when he was 
a member of board of trade in Chicago. 

Dr. Luton is a member of the State Homeo- 
pathic Medical society of Michigan, to which 
he has contributed many valuable papers on 
homeopathy. In 1874 he was made a Mason, 
and in this fraternity he has attained the 
thirty-second degree. He is an active mem- 
ber of Royal Arch chapter. No. 7, De Molai 
commandery. No. 5, Knights Templar, and is, 
of course, a member of the Mystic shrine. In 
politics the doctor is a democrat, and has 
served the city of Grand Rapids as health 
officer since May, 1898. 

In 1877 Dr. Luton was joined in matri- 
mony, near St. Thomas, Canada, with Miss 
Alma Cline, a native of Ontario and a most 
1 amiable lady, and possessed of many accom- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



2S9 



plishments, having been educated at St. 
Thomas. The doctor and wife are members 
of the Christian church, their social standing 
is with the best class of citizens in Grand 
Rapids, and professionally the doctor is un- 
rivaled — but they have no children to perpet- 
uate their honored name. 




GUIS BARTH, M. D., a physician and 
surgeon of considerable prominence, 
at No. 245 East Fulton street. Grand 
Rapids, Mich., was born in Ivrotcchin, 
Prussia, November 21, 1859, and, at the early 
age of ten years, entered the gymnasium of 
his native town, in which he passed the ma- 
turity examination in 187S, although but nine- 
teen years old. The same year he entered the 
Medical university of Breslau, where he passed 
two semesters, and then entered the Medical 
college of \'ienna, where he studied one semes- 
ter (or six months), after which he passed a 
theoretical examination at Berlin, under Prof. 
\'irchow, November 7, 1880. He next had 
hospital experience under Liebreich, Langen- 
beck, Frerich and Schroeder at Berlin about a 
year, and took the degree of doctor of medi- 
cine, surgery and obstetrics at Wurzburg, Ba- 
varia, December 21, iSSi. In January, 1882, 
he left that city for London, England, where 
he continued his studies in the hospitals until 
July of the same year, when he came to the 
United States and settled in Grand Rapids the 
latter part of September. Here his medical 
and surgical skill attracted immediate attention 
and he was promptly assigned to the front 
rank of the longer-established medical men of 
the cit}'. He devotes more hours to practice 
than any other physician within the bounds of 
Grand Rapids, and it is not an exaggeration to 
say that his patronage is enormous, as a visit 



to his office will show a gathering of waiting 
patients far in advance of the hour sched- 
uled for him to be present. At the same time 
his opinion is sought for in consultation from 
all parts of the state. 

In connection with his consultation room, 
Dr. Barth has a dispensary, in which his pre- 
scriptions are prepared under his personal su- 
pervision, and he also personally selects all 
drugs before they are assigned a place in the 
dispensary, which is under the charge of a com- 
petent pharmaceutist. His private office is 
supplied with all modern appliances for the 
diognosis of diseases, including the first N-ray 
machine introduced in the city, and his library 
is replete with medical and scientific volumes, 
numbering over 3,000. 

The doctor is a generous-hearted man and 
often devotes his attention to the cases of the 
poor patients for the sake of science as well as 
humanity. At the meridian of life he has re- 
alized a competency, and this despite the fact 
that he has been obliged to acquaint himself 
with the customs and language of a new world 
within the space of eighteen years, and in de- 
spite, also, of all rivalry and traduction, has se- 
cured for himself a professional and social 
standing in the city of Grand Rapids second 
to that of no man. 

Dr. Barth is a charter member of the Na- 
tional Association of Railway Surgeons, is the 
only physician of the infirmary known as the 
House of the Aged Poor, which is conducted 
under the auspices of the Little Sisters of the 
Poor, and is also the consulting physician at 
the orphans' asylum, and for the Sisters of the 
parochial schools, and also for the Masonic 
home. 

The doctor is eminent as a Mason, having 
attained the thirt}'-second degree, and is like- 
wise a charter member of Daisy lodge. No. 48, 
B. P. O. E. In politics he is a republican, 
but in nowise aggressive. 



i'90 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Dr. Barth married in Grand Rapids, in 
1892, Miss Ilona Barth, an adopted daughter 
of his brother, and a native of Budapest, Hun- 
gary, and his domestic life is an exceedingly 
happy one. 



ANIEL McCOY, president of the 
State Bank of Michigan, and former- 
ly a lumber manufacturer and dealer, 
at Grand Rapids, was born July 17, 
1845, in Philadelphia, a son of John and Mary 
(McGowan) McCoy, and was educated in the 
public schools of that city. In 1867 he came 
to Michigan and began dealing in lumber sup- 
plies at Romeo. 

October 18, 1869, at Romeo, Mich., he 
married Gail L. Ayer, daughter of Alvan B. 
Ayer, of that place. To the union of Mr. 
and Mrs. McCoy have been born four children, 
viz: Helen Francis, wife of Max Grab, residing 
in New York city; Ralph, who was educated at 
Orchard Lake Military academy and Cornell 
university, and is now a lieutenant in the Sev- 
enth U. S. infantry, stationed at Rampart 
City, Alaska; Katherine, educated ?^t the Mount 
Auburn institute, Cincinnati, and Gerald, a 
student of the Grand Rapids high school. 

Mr. McCoy commenced lumbering on the 
south branch ot the Manistee river, the firm 
being composed of James A. Remick, of De- 
troit, John G. Riggs, of Saginaw, and himself. 
The logs were floated down the river to Mnn- 
istee. and there cut into lumber. In 1873 
Mr. McCoy went to Clam Lake, where he be- 
gin lumbering operations with Charles M. 
Ayer, under the firm name of McCoy & Ayer, 
remaining in that partnership until 1883, when 
the firm dissolved and Mr. McCoy continued 
in the business alone. In April, 1883, he re- 
moved his headquarters to Grand Rapids, has 



since resided in this city, and in 1894 wound 
up the business. He has operated saw-mills, 
planing-mills and a narrow-gauge logging rail- 
way in Lake county; also a farm near the 
city, out toward Reed's Lake. He has been 
connected with the Grand Rapids Edison Light 
& Fuel Gas company since the organization of 
that corporation, and its president continu- 
ously. He was president of Clam Lake vil- 
lage, when living there; and after its incor- 
poration as the city of Cadillac he was elected 
its mayor -for three successive terms. He was 
also chairman of the Wexford county repub- 
lican committee, and since his removal to this 
city has been the presiding officer of the Kent 
county republican committee one term, and 
is one of the prominent and influential repub- 
licans of western Michigan. Mr. McCoy is a 
representative, go-ahead, energetic, progress- 
ive citizen, one of the class who give vigor 
and strength to even so progressive a city 
as Grand Rapids. 




VMES T. McAllister, one of the 
young and most energetic as well as 
popular lawyers of Grand Rapids, was 
born in Detroit, Mich , Januars' 6, 
1870, a son of James L. and Catherine (Sher- 
idan) McAllister. The father, now deceased, 
was a lumberman by vocation, and the mother, 
who is a second cousin of the late Gen. Phil. 
Sheridan, famous for his gallant cavalry service 
in the Civil war, is now a resident of Keed 
City, Osceola county, Mich. 

James T. McAllister was well grounded in 
the English branches of learning and in the 
classics in the schools of Detroit, w-hich he at- 
tended until nineteen years of age. He then 
entered the law office of Judge J. B. Judkins, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



291 



now of Grand Rapids, but at that time a res- 
ident of Reed City, and after a full course of 
study was admitted to the bar, by that gentle- 
man, at Baldwin, Mich. Mr. McAllister then 
came to Grand Rapids and began practice, in 
the subordinate position of clerk, in the office 
of McGarry & McKnight, and remained in this 
office until 1893, when he formed a partner- 
ship with Edward L. Walbridge, with whom 
he practiced one year; his next partnership was 
with William F. McKnight, in conjunction 
with whom a practice was had for three years, 
and then, June i, iSgS, a partnership with J. 
A. Lombard was formed and is maintained 
until the present time, under the firm style of 
Lombard & McAllister, with office in the Norris 
block. 

The marriage of Mr. McAllister was solem- 
nized at St. Ignace, Mich., November 15, 
1892, with Miss Mildred Madden, who was 
born in Mount Forest, Canada, October 18, 
1S70, and this marriage has been blessed with 
three children, viz: Mildred (now deceased), 
Thomas and Robert. 



^ 



ANFORD W. LYON, retired farmer 
and a gallant soldier in the late Civil 
war, is a native of New York, born in 
the town of Naples in the year 1837, 
August 25. His paternal ancestors for a great 
many years lived in Vermont, removing to that 
state in the time of the colonies, and some of 
the family afterward emigrated to New York. 
Brunson K. Lyon, father of the subject, was 
a native of the Green Mountain state, as was 
also his wife, Pauline Wiley, but they were 
married in New York and there spent the re- 
maining years of their lives, both dying in 
Naples at the age of fifty-seven years. Brun- 

15 



son K. Lyon in early life followed the pro- 
fession of civil engineering and later carried on 
the mercantile business in connection with 
agricultural pursuits. His family consisted of 
seven sons and three daughters, of whom si.K 
are now living, scattered over various parts of 
the country, principally California, Oregon, 
New York and Michigan. 

Sanford W. Lyon was educated in the 
schools of his native town, and while still a lad 
began working for himself as a market gar- 
dener. He followed this vocation in New 
York until 1861, at which time he came to 
Michigan, locating in the vicinity of Grand 
Rapids, where he remained until entering the 
Federal service in August of the following 
year. Previous to coming west Mr. Lyon 
proffered his services to the country by en- 
listing, in ,i86i, in a company organized 
in Naples. N. Y. , but which, owing to the 
prevalent belief that the war would be of short 
duration, was not ordered to the front. The 
second enlistment was in company B, Twenty- 
first Michigan infantry, which formed a part 
of the army of the Cumberland. Mr. Lyon was 
with his command through all its varied e.\pe- 
riences in the campaigns of Kentuck}', Tennes- 
see and Georgia, and took part in a number of 
noted battles, including Perry ville. Stone River, 
Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Bentonville, and 
many lesser engagements and skirmishes, in 
all of which he acquited himself as a brave and 
gallant solider. At the battle of Bentonville 
he wasshot through the leg below the knee and 
also received a gun-shot wound in the left 
thigh; both of these injuries were very painful 
and sufficiently serious to render neccessary his 
retirement from further active service in the 
field. Indeed, he has never recovered from his 
injuries, and will carry painful reminders oi 
them with him to the grave. In September, 
1863, Mr. Lyon was promoted to the rank of 
first lieutenant and assigned to the command of 



292 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



company A, and it was while leading his men 
in the thickest of the fight that he received 
the wounds aforementioned. 

Returning from the war, Mr. Lyon re- 
sumed market-gardening near Grand Rapids, 
which he carried on quite successfully until re- 
tiring from active life a few years ago. He 
has accumulated a sufficiency of worldly effects 
to make his remaining years comfortable, and 
is also the recipient of a liberal pension from 
the government to which he devoted the best 
part of his life during the dark days of the Re- 
bellion. 

Mr. Lyon was married September 4, 1862, 
to Miss Harriet A. Tracy, daughter of Addi- 
son and Teresa (Reddington) Tracy. The 
parents of Mrs. L}on were natives of Massa- 
chusetts, but for a number of years resided in 
Lorain county, Ohio, removing thence to 
Grand Rapids, when she was a child of five 
years. Addison Tracy was in the insurance 
business for a number of years in this city, and 
died in 1864; his wife died in the year 1872. 
The family consisted of four sons and si.\ 
daughters, only three of whom are now living; 
one, besides Mrs. Lyon, lives"in the vicinity of 
Grand Rapids, to-wit: Mrs. Emily Blalock. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lyon have four children: 
Hurley H., Mrs. Mina Stoughton, Wiley, S. 
and S. P. — the last two still with their par- 
ents. Politically Mr. Lyon has been a life- 
long republican; frequently solicited to accept 
official positions by his party, he always de- 
clined, preferring to be a worker in the ranks 
rather than a standard bearer or a party 
leader. He is not identified with any church 
or religious organization, his only creed being 
to live a blameless life as far as in him lies, 
and to assist to the best of his ability his fel- 
low-men in their struggles against adversity. 
He believes in using the good things of this life, 
and thinks that worldly wealth can only be ap- 
preciated when judiciously exchanged for its 



equivalent in worldly comforts and enjoyment, 
consequently he has always lived well. He 
has spent some time in travel, having twice 
visited the Pacific coast in company with his 
wife, and at this writing is making prepara- 
tions for a third and much more extended 
trip. Few men in the community enjoy as 
great a degree of popularity as does Mr. Lyon. 
A patriot when patriotism meant the sacrifice 
of self for the preservation of the Union — a 
citizen interested in everything having forits ob- 
ject the public welfare, a neighbor who exem- 
plifies bj' his daily walk and conversation the 
Golden Rule — his name well deserves a. place 
in this volume. 



EORGE L. McBRIDE, M. D. 



/ith 



his office and residence at No. 141 
East Bridge street. Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in Port Dover, prov- 
ince of Ontario, dominion of Canada, March 
4, 1864, a son of William and Ann Maria 
(Williams) McBride, the former a native of 
north of Ireland and the latter of the New 
Dominion. 

The father left his native land when a lad 
of thirteen years, and has passed his life in 
agricultural pursuits. To his marriage with 
Miss Williams were born nine children, viz: 
Mary Lodema, Abigail, John Wesley, Richard 
Alonzo, Ida A., George L. , Lydia Charlotte, 
Annie Laura and William James. Two of the 
sons are farmers, one a mechanic, and all the 
children, with the exception of the youngest, 
are married; with the exception, also, of Dr. 
George L. , they all reside in Canada, but 
were bereft of their mother about 1881. 

Dr. George L. McBride was educated in 
literature in the Port Dover high school, the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



293 



Toronto normal school, and the Toronto Col- 
legiate institute. For four years he was prin- 
cipal of the Merriton public school, and in 
1 887 entered the Toronto university as a 
student of medicine, completed his studies in 
the spring of 1892, and received the degree of 
M. B. Tor. (bachelor of medicine of Toronto), 
and from the Victoria university he also re- 
ceived the degree of M. D. S. M. (doctor of 
medicine and master of surgery). He began 
practice in the tall of the same year, locating 
on East Bridge street. Grand Rapids, and 
here he has since met with a continuous series 
of professional success. 

In 1895 Dr. McBride married Miss May C. 
Flint, a native of Grand Rapids, and a daugh- 
ter of Capt. C. C. Flint, an old resident of 
the city. Mrs. McBride, although born in 
Grand Rapids, was reared and educated in 
New York city, and returned to her native city 
about 1894. She is a lady of superior musical 
attainments, is a composer of marked merit, 
and is especially gifted as a performer on the 
piano. Among her more popular compositions 
are the Song of Liberty and Free Cuba, and 
a two-step, entitled, Dewey's Advance — but 
many other of her sentimental productions 
have been rewarded with the approbation of 
the public. 

Dr. McBride is a member of the Grand 
Rapids Academy of Medicine, the Michigan 
State Medical society, and the Union Benevo- 
lent Association hospital staff, and is professor 
of surgical pathology in the reorganized Grand 
Rapids Medical college; he is also a member 
of the A. O. U. W., the I. O. F., the Na- 
tional Union, and the M. W. of A., being 
medical exammer for the four orders last 
named. In politics he is a republican, and in 
religion a Presbyterian. 

The doctor -has been very successful as a 
physician and surgeon and stands very high in 
the esteem of the profession as well as that of 



the public. He owns a beautiful home at the 
address already mentioned. Here he and wife 
enjoy the visits of a large circle of unfeigned 
friends, who are ever welcome and are enter- 
tained in a most intellectual manner, while 
their bodily comforts are not uncared for, Mrs. 
McBride being especiall}' noted for her un- 
stinted hospitality. 




OHN S. McDonald, one of the most 
popular young lawyers of Grand Rap- 
ids, is a native of Canada, and was 
born in Ontario February 8, 1865, the 
sixth of the family of nine children born to 
Samuel and Nancy (Locke) McDonald, the 
former a ilative of Scotland and the latter of 
Canada, where they still reside, and where the 
father is engaged in agricultural pursuits. Of 
their nine children, eight still survive. The 
father is in moderately good circumstances, 
and he and his wife are consistent members of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 

John S. McDonald is a graduate of the 
Victoria university of Toronto, and his legal 
education was acquired at the university of 
Michigan, at Ann Arbor. He was admitted to 
the bar of Grand Rapids in 1891 by Judge 
Burch. For a few months he practiced alone, 
and then, in 1891-2-3, was in partnership with 
M. F. Griffin, and alone again until 1896, 
when he was made assistant prosecuting at-' 
torney — a position he still retains, under F. A. 
Rodgers. 

Mr. McDonald was joined in matrimony 
November 27, i8'95, '" Grand Rapids, with 
Miss Adelia J. Duncan, a native of this city, 
born July 27, 1873, and a daughter of James 
R. and Elizabeth (Banghart) Duncan. Mr. 
McDonald and wife are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and own a cozy 



294 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



home at No. 505 Cass avenue, where they dis- 
pense a cheerful hospitality to a large circle of 
warm-hearted and sincere friends. Frater- 
nally, Mr. McDonald is a Knight of Pythias, 
also a member of York lodge, F. & A. M. 




HOMAS F. McGARRY, of Grand Rap- 
ips, Mich., was born in Ada, Kent 
county, Mich., December 25, 1859 
received a common-school education, 
and taught school. He was admitted to the 
bar April 13, 1880; January i, 18S1, he be- 
came a member of the firm of Mitchell, Bell 
& McGarry, of Ionia, Mich. ; was city attorney 
three terms and mayor of Ionia one term. In 
1884 he married Miss Nettie Belding, of Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. In 1890 he moved to Grand 
Rapids, and became associated with the Hons. 
M. H. Ford, William F. McKnight, Allen B. 
Morse andj. Byron Judkins. January i, 1895, 
he formed a partnership with George E. 
Nichols, of Ionia. This firm conducts business 
both at Ionia and Grand Rapids, under the 
name of McGarry & Nichols. 




ON. CHARLES WILLIAM McGILL, 
a rising young attorney and counselor 
at law of Grand Rapids Mich., was 
born in Troy, Rensselaer county, 
N. Y., July 14, 1865, and is the fifth of the 
si.x children born to Hugh and Eunice Ann 
(Newton) McGill, the former a native of Can- 
ada, of Scotch parentage, and the latter of 
New York, where their marriage took place. 
Hugh McGill, a persevering and self-edu- 



cated man, was a farmer and e.xtensive char- 
coal burner in Rensselaer county, where he 
lived until the spring of 1867, when he brought 
his family to Michigan and located in St. 
Joseph county, where he still resides upon a 
beautiful farm one mile east of White Pigeon. 
For many years he has given special attention 
to raising and buying horses for the New York 
markets, which business he has conducted with 
great success. Being a man of strong convic- 
tions and capable of thinking for himself, he 
has risen to prominence in his township and 
county, and is highly respected by all who 
know him. 

Charles W. McGill attended the district 
schools of St. Joseph county during the winter 
months until fifteen years of age, and then en- 
tered the union school at White Pigeon, in the 
same county, graduating therefrom in 1885. 
Having determined to take up the study of law, 
he came to Grand Rapids in 1886 and studied 
one year in the office of Henry B. Fallass. In 
October, 1887, he entered the office of Turner 
& Carroll, was admitted to the bar September 
18, 1888, by Judge William E. Grove, and 
continued his stay with Turner & Carroll until 
December, 1889, when he formed a partner- 
ship for practice with his brother, John H. Mc- 
Gill, and this partnership was maintained until 
the death of the latter, April i, 1892. 

Mr. McGill is a republican and has taken 
an active part in both local and state politics 
for the past ten years. In 1892 he was elected 
to the office of circuit court commissioner for 
Kent count}', and so ably did he perform the 
duties of this position that he was elected to 
fill a second term in 1894 — thus serving, in all, 
four years. At the expiration of this last term, 
the republican party sent Mr. McGill to the 
state legislature, where he represented the 
city of Grand Rapids in a most honorable 
and creditable manner during the regular ses- 
sion of 1897 '^"d the special session of 1898. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



295 



In the spring of 1S98 he was nominated by the 
republicans of Grand Rapids for the office of 
judfje of the police court, but failed of an 
election by a small pluralit}'. On January i, 
1899, he was appointed assistant to Attorney 
General Horace M. Oren, in which capacity he 
has rendered most excellent service to the 
state. 

Mr. McGill was happily united in marriage 
in I\andolph, Dodge county. Wis., August 22, 
1894, with Miss Stella Louise Stark, a native 
of Kenosha, Wis., and a daughter of John 
Given and Julia Lobdell (Dean) Stark, natives, 
respectivel)', of Connecticut and New York. 

Fraternally, Mr. McGill is a member of 
Imperial lodge. No. 154, Knights of Pythias. 
In social circles Mr. and Mrs. McGill hold a 
very elevated station and enjoy a full ineasure 
of the public esteem. 




OL. WILLIAM T. McGURRIN, of 
the firm of Sproul & McGurrin, con- 
tractors for plumbing and heating, 
is a native of Grand Rapids and was 
born February 16. 1857, a son of Manis and 
Ellen (Malone) McGurrin, who were respect- 
ivel)' born in the counties of Mayo and Kil- 
kenny, Ireland, came to Grand Rapids in 
their early adult years, and were married in 
this city in November, 1850. The father was 
a building contractor and died September 5, 
1894, at the age of eighty-three years, the 
mother following him to the grave six days 
later, aged sixty-five. 

The children born to the above named 
parents were ten in number, of whom one died 
young. Of those who reached maturity, 
John, the eldest, was a "mechanic and con- 
structor, by calling, and died at the age of 
■thirty-six years; William T. , the second born, 



is the subject of this sketch; George is a 
plumbing contractor at Duluth, Minn. ; Frank 
has been a resident of Salt Lake, Utah, for 
the past twelve years as a reporter for the 
federal court; Ellen J. is married to Dr. J. L. 
Burkhart, city physician of Grand Rapids; 
Charles H. is reporter of the circuit court at 
Kalamazoo, has a record of being the most 
rapid stenographer in the world, and has vis- 
ited various cities in Europe for professional 
exhibition. (Frank, of Salt Lake Cit}-, held 
the same honor.) Manis, the seventh born of 
this family, is a soldier in the United States 
army. Previous to his joining the army, he 
was a contracting plumber in Chicago, and at 
his first enlistment left his business in charge 
of others; he went to the front as sergeant in 
a companj' in the First Illinois cavalry, and 
after serving out his term returned to Chicago, 
sold out his business, and enlisted in the 
Twentieth United States infantry, and is now 
serving at Manila. Frederick C. , next to the 
youngest of the family, was formerlj- assistant 
stenographer to his brother Frank, and is now 
an attorney at Salt Lake City; Edward, the 
youngest child, is also an attorney and is in ■ 
partnership with his brother, Frederick C, 
and both are graduates from the law depart- 
ment of the university of Michigan. With the 
exception of Frederick and Manis, all the 
family are married. 

William T. McGurrin was educated prima- 
ril}' in the parochial schools of Grand Rapids 
and then took a course in the city high school. 
For two years he clerked in Calkins Bros', 
grocery store, but left one evening, and the 
next morning found him an apprentice at the 
plumber's trade with Thomas Smith & Co. , 
with whom he served two years, and then be- 
gan business with his present partner, Robert 
Sproul, in March, 1876, the firm of Sproul & 
McGurrin being now the oldest in this line in 
the city as continuous partners. 



296 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



From 1875 until 1877 ^^r. McGurrin was 
a member of the Centennial Guards, an inde- 
pendent military organization, and was second 
lieutenant of his company. In September, 
1877, he enlisted in the Michigan National 
Guards, and served in every capacitj' in the 
Second regiment, from private to colonel. In 
1893, by reason of political complications or 
trouble in the regiment, he failed of re-elec- 
tion, and retired as lieutenant-colonel, and in 

1894 returned to his old company, B, at the 
solicitations of its members, to assume com- 
mand, in recognition of his former efficiency 
as a disciplinarian and financier. In due 
course of time he straightened out the financial 
troubles in which the company had become 
invcilved, discharged twenty-seven men, and 
recruited the compan\' to its full limit. In 

1895 he was re-elected colonel of his regiment 
by practicall}' a unanimous vote, and again 
elected in 1898. Soon after this event the 
regiment was ordered into camp by Gov. Pin- 
gree, Col. McGurrin receiving the following 
telegram from the adjutant-general of the 
state: 

Col. W. T. McGurrin — Have your com- 
mand ready to move in heavy marching order 
to the Island Lake not later than Tuesday, 
April26. Every available rifle, blanket and over- 
coat must be taken. Do not bring stores or 
provisions, e.xcept rations en route. The men 
will find use for private blankets for a few 
days. If short of overcoats, men not supplied 
may wear citizens' overcoats. Extra over- 
coats and blankets will be issued at camp. 
Route wired later by quartermaster-general. 
Mounted officers may bring horses. All cap- 
tains notified, except those in your own town. 
Notify your field and staff. 

By command of the governor. 

E. M. Irish, 
3:37 P. M. Adjt.-Gen'l. 

The regiment was now designated as the 
Thirty-second, that being the next consecu- 
tive number after the Civil war enlistments. 



It was mustered into the service of the United 
States at Island Lake, May 13, and on the 
19th of the same month it started for Tampa, 
Fla., arriving there on the 22d. It was there 
assigned to the Second brigade. First division. 
Seventh corps, and Col. McGurrin placed in 
command of the Second brigade. June 8th the 
regiment was assigned to the provisional di- 
vision, of the Fifth army corps, and Col. Mc- 
Gurrin returned to the command of his regi- 
ment proper. It was the intention to send this 
division to Santiago de Cuba with Gen. Shafter. 
Horses were loaded and provisions and ammu- 
nition issued, but the transports failed to arrive, 
and Gen. Shafter, having received peremptory 
orders to sail for Santiago, put to sea, leaving 
the provisional division behind. This was 
a mortifying disappointment to Col. McGur- 
rin and his men, but the colonel remained 
with his command continuously, with the ex- 
ception of two days' leave of absence, until 
July 19, when the regiment left Tampa and 
went to Fernandina, Fla., whence, August 25, 
it moved on to Huntsville, Ala., and thence 
returned to Island Lake, Mich., arriving Sep- 
tember 22, and on the 24th the colonel gave ^ 
the men a verbal furlough of thirty days, 
with directions to hold themselves in readi- 
ness to return at a moment's notice. Mus- 
tering out began on the 27th of October, the 
four Grand Rapids companies being the first. 
Col. McGurrin accompanied the mustering 
officers to the rendezvous of each company 
and the work was ended about November 15, 
1898. December 27, the colonel received 
from Maj.-Gen. Guy F. Henry the following 
complimentary communication: 

Col. William T. McGurrin commanded a 
regiment — the Thirty-second Michigan volun- 
teers — and a brigade in mydivisioaat Tampa. 
He was a most energetic and capable officer 
and had a fine command. 

The boys were given a grand ovation on 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



297 



their return to Grand Rapids, and (or the time 
being the "city was theirs." Patriotism and 
appreciation were everywhere apparent, and 
after the enthusiasm had subsided Col. McGur- 
rin resumed his business relations with his 
partner, and from a soldier was transformed 
into a quiet business man of his native city. 

Col. McGurrin was united in matrimony, 
in Grand Rapids, May 5, 1881, with Miss 
Katherine E. Ryan, a native of Croton, Mich., 
and a daughter of Jeremiah Ryan, one of the 
wealthy and influential business men of the 
city, but she passed away in October, 1895. 
Three sons and one daughter came to bless 
this marriage, viz: William Gregory, a youth 
of seventeen years and now attending school; 
Mary Irene, aged thirteen years; Edgar Fran- 
cis, aged eleven, and Gerald, aged eight. 

Politically the colonel has al\va\s been a 
democrat, but has never been aggressive nor 
ambitious of public office. In religion a Cath- 
olic, he and family attend St. Andrew's cathe- 
dral, and he is very liberal in his contributions 
to the support of the church. Fraternally he 
is a member of Daisy lodge. No. 48, B. P. O. 
E. ; division No. i, Kent county A. O. H. ; C. 
M. B. A. ; Knights of Columbus, and Knights 
of St. John; also the Grand Rapids battalion, 
a military organization, of which he is the 
president of the civil board. 

He was supreme commander of the 
Knights of St. John for the United States and 
Canada for the years 1891 and 1892, serving 
two terms; he was vice-president from Michi- 
gan of the National Plumbers' association for 
several terms, and president of the state asso- 
ciation. The colonel has also been prominent 
on several occasions in representing his state 
abroad at military celebrations, among which 
may be mentioned the national encampment 
of the National Guards, at Washington, D. C, 
in 1886, being major of the Second regiment 
Michigan National Guards and holding a posi- 



tion on the staff of Gen. C. C. Augur; was 
lieutenant-colonel, or second in command, at 
the world's fair dedicatory exercises, and was 
at Yorktown, Va., in iSSr, on the annixersary 
of the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. 

With his past vast and varied e.\perience 
and present prominence and usefulness as a 
citizen and business man, Col. McGurrin may 
well be classed among those who constitute 
the very vitality of the progressive city of 
Grand Rapids. 




FRANK Mcknight.— The gentleman 
to whom these lines are devoted is a 
younger brother of W'illiam F. Mc- 
Knight, mention of whom will be 
found elsewhere, and at this time holds a re- 
sponsible position in the Grand Rapids post- 
office. 

Mr. McKnight was born in the city of 
Kalamazoo and received an elementary train- 
ing in the common schools of Kent county, 
which was later supplemented by a thorough 
course in the Northern Indiana Normal school 
at Valparaiso. Ind. He entered the latter in- 
stitution at the age of seventeen j-ears, and 
after attending one year returned to Michigan, 
and during the two years succeeding was en- 
gaged in educational work in Kent county. 
With a laudable desire to enlarge his knowl- 
edge, Mr. McKnight returned to Valparaiso 
and completed the scientific, elocutionary and 
commercial courses in the Normal, receiving a 
certificate of graduation in 1886, and accept- 
ing in that year a position as teacher in the 
schools of Minooka, 111. After teaching there 
one year, he became an instructor in the city 
schools of Grand Rapids and devoted his time 
and attention to the profession until 1890, 



298 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



when he retired from the educational field and 
took up the study of law in the office of God- 
win, Adsit & McKnight. He was admitted to 
the bar in 1891 and immediate!}' entered upon 
the active practice of his profession, continu- 
ing the same with encouraging success until 
1894, a part of the time as assistant prose- 
cuting attorney under his brother, but in 1894 
he abandoned the legal profession for the 
time, in order to accept the position of super- 
intendent of the money order department in 
the Grand Rapids post-office, the duties of 
which he is at present discharging. 

Mr. McKnight is a gentleman of scholarly 
tastes and exemplary habits, and is well in- 
formed in the principles of his profession. 
The position he now fills is one of great re- 
sponsibility, but since entering upon the duties 
he has proved himself competent in every 
respect and stands high in the regard of his 
official superiors. 

Mr. McKnight is a member of lodge No. 
48, B. P. O. E., the Ancient Order of Hi- 
bernians, the K. of C., and is a leading spirit 
in the Lake Side club. He was married in 
this city on the 19th day of October, 1891, to 
Miss Anna M. Burns, of Ada, Mich., daughter 
of Lawrence Burns, of that place. Mr. and 
Mrs. McKnight have one child, Elizabeth B., 
who was born July 31, 1895. The familj' are 
Catholics, belonging to St. Alphonsus' church. 
Politically Mr. McKnight is a supporter of the 
democratic party. 



\MUEL McBIRNEY LEMON, one of 

the prominant wholesale grocers of 

Grand Rapids, as the senior partner 

and president of the Lemon & \MTeeler 

Co., was born November 27, 1S48, at Cornej'- 



,m 



crew, parish of Mullabrack, in the county of 
Armagh, Ireland. His parents, Samuel and 
Rachael (McBirney) Lemon, were of the fam- 
ous Scotch-Irish ancestry, which sturdy stock 
has left a lasting mark on American institu- 
tions, in the great names it has contributed to 
every department of American life. As has 
been well said, "the Scotch-Irish were the 
first to declare independence from Great 
Britain, and foremost in the Revolutionary 
struggle, leaders in the formation and adoption 
of the constitution, and its most powerful de- 
fenders; most active in the extension of our 
national domain, and the hardiest pioneers in 
its development." The Puritan, the Hugue- 
not and the Dutch must gratefully salute with 
admiration this race which has given to the 
American Pantheon the names of Patrick 
Henry, Thomas Jefferson, John Paul Jones, 
James Madison, John Marshall, Andrew Jack- 
son, James K. Polk, James Buchanan, Horace 
Greeley, Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. 
Grant. 

Mr. Lemon was blessed only with the char- 
acteristics which he inherited from such a race, 
but, although the record of his life is short, it 
exhibits a singleness of purpose and a tenacity 
in the pursuit of business which has commanded 
success even under adverse conditions. It was 
the intention of his parents that he should pre- 
pare for the ministry, but he early expressed 
his desire to follow a mercantile life, and after 
receiving the best education his native county 
afforded, his father apprenticed him at the age 
of eighteen years to one of the largest grocers 
in Ireland, at Portadown, Armagh count}'. 
Here he remained for five years, without pay, 
working hard to perfect his knowledge of the 
business, and soon after the completion of his 
apprenticeship, in November, 1870, set sail for 
America. On landing in New York, he secured 
a place with the grocery firm of Acker, Merrill 
& Condit, at the modest salary of $10 per 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



301 



"week, paying $8 of this amount per week for 
his board. But within seven months, so val- 
uable were the services of Mr. Lemon to his 
employers, that his salary was raised three 
times. His ne.xt move was to accept a posi- 
tion with A. M. Semple, of Rochester, and 
after five years of service there, Mr. Lemon 
had become manager of that e.xtensive whole- 
sale and retail grocery business at a tine salary. 
Tempted by a better offer, he then transferred 
his services to Lautz Brothers & Co., of Buf- 
falo, and for five years was engaged in selling 
their goods, with conspicuous success. Al- 
though drawing a salary which was equaled by 
few in his line, the ambition which would not 
let the Irish lad remain in his native land still 
impelled him on, and he decided to begin busi- 
ness for himself. tiis travels had familiarized 
him with the growth and prospects of Grand 
Rapids, and, admiring its push and enterprise, 
he decided to link his fortunes with its future. 
In iSSo Mr. Lemon removed to Grand Rapids, 
and became a member of the wholesale gro- 
cery firm, of Shields, Bulkley & Lemon, which 
after years of successful operation has been 
succeeded by the firm of Lemon & Wheeler 
company. His career has been marked by a 
steady and undeviating purpose to succeed in 
his chosen business. He has aimed to be a 
wholesale grocer, and has not been tempted 
into other lines, but has made himself a place 
in the business world which does him credit. 
For the last eight years, however, he has been 
a director in the Fourth National bank. 

Mr. Lemon was married January 17, 1883, 
to Miss Mary M. Peoples, a daughter of James 
and Margaret Peoples, of Rochester, N. Y. 
Both Mr. Lemon and wife are members of the 
^\'estmnister Presbyterian church, of Grand 
Rapids. Fraternal!}' Mr. Lemon is a Mason, 
and has attained the rank of knight templar. 
Politically he has always been a republican, 
and has been influential in the ranks of his 



party of this state. November i. 1897, Mr. 
Lemon was appointed, by President McKinley. 
collector of internal revenue for the Grand 
Rapids district. 

In the prime of life, with a fine presence 
and the qualities of mind and heart which have 
made him a host of friends, Mr. Lemon is one 
of the business men of Grand Rapids who be- 
lieve thoroughly in its future, and who show in 
their own lives the advantages America gives, 
and what may be done in a few years by a 
poor foreign boy in this favored land. Patri- 
otic and public-spirited, intensely American be- 
cause he knows personally the difference be- 
tween a republic and a monarchy, he is an ex- 
ample of the man from whom the high types 
of American citizens are ever coming:. 




WALTER McLOUTH. —Prominent 
among the well known musicians of 
Grand Rapids is J. Walter McLouth, 
who was born iTi Ingham county, Mich., 
on the 1st day of February, 1870. After at- 
tending the public schools' of his neighbor- 
hood at intervals during the years of youth 
and early manhood, he began the study of 
music, making a specialty of the violin, his in- 
structor being Prof. William Church, under 
whose tutelage he continued for a period of 
five years. In 1880 he went to Jackson, 
Mich., and there played in Prof. Church's 
orchestra and also became a member of the 
band and orchestra under the leadership of 
Prof. Edward Boos, one of the distinguished 
musicians of the northwest. Mr. McLouth 
remained in Jackson until 1890, at which time 
he went to the city of Adrian, where he or- 
ganized the McLouth Society orchestra, a 
popular and highlj- appreciated company of 



302 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



talented musicians, and also united himself 
with the First Infantry Military band of that 
place to play solo clarinet, enlisting in the 
state service for a period of one year. The 
band formed part of Gov. Winan's escort to 
the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago 
in 1893, and while there received many com- 
pliments for the high grade of music plax'ed 
and the superior excellence of its execution. 
Mr. McLouth remained in Adrian two years 
and then returned to Jackson for the purpose 
of taking charge of the Church orchestra as 
director, which position he held for one sea- 
son, removing at the end of that time to Kala- 
mazoo to accept the leadership of the Grand 
Opera House orchestra of that city. While in 
Kalamazoo Mr. McLouth taught private pupils 
in stringed instrument music, making special- 
ties of the violin and mandolin, in both of 
which he had large classes, also in banjo and 
guitar. He came to Grand Rapids to accept 
the position of director of the mandolin or- 
chestra at Lakeside club, Reed's lake, and 
shortly after taking charge was induced by his 
many students and friends here to make this 
cit\' his permanent home. 

As a composer of music Prof. McLouth has 
won recognition among the leading musicians 
of the United States, a number of his com- 
positions having been published and are now 
played by the best orchestras throughout the 
country. By nature Mr. McLouth is a mu- 
sician, but his present high standing is not 
the result of inherent abilities, but is the out- 
growth of long years of patient and painstaking 
study under competent instructors. Though still 
a young man, he has reached a position in the 
profession such as few rarely attain, and the 
enthusiasm with which he pursues his art be- 
speaks for him a brilliant future. 

Mr. McLouth was married August 19, 1896, 
to Miss Celia Lillian Burlingame, of Salt Lake 
City, Utah, and now resides in handsome 



apartments in the Hermitage. His father, 
Oscar McLouth, an ex-soldier of the war of 
the Rebellion, is a prosperous farmer of Jack- 
son county, this state ; his mother, whose 
maiden name was Ann Gean Dexter, is the 
daughter of John Dexter, one of the prominent 
agriculturists of Washtenaw county. The 
subject has one sister, Alma McLouth, v/ho 
live with the parents on the home farm. 




\RRY B. McMILL.AN, D. D. S.— 
The dental profession in Grand Rapids 
is well represented by Dr. McMillan, 
who has attained prestige in his 
chosen calling by reason of his marked ability. 
Dentistry may be said to be almost unique 
among other occupations, as it is at once a 
profession, a trade, and a business. Such be- 
ing the case, it follows that, in order to attain 
the highest success in it, one must be thor- 
oughly conversant with the theory of art, 
must be an expert in the use of many tools 
and appliances incidental to the practice of 
modern dentistry, and must possess business 
qualifications adequate to dealing with the 
financial side of the profession. In none of 
these requirements is Dr. McMillan lacking; 
on the contrary, close study has given him a 
broad understanding of the science of dentistry. 
H. B. McMillan is a native of Fort Wayne, 
Ind., and was born the 6th of February, 
1S74, a son of James and Jane (Smith) Mc- 
Millan. His father was a mechanic by trade, 
born on the isle of Islay, Scotland, and his 
mother in New York city. They were married 
in Fort Wa\ne, Ind., and now reside at 719 
Jefferson avenue. Grand Rapids, in which city 
the father is employed in the boiler works, 
having removed here from Fort Wayne in 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



303 



1S83. Politically James McMillan is a repub- 
lican, and is the father of two sons and one 
daughter, viz: Harry B. and Walter, the latter 
foreman of the G. R. & I. carshops, is mar- 
ried and has one child: the sister is Mrs. 
Euphemia Haverkorn, residing on Jefferson 
avenue. Grand Rapids. 

Harry B. McMillan was educated in the 
Grand Rapids schools, and began the study of 
dentistry in 1895, entering the university of 
Michigan and completing a three years' course 
the 30th of June, 1S98. He established his 
present office in the Gilbert January r, i S99, 
and has a finely-appointed suite of rooms and 
neatly furnished. His business is already very 
satisfactory, and his extensive professional 
training fits him for the intelligent and suc- 
cessful practice of his profession. In social 
relations he is a member of his college society, 
the Delta Sigma Delta fraternity. Politically 
he is, like his father, a republican. 




.ATTHEW T. McNAMAR.A, propri- 
etor of the \'aliey City creamery and 
also of the McNamara dairy farm in 
Paris, is a native of Kent county, 
Mich., born in the township of Paris October 
9, 1856. His father, Michael McNamara, and 
mother, Bridget Ne3lan, were respectively na- 
tives of county Clare and county Cork, Ire- 
land. They were married in the old country 
and remained there until 1850, at which time 
they came to the United States, locating for 
a limited period in Ohio, and upon the con- 
struction of the Detroit & Milwaukee railroad 
through Michigan moved to Grand Rapids. 

Michael McNamara was a contractor on the 
above road, and after completing the section 



under his charge he purchased a farm in Paris 
township, and with the e.xception of a brief 
period devoted his time to the tilling of the 
soil. Five children were born to Aiichael and 
Bridget McNamara before they left their na- 
tive isle, one of whom died on the voyage to 
America. Of those living at this time Patrick 
is a farmer at Edmore, Mich. ; Daniel E. is 
engaged in the creamery business in Grand 
Rapids; Mary, widow of John Mooney, resides 
in the city; Catherine, widow of William Toole, 
lives on a fruit farm ten miles west of the city 
limits in Ottawa county, and the subject of 
this sketch, who was the second youngest of 
the family, is noticed in following paragraphs. 
Michael McNamara's death occurred at the 
home of his daughter, in Ottawa county, 
January 27, 1893, in his eighty-second year, 
having sur\ived his wife but a few months, her 
death having taken place May 21, 1892, in 
her seventy^eighth 3'ear. 

The early life of Matthew T. McNamara 
was spent on the home farm, which he now 
owns, and the public schools of Paris town- 
ship furnished the means of a practical English 
education. He assisted his father until arriv- 
ing at young manhood's estate, and then began 
the pursuit of agriculture for himself, in the 
meantime becoming interested in dairying, 
which in due season became his principal life 
work. Beginning the dairy business upon a 
somewhat moderate scale he gradually in- 
creased it until 1S89, when he removed to 
Grand Rapids in order to give personal atten- 
tion to its large and constantly growing inter- 
est, and also to operate the \'alley City cream- 
ery, which he established that year. The 
latter is an important and highly appreciated 
industry, employing six people beside the pro- 
prietor, and the product, which is of a supe- 
rior grade, finds ready sale in the markets of 
Grand Rapids and elsewhere. Mr. McNamara 
keeps on his farm a large number of fine cows, 



?C>4 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and the income derived from this source alone 
is quite liberal. His place is in section No. i, 
Paris township, and the creamery, which rep- 
resents a capital in excess of $5,000, is situ- 
ated at No. 68 Lake avenue. 

Mr. McNamara was happily married in St. 
Andrew's cathedral May 2, 1882, to Miss Mary 
E. Cox, daughter of James and Ann (Eustace) 
Cox, Rev. Father McManus officiating at the 
ceremony. Mrs. McNamara's parents were 
natives of Ireland, the father born in Tipperary 
and the mother in county Clare. They were 
married in New York, came to Michigan in 
1855, and for over forty-four years lived on a 
farm in the township of Paris. James Cox 
was for many years a teacher and is now 
manager of the Porter block in Grand Rapids. 
His wife died on the home farm in Paris town- 
ship February i, 1899, at the age of sixty- 
eight. The family consisted of 'four sons and 
four daughters, Mrs. McNamara being the 
eldest. She was born in Grand Papids shortly 
after the family located here, and has always 
lived in Kent county. For ten 3 ears prior to 
her marriage she taught in the schools of Kent 
county, and earned the reputation of an effi- 
cient and popular instructor. 

To Mr. and Mrs. McNamara ha\e been 
born ten children, namel\': James Michael, 
Edward John, Francis Matthew Leo (died 
when twenty months old), William Daniel; 
Mary, Roy Thomas (who died at the age of 
thirteen months), Anna Marguerite, Louis 
Henry and Catherine Helena; all the children 
living are still under the parental roof and con- 
stitute a happy and contented family. They 
and their parents are members of St. Andrew's 
Catholic church. 

Mr. McNamara is a democrat, but by no 
means an aggressive politician. He has held 
various official positions, township and munic- 
ipal, and for a number of years served on the 
school board in Paris township. 



EORGE MIDDLETON, practical sign 
ornamental and fresco painter, at No. 
37 North Division street. Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., was born in Manchester, 
England, October 5. 1840, a son of John and 
Nancy (Harrison) Middleton, natives of Derby- 
shire. 

John Middleton, who was born in Matlock, 
in the county of Derby, was a calico printer 
by trade, and Manchester being the chief seat 
of the calico industry in England, he naturally 
gravitated to that manufacturing emporium 
and there passed the remainder of his life, 
dying at the age of seventy-four years, and 
there also his wife passed away. Of the six- 
teen children born to this venerable and re- 
spected couple, there are six only now living — 
Thomas, Margaret, Harriet, Rufus, John H. 
and George (the subject of this notice) — and 
of these Margaret, Rufus and George are the 
only ones in the United States, John H. hav- 
ing attained prominence as a musician at 
home and being content to remain there, as is 
his sister, Harriet. 

George Middleton, at the age of eighteen 
years, came to the United States, landed in 
New York, and thence made his way to 
Leavenworth, Kan., but very shortly returned 
to the Empire city, where he arrived the night 
previous to Lincoln's first election to the presi- 
dency. The Civil war, treading close on the 
footsteps of this glorious event, inspired Mr. 
Middleton with a patriotic love for his adopted 
tfag, and he enlisted in the Ninth New York 
infantry, and was assigned to the regimental 
band, he being, like most of his family, well 
trained in music. He accompanied his regi- 
ment in its campaigns through North Carolina. 
Virginia and Maryland, and while at Pleasant 
Valley, Md.. the order came from the war de- 
partment to disband all regimental band organ- 
izations, yet Mr. Middleton, being an excellent 
cornet player, was retained by his colonel after 




^-^^-i^^ <:^^^^ 




AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



307 



the band had been discharged, but shortly 
afterward he was taken sick and was released 
from further service in that corps. Con- 
valescing, he next enlisted with the military 
band at the West Point Military academy, N. 
Y. , in which he served three years, thus cov- 
ering the entire period of the Civil war, and 
something over. The principal actions in 
which he was a participant during his first en- 
listment were at Hatteras Inlet, Winton and 
South Mills, N. C. ; then across the Dismal 
Swamp to Fortress Monroe; then to Freder- 
icksburg, where Gen. Lee was confronted on 
his invasion of Maryland and Pennsylvania, 
and was also at the engagements at Sharps- 
burg and Antietam, Md.; his services during 
his second enlistment were confined to West 
Point only. 

^ After his discharge from the service Mr. 
Middleton located in Newburg, Orange county, 
N. Y. (a few miles up the Hudson river from 
West Point), and there remained until 1880, 
when he came to Grand Rapids, Mich. He 
had learned his trade in England, Leaven- 
worth, Kan., and Newburg, N. Y. , and on set- 
tling in Grand Rapids embarked in business on 
his own account, and has conducted it ever 
since. For twelve years of this period he con- 
ducted a store on Monroe street for the sale of 
wall-paper, paints and painters' supplies, but 
suffered some financial loss and retired for a 
while, but resumed his present business on a 
smaller scale, and is now prospering. 

Mr. Middleton was united in marriage at 
Newburg, N. Y. , October 14, 1863, with Miss 
Anna Jeannette Porter, a native of that hilly 
but beautiful city on the Hudson; seven chil- 
dren were born to this union, viz: William, a 
business man of Grand Rapids; Georgiana N., 
now Mrs. John Platte; Harry, a painter and 
paper-hanger; Emma Ionia; Nettie, wife of 
Norman Doughty, an e.xpert accountant; Jose- 
phi-ne, and a child that died in infancy. Mrs. 



Anna J. Middleton died August 20, 1896, and 
November 10, 1898, Mr. Middleton married 
Mrs. Sarah Brundage, daughter of Alba and 
Elizabeth Sweetland. 

Mr. Middleton is a royal arch Mason, and 
also belongs to several insurance fraternities. 
In politics he is independent, and exercises his 
franchise for the candidate best suited, in his 
opinion, for of^ce. He has always been a 
temperate and industrious citizen, and as such 
enjoys the well-deserved esteem of all who 
know him, and they who know him best es- 
teem him most. He resides in his own pleas- 
ant dwelling at No. 128 Clinton street. 



EN. ANDREW T. McREYNOLDS, 
deceased, was one of the leading 
lights of the Grand Rapids bar, as 
well as a soldier of more than ordi- 
nary gallantry. He was born in Dungannon, 
county Tyrone, Ireland, December 25, 1807, 
and maternally was a cousin of Gen. Andrew 
Jackson, the hero of the battle of New Orleans 
and later seventh president of the United 
States. His grandfather was also a laywer of 
consummate ability in Ireland, and had an 
office in Sackville street, Dublin, was for years 
sheriff of Tyrone county, and lived to reach 
the patriarchal age of 103 years. His father 
was John McReynolds, also a distinguished 
member of the Irish bar. The mother of Gen. 
McReynolds bore the maiden name of Ann 
Sloan, was also a native of Ireland, and died 
in Cherry street. Grand Rapids, at the age of 
ninety years. 

Andrew T. McReynolds was intended by 
his father for a soldier, but fate decreed other- 
wise. Great tales reached Ireland of how 



308 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Cousin Andrew was climbing the ladder of 
professional and political fame, and the young ! 
McReynolds determined to try the new world 
also. Upon the death of his father, he inher- 
ited the estate, and two years later found the 
proceeds in gold in a carpet-bag on the way to ' 
New York. Andrew Jackson was president 
then, and the young man received a warm wel- 
come, which also extended to another relative. 
Senator McLane, of Baltimore. He spent but 
little time in the east, however, and made his 
way in 1833 to Detroit, which then had a pop- 
ulation of less than 2,500. Having a natural 
inclination toward politics, and incited by the 
success of his cousin, he was elected alderman 
four years after his arrival in Detroit. In i S39 
he was chosen one of the delegates to the 
Harrisburg convention, which nominated Har- 
rison. This was the first national convention 
in which Michigan figured as a state, and Gen. 
McReynolds was for many years past its only 
survivor. After that time he was a prominent 
figure in Michigan histor}-. He took an active 
part in the political and military history of the 
state and nation, and his record is among the 
first in everything. His military record dates 
back to 1832, when he, as a member of a Pitts- 
burg company, assisted in putting down the 
nullification rebellion in South Carolina. His 
political history continued from the Harrisburg 
convention. In 1847 he was a democratic 
member of the Michigan senate, and his re- 
marks upon the subject of the relations with 
Me.xico were so eloquent that he attracted 
notice at Washington and President Polk ten- 
dered him a captaincy in the Third dragoons. 
He accepted, and his record among the 
"greasers" was that of a gallant soldier. In 
1848 he was commissioned, by brevet, major 
"for gallant and meritorions conduct in the 
battles of Contreras and Cherubusco." At the 
latter place he was wounded in the left arm, 
which was ever afterward comparatively use- 



less. It was at McReynold's side, also, that 
Phil Kearney's arm was shot off. 

Maj. McReynolds returned to Detroit and 
afterward became the first captain of the 
Montgomery guard. In 1859 he came to 
Grand Rapids and entered upon the practice 
of law, but he had hardly settled down when 
the Civil war broke out and he was given carte 
blanche to organize a cavalry regiment any- 
where. The regiment was wanted badly and 
the president could not wait for the governor 
to issue a commission. In this way Col. Mc- 
Reynolds happened to be the only colonel of 
volunteers, commissioned by President Lincoln 
direct, during the war. He raised a regiment 
in New York city at once, and his gallant 
record in the Civil war is a matter of history. 
His son, B. Frank McReynolds, now secretary 
of the local board of police and fire commis- 
sioners, was also a gallant fighter in the war. 

After the war Gen. McReynolds returned 
to Grand Rapids and resumed the practice of 
law. When he reached the age of eighty years 
he was still able to conduct as vigorous a legal 
contest as younger men, and did so up to 
within a short time of his birthday, when he 
publicly announced his retirement in favor of 
younger men. During his later career in Mich- 
igan, Gen. McReynolds never held any prom- 
inent office, for, owing to republican ascen- 
dency in the state, his democratic opinions 
barred the recognition which liis distinguished 
service warranted. He stumped the state for 
over twenty years for democracy and was 
United States district attorney for western 
Michigan during Andrew Johnson's term, thus 
participating in the only glimpse democracy 
had had in the state for a period of thirty 
years. In 1852-4 he was prosecuting attorney 
for Wayne county, and in 1874-6 he was 
prosecutor for Muskegon county, and although 
seventy years old when he held the last named 
office, he performed the duties most satisfac- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



309 



torilj'. During his long and useful life the ven- 
erable general had experiences which few men 
enjo}'. He was in Liverpool when the first 
locomotive started out with a train, and was 
the first passenger on the first railroad train 
in the United States. He was also in Balti- 
more when the first telegraphic message was 
sent over the wire. 

During his early residence in Detroit the 
Asiatic cholera broke out in a severe epidemic 
and physicians and nurses were frightened. 
Young McReynolds volunteered his services 
and did such effective work that the dread 
disease was soon stamped out. In recognition 
of this, the city of Detroit presented him with 
a large and valuable cameo pin. After his re- 
turn from the war with Mexico, the citizens of 
Detroit presented him with a sword of great 
value and magnificence, the cost of which was 
raised by popular subscription, no one being 
allowed to contribu-te more than ten cents. 

Always a stanch democrat, he never missed 
attending to his duties as a citizen and mem- 
ber of the party. He was many times honored 
by being selected as a delegate to various state 
and national gatherings, but one of his proud- 
est moments in all his glorious career was 
when he officiated as chairman of the local re- 
ception committee for the democratic state 
convention in Grand Rapids in 1892, to which 
place he was appointed by Chairman Thomas 
F. Carroll. 

And Gen. McReynolds was probably the old- 
est Knight Templar in the United States, if not 
the world. He became a Mason in Ireland, and 
by special dispensation was initiatedand pushed 
through to knight templar degrees before his 
twenty-first birthday. He helped to organize 
Detroit commandery, and was for the last few 
years the only surviving charter member of 
that commandery. He was also an honorary 
• member of De Molai commandery of Grand 
Rapids. Every Christmas the commandery 



sent him a large and beautiful box of roses, 
and at each banquet, for years, the knights re- 
membered him in the same manner. 

He hardly knew what a pain or an ache 
was, except from his wound, and sickness was 
quite unknown to him. Until verv recently, 
with one exception, the last physician he ever 
employed was in 1834, in Detroit, when he 
caught a severe cold and nearly died. He had 
always been an inveterate smoker and enjoyed 
his pipe to the last. 

He was, aside from his G. A. R. connec- 
tions, president of the Mexican War Veterans' 
association, and when he attempted to resign 
at the last meeting because of old age he was 
not allowed to do so. He had attended every 
meeting of this association since its organiza- 
tion and had always been its president. 

He was also a charter member of the old 
original Detroit Boat club. 

Gen. McRe3'nolds was united in marriage 
at Worthington, Mass., with Miss Elizabeth 
Morgan Brewster, who was but one year 
younger than himself, and who traced her 
lineage to the Pilgrims of the Mayflower, and 
was a lineal descendant of Elder Brewster. 
The three living children who blessed this 
union wera»nanied Maria W., who is the wife 
of Charles H. Dean, of Grand Rapids; Helen 
Sloan, wifeof Fred A.Nims.a prominent lawyer 
of Muskegon, and Benjamin Franklin, of whom 
further mention will shortly be made. Those 
deceased are George Sloan, Emily Ann, Mary 
Elizabeth and Andrew Jackson. The mother 
of these children was called away at the ripe 
age of eighty-four years, and the venerable 
father died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. 
F. A. Ninis, at Muskegon, November 26, 
1898, at the extreme age of ninety years, and 
with his varied life-record and invaluable serv- 
ices, it may be well be imagined that his 
memory will be kept green by the residents 
of Michigan and his honored descendants. 



310 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Benjamin Franklin McRe3'nolds, secretary 
of the board of fire and police commissioners of 
Grand Rapids and the eldest child of Gen. 
Andrew T. and Elizabeth (Brewster) McRey- 
nolds, was born in Detroit, Mich., October 
31, 1842, and the Wolverine state has always 
been his home. He came with his parents to 
Grand Rapids May i, 1S59, was educated in 
the common schools of both cities and at Ho- 
bart college, N. Y., where he became a mem- 
ber of the Sigma Phi society, and was reared 
to business pursuits. His first venture was as 
a partner with Charles Taylor in the whole- 
sale and retail grocery trade, and together 
they laid the foundation of what has since be- 
come one of the largest concerns in its line 
in the state of Michigan, although, after some 
years they sold their old stand and erected a 
new store on Canal street, where Mr. McRey- 
nolds was manager until he became interested 
in quarrying and other enterprises. For a few 
years after 1869, he and Mr. Taylor conducted 
the Emmett plaster quarries and mills. He 
was chosen general passenger agent and cash- 
ier of the Chicago & Canada Railroad com- 
pany in 187S, which office he filled with marked 
ability until 1882, when he was elected to his 
present position, which he fills with equal sat- 
isfaction. 

Benjamin F. McReynolds became a soldier 
of the Civil war almost at its outbreak, when 
he was commissioned a second lieutenant in 
the First New York Lincoln cavalry, and for 
meritorious conduct was soon promoted. He 
went into active service September 20, 1862, 
and served with distinction until March i i, 
1865, when he was honorably discharged on 
account of disability, have undergone severe 
and rugged service. 

October 15, 1887, Capt. McReynolds mar- 
ried Miss Hattle I. Miley, daughter of John 
Miley, one of the pioneer furniture manufac- 
turers of Michigan, located at Niles, and this 



union has been blessed with one son, John, now 
two years of age, and who will, it is fondly 
hoped, perpetuate the name of his father and 
illustrious grandsire. In politics the captain 
is a democrat, has been junior vice-commander 
of Custer post, G. A. R. , was once a dele- 
gate to the national encampment at St. Paul, 
was senior aid on the staff of Gen. Eaton, 
department commander, G. A. R. of Michi- 
gan, and is a genial gentleman in all repects, 
and honored bv all who know him. 



HE MICHIGAN MASONIC HOME 
for aged master Masons and their 
widows, at Grand Rapids, is a .purely 
voluntary benevolent association, was 
incorporated November 5, 1885, and its build- 
ing opened for occupancy May 21, 1891. The 
idea of forming this association originated 
with the late John D. Jennings, a native of 
Dublin. Ireland, who was born March 16, 
1 8 18, came to the United States at the age of 
twenty-one years, and was fairly prosperous 
until stricken with parah'sis. He li\'ed to see 
the Home constructed and opened, end passed 
his lingering days of illness within its walls 
until his death on Monday morning, Novem- 
ber 21, 1 89 1. His daughter, Mrs. Harriet 
Brown, was the first matron of the Home, 
and his wife, Mrs. Margaret H. Jennings, also 
a native of Dublin, died beneath its roof Jan- 
uary 6, 1892, at the age of si.xt3-seven years 
and five months. 

The Home is niaintained by voluntary con- 
tributions and ten cents per capita dues by 
members of the various Masonic lodges of the 
state. It is managed by a board of fifteen 
trustees, which at present is constituted as fol- 
lows: M. M. Read, of Ypsilanti, president; 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



311 



Henry L. Anthony, of Sturgis, vice-president; 
William Went, of Manistee, treasurer; R. V. 
McArthur, of Grand Rapids, secretary. Board 
of control — John W. McGrath, of Detroit; 
Frank D. Jenks, of Port Huron; Byron C. 
Hill, of Jackson; J. E. Rice, of Grand Rapids; 
A. D. Wooodward, of Ludington; Charles 
L. Fitch, of Grand Rapids; A. W. Dur- 
kee, of St. John's; Charles H. Pome- 
roy, of Saginaw: R. D. Swartout, of 
Grand Rapids; Mrs. Louise Turck, of Alma; 
Mrs. A. A. Matteson, of Middleville, and Mrs. 
Lida A. Pratt, of Jackson. 

The land belonging to the association com- 
prises thirty-three and one-half acres, adjoin- 
ing Grand Rapids, and near Reed's lake, and 
is beautifully situated. It and the buildings 
cost $65,000, and are now valued at $100,- 
000, and at the present time there are thirty- 
eight inmates of the Home; these, with the 
superintendent and his family and the neces- 
sary domestics, make a total of forty-eight. 

No words can express the gratitude of the 
inmates and the admiration of the brother- 
hood in general toward the founder of the 
Home, the lamented John D. Jennings, whose 
philanthropic spirit and tireless energy brought 
into existence this noble institution, and his 
incipient steps, resulting in fruition, can be 
no better made plain to the reader than by 
quoting a portion of the circular issued by him 
to the fraternity at the outset of his under- 
taking, which says: 

Brotherly love is the moral cement which 
unites the Masonic edifice into one mass. By 
the exercise of brotherly love, we are taught 
to regard the whole human race as one family. 
The high and the low, the rich and the poor, 
created by one almighty Parent, and inhabit- 
ants of the same planet, are to aid, protect 
and support each other. It unites men of 
every countrj' and every religion, and concili- 
ates true friendship among those who might 
otherwise have remained at a perpetual dis- 



tance; hence it is, that we propose to lay be- 
fore our brethren of Michigan the feasibility 
of establishing a home in the city of Grand 
Rapids for the protection of indigent aged Ma- 
sons, where they can be protected against 
want in their waning hours, and be a.ssured of 
our brotherly love. We propose to lay before 
you, brethren of Michigan, the subject-matter 
for your consideration, and we not only think, 
but know, you will cheerfully acquiesce in the 
plan that each and every Mason who will 
think well of it to subscribe his name as a 
member, who is willing to pay the sum of two 
dollars a year for its support, said sum to be 
paid in semi-annual payments, and when a 
sufficient number of contributors signify their 
desire to call a convention to make rules for 
its perpetuity: by establishing such a home yo 1 
■ will not only be doing yourselves an everlast- 
ing honor, but will be carrying out the princi- 
ples of the order which now stands foremost 
among all the fraternal societies in the world, 
the most envied for its fraternal fellowship. 
We do not ask you as lodges to sign— but as 
Masons untrammeled by any legislative body. 
The lodges being a constitutional part of the 
grand lodge, might not receive the approba- 
tion of the grand lodge, but, as master Masons, 
you are appealed to, to join us in this philan- 
thropic cause, of helping the needy poor and 
worthy master Mason, his widow, or his or- 
phan, in their aged declining years, when un- 
able to help themselves. You will readily see 
how it is approved of, when out of 150 master 
Masons personally appealed to, only seven re- 
fused to sign their names. 

Through this simple appeal was consum- 
mated his charitable, noble and benevolent 
design. 

Rial V. McArthur, present superintendent 
and secretary of the Home association, was 
born in Oakfield township, Kent county, 
Mich., September 9, 1S50, and is a son of 
Giles and Harriet (Newcomb) McArthur, who 
were born near Cleveland, Ohio, and came to 
Kent county, Mich., in 1843. The farm on 
which the parents settled, in Oakfield town- 
ship, comprised 160 acres of virgin forest, but 



312 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



by dint of industry has been cleared off and 
brought under cultivation, and there the father 
and mother, the only surviving pioneers of the 
township, still live with their youngest son. 
The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Giles Mc- 
Arthur numbered seven, of whom one son is 
deceased. The eldest of the family, Frank, 
is a prosperous farmer in Grattan township; 
Rial V. is the second in order of birth; Lewis 
E. is still on the homestead; Julia A. is the 
wife of Dr. Pasco, of Grand Rapids; Jane is 
the widow of Nelson B. Rich, formerly a court 
officer, and whose death took place in June, 
1897: Emma is the wife of William J. Spicer, 
a wealthy farmer of Montcalm county, and 
Minnie, who was married to Lewis Brown, a 
farmer of Grattan township, died at the age 
of twenty-three years. 

Rial V. McArthur was educated in the 
common schools of Oakfield township and the 
graded schools at Grattan. At the age of 
nineteen years he came to Grand Rapids, was 
employed in a wholesale grocery for two years, 
and drove the first delivery wagon in the city. 
He then engaged in the grocery trade on his 
own account at Grattan Center and Oakfield, 
but two years later sold out and bought a 
farm, on which he lived one year, and then 
sold. His next business was as hotel keeper 
at Rockford for one year, and he then pur- 
chased a fruit farm of eighty acres near that 
city, on which he passed fourteen years and 
still owns, besides owning a farm of 223 acres 
east of Rockford, both of which he still man- 
ages, and from which he has realized a hand- 
some competence. 

In April, 1889, Mr. McArthur withdrew 
from his farm and assumed charge of the Ivent 
county Home, on salary, and for his efficiency 
and service during the erection of the new 
buildings, his salary was increased $200 per 
annum, and he was also presented with a bonus 
of $100. After about seven years passed in 



this work he retired, in 1895, to his home in 
Grand Rapids, and spent over a year as a loan 
broker, when, through the instrumentality of 
Judge J. \\'. Champlin, he was selected as su- 
perintendent of the Home, which, in the 
meanwhile, had come under the jurisdiction 
of the grand lodge of Michigan. Later he 
was elected secretary, and has ably filled the 
joint office ever since. 

Mr. McArthur was married April 15, 1876, 
at Grand Rapids, by the late Rev. Graves, D. 
D. , to Miss Olive D. Force, a native of Vergen- 
nes township and a daughter of Britton and 
Eliza (Cook) Force, natives, respectively, of 
Trumbull and Columbiana counties, Ohio. Mr. 
and Mrs. Force were married in their native 
state, early came to Kent county, Mich., first 
located in Vergennes township, and are now 
living on a 600-acre farm in Cannon township, 
near Rockford. Mr. Force was one of the 
first school-teachers of Kent county. To Mr. 
and Mrs. Force were born four sons and two 
daughters, of whom, Irving, the first born, 
died at the age two years, and the second 
child, of the same name, died at the age of 
forty-seven years, in 1896; Mary A. is the wile 
of C. W. Ives, a druggist of Cheboygan, Mich. , 
Olive D., now Mrs. McArthur; Wilbur, a 
prominent musician of Grand Rapids, and one 
child that died unnamed. 

Mrs. McArthur graduated from the high 
school of Rockford, taught school a year, and 
is a vocalist of more than local reputation. 
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. McArthur has 
been blessed with a son and daughter, viz: 
Lottie May, who was educated in the Grand 
Rapids normal school, and is now a teacher of 
some note in the county schools, and Maxwell 
Lloyd, who was born May 24, 1888, and is 
now a bright lad at his studies in school. 

Mr. McArthur has transacted a vast amount 
of business during his useful career, yet he has 
never brought a lawsuit against another and 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



813 



has never been sued. In politics, he is a 
democrat and is active and influential in the 
counsels of his party. He has held the position 
of township school-inspector, and was once 
a candidate for the wardenshipof the Ionia re- 
formatory, yet, notwithstanding his being 
splendidly endorsed, failed to secure the govern- 
or's signature to the appointment. He was 
made a Mason in the \'al!ey City lodge. No. 
34, of Grand Rapids, and is now a member of 
DeWitt Clinton consistory, Scottish rite, 
thirty-second degree, and he and wife are 
members of Oriental chapter, Order of the 
Eastern Star. As a citizen, Mr. McArthur has 
ever been useful and public-spirited and pro- 
gressive, and he enjoys the respect ot the entire 
community. 




DGAR A. MAHER, a well-known at- 
torney at law in Grand Rapids, was 
born in Covington, Wyoming county, 
N. Y., June 25, 1S50, a son of Ira 
and Clarissa (Blackmond) Maher, the former 
of whom was a blacksmith and farmer, and 
both of whom are now deceased. 

Edgar A. Maher attended the district 
school at Covington until thirteen years of age, 
and then the Middlebury academy at Wyo- 
ming, N. Y., and also the academic institute 
at LeRoy, N. Y. He finished his education in 
1869, and then engaged in miscellaneous work 
until 1871, when he came to Michigan, and 
located at Lansing. He entered the law de- 
partment of the university of Michigan in the 
fall of 1873, and in April, 1874, was admitted 
to the bar by the supreme court, and began 
practice in Ionia and later came to Grand 
Rapids. In 1891 he formed a partnership 
with L. K. Salsbury, and they are one of the 
leading law firms of the city. Politically, Mr. 



Maher is a democrat, and fraternally he is a 
member of Masonic lodge, No. 34, and of 
Grand Rapids chapter. No. 7, and a past- 
master of Tyre council. No. 10. 




^ROF. JOHN W. MATTHEWS, M. S., 
ylM principal of the South Division street 
school at Grand Rapids, Mich., was 
born in St. Joseph county, Ind., Sep- 
tember 23, 1858, the eldest of the ten children 
that comprised the family of Oscar and Diana 
(Hutchinson) Matthews. Of the ten children 
alluded to, nine are still living, and of these, 
five resideMn Grand Rapids, two of the daugh- 
ters being teachers in the public schools and 
one daughter in a commercial house; one son, 
Wallace B. , is practicing medicine; one son is a 
teacher in Barry county, and another is inter- 
ested in dairy products. 

Oscar Matthews was born in southern In- 
diana and can trace his progenitors to the 
same stock from which Abraham Lincoln 
descended. He was a farmer by vocation, 
and came to Michigan about the year 1S64, 
locating in Barry county on rented land, which 
he cultivated one year, and then bought a 
farm in Irving township, same count}', on 
which he lived until about 1873, when he pur- 
chased a wild tract of 160 acres, overgrown 
with maple timber, and the task of clearing off 
and breaking up this wild farm fell mostly 
upon the subject, who is the eldest son, and 
the next elder brother. 

John W. Matthews first attended the dis- 
trict school in Barry, winter and summer, 
until nine years old, and then attended in 
winter only until about fifteen, when the family 
removed to the 160-acre tract mentioned 
above, on which his services were so requisite 



314 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



that he was withdrawn from school altogether, 
and did not attend again until he had reached 
the age of twenty. About this time, also, a 
friend suggested that he apply for a certificate 
to teach, and this, after a severe examination, 
he secured. The same winter, he taught a 
district school most satisfactorily, and then 
taught two years longer, but, realizing his own 
deficiency, he entered the high school at 
Hastings, Barry county, greatly improved him- 
self, and graduated at the age of twenty-four 
years. The money with which he paid his 
high-school expenses had been earned by 
working on the farm in sun^mer during the 
period in which he svas engaged in teaching 
district schools. 

In 18S2, Mr. Matthews entered the Agri- 
cultural college at Lansing, Mich., and by 
hard study finished the full course in three 
years. He next taught one year, in order to 
secure the means for admission to the uni- 
versity at Ann Arbor, where he took a special 
course of two years in biology and pedagogy, 
and while there also acted as a member of the 
board of examiners in Barry county, and the 
year after leaving the university he was ap- 
pointed secretary of this board, and filled the 
office with consummate ability for one year, 
when he came to Grand Rapids, and was for 
five years teacher of biology and chemistry in 
the Central high school. 

At the close of this term of service in the 
Central, Prof. Matthews was placed in charge 
of the science department of the State Normal 
school at Platteville, Wis., but at the close of 
a year a division was made, or, rather, a re-or- 
ganization, by which there were two depart- 
ments erected — the department of natural 
science and the department of physical science 
■ — and of these. Prof. Matthews retained the 
natural science department. At the end of a 
.year he obtained an appropriation of $1,700 
for his department, with which he placed in a 



chemical laboratory and fitted up the physical 
and biological class-rooms in first-class order; 
but,. at the end of about three years, political 
and religious dissensions arose among the 
people of the state, and were brought to bear 
upon the school, and Prof. Matthews withdrew 
and came to Grand Rapids. Here he had 
charge of the ungraded school until 1897, when 
he was placed in charge of the South Division 
street school — his present position. 

Prof. John W. Matthews was united in 
marriage, February 14, 1889, with Miss Dora 
E. Kennedy, of Hastings, Mich., and to this 
happy union* has been born one child — Andrew 
Allen. But Mr. and Mrs. Matthews, in the 
kindness of their hearts, have adopted two boys, 
Felix, aged, five years, March 9, 1899, and 
Bayard, aged four, April 19, of the same year 
— and these they are rearing with all the ten- 
derness and care that could be given to their 
own offspring. 

It will ha\e been seen that Prof. Matthews 
is a gentleman of most persevering character- 
istics, as well as patience, qualities well calcu- 
lated to qualify any person for the training of 
youth. His erudition is profound and his ex- 
perience ripe, and no better man could be 
found for the position he fills. He and his 
amiable wife enjoy the esteem of the best 
people in the city, and it will be an unfortunate 
day for Grand Rapids when they take their 
departure. They attend the Unitarian church ; 
fraternally, he is a member of Fraternal Mys- 
tic Circle. 



ALLACE B. M.ATTHEWS, M. D. . 

of Nos. 406 and 407 Widdicomb 

building, Grand Rapids, Mich., was 

born in St. Joseph county, Ind., 

April 22, 1862, a son of Oscar and Diana 




AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



315 



•(Hutchinson) Matthews, the former a native- 
born American and the latter a native of Eng- 
land. To the marriage of these parents were 
born four sons and six daughters, and of these 
ten children nine grew to maturity, viz: John 
W., a teacher in Grand Rapids; Etta, wife of 
Paul N. Bump, of Hastings, Mich.; Nora A., 
a teacher, also, in Grand Rapids; Myrtle, who 
died at the age of twenty-three years; Lillian 
M. and Louis J. (twins) — the former a teacher 
and the latter a raiser of and dealer in live stock- 
in Barry county; Minnie B., bookkeeper for 
her brother, Dr. Wallace B. ; Eva L. , cashier 
for Beach & Booth, restaurauteurs, and James 
R. , a teacher in Barry county and also a stu- 
dent of dentistry. 

Dr. Wallace B. Matthews received his ele- 
mentary education in Hastings, Mich., to 
which point his parents had removed when he 
was a child. His boyhood was passed on his 
father's farm in Barry county, as well as the 
earlier years of his manhood. In the fall of 
i88S he became a student in the Homeopathic 
college at Ann Arbor, where for two years he 
studied this school of medicine, and then en- 
tered the office of Dr. R. M. Luton, of Grand 
Rapids, under whose preceptorship he studied 
some months, and then passed one year at 
the Chicago Homeopathic college, from which 
he graduated March 24, 1891. On his return 
to Grand Rapids he practiced si.x months 
alone, making a fine reputation for one so young 
in the profession, and then succeeded to the 
practice and occupied the office of his former 
tutor. Dr. Luton, who was obliged to relin- 
quish active work on account of impaired 
health. 

Dr. Matthews was married in Grand Rap- 
ids, December 27, 1893, with Miss Emma E. 
Rosenberg, a native of Lisbon, Mich., and a 
lady of many accomplishments. For three 
years she was a school-teacher in Muskegon, 
Mich., where she established so high a repu- 



tation that she was secured by the Grand Rap- 
ids authorities, and for the seven years pre- 
vious to her marriage taught in the public 
schools of this city. The doctor and Mrs. 
Matthews worship at the Church of Christ, 
and the doctor in politics is a democrat. 

The doctor is a member of the State 
Homeopathic society and of the Homeopathic 
society of Grand Rapids; also of the K. of P., 
I. O. O. P., I. O. F., K. of H., M. W. of A.. 
F. M. C. and the Royal Neighbors, is medical 
examiner for the five last named of these or- 
ders, and is also physician for court Rescue, 
No. 445, Independent Order of Foresters. He 
stands in the foremost rank of the practition- 
ers of medicine of his school in the state, and 
is favored with a large share of patronage, in 
general practice, by persons who as a rule be- 
lieve in 'the Homeopathic method of treat- 
ment. Socially, he and wife enjoy the esteem 
of the best residents of the city, and their 
home is always found to be a pleasant resort 
by those who enjoy a congenial hospitality. 




EUBEN MAURITS, M. D., corner 
Lake avenue and East street. Grand 
Rapids, is a native of Vriesland, Ot- 
tawa county, Mich., was born Octo- 
ber 29, 1870, the youngest of the twelve chil- 
dren born to William J. and Margaret (Rychel) 
Maurits. 

William J. Maurits and Margaret Rychel, 
natives of Holland, came to America with a 
colony of their countrymen and settled in 
Grand Rapids in 1847. In 1849 their mar- 
riage took place, and after a residence in the 
city for about twenty years, during which the 
father followed his trade of carpenter and 
builder, they sought a home on a farm in Ot- 



316 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



tawa count}', and in Zeeland, that county, 
they are now living in quiet retirement. Of 
their twelve children, seven still survive, of 
whom further mention will be made. 

Dr. Reuben Maurits was educated at Hope 
college, Holland. Mich., in literature and the 
classics, and after graduating entered the 
medical department of the university of Michi- 
gan at Ann Arbor, in 1889, and graduated 
from this famous institution in 1892. Imme- 
diately following this important occurrence 
he located for practice in Grand Rapids, where 
his abilities have been rewarded with a suc- 
cess that justifies him in still retaining the 
office and residence of which he lirst took 
possession seven years ago. He is a member 
of the Grand Rapids Medical and Surgical so- 
ciety and has served as visiting physician to 
the Kent county infirmary for nearly three 
}-ears, having been elected, as a republican, 
to that office by the board of county com- 
missioners; he was also instructor in gynecol- 
ogy at the Grand Rapids college of Medi- 
cine one year, but resigned this position on 
account of the urgent demands in his pri- 
vate practice. 

Dr. Maurits was united in marriage in Chi- 
cago, 111., November 25, 1S97, with Miss 
Angelina DeBey, a native of that city and a 
daughter of the late Dr. William and Eva 
(Takken) DeBey. Her grandfather, the late 
Rev. Dr. DeBej", of Chicago, was also an 
active and progressive worker in the Reformed 
church of the Windy city; Mrs. Eva Takken) 
DeBey is a native of Holland, but for many 
years was a resident of Grand Haven, Mich., 
now makes her home with Dr. Maurits. the 
subject, and is well known among the old set- 
tlers here. Mrs. Dr. Maurits was a graduate 
of the Chicago high school, and of the Cook 
county normal, and for two years was a 
teacher at Chicago, and for a like period in 
the public schools of Grand Rapids. The doc- 



tor and his wife are members of the Bethany 
Reformed church of this city, and their social 
relations are extremely pleasant. 

Of the seven surviving members of the 
twelve children born to the parents of Dr. 
Maurits. all are married save the youngest 
daughter, and the husbands of the daughters 
are farmers: one son is a carpenter, one a ma- 
chinist and the third is the accomplished phy- 
sician, Reuben, of this sketch. The names of 
the seven, given in priority of age, are as fol- 
lows: Antonia, Henrietta, Peternella, Joseph, 
Peter, Maud and Reuben. 




OHN H. M.W, the popular dealer in 
nursery stock and real estate, at No. 
1261 South Division street. Grand 
Rapids, Mich., was born in Pickaway 
county, Ohio, December 2, 1850, a son of 
John and Katherine M. (Stout) May, the for- 
mer a native of Maryland and the latter of 
Pennsylvania, and both of German descent. 

John Ma\-, the father, moved with his wife 
and children from Ohio to Logansport, Ind., 
in 1853, where they now live. Of the thirteen 
children born to this venerable couple, eight 
still survive, viz: Lewis E., foreman of the 
repair shop at Logansport, of the Logansport, 
Detroit & Eel River Railroad company; John 
H., the subject; William Franklin, a stone- 
cutter and operating a business in marble at 
Logansport; Isabel, wife of \^'illiam Buchan- 
an and living near Star City, Pulaski county, 
Ind.; George W. , a farmer of Champaign 
county. 111. ; Katherine, wife of William En- 
vart, of Logansport; Frederick R., a farmer 
n^ar Star City, and Levina, wife of William 
Brown, also a farmer near Star City. 

John H. May received his education in the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



317 



public schools of Logansport, but under some- 
what adverse circumstances, as, in the pioneer 
days of that now thriving cit}', he was obliged 
to walk two and a half miles to reach a school- 
house, was chased frequently by wolves en 
route, and was nine years old when he first at- 
tended. Later he supplemented this educa- 
tion by an attendance at the Logansport 
academy. 

In 1870 Mr. May began earning his liveli- 
hood as a sewing-machine agent, and was next 
employed for three years as a cletk in a hotel 
at LaFayette, Ind. In the fall of 1873, dur- 
ing the financial panic, he visited Denver, 
Salt Lake City, Cheyenne and other points in 
the far west, returned to LaFayette, and then 
made a trip south, visiting St. Louis, Mo., etc. 
In the winter of 1874, he bought furs at Gal- 
veston, Texas, and in the Indian territory, for 
the southern branch of the Northwestern Fur 
company, drove a heavy dray for a wholesale 
house in New Orleans for three months, and 
then came north, via Cincinnati, to Circleville, 
Ohio, and was there married, on his twenty- 
fifth birthday, to Miss Elizabeth A. Huffer, a 
native of the town. 

January i, 1876, with his bride and his 
limited effects, he returned to Logansport and 
farmed his father's place of 160 acres for a 
j'ear, realizing an excellent crop. About this 
time the Indiana drainage law came into effect, 
and he secured contracts for making roads, 
ditches, etc., under this law, and this engaged 
his time for seven years. He next engaged in 
the fur business at Star City during one or two 
winters, but lost money, and for four or five 
years following carried on an agricultural im- 
plement trade in the same city. He next went 
on the road as an expert for the McCormick 
Machinery company — starting in Texas, going 
through to Montana, and also visiting nearly 
every agricultural state in the south and east, 
covering a period of four years. 



April 3, 1893, Mr. May came to Grand 
Rapids and engaged in the nursery business, 
incidentally handling real estate, and also 
farming on a small scale in the suburbs of the 
city. In his nursery trade Mr. May handles 
the stock produced by the Lake Shore Nur- 
sery company, of Erie, Pa., and works over 
his territory year after year — this fact showing 
the virility of his young trees — and in the 
spring of 1898 disposed of over 27,000. Mr. 
May also finds time to engage in his old busi- 
ness of grading, and holds contracts for this 
class of work between Grand Rapids and Hol- 
land, and likewise between Grand Rapids and 
Kalamazoo, and is, indeed, one of the busiest 
of busy men. 

Of the eight children born to Mr. and 
Mrs. May, five died in infancy; the surviving 
three are- Ida Bell, who is married to Frank 
Jackson, an employee of a wholesale house in 
Grand Rapids; Adam Fortress is eleven years 
of age, and John Archibald is four years old. 
Mrs. May is a member of the United Brethren 
church, as is also her daughter, while Mr. May 
was reared in the faith of the Methodist church. 
In politics Mr. May began with the support of 
Horace 'Greeley for the presidency in 1872; he 
later voted forTilden, Hancock, Blaine, Cleve- 
land for his second term, and Bryan. In local 
matters he votes for the man of his choice. 
Socially Mr. and Mrs^ May and family are 
highly respected, and no more useful and en- 
terprising citizen than Mr. May can be found 
in the city of Grand Rapids. 



EWTS ROBERT MAY, M. D., of No. 
86 Canal street. Grand Rapids, Mich., 
is a native of Danville, Pa., was born 
February 5, 1S59, and is a son of 

Michael and Rebecca (Gross) May, natives of 

Wurtemberg, Germany. 




81t< 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Michael May, after coming to America, 
was engaged in merchandizing for a number of 
years and died inPhiladelphia.leavinghis widow 
and their two children — the doctor and Mrs. 
Sarah Glouch, now a resident of Texas. The 
Gross family was emphatically a medical one, 
that covered several generations in Germany, 
the family home being at Altdorph, Baden, 
but of the latest generation, even, the greater 
portion is deceased or dispersed through other 
countries. 

The early education of Dr. Lewis R. May 
was acquired at Akron, Ohio, from the high 
school of which city he is a graduate. He be- 
gan the study of medicine in Chicago, 111., in 
iS8i, and graduated from Harvey university 
in 1894, and was appointed as assistant county 
physician of Cook county. In 1895 he was a 
member of the board of health of Chicago, 
but ill health necessitated a trip to Germany, 
and while there he took a post-graduate course 
at the university of Heidelberg, and also a 
course in clinics. He returned from Europe 
in August, 1898. and in the following October 
came to Grand Rapids. Here his professional 
abilities mei with immediate recognition, and 
his course has ever since been upward and on- 
ward. The doctor is a member of all the Illi- 
nois medical societies, and fraternally he is a 
Knight of Pjthias. He is liberal in his relig- 
ious views, as in most other things, and in 
politics is a republican. He still li\es in a 
state of single blessedness. 






ENRY R. NAYSMITH, Grand Rapids. 
Mich. — For many years the subject 
of this review was a prominent con- 
tractor and builder of Grand Rapids, 
as well as one of the city's most highly es- 
teemed citizens. Mr. Naysmith was born in 



the town of York, New York state, on March i, 
1823, a son of John and Mercy (Price) Nay- 
smith, natives, respectively, of England and 
the state of Maryland. John Naysmith de- 
scended from Scotch ancestry, wes born 
while his father was serving in the British 
arm}', and his wife's birth occurred in Mary- 
land the same day on which he first saw the 
light. 

Henry R. Naysmith was reared on his 
father's homestead in the Empire state, and 
while still a youth engaged in the manufacture 
of clothing; in this he displayed great efficiency, 
and it is a fact worthy of note that the first 
broadcloth coat his father ever wore was the 
product of the son's skill with the needle. Be- 
fore attaining his majority Mr. Naysmith 
served an apprenticeship to the carpenter's 
trade, and his skill as a builder is attested by 
numerous structures of different kinds in va- 
rious parts of Grand Rapids and throughout 
Kent and other counties. In his youth he was 
denied the privilege of gaining the education 
he desired, but being of an observant and stu- 
dious nature, and fond of books, he became in 
time the possessor of a fund of valuable knowl- 
edge which served well as a foundation for a 
career of great usefulness in subsequent life. 

Actuated by a laudable desire to increase 
his knowledge, Mr. Naysmith, after coming 
to Grand Rapids, availed himself of the ad- 
vantages of attending an academy taught by 
Prof. Everett, under whose able instructions 
he pursued his studies two winters, making 
rapid progress during that time. Subsequently 
he taught two terms of school, after which he 
turned his attention exclusively to contracting 
and building, following the same with success 
and financial profit for many years, until fail- 
ing health compelled him to relinquish man- 
ual labor. 

For two terms he was a member of the 
board of review, and during the active years 




^y~^ yy i'<^^>^^^<^y7^^^ 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



321 



of his business life, few, if any, mechanics of 
Grand Rapids planned and executed more 
work, or did as much towards the material de- 
velopment of the city. 'Later, when his bod- 
ily powers began to decline by reason of infirm 
health, and he was no longer able to do man- 
ual work, he continued to plan and superintend 
the construction of many important edifices, 
and otherwise pursue the vocation to which his 
life was devoted. 

Mr. Naysmith was married in Marshall, 
Mich., on the 12th day of November, 1857, 
to Miss Desdemona Church, daughter of Rob- 
ert and Ehzabeth (Ennis) Church, who sur- 
vives her husband and resides in the pleasant 
dwelling which he erected in 1857 at 243 Lyon 
street. Mr. Naysmith built a residence a num- 
ber of years prior to the erection of the 
present home, which occupies a site on the ad- 
joining lot west, and the interesting fact is 
recalled that he did some of the work on the 
building by the light of Indian camp-fires on the 
rear of the lot. From 1862 to 1875 Mr. Nay- 
smith, was engaged in the manufacture of 
builders' materials, and conducted the 
leading industry in this line then in the 
city. When he first came to Grand Rapids 
the Indian population in and around the town 
greatly exceeded that of the whites, there be- 
ing then about 1,100 of the former and 900 of 
the latter. From this it is at once apparent that 
he saw the place grow from an insignificant 
frontier hamlet into one of the largest and most 
progressive cities of the great middle west, 
and as already stated he was no idle spectator 
of the almost phenomenal development, but a 
potent factor in contributing to its impetus. 

In the true sense of the term Mr. Nay- 
smith was a self-made man, and as such ranked 
with the leading spirits that gave character 
and influence to Kent county and its progress- 
ive seat of justice. In politics he was repub- 
lican, well read and fully informed on the 



great public questions of the times, and took 
a warm interest in local party action, but not 
as an aspirant for official position. 

Fraternall}- he was a member of Doric 
lodge, F. & A. M., also Knights Templar, and 
in religion subscribed to the liberal creed of 
Universalism. He was a leading member and 
one of the organizers of the church in Grand 
Rapids, and aided materially both financially 
and otherwise in building up this organization 
which was one of his greatest delights, and 
cheered by a beautiful christian faith, he fear- 
lessly passed into the higher life on the 30th 
day of September, 1894, beloved and hon- 
ored by all who knew him. 




RED AUGUSTUS MAYNARD.— This 

distinguished representative of the 
Michigan bar is ex-attorney general 
of the state, is still in the prime of 
life, and his friends insist that he is at the 
opening of a brilliant career. He is a master 
of the theory and practice of law, and his en- 
viable standing as an honest man and an up- 
right citizen gives character to his eloquent 
speech. He was born in Ann Arbor, January 
20, 1852, and his career has honored his 
native state. 

His father, John W. Maynard, is the oldest 
living settler of Washtenaw county, as respects 
years of residence. The father came from 
Massachusetts in 1824, and when he grew to 
manhood engaged in mercantile pursuits in 
Ann Arbor, in which he is still interested. By 
his generosity it was made possible for Ann 
Arbor to become the seat of the great univer- 
sity of Michigan. Mr. Maynard's mother is a 
native of New York, the daughter of the Hon. 
Gideon Willcoxson, a leader of the bar in the 



322 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



early days of Michigan. She came with her 
parents to Ann Arbor in the spring of 1826. 
Mr. Maynard's parents were married on the 
7th day of December, 1S36, and soon there- 
after estabhshed their home in the house which 
they now occupy. It is thought that this is 
the oldest house in the state of Michigan. 

Fred Augustus Maynard was reared under 
the parental roof, and graduated from the 
city high school in 1S70. The same year he 
matriculated in the classical department in the 
university of Michigan, and in due time com- 
pleted his studies and received the degree of 
A. B. in 1874. In the fall of that year he 
entered the law department of the same uni- 
versity, and made so good a record in the next 
two years that he was graduated without 
undergoing the ordeal of an examination. 
Even while a law student he was admitted to 
the Wayne county bar, after a thorough ex- 
amination in the spring of 1875. In 1876 he 
had conferred upon him the degrees of M. A. 
and LL. B. The literarj' class of 1874 con- 
tained a number who have since become 
prominent in professional, business and politi- 
cal circles. Among these are Dr. Henry 
Wade Rogers, president of the Northwestern 
university at Evanston, 111. ; Lawrence Max- 
well, of Cincinnati, a leader of the Ohio bar, 
and lately solicitor-general of the United States; 
Henry T. Thurber, President Cleveland's 
private secretary; \'ictor H. Lane, circuit 
judge; Henry R. Pattengill, superintendent of 
public instruction of Michigan; \Mlliam H. 
Wells, a leader of the Detroit bar; Prof. Cal- 
vin Thomas, lately of the university of Michi- 
gan, and one of the most brilliant educators 
in the country. Mr. Maynard was a leading 
spirit in the university athletic world, being a 
member of the university base-ball nine, 
cricket eleven and foot-ball eleven. Late in 
the year 1875 he came to Grand Rapids, and 
the next year became assistant prosecuting at- 



torney of Kent county — his partner, Capt> 
Stephen H. Ballard, being prosecuting attor- 
ney. In 1 88 1 Mr. Maynard was elected 
prosecuting attorney by an overwhelming ma- 
jority, and at the same time formed a partner- 
ship with Mr. George P. \\'anty, which was 
continued for three years. In 18S7 his pres- 
ent partner, Henry E. Chase, became asso- 
ciated with him under the firm name of May- 
nard & Chase. Mr. Maynard's administration 
of the duties of prosecuting attorney was 
marked with great brilliancy. Many reforms 
were instituted by him, which have resujted 
in the saving of thousands of dollars to the 
tax-payers. 

In 1885 he was unanimously nominated for 
the office of judge of the superior court of 
Grand Rapids. In 1886 he declined the nom- 
ination for the state senate. In 1889 he be- 
came Michigan's candidate for the office of 
governor of Alaska, having the unanimous 
support of the Michigan delegation, but Presi- 
dent Harrison saw fit to give the appointment 
to Vermont. In 1890 he was elected repre- 
sentative to the state legislature under the law 
providing for cumulative voting, which was 
afterwards declared unconstitutional by the 
supreme court. In 1894 he was elected at- 
torney-general by a plurality of over 112,000. 
He was warmly commended by the state press 
in his preliminary canvass, and his nomination 
was made by acclamation — the first among the 
very few times in the history of the state when 
a first nomination was accorded b}' acclama- 
tion and a rising vote — and elected by a plu- 
rality of over 57,000. He has an established 
reputation as a trial lawyer, and his manage- 
ment of a case is a delight to a student. He 
is an enthusiastic, all around lawyer, and was- 
for several years a director of the State Bar 
association. 

He is a stalwart republican, and never 
hesitates to express his convictions. He ad- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



323 



vocates broad and progressive ideas, and is a 
vigorous representative of the young repub- 
licans of the state. He is a public speaker of 
much power and many natural oratorical gifts. 
Quickness of perception, soundness of judg- 
ment, solid common sense, fidelity and en- 
thusiastic loyalty to his friends, are regarded 
as the more prominent attributes of Mr. May- 
nard's character. 

He is very happy in his domestic relations. 
Miss Charlotte Nelson became his wife Octo- 
ber 24, 187S; she is a daughter of the late 
James M. Nelson, a prominent figure in the 
first manufacturing enterprises in Grand 
Rapids. She is a lovely woman, and accom- 
plished and popular lady, and well supports 
her husband's name and standing. They are 
the parents of two children, a girl and a boy. 

Mr. Maynard comes of good patriotic stock 
and belongs to the order of the Sons of the 
American Revolution. He enjoys the some- 
what unusual distinction of having had three 
great-grandfathers in the American Revolution. 
He is a college Greek, and is a member of the 
D. K. E., in whose fortunes he still takes a 
lively interest. On the expiration of his term 
of office in December, 1898, he again engaged 
in the active practice of his profession. 



AYLORD B. MILLER, M. D., a lead- 
ing practitioner of medicine in Grand 
Rapids, Mich., is a native of Torring- 
ton, Litchfield count}', Conn., was 
born July 25, 1831, and is a son of Thomas 
Allen and Mary C. ^Hudson) Miller, natives of 
the same state. His paternal grandfather, 
Ebenezer Miller, was a patriot of the Revolu- 
tionary war and fought under Gen. Israel Put- 
nam, his ancestors having been of English and 
Welsh descent. 



Dr. G. B. Miller is the eldest of a family 
of three children, the ne.xt in order of birth 
being John Thomas, a graduate of Yale col- 
lege and an attorney in Grand Rapids, and the 
youngest, Hobart Brizillia, being proprietor of 
a boat-house at Reed's lake. The doctor 
was preliminarily educated in the Torrington 
academy, passed thence to the Stockbridge 
(Mass.) academy, where he was prepared for 
college, and at East Hampton, Mass., was 
fitted for medical tuition. His first preceptor 
in this science was Dr. James \\'elsh, at Win- 
sted. Conn., under whom he was prepared for 
lectures at Woodstock, Vt., which he attended 
in 1849; he then passed one year in the office 
of Dr. J. B. Whiting, at Torrington, Conn., 
and the winter of 1850-51 he passed at the 
Michigan university, Ann Arbor. He then at- 
tended the Berkshire Medical college at Pitts- 
field, Mass., from which he graduated in 1852, 
and started in practice at Harwinton, Conn., 
where his success was so gratifying that he re- 
mained there eleven years. 

In 1863 Dr. Miller came to Grand Rapids. 
During the Civil war he served as assistant 
surgeon for eight months in the hospital at 
East Bridge street. Grand Rapids, and at the 
general rendezvous near Jackson, Mich.; was 
then ordered to report to Gen. Sherman, and 
joined the army at Chattanooga, Tenn. ; was 
on the Atlanta campaign, and was finally hon- 
orabh' discharged for physical disability at his 
own request, and this disability still clings to 
him, rendering him incapable, at times, of 
continuous professional labor. 

Dr. Miller became a member of the Mas- 
sachusetts State Medical association in 1852, 
of the Connecticut State Medical society in 
1853, and the Litchfield county Medical soci- 
ety in the same year, and of the the American 
Medical association in i860. He is now a 
member of the various medical associations of 
Grand Rapids, of the Michigan State Medical 



824 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



society, and was president of the Grand Rap- 
ids Medical and Surgical society but is not 
now in active membership with any of these, 
for the reason that he is unable to attend their 
meetings, particularly their night sessions. 
For three years he was president of the Grand 
Rapids board of health. 

The marriage of Dr. Miller took place in 
New Hartford, Litchfield county, Conn., De- 
cember 13, 1853, to Miss Caroline Amanda 
Watson, daughter of Thomas and Emeline 
(Curtis) Watson, who both died in West Win- 
ston, Conn., at the. respective ages of seventy- 
six and eighty-five years. The grandfather of 
Thomas Watson served gallantly in the Revo- 
lutionary war, and was a descendant of John' 
Watson, an Englishman, who settled in 
America in 1644. By marriage, the grand- 
father was connected with the families of Gov, 
Bradford, Jonathan Edwards and Noah Web- 
ster, and Mrs. Miller is a sixth cousin of our 
naval hero. Admiral George Dewey. Mrs. 
Miller is a lady of liberal education, being a 
graduate of Mount Holyoke seminary, in the 
class of 185 I. 

To Dr. and Mrs. Miller have been born 
three children, viz: Mary Emma, who died 
unmarried in 188 1, at the age of twenty-six 
years; Thomas Watson, a merchant for a num- 
ber of years in Grand Rapids, and Alice, wife 
of Rev. Henry Hopkins Kelsey, pastor 
of the Fourth Congregational church, at Hart- 
ford, Conn. The doctor and his wife are 
members of the Park Congregational church, 
at Grand Rapids. 

In politics the doctor has been a life-long 
republican, his father having been an active 
abolitionist. In his profession he keeps in close 
touch with the advancement which is continu- 
ally being made. Neglect of patients can 
never be charged against him, and in the per- 
formance of each day's duties he finds inspira- 
tion and strength for the labor of the day fol- 



lowing. These sterling qualities have brought 
him an extensive practice, and his standing 
with the public and the profession is all that 
could be desired bv even the most ambitious. 




ROF. JOHN A. MEYER, the accom- 
plished musician and instructor on 
the organ and piano-forte, with his 
residence and music parlors at No. , 
261 West Bridge street. Grand Rapids, was 
born August 10, 1829, in Berne, Switzerland, 
in which cit}' he acquired his earlier literaryi 
education. 

Ulrich L. Meyer, father of the professor, 
was a civil engineer in the employ of the gov- 
ernment of the Swiss republic, and died at the 
age of fifty-two years, the subject of this 
sketch being then but fifteen years old. The 
lad, John A., being thus bereft of a father's 
care, was left to plan for himself his future 
career, and having manifested at a very early 
age a taste for music and a remarkable skill 
as an instrumentalist, he decided, in 1846, to 
enter the Teachers' seminary at Munchenbuch- 
see, near Berne, and qualify himself fully for 
the profession of music. He graduated from 
this institution in 1848, and immediately began 
giving instruction on the organ and piano in 
his native city, and so continued until his de- 
parture for the United States. 

On arriving in America, August 28, 1850, 
Prof. Meyer visited relitives in Rochester, 
N. Y. , and taught music a while, but the next 
year (185 1) went with a large company of 
friends and others overland to San Francisco, 
Cal., and for about a year was employed as a 
clerk in a large hardware store in that city, 
and then went to visit relatives in Cincinnati, 
Ohio. He next went to Waterloo county. On- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



325 



tario, Canada, where he taught private classes 
and also gave instruction in the public and 
parish schools, and at Hamburg, Canada, was 
united in marriage, on the i 5th day of Octo- 
ber, 1856, with Miss Francisco Frank, and of 
the twelve children that have blessed this 
union ten still survive, viz: Mrs. Fred Cordes 
and Mrs. Joseph Cordes, whose husbands are 
both prosperous farmers of Alpine township, 
Kent county, Mich. ; Mrs. Jacob Brautigam, 
whose husband is a millwright of Grand Rap- 
ids; Mrs. Charles Klein, of Chester township, 
Ottawa county, Mich., where her husband is 
successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits; 
Mrs. George Frey, of Grand Rapids, her hus- 
band now living and working in a mill at Lis- 
bon; Joseph, an employee of the Standard Oil 
company, and Maximilian, employed in a hat 
factory, and both residing in Grand Rapids; 
Eugenia, Stephania and Mary are still under 
the parental roof. 

In 1 87 1 Prof. Meyer came from Canada to 
Michigan, and for seven years taught music in 
Alpine township, Kent county, and then, for 
si.x years, taught in the township of Wright, 
in Ottawa county. In the latter county he 
served three terms as justice of the peace, and 
under President Cleveland's first administra- 
tion was postmaster at Berlin. January i, 
1893, Prof. Meyer brought his family to 
Grand Rapids, having accepted the position of 
organist at St. James Catholic church, and at 
the same time opened his parlors for the in- 
struction of pupils in piano and organ instru- 
mentation. The number of his pupils has 
always been flatteringly large, and their excel- 
lent execution gives ample evidence of the 
professor's proficiency as a teacher. The pro- 
fessor has also given a number of concerts and 
organ recitals, and has invariably met with 
warm re.ceptions by large, fashionable and 
appreciative audiences. He has shown his 
patriotism and devotion to his adopted country 



by enlisting, in New York, in the Fourth regi- 
ment, regular artillery, but an injury to his 
arm soon incapacitated him for military life, 
and he was honorably discharged. Socially, 
the professor has a very large circle of warm- 
hearted friends among the better class of the 
citizens of Grand Rapids. By twenty-seven 
children he is called grandfather, and he has, 
in all, 141 relatives living in Kent and Ottawa 
counties, Mich. . 



ONALD ELLIS MINOR, now promi- 
nent as an attornej' at law. Grand 
Rapids, Mich., is a native of Fayette 
county, Pa. , and was born May i , 1 868. 
His life experience has been most varied and 
interesting, and is illustrative of the success 
which ever attends well-directed energies, and 
the reward of industry and perseverance when 
confined to their proper channels. 

Donald E. Minor attended public school 
in his native county until fifteen years of age, 
and was then apprenticed to the trade of ma- 
son and builder, at which he had served but 
three years when he was promoted to be su- 
perintendent of the works. In 1887 he went 
to Birmingham, Ala., as superintendent of the 
construction department of the Tennessee 
Coal, Iron & Railroad company, and soon 
afterward organized the J. L. Minor company, 
for the construction of coke plants, for rail- 
road excavating, and for heavy masonry work, 
with which company he was connected until 
the fall of 1888, when he withdrew and en- 
tered the Northern Indiana Normal school at 
■Valparaiso, Porter county, Ind., from which 
he graduated in 1890 with the degree of bach- 
elor of science, and also completed the com- 
mercial course. He then returned to Ala- 



326 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



bama, where he superintended the erection of 
a coke plant and the construction of several 
short railroad branches for the Lady Enslej' 
Coal, Iron & Railroad company, of which the 
famous capitalist, the late Enoch Ensley, was 
president, and Walter Moore, so prominent in 
development of the mineral belt of the state, 
was the general manager. 

At the conclusion of this undertaking, 
which required one year's time, Mr. Minor be- 
came connected with the Pioneer Mining & 
Manufacturing company at Thomas, Ala., as 
general bookkeeper in charge of their office 
in the coke-making department, and while fill- 
ing this position was united in marriage De- 
cember 22, 1891, with Miss Mabel Haste, a 
native of \'alparaiso, Ind.. and a daughter of 
Col. George S. Haste; this union has been 
blessed with one child — Emma. 

In April, 1892, Mr. Minor resigned his po- 
sition in Thomas and became associated with 
his father-in-law, under the firm name of 
Haste & Minor, and engaged in the retail 
hardware business at Valparaiso, but at the 
close of a year sold his interest to Mr. Haste 
and returned to Alabama to accept the posi- 
tion of superintendent of the Bessemer Fire 
Brick company — the largest plant in its line 
south of the Potomac river — and filled this re- 
sponsible position until July, 1894, when he 
became ambitious of filling a higher sphere in 
life. He accordingly entered the law depart- 
ment of the university of Michigan, at Ann 
Arbor, devoted himself assiduously to study 
for two years, and graduated in 1896. While 
at college he was unusually active in the work 
of theioratorical department; was treasurer of 
the Oratorical association in the senior year, 
and' was second vice-president of his class. 
Upon ^graduating he immediately began the 
practice of law in Grand Rapids under the 
firm'style of Minor & Bullen, but in the spring 
of the following year Mr. Bullen was elected 



clerk of justices' courts, and since then Mr. 
Minor has continued in practice alone. Janu- 
ar}' I, 1899, he was appointed assistant prose- 
cuting attorney under F. A. Rodgers, whose 
term will expire January, 1901. His success 
has been most flattering, and the indications 
are that, with the same energy and tact that 
he had devoted to his former lines of business, 
applied with equal vigor to this, the daj' is not 
far distant when he will stand in the front 
rank of the legal practitioners of Ivent county. 
Mr. Minor is a member of the Rice, Minor 
Manufacturing company, horticultural imple- 
ment makers, and fraternally is a member of 
the Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Kor- 
hassan, the Royal Circle (in which he holds a 
chair), and he and wife are members of the 
Division street Methodist church. In politics 
a republican, he is a member of the city ex- 
ecutive committee, is president of the Young 
Men's Republican club, and has served as a 
delegate to the state convention at Detroit. 




ON. JEFFERSON MORRISON, de- 
ceased, was one of the early pioneers 
of Kent county, Mich., its first pro- 
bate judge, and one of the most en- 
terprising and progressive business men that 
ever had a home in the state of Michigan. He 
was born in Milton, Saratoga county, N. Y. , 
July 15, 1805, a son of James and Martha 
(Green) Morrison, the former a native of Rhode 
Island, but was drowned in the Hudson river, 
N. Y. , when his son, Jefferson, was but three 
years of age. 

When twelve years of age, young Morrison 
was apprenticed by his mother to learn the 
trade of tanner and currier, but at odd times 
he succeeded in attaining a rudimentary edu- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



327 



cation in a district school, and at the age of 
twenty years, by close economy, he had saved 
sufficient money to pay for one year's tuition at 
the academj- in Castleton, Vt. He then 
worked at his trade in Galway, Saratoga 
county, N. Y., until 183 1, when he went to 
Utica, in the same state, worked a few months, 
and then came to Michigan, and entered the 
employ of Judge Ingersoll, a leather manufac- 
turer of Detroit, and while there passed suc- 
cessfully through the cholera epidemic of i 832, 
and remained there three years in all. In 
1834 he was appointed inspector of leather for 
Wayne county, in the then territory of Michi- 
gan, by Gov. S. T. Mason, and also was com- 
missioned a justice of the peace and a notary 
public for Kalamazoo county, which then in- 
cluded what is now the county of Kent. In 
1834, Col. McReynolds, who had great confi- 
dence in the judgment of Mr. Morrison, 
secured his services in entering some land in 
and about Grand Rapids. Mr. Morrison en- 
tered several large tracts of forest land in the 
vicinity of the then trading post on the colonel's 
account, likewise 400 acres of plaster beds for 
himself, and also purchased some real estate 
in Grand Rapids. 

In 1S35, Mr. Morrison, in company with 
Ri.\ Robinson, started on an investigating tour 
from Grand Rapids to Chicago, Ills., starting 
down Grand river in a canoe. The first night 
they stopped at a deserted trading post and 
next day arrived at Grand Haven, on Lake 
Michigan, where they secured two Indian 
ponies and an Indian as a guide to the mouth 
of the Kalamazoo. It being then after dark, 
they employed another Indian and two squaws 
to guide them along the shore of the lake to 
St. Joseph, where they embarked on a small 
schooner for Chicago. After finishing this 
trip he returned to Detroit, Mich., on a pony 
he had purchased, but in the meantime dis- 
posed of one lot in Chicago at $300 profit. 



Among the Indians throughout the country he 
was known, in their language, as Poc-to-go-nin- 
ne, and enjoyed their entire confidence. 

In May, 1835, Mr. Morrison settled per- 
manently in Grand Rapids, purchased a lot at 
the foot of Monroe street, near Campau square, 
built a store and engaged in general merchan- 
dizing, hanging out the first sign ever seen in 
the village, and this sign is still retained as a 
souvenir by his widow. The store was the 
fifth building erected in Grand Rapids, and 
Mr. Morrison conducted a very successful 
business here for many years. 

In 1836, he brought his wife from Detroit 
by stage, but met with some difficulties on the 
way. On reaching Millville, the Thornapple 
river was found to be greatly swollen and not 
to be crossed in the usual way. But Mr. 
Morrison met with several Indians with whom 
he was acquainted, and from them borrowed 
two canoes. In one of them he placed his wife, 
two trunks and two squaws, but started ahead 
in the other canoe to look after some land he 
had previously purchased at Cascade. While 
crossing over a rapid, however, the canoe con- 
taining Mrs. Morrison and the trunks was filled 
with water and one of the trunks carried down 
the river, but the squaws managed to get the 
canoe ashore and landed Mrs. Morrison in safe- 
t\-. The same day they all reached Robinson's 
trading post, remained all night, and the next 
day reached their distination without further 
mishap. In the same year (1836) Mr. Morri- 
son entered land and laid out the village of 
Saranac, Ionia county, owning considerable 
land in that vicinity, and Morrison lake, 
named after him, is now a beautiful place used 
as a resort, and he also entered land in Cas- 
cade, Kent county. 

Mr. Morrison continued in general merchan- 
dizing in Grand Rapids until 1853, when he 
sold out, but still retained a stock of old goods 
which he took to Croton, on the Muskegon 



328 



T?IE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



river, which village he had foumded and laid 
out on a tract of 1,300 acres he had purchased 
in the pine woods some years previously. 
While there he took the census of Newa3'go 
county for i860, and the same year returned 
to Grand Rapids and engaged in the grocer}' 
trade, which he continued until 1874, when he 
retired from active business. 

During all his business life his credit never 
failed, and his name, signed to a "shinplaster, " 
held a higher rank in the commercial circles 
than the bank-notes of the best banking 
institutions and other monetary concerns of 
the state — the issuance of " shinplasters " be- 
ing an e.xigency caused by the disastrous 
financial panic of 1836-37, the worst the 
nation had ever experienced. 

In 1836 he was elected, on the democratic 
ticket, as probate judge of Kent county, and 
was the first incumbent of that office. He 
also laid out an addition to the city of Grand 
Rapids, called Morrison's addition. He was 
the first senior warden of the Episcopal church 
of Grand Rapids, and in the faith of this he 
passed away May 30, 1895, leaving an untar- 
nished name, that will live forever in the 
memory of the residents of Grand Rapids. 

Hon. Jefferson Morrison was twice married. 
First, in 1836, to Miss Caroline A. Gill, 
daughter of Abram Gill, of Detroit. To this 
marriage were born five children, of whom two 
still survive, viz: Sarah, wedded to Calvin 
Porter, of Kent county, and Walter B., an 
eminent physician, of Muskegon. Three de- 
ceased children were named Lewis C, George 
and Byron, who find their last resting place in 
the same cemetery in which their mother lies 
in eternal rest. 

The second marriage of Hon. Jefferson 
Morrison was February 6, 1850, when he chose 
for his bride Mrs. Wealthy M. Davis, daughter 
of Daniel and Eunice (Hutchinson) Woolley, 
and this union was blessed with six children. 



and of these there are three still living, viz: 
Ellen, of Grand Rapids; Mrs. Lucy M. Web- 
ber, of Cadillac, Mich., and James, of Buffalo, 
N. Y. The three deceased were named Fred- 
erick J., Mary and John. Mrs. Wealthy M. 
Morrison is a lady of many estimable personal 
characteristics, has been prominent in social 
and charitable work in the city, and was one 
of the organizers of the U. B. A. hospital 
home, and has been a trustee for many years, 
holding the office of treasurer and also presi- 
dent for five years; also taught Sabbath-school 
for nearly forty-six years in the Park Con- 
gregational church, which she joined in 1849, 
and still attends. She has passed her seventy- 
seventh year, is still active, and retains her 
mental faculties to a marked degree, taking 
acti\e part in all charitable and benevolent 
work, and literary as well. The family have 
an extensive library, and their home is located 
at No. lor Fountain street, where they have 
lived for over forty years. Mr. Morrison was 
a genial, whole-souled man, and a universal 
favorite with old and young. 

Jefferson avenue was named for subject, 
and Wealthy avenue was named for his wife. 



APT. JOHN MUIR, retired boat- 
builder and boat-master, member of 
the city council, and one of the best 
posted business men in the city of 
Grand Rapids, came here direct from Scot- 
land, August 3, 185 I, and has ever since been 
one of the most useful and enterprising resi- 
dents the Valley city has yet known. 

John Muir was born in Creetown, Kirkme- 
breck, Kirkcudbrightshire (in the south part of 
Scotland) January 26, 1830, and is the son of 
Hugh and Elizabeth (McCreath) Muir, the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



329 



former of whom was a farmer by calling. The 
education of the future boat-builder and cap- 
tain, John Muir, was excellent, the tutors of 
his native land being up to the present day re- 
nowned for their profundity and thorough 
methods in imparting their knowledge to their 
pupils — especially in mathematics. 

Hugh Muir, on reaching America, at once 
settled in I\ent county, Mich., and for some 
years was engaged in farming, but his son 
John having been reared to manhood in a sea- 
port, here found himself out of his element, 
as there was no sea, lake, nor river in the 
neighborhood, and consequently no shipyard, 
and, as John had early been inclined to the 
study of watercraft and had been theoretically 
interested in navigation and the construction 
of different classes of vessels at Ivirkcudbright, 
the means of propulsion, etc., and having been 
fascinated with marine architecture, he ap- 
prenticed himself to the trade of shipcarpenter, 
which, assisted by his profound knowledge of 
mathematics, he easily mastered, but at the 
age of twenty-one years, on his arrival in Kent 
county, Mich., he found his "occupation 
gone." Still he was a wright in wood, and by 
nature as well as education a mechanic, and 
for the first two years here he worked as a 
millwright; then, perceiving the possibilities of 
the Grand river as a navigable stream for a cer- 
tain class of vessels, he commenced building 
boats adapted to its waters, and met with emi- 
nent success. He also studied the peculiari- 
ties of the stream, became familiar with its 
rapids, depths, shallows and shoals, sunken 
rocks and landmarks, variations of current and 
surface indications of safe or unsafe naviga- 
tion, and eventually became the pilot supreme 
of the stream, no man yet having ever at- 
tained so close an intimacy with its intricacies 
and peculiarities as himself — that is, so far as 
the necessities of the city of Grand Rapids are 
concerned — and Capt. Muir is to-day, as he 

17 



has been for many years, the chief reliance of 
the United States government for information 
concerning the river in the Grand Rapids 
vicinity. 

For many years Capt. Muir has been a 
licensed pilot, his last certificate bearing date 
July 29, 1897, and running for five years; he 
also holds a certificate as master of steam ves- 
sels for the district of Michigan, including 
Grand Haven, and this certificate is also is- 
sued for five years, although formerly it was 
issued annually; besides these, he holds a 
United States inspector's license as chief engi- 
neer (unlimited) for five years from July 29, 
1897, empowering him to act as chief engineer 
on any steam vessel navigating any fresh 
water in the United States. All the knowl- 
edge possessed by the captain is of a practical 
nature and not solely theoretical, but still his 
practice has been based on theory of the most 
solid character, chiefly resulting from his own 
powers of ratiocination, and that fact speaks 
for itself and may be placed to his credit. 

The captain's knowledge of machinery may 
also be termed self-acquired, as he began as 
an assistant in setting up engines, then ad- 
vanced to the setting up of them himself, as- 
sisted by underlings, and then became practi- 
cal m running them, and became so e.xpert 
that he has passed the rigid examinations be- 
fore boards of engineers with success, where 
regular graduates in engineering met with 
ignominious failure — although the captain was 
reared as a worker in wood. These successes 
need no comment. ' 

Capt. John Muir was united in marriage at 
Chicago, 111., on the 19th day of September, 
1853, to Miss Jane Davidson, who was born 
in Canada and is a daughter of John Davidson, 
a native of Scotland. This marriage of Capt. 
and Mrs. Muir has resulted in a family of nine 
children, born in the following order: Marga- 
ret F., who is the widow of James B. Mortoa 



330 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and the mother of four children, viz: Janie 
Isabella, Elizabeth Esther, William Alexander 
and Grace Muir; William H. married Clara 
Bellamy, and is the father of two children, 
Hazel Caroline and \\'illiam Wallace; John D. 
married Martha E. Kitredge, and has five 
children, namel}', Boyce K., John Keith, 
Marth Rath, Kenneth Davidson and Bruce K.; 
Elizabeth M. ; James D. ; Andrew A., who is 
married to Jennie Rockwell and has one 
daughter, Martha Jean; David, who died at 
the age of nineteen years; Jessie M., wife of 
Arthur C. Rockwell, and has one daughter, 
Irene Muir; and Jeanie, wife of George B. 
Armstrong. The children have all been reared 
in the faith of the Presbyterian church, of 
which the father's family had been members 
for generations, and from which the captain 
received his letter of membership in 1852, on 
his departure from his native land, but is now a 
member of Park Congregational church. The 
unmarried children make their home at the 
pleasant residence of the parents. No. 59 
Paris avenue. Grand Rapids, where proverbial 
Scotch hospitality holds full sway. 

In politics Capt. Muir is a republican and 
has been ever since the formation of the party. 
He voted for John C. Fremont, the first re- 
publican candidate for the presidency of the 
United States, and has voted for every candi- 
date nominated for that office by the repub- 
lican party up to the present time. He has 
hiaiself held aloof from office seeking, but the 
people of his, the Third ward, of Grand Rap- 
ids, appreciating his superior business qualifi- 
cations and executive ability, insisted upon 
his representing them in the city council, and 
in 1898 elected him a member of that honor- 
able body to serve until April, 1900, malgre 
lui. He has already served as a member of 
committees on streets, on sidewalks, on 
markets, on river, and on the special commit- 
tee for securing pure water for the city, and 



as a member of the last-named committee was 
its chairman m its conference with the board 
of public works for the attainment of this all- 
important end. At this point the record of 
the captain's official usefulness closes, but it 
may be truthfully stated that he has performed 
his duties faithfully and efficiently, and what 
his future career officially will be is, of course, 
a mere matter of surmise, but much will be 
expected of him, and he is not a man to dis- 
appoint. 




OBERT W. MORRIS. — Robert W. 
Morris was one of the pioneers in the 
lumber industry of Michigan. He came 
to Grand Rapids from New York state 
in 1837. About a year later he removed to 
Muskegon and engaged in lumbering with Mar- 
tin Ryerson. Together they built up the most 
extensive business in that line in the state, not 
onl)' having large mill interests in Muskegon 
and large holdings of timber lands throughout 
the state, but extensive lumber yards in Chi- 
cago, and their own fleet of steam and sailing 
vessels to carry the product of their mills. 
After the close of the Civil war Mr. Morris re- 
tired from the firm, with what was then a 
comfortable fortune, and returned with his 
family to Grand Rapids, where he resided until 
his death in 1866. The old homestead on 
Cherry street has always been one of the finest 
in the city, and the grounds, twenty acres in 
extent, embraced what is now the Morris ad- 
dition to the city of Grand Rapids, platted 
and covered with homes in the heart of the 
principal residence district. 

Although Mr. Morris was never an active 
partisan in politics, he was for six years mayor 
of Muskegon, and was honored with other po- 
sitions of trust and responsibility. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



331 



Surviving him were his wife, Sarah, nee 
Joslin, since deceased (1897); daughter, Jen- 
nie, since deceased (18S6); son, Frank \\'., 
and daughter, Mary A., the wife of William 
Aldrich Tateum, a member of the Grand 
Rapids bar. 

Robert W. Morris is held in kindly mem- 
ory by the older residents of western Michi- 
gan as a man of fine character, a considerate 
employer, and an enterprising and sterling 
man of business. 




VRON A. NELLES, D. D. S., Grand 
Rapids, Mich., and a very skillful and 
popular professioiml, is a native of 
Viola township, Lee county. 111., was 
born November i, 1858, andisasonof Henry 
W. and Elizabeth (Louckes) Nelles, natives of 
Canada, although the Nelles family traces its 
ancestry to the Mohawk Dutch of early New 
York. 

Henry W. -Nelles, on leaving Canada about 
the year 1855, located in Lee county. 111., and 
was there engaged in farming ten years, and 
in 1866 came to Grand Rapids township, Kent 
county, Mich., and here passed the remainder 
of his days, dying on his farm April 3, 1891; 
his widow still resides on the farm, seven and 
a half miles west of the Valley city. Of their 
three children, the doctor is the eldest; 
George W. is farming the homestead, is thirty- 
one years old and unmarried, and Susie E., 
now a \oung lady, is also living on the home- 
stead. 

Byron A. Nelles was thoroughly educated in 
the English branches in the district school and 
later became a student at the Northern Indiana 
Normal school at Valparaiso, Ind., and after 
graduating therefrom taught school five years. 



He entered the Chicago college of Dental 
Surgery in 1887, and graduated with the degree 
of D. D. S. in I S89, and atonce began practice 
in Grand Rapids, where he has met with the 
most flattering success. 

Dr. Nelles was married, October 10, 1886, 
in Georgetown, Ottawa county, Mich., to Miss 
Rettie E. Bowen, a native of that county and 
a daughter of William Bowen, a Canadian, 
and two children have come to grace this 
union — Guy B. and Rita V., the former ten 
years of age and the latter ten months. 

The doctor is a member of the Dental 
Protective association of the United States and 
of the local dentists' society, and keeps well 
abreast of the great advances that are being 
made in modern dentistry. He has also, with 
prudent foresight, made quite sure of the future 
financial welfare of his family by uniting with 
various insurance associations. In politics he 
is a democrat, but has never been a seeker 
after public office. He has met with uniform 
success professionally, and socially he and wife 
stand high in the respect of their numerous 
friends and the general public, and have their 
pleasant home at No. 135 Mount \'ernon street. 



EORGE B. NEWELL, manager and 
leader of Newell's Band and Orches- 
tra at Grand Rapids, was born in 
Kalamazoo, Mich., March 28, 1865, 
and is one of the most popular, one of the 
youngest, and one of the most successful 
musical directors in the United States. His 
father, William H. Newell, is a prosperous 
farmer, and owns a beautiful home near Kala- 
mazoo. He married Marilla, daughter of 
Dimmick Butler, of Bockport, N. Y., and his 
seven children have all been greatly interested 



332 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



in the study of music. The six, besides 
George B., are Eva, wife of William Sweeney, 
of Washington, D. C. ; Fred W. resides at 
Hammond, Ind., and is a railroad employee; 
Anna is the wife of George Robins, chief of 
the fire department of Hammond; Frank is a 
grocer, and is also the leader of the Academy 
of Music orchestra at Kalamazoo; Adalbert is 
studying music at Grand Rapids under the 
direction of his brother, and Charles, fore- 
man of the Canvas Boat company at Kalama- 
zoo, is also clarinet soloist of the Chamber of 
Commerce band. 

George B. Newell attended the public 
schools of Kalamazoo until about eighteen 
years of age, when he went to Coldwater, 
Mich., and identified himself with the musi- 
cians of that city, became an instructor, and 
soon had large classes in violin music, beside 
playing in the Tibbit's Opera House orchestra, 
of which he became the leader the same year 
and the year following, 1888. 

From there he returned to Kalamazoo, 
where he was leader of Bush's Academy of 
Music orchestra two seasons. Prof. F. A. 
Lawson, of Grand Rapids, at that time leader 
of Powers' Opera House orchestra, heard of 
Mr. Newell and secured him to fill an engage- 
ment as violinist and prompter at the Arling- 
ton hotel in Petoskey the following summer 
season. After two weeks of the engagement 
had expired, Mr. Lawson was taken sick and 
died, and in the disposal of his effects it was 
his desire that his fine collection of music, 
consisting of over 500 numbers, should go to 
Mr. Newell, which is now in his possession, 
and he values it ver\- highly. 

Mr. Newell finished the season at the Ar- 
lington hotel after the death of Mr. Lawson, 
and then was engaged as leader of Powers' 
Opera House orchestra, Grand Rapids. He 
afterward associated himself, as violinist, with 
the Braun orchestra, in the winter season, and 



the Wurzburg band and orchestra in the sum- 
! mer. The season of 1894 and 1895 he was 
I engaged by Director Wurzburg to lead his or- 
I chestra on all special occasions. The following 
are some of the society events where he was 
leader: Dancing club given in the St. Cecilia 
building, reception and ball given to the .\nn 
Arbor Banjo and Glee club, majestic ball, 
charity ball, Custer Guard annual ball, rail- 
road clerk's annual ball. Knights of the Grip 
banquet and ball, K. of P. annual ball. Board 
of Trade banquet at the Morton house, min- 
strel show given by railroad clerks and Ath- 
letic club, beside dress parties in Cadillac, 
Manistee, Reed City, Big Rapids, Muskegon, 
Grand Haven, Holland, I-ialamazoo and Lan- 
sing. Mr. Newell has' an accomplishment that 
few leaders have, and that is to lead and 
prompt at the same time. He did the prompt- 
ing for Gage & Benedict after the death of 
Mr. Braun, until these ladies retired. He was 
leader and- manager of the Braun-Baars or- 
chestra until Mrs. Baars retired. Since that 
time Mr. Newell has started in business for 
himself, and has engaged such competent mu- 
sicians as Miss Florence Ross, Profs. Heald, 
Bronson and others to assist him. Mr. Newell 
organized his orchestra for its sixth season in 
1899, ^nd furnishes, as occasion requires, from 
five to thirty pieces, and with his military brass 
band from fifteen to forty pieces. Those who 
are interested in musical matters and wish to 
confer with Mr. Newell on this subject will 
find him at any time at Julius A. J. Frederich's 
music store. 

Mr. Newell is a member of a number of 
fraternal orders, viz: Daisy lodge. No. 48, B. 
P.O. E.; K. of P., D. O. K. K., I. O. O. F., 
Enterprise lodge, and Kent camp, M. W. A. 
The local Musicians' union. No. 56, sent Mr. 
Newell as its delegate to the American Fed- 
eration of Musicians, held at Milwaukee, Wis., 
May 9-13, 1899, and he has on several occa- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



333 



sions represented the local Musicians' union at 
the convention of the Central Labor union. 

October 15, i88g, Mr. Newell married at 
Kalamazoo Miss Libby E. Weller, who had 
been a teacher in the public schools of that 
city for si.x years previous to that date. She 
is a daughter of Andrew J. Weller, of Kala- 
mazoo, an employee of the Michigan Central 
Railroad company. This marriage has been 
graced by two children, both born in Grand 
I-iapids, viz: Mamie, April 6, 1891, and Haze 
Belle, February 14, 1895. 






ON. RICHARD LINNEY NEWN- 
H.'\M, superiorcourt judge, a sagacious 
and prosperous lawyer of Grand Rap- 
ids, was bom in London, England, 
September 20, 1850, a son of Richard B. and 
Hannah (Harrison) Newnham, now residents 
of Saugatuck, Mich. 

Richard B. Newnham was a police officer 
in London, and was married in Staffordshire, 
England, in 1839. In 1862 he caice to the 
United States, and, the Civil war being then 
under full way, he enlisted in the navy, in de- 
fense of the national flag, and served faithfully 
until the end of the war. After an honorable 
discharge, he settled in Saugatuck, Mich., 
where he has served as justice of the peace, 
township clerk and supervisor. To his mar- 
riage with Miss Harrison have been born 
thirteen children, of whom eight reached 
mature years, viz: John in England; Lucy, 
wife of Edwin Grossman, captain of an 
ocean steamer and resident of Bristol, Eng- 
land; Hannah C, in England; Mary A., 
married to a Philip Frost, and also in Eng- 
land; Richard L. , whose name opens this 
sketch; Eliza, widow of Joseph G. Annes- 



ley, of Saugatuck, Mich. ; Stephen L , a lake 
navigator, and Marie, principal of a school 
in Hastings, Nebr. Mr. an i Mrs. Newnham 
are members o( the Episcopal church, and in 
politics Mr. Newnham is a democrat. 

Hon. Richard L. Newnham, when a boy, 
sold newspapers in the streets of London, 
then became a telegraph messenger, and next, 
for two and a half years, was a copy holder 
in the proof-reading department of the Lon- 
don Morning Post. At the age of sixteen 
years and five months he landed in New York 
city, and February 19, 1867, came to Michi- 
gan and found emploj'ment in the saw-mills at 
Saugatuck during the summer months, while the 
winter months were devoted to attendance at 
school. In 1871 he began teaching during the 
winter sea,son, and in 1874 entered the nor- 
mal school at Ypsilanti, from which he gradu- 
ated in 1875; from the spring of 1876 to the 
fall of the same year he passed his time in 
study in the law office of Judge Padgham, at 
Allegan, Mich., was then admitted to the bar, 
and at once began practice at Saugatuck, where 
he met with decided success, and remained 
until 1880. This year, in order to enlarge his 
field of operations he removed to Allegan, 
where his practice was greatly enlarged and 
where, in 1892, he was appointed prosecuting 
attorney to till a vacancy of one year. In 
1894 he was appointed United States assistant 
attorne}' for four years, and in the same year 
he came to Grand Rapids, and here has since 
enjoyed an excellent general practice. In 
the spring of 1899, Mr. Newnham was nomi- 
nated by the democratic party of Grand Rap- 
ids as its candidate for the office of superior 
court judge, and was elected by 57S votes 
over Julius M. Jamison, and took his seat 
May, I, 1899. 

Mr. Newnham was united in ma'rriage, in 
Allegan, September 20, 1878, with Miss Annie 
M. Higinbotham, a native of that city, born July 



334 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



28, 1853, a daughter of Peter N. and Mary 
(Northrop) Higinbotham, of English descent. 
This marriage has resulted in the birth of four 
children, named as follows: Stephen L., 
Alice M., and Luc}' A. and Laura A., twins. 
In religion Mr. Newnham is an Episcopalian, 
while his wife adheres to the Presb\-teriari 
faith. Politically, Hon. Mr. 'Newnham is a 
democrat, as is indicated above, is secretary 
of the democratic congressional committee, 
and from 1S92 to 1S94 was a member of the 
democratic state central committee. Fra- 
ternally, he is a member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, of the Maccabees, of 
the Court of Honor, and of the Benevolent 
and Protective Order of Elks. Professionally 
he has made a success, and owns realty in 
Grand Rapids and Saugatuck, and makes his 
home at No. 749 Wealthy avenue, Grand 
Rapids. His social relations are most pleas- 
ant, and he and wife enjoy the sincere esteem 
of the best families in the city. 

The career of Judge Newnham is another 
evidence of what pertinacity of purpose can 
accomplish, especially when accompanied by 
an unswerving honest}' and an inflexibility of 
integrity such as have characterized him 
throughout life, and the eminent position he 
now fills is but a just recognition of his probity, 
as well as his consummate ability as a lawyer. 

Richard B. Newnham, the father of Hon. 
Richard L. Newnham, was born at Rnights- 
bridge, London, May 24, 18 19, twenty- five 
minutes after the birth of Queen \'ictoria at 
Kensington palace, just adjacent. Marie, the 
youngest of Richard B.'s children, was born 
iMay 24, 1863, and the twin daughters of 
Hon. Richard L. Newnham, Lucy A. and 
Laura A., were born May 24, 1885. In the 
fall of 1899, Judge Newnham sent to the 
queen a photograph of his people who were 
born on the same day on which her majesty's ; 
birth took place, and in recognition received a 



photograph of four members of the royal 
family — of different generations — including the 
queen herself, the Prince of Wales, the Duke 
of York, and the infant son of the last named. 



5.\.\C NOBLE, of the well-known firm 
of Noble & Croll, grocers, at No. 354 
West Bridge street. Grand Rapids, 
Mich., is a native of Brampton, Eng- 
land, was born October i, 1870, and is a son 
of John and Susan (Todd) Noble, who came to 
America in 1S71, for two 3'ears lived in Syra- 
cuse, N. Y. , then came to Michigan, and from 
1S73 until 1S82 resided in Grand Rapids, 
whence they removed to Cascade, where the 
father, who is a cabinetmaker by trade, is now 
engaged in farming, and, with his wife, is en- 
joying good health. 

The family of these parents consists of nine 
children, viz: Mar}-, wife of E. W. Alton, of 
Jackson, Mich.; Elizabeth, married to William 
Raeside, of Grand Rapids; Anna, widow of 
David Croll and partner with her brother Isaac, 
in Grand Rapids, and the mother of two chil- 
dren, Bessie and Willie, aged respectivel}-, 
seven and eleven years — Mr. Croll having died 
in Holland, Mich., July 28, 1899; John, a 
farmer at Cascade; Andrew, a cabinetmaker 
wilh Berkey & Gay, of Grand Rapids; Isaac, 
the subject of this sketch; Alice, unmarried; 
Ralph and Frank — the last three with their 
parents. 

Isaac Noble was educated in Grand Rapids 
and Cascade, and began his business li(e with 
Hon. George P. Stark, general merchant in 
the latter place, with whom he remained seven 
years. In 1895 he returned to Grand Rapids, 
passed through a course in the business college, 
and then was appointed day clerk in the Eagle 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



835 



hotel, filled the position four years, and then 
joined his sister, Mrs. Croll, in the grocery 
trade, at the street and number above given, 
where a first-class assortment of fresh goods 
may always be found, suited to the tastes of 
the most fastidious epicures. 

Isaac Noble married at Cascade, November 
5, 1S97, Miss Grace A. Stark, daughter of 
Frederick W. Stark, of Akron, Ohio. Mrs. 
Noble was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, June 
10, 1878, and was educated at Akron. She 
has blessed her husband with one child, Olive 
Louise, who was born December 9, 1898, and 
this little pet is the sunbeam that brightens 
the household. 

Mr. Noble is a member of Ada lodge. No. 
280, F. & A. M., and with his wife is also a 
member of Oriental chapter, No. 32, O. 
E. S. , and both are likewise members of the 
Church of Christ, Mr. Noble has, moreover, 
long been identified with the Y. M. C. A. and 
with the C. E. work. He is a young man of 
the purest morals and christian character, is 
esteemed by all who know him for these amiable 
characteristics, and for his urbanity and natur- 
ally genial disposition. His present business 
venture is his first along the line of indepen- 
dent activity, and promises to be a successful 
one, as his extensive experience in the employ 
of others, together with his fine business abil- 
ities, gives this assurance. 




OLEMAN NOCKOLDS. V. S., M. D., 
is a native of England, born in the 
city of Yarmouth, .on the 2nd day of 
February, 1870. He attended school 
in his native country, and is a graduate of the 
Royal college of Preceptors of London. He 
remained in England until the age of nineteen 
years, when he came to America, and since 



that time has traveled extensively in this 
country and Canada, visiting every state in 
the Union with one exception. 

Before leaving his native shore the doctor 
prepared himself for his profession by taking a 
full course of veterinary surgery in the Royal 
Veterinar)' college of London, at which he was 
matriculated in 18S7. Then, further to in- 
crease his professional knowledge, he entered 
the Veteninary college of Toronto, and after 
receiving therefrom a degree, began to prac- 
tice in that city, where he continued for a 
period of two years. 

Dr. Nockolds v\'ent from Toronto, to New- 
ark, N. J., where he remained for a few 
months only, removing thence to Jacksonville, 
Fla., where he practiced his profession for six 
months. His next move was to Chadron, 
Nebr., thence six months later to San Antonio, 
Tex., where, for some time, he was assistant 
inspector of contagious diseases. In the course 
of his travels the doctor, upon several occa- 
sions, passed through Grand Rapids, and be- 
ing pleased with the city finally decided to 
make it his permanent location; accordingh', 
in 1897, he removed to this city, accepting the 
chair of principles and practice of veterinary 
surgery and medicine in the Grand Rapids 
Medical college. The doctor's professional 
practice covers a large field, being frequently 
called to visit places remote from Grand Rap- 
ids, in Michigan, and to other states. His 
services are in great demand, and his practice 
has become a decided success financially. 

While giving attention to all departments 
of the profession. Dr. Nockolds makes a spec- 
ialty of domestic animals, dogs particularh', in 
the treatment of which he has been eminently 
successfully, his hospital in this city being 
usually filled with sick and disabled canines. 

The doctor is a regular graduate of the 
medical department of the Grand Rapids Medi- 
cal school, received his (fegree in May, 1899, 



<386 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and is now one of the registered physicians of 
this city. He devotes the forenoons of each 
day to the general practice, and his aftecnoons 
are taken up with teaching and lecturing at 
the college. All in all, he is a remarkably 
busy man, the demands upon his time and at- 
tention being being both numerous and on- 
erous. 

Dr. Nockolds is a son of Samuel R. and 
Lydia Nockolds, both parents still living in 
Norfolk county, England, the doctor being the 
only representative of the family in the Unit- 
ed States. The father is a clergyman of the 
Church of England, and his family consisted 
of five children, of whom the doctor is second 
in order of birth. The doctor was reared in 
the Church of England, and at this time be- 
longs to the Epicopal church of Grand Rapids. 




OX. CYRUS E. PERKINS, e.\-judge 
of probate, Kent county, is a New 
Englander, born in the city of Law- 
rence, Mass., on the 9th day of Oc- 
tober, 1847. His father, Cyrus E. Perkins, 
and mother, whose maiden name was Lydia 
Birney, were natives of New Hampshire, where 
the ancestors of both families lived for many 
years. 

Judge Perkins is the first-born of two chil- 
dren, and at the age of seven was brought by 
his parents to Grand Rapids, Mich., from the 
high school of which he was graduated in the 
j'ear 1866. The year following was spent in 
traveling through the various New England 
states, and upon his return he accepted a clerk- 
ship with a business firm, and was thus em- 
ployed until February, 1872. In that year Mr. 
Perkins yielded to a desire of long standing 



and began the study of law, entering the office 
of Judge B. A. Harlan, one of the leading 
jurists of Grand Rapids, under whose instruc- 
tions he continued for a period of five years. 
In 1884 he was admitted to the bar and con- 
tinued the active practice of his profession for 
two years, but in the meantime, 1876, he had 
been elected to succeed Judge Harlan as judge 
of probate. He took possession of the office 
in 1877, and continued to discharge the duties 
incident thereto for a period of eight years, 
being re-elected his own successor by the re- 
publican party, of which from early manhood 
he had been a stanch supporter. By Gov. 
Luce he was appointed judge of probate to 
fill the une.xpired term of Judge FoUett in 1886, 
and in 1888 was regularly elected, and again 
in 1892, filling the office, in all, eighteen years. 
He served one year as treasurer of the Penn 
Trust company, and since 1S98 has been asso- 
ciated in the practice of the legal profession 
with L. W. Wolcott, his present partner — a 
firm which does a very extensive business in 
Grand Rapids and elsewhere. 

Judge Perkins has been a close student of 
his profession and thoroughly believes in the 
dignity of the law. His thirst for useful knowl- 
edge has increased with years, and, like most 
men of distinction, he has utilized every ad- 
vantage possible within his reach that could in 
any way add to his stock of legal information. 
The salient features in his career are close 
application, thorough mastery of fundamental 
principles of the law, and the ability and tact 
to apply these to cases in hand. His profes- 
sional ability and profound knowledge have 
brought to him a merited success and to-day 
he is the peer of any member of the bar where 
he practices. 

Judge Perkins was married September 20, 
1876, to Delia A. Foote, a native of New 
York, though a resident of Grand Rapids, 
having come here when a child with her par- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



339 



ents. This union is plessed with two children 
viz: Mabel H. and Edward F. 

In addition to his professional duties, Judge 
Perkins is interested in the industrial growth 
of Grand Rapids, being a director of the 
Grand Rapids Chair company, president of the 
Grand Rapids Veneer works, president of the 
Grand Rapids Cold Storage company, and 
also chief executive of the New Erie Life In- 
surance company; additional to the above he 
is also a director of the board of trade, a 
member and director of the executive com- 
mittee of the Citizens' Telephone company, 
director of Grand Rapids Hook & Eye compa- 
ny, and at this time fills the office of president 
of the Michigan Home & Hospital association. 
As already stated, the judge is a leading re- 
publican; his services as an orator are in great 
demand during political campaigns, and he 
has contributed greatly to his party's success, 
as a political organizer and worker. Fra- 
ternally, he is. a member of the Knights of 
Pythias, and in religion belongs, with his wife, 
to the Congregational church. 




LBERTUS NYLAND, M. D., of No. 
141.^ Monroe street. Grand Rapids, 
Mich., and one of the best-known 
physicians in the state, is a native of 
Holland, Ottawa county, Mich., was born 
March 15, 1855, and is a son of Egbert and 
Dina (Schuitert) Nyland, natives of Holland, 
Europe, where they were married, and whence 
they came to America, in 1849, and settled 
in Holland, then in the far backwoods of 
Michigan. 

Egbert Nyland was a weaver in his native 
land, but on settling in Michigan became a 
farmer. To him and wife were born nine 
children, in the following order; Derk J., a 



farmer of Allegan county; Alice, who died in 
infancy; Garret J., who died in childhood; 
Garret J. (second), who died in December, 
1887, in young manhood, leaving a wife and 
two children; Henrietta, wife of ]. H. Streur, 
a farmer of Allegan county; Alice (second), mar- 
ried to Dr. Lenderink, also of Allegan county ; 
Albertus, whose name opens this biography; 
John, who died in young manhood, and Doris, 
who passed away when yet a child. The 
mother of this fanjily died at Holland, Mich., 
in August, 1859, at the age of thirty-five years, 
and the father died at the same place Novem- 
ber II, 1872, at the age of fifty-six. 

Albertus Nyland was reared to manhood on 
the home farm, was educated in the com- 
mon schools and the Michigan State Normal 
school. ye finished the common school 
course in 1868 and the scientific course in 
1882. For six years he was employed as a 
teacher, mostly in graded schools, his last en- 
gagement in this vocation being as principal of 
the Grandville school, Kent county. While 
thus emplo3ed as a teacher he began prepar- 
ing himself for his present profession, and in 
1883 entered the Physio-Medico college at 
Indianapolis, Ind., from which he graduated 
in 1886, and at once entered the practice at 
Grand Rapids, Mich., where he has won for 
himself a most enviable reputation, which ex- 
tends far and wide. As he speaks fiuently the 
German and Holland-Dutch languages, as well 
as English, he secures many patients who de- 
sire to consult him in the two former tongues 
— their own vernacular — and thus feel more at 
ease in availing themselves of his remarkable 
skill. 

The marriage of Dr. Nyland took place at 
Grand Rapids, November 18, 1888, to Miss 
Myrtie E. Day, a native of this city and a 
daughter of Dr. A. W. Day. Three children 
have blessed this union, and are named 
Rebecca, Jessie and Frances. 



340 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Dr. Nyland is president of the Michigan 
State Ph3'sio-Medico association, is a prohi- 
bitionist in politics — although he not infre- 
quently votes the republican ticket. He is 
very temperate in his personal habits, has 
never smoked a cigar nor drank a glass of in- 
toxicating liquor, and stands very high in the 
esteem of the public of Grand Rapids. 




ILLIAM F. PENWARDEN, M. D., 

of No. 502 South Division street. 
Grand Rapids, Mich., was born in 
Fingal, Elgin county, Ontario, 
Canada, January 7, 1S61, a son of George and 
Druscilia (Smith) Penwarden. 

George Penwarden was born in Devonshire, 
England, and his wife was a native of Canada. 
Mr. Penwarden in early life was a contractor 
and builder, but for twenty years he was a 
hotel-keeper. He was successful in the pur- 
suit of wealth, and the last ten years of his 
life were passed in retirement. He lost his 
wife in February, 1885, and his own death 
occurred in St. Thomas, Canada, in February, 
1S94, at the age of sixty-four \'ears. These 
parents had a family of six children, of whom 
four are still living. Dr. William F. Pen- 
warden, being the only son. The daughters 
are Jennie, widow of Thomas D. Finlay, of St. 
Thomas; Eda E., wife of David Robb, and 
Gertrude, wife of David Nichols, of Mel- 
bourne. 

Dr. William F. Penwarden passed his early 
life in his native country, and acquiied his 
literary education at St. Thomas Collegiate 
institute, from which he graduated in 1S77. 
He is also a graduate from the \\'illiams & 
Rogers Business college, of Rochester, N. Y. 



In 1880 he attended his first session in the 
medical department of the university of Mich- 
igan. The succeeding two j'ears were passed 
at Bellevue Hospital Medical college. New York 
city, and his first year of practice was at Castle- 
wood, Hamlin county, S. Dak. September 
28, 1S84, he came to Grand Rapids, and for 
the past ten years he has been at his present 
location, where he has built up a most satis- 
factory practice. Beginning with 1891, he 
served as county physician four years, and for 
two years of this period — 1S93 and 1894 — 
served as coroner. He has also served on the 
staff of the various city hospitals, and at the 
present time is a member of the staff in the 
department of obstetrics and diseases of women 
for the Union Bene\'olent association. 

Dr. Penwarden was married at Petrolia, 
Canada, January 20, 18S6, to Miss Maggie F. 
McPherson, a native of Petrolia and a gradu- 
ate of the Sacred Heart convent. Her parents 
are George S. and Fannie (Fisher) McPher- 
son, natives, respectively, of Scotland and 
England. The father has held the office of 
city clerk of Petrolia for the past twenty-tive 
years, and is very prominent in local politics 
as well as in social life. To the otherwise 
blessed marriage of Dr. Penwarden no chil- 
dren have yet been born. 

The doctor is a member of several pro- 
fessional societies, and of the fraternal orders 
he is a member of the Knights of Pythias, 
Independent Order of Foresters, Modern 
Woodmen of America and the Improved 
Order of Red Men. Airs. Penwarden is a 
member of the Episcopal church, which the 
doctor also attends. 

In politics the doctor is a sound democrat, 
is very active in promoting the interests of his 
party, is usually a delegate to its conventions, 
and by it has been elected to the various of- 
fices held by him as heretofore mentioned. 
Professionally he is highly esteemed, and his 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



341 



successful practice has resulted in winning for 
him a pleasant home and in placing him in 
comfortable circumstances. 



HARLES H. PHILLIPS, alderman 
from the Seventh ward. Grand 
Rapids, and general agent for the 
Wolverine Spice mills, was born in 
Walker township, Kent county, Mich., Feb- 
ruary 28, 1853, and is a son of John W. Phil- 
lips, a native of Canada and the father of five 
children, viz: Ella E., wife of John Deem; 
Charles H., the subject; Euretta, wife of D. 
P. Aldrich; Lewis C. , and. Anna, wife of W. 
A. Johnson, all of Grand Rapids. 

John W. Phillips was born May 2, 1821, 
was a farmer by vocation, came to Kent 
county in 1840, and followed his calling in 
Walker township until his retirement to the 
city in 1885, and where his death took place 
at the age of si.xty-seven years, his widow be- 
ing still a resident of the city, and having been 
in Kent county since 1844. 

Charles H. Phillips was reared on the 
home farm, and was educated in the common 
schools, supplemented b}' a course through a 
business college. He began the active pur- 
suits of business life as a clerk in a grocery 
store before he had attained his majority, and 
for eighteen months "filled the bill" to the 
entire satisfaction of his employers. He was 
next employed by the Wolverine Spice Mills 
company as a packer of goods, but being 
naturally apt, and having an intuitive concep- 
tion of mercantile affairs, agumented by an ac- 
quired knowledge of their intricacies, he was 
wise enough to take stock in the concern, 
when it was converted into a joint stock com- 
pany. The company not only ground spices, 



but also manufactured carpet-sweepers and 
clothes-wringers at that time, and of the spice- 
grinding department Mr. Phillips was ap- 
pointed the superintendent. Within a few 
years, however, the company disposed of 
everything with the exception of spice manu- 
facturing, when Mr. Phillips was appointed 
sole manager of all the business of the now ex- 
tensive concern. In this position he remained 
until May i, 1899, since which date he has 
been the salesman and general agent for the 
company, disposing of its products to all avail- 
able markets. 

Mr. Phillips was most happil}^ united in 
marriage. May 8, 1SS3, in Carroll county, 
Ind., with Miss .Alice J. Hayhurst, daughter of 
Bezaleel and Julia (Ripple) Hayhurst, well 
known and Jiighly respected residents of the 
county named. To this union one child, 
Blanche Euretta, has been granted, to make 
this union still more happy. 

In his fraternal relations, Mr. Phillips is a 
member of \^alley City lodge. No. 86, F. & 
A. M.; Grand River lodge, No. 408, I. O. 
O. F. ; Knights of Maccabees tent. No. ],^; 
Modern Woodmen of America, Kent camp, 
No. 2314, and Rebekah lodge Violet, No. 34, 
and in all these he keeps his dues well paid up 
and consequently holds an excellent standing. 

In politics a democrat, Mr. Phillips has 
always been active in promoting the interests 
of his party in local affairs, and his activity in 
this respect has made hini very popular, not 
only with his party but with the residents 
and voters of his ward, who have always felt 
that he has held their interests at heart. In 
consequence, he was elected member of the 
city council in 1897, and gave such satisfac- 
tion that he was immediatelj' returned for the 
short term following, which has not yet ex- 
pired. He has served as a member of the 
committee on streets, on the committee on 
charter amendments, as chairman on the com- 



24-2 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



mittee on parks, and as a member of the 
committee on sewers, and under all circum- 
stances has proved himself to be fully capable. 
Besides filling his position as alderman, he has 
served one term as a member of the board of 
supervisors, and the end is not yet. 




ILLIS BARNES PERKINS.— 
Judge Perkins was born in Linden, 
Genesee county, Mich., February 7, 
I 86 1. He is the elder of two chil- 
dren born to Delos A. and Marilla A. Perkins. 
At the age of four years he removed with his 
parents to Booth's Mill, a year later to an ad- 
jacent farm, and at eight to the village of 
Fenton, Mich., where he remained until he 
reached the age of fourteen years, when he 
■came with his parents to the city of Grand 
Rapids, where he has remained ever since, ex- 
cepting about five years, from 1883 to 1889, 
■when he was engaged in the practice of law at 
Kalkaska, Mich. 

His early education was received in the 
public schools of Fenton and Grand Rapids. 
The early period of his career was fraught 
with more or less difficulties, and frequently 
he was obliged to seek employment, working 
at various times in the store of Foster 
Brothers and the Star Clothing house and 
elsewhere in the city of Grand Rapids. 
Through the tireless efforts of his parents, and 
particularly his mother, he was enabled to 
surmount these earl\- difficulties, and in 1880 
he began the study of law in the office of Ken- 
nedy & Thompson, at Grand Rapids, Mich., 
where he continued for one year, and then en- 
tered the law department of the university of 
Michigan, where he pursued his legal studies 
.for a period of two years, completing the pre- 



scribed course and graduating with the degree 
of LL. B. Returning to Grand Rapids, he 
entered the law office of Stuart & Sweet, 
where he remained as assistant until 18S3, 
when he removed to Kalkaska, Mich., and be- 
came associated in the practice of law with 
A. A. Bleazby of that place under the firm 
name of Bleazby & Perkins, which partnership 
continued until the fall of the year following. 

In November, 1884, Mr. Perkins was 
elected prosecuting attorney of Kalkaska coun- 
ty, and after discharging the duties of that 
position for one term effected a partnership 
with Ernest S. Ellis, which continued until 
the month of January, 1888; the business of 
the firm during that time embraced a large 
range of litigation in the courts of Kalkaska 
and other counties in the northern part of the 
state. This partnership was dissolved and 
Mr. Perkins continued alone until March, 1889, 
when a fire destroyed his office and library, 
and in the month of April of that year he re- 
turned to Grand Rapids and entered into a 
partnership with Edwin F. Sweet, under the 
firm name of Sweet & Perkins. This partner- 
ship continued until February, 1895, when 
the Hon. J. Byron Judkins joined it and the 
firm thereafter was styled Sweet, Perkins & 
Judkins. In July, 1897, Mr. Judkins and Mr. 
Perkins retired from the firm and continued 
business under the firm name of Judkins & 
Perkins. 

In the spring of 1899, Mr. Perkins was 
elected circuit judge of the county of Kent by 
a plurality of 1,600 votes, a substantial recog- 
nition of his ability as a lawyer and his per- 
sonal popularity with his fellow-citizens irre- 
spective of party, and he entered upon the dis- 
charge of his judicial duties on the first day of 
January, 1900. 

As a lawyer he is a diligent worker, pos- 
sessed of broad views, keen perception, strong 
self reliance, an ample fund of mental re- 





JlyiAA^ 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



345 



sources, and on his elevation to the bench 
he had become a recognized leader in his 
profession. 

Judf^e Perkins possesses not only those 
powers which render a man efficient in the 
legal and political arena, but is also possessed 
of the gentler traits which mark refined social 
intercourse, always manifesting a generous re- 
gard for others, with strict allegiance to the 
principles of honor, and his liberal ideas in 
matters of public policy or private concern 
have won for him the confidence and esteem 
of his feilow-men. 

In politics he has always been a republican, 
but never a partisan. He is now in the prime 
of manhood, physically and mentally, with a 
fair prospect before him of eminent success, 
and whatever may be his future or whatever 
position he may be called upon to fill, it is 
reasonably certain that no one will bring to 
the discharge of his duties a more ardent zeal 
to do right, equity and justice than he. 

Judge Perkins married Miss Mary Holden, 
daughter of Hon. E. G. D. Holden, of Grand 
Rapids, in September, 1886, and this mar- 
riage union has been blessed with four chil- 
dren, Charles H., Willis B., Jr., Mary Merrill 
and Margaret Helen. Judge Perkins and fam- 
ily attend the Universalist church, and frater- 
nally he is identified with the Masonic, Pyth- 
ian and Elk orders. 




.APT. JOHN H. POISSON.— The na- 
tive place of the subject of this review 
is the city of Lyons, in southern 
France, and his birth dates from the 
1st day of April, 1839. He is the eldest in a 
family of ten children born to Paschal and 
Marie (Mailhyot) Poisson, also natives of the 



city of Lyons, where their marriage was sol- 
emnized in the month of April, 1838. The 
second in order of birth died when one year 
old, and the third, whose name was Siedger, 
departed this life in Escanaba, Mich., in 1887. 
The next was Louise, who became the wife of 
Joseph Tousignant. After her, in the order 
named, are Philomena, wife of Hector Tout- 
ant, of Hancock, Mich.; Joseph, hotelkeeper 
at Rapid River, upper peninsula of Michigan; 
Adele, whose home is in Quebec, Canada; 
Elmira, also resides in Quebec, and Lewis, 
who left the parental roof at the age of four- 
teen years, has not been heard of for over 
twenty-five years. 

Capt. Poisson was taken to Canada by 
his parents when a lad of fourteen and spent 
the fourteen succeding years in Three Rivers, 
engaged the greatest part of that time as a 
tailor, having commenced learning the trade 
before bidding adieu to his native shore. He 
enjoyed exceptional advantages for obtaining 
an education, attending the schools of Lyons 
during his youthful years, and subsequently 
pursuing the higher branches of learning in the 
seminary at Nicolet, province of Quebec, a 
Catholic institution of high order, from which 
he was in due time graduated. He became a 
resident of Grand Rapids, Mich., in 1865, and 
for eighteen years thereafter followed merchant 
tailoring for a livelihood, meeting with a fair 
measure of success in his business. Seeing an 
opportunity of making some money at Reed's 
lake when that popular summer resort was 
first opened to the public, Capt. Poisson pur- 
chased a small revenue cutter, the Florence, 
built in Baltimore, Md., and placed it on the 
lake as a pleasure boat. This was in the year 
1883. He operated this craf^ in season for 
about ten years, and realizing a liberal return 
on the investment concluded to construct a 
vessel of greatly enlarged proportions. Ac- 
cordingly, in 1893, he built the Major A. B. 



346 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



\Yatson, which was launched on June 25th of 
that year and put in commission on the 4th of 
Julj' following. This vessel, representing a 
capital of $20,000, is complete in its every de- 
tail, is beautifully finished and furnished with 
all the comforts and conveniences for the ac- 
commodation of excursionists, picnic parties, 
and individuals desiring to make private tours 
on the lake. The naming of the vessel was a 
compliment to Maj. A. B. Watson, a promi- 
nent business man of Grand Rapids, between 
"whom and the captain a warm personal friend- 
ship had long existed. The widow of Maj. 
Watson permitted the use of her husband's 
name, and further showed her appreciation by 
contributing to the vessel $200 worth of flags, 
eight of which represented as many different 
foreign nations, the remainder being beautiful 
emblems of the United States. The trip 
around the lake is made for the nominal fare 
of ten cents, and so popular has the Watson 
become that never since the launching has it 
failed of having a liberal patronage. 

The captain has a comfortable and com- 
modious place for entertaining with refresh- 
ments his many customers, and until recently 
he paid a dock fee amounting to $400, but the 
dock which he now uses was recently con- 
structed by himself at an outlay of $500. He 
owns a beautiful private residence, situated 
near the dock, and for several years conducted 
a restaurant for the accommodation of pleasure 
seekers, but, owing to the pressing nature of 
his other business, he has lately discontinued 
this and now devotes his attention solely to his 
vessel, which has proved a most encouraging 
financial success. 

Capt. Poisson was married in Three Rivers, 
Canada, October 13, 1862, to Miss Philomena 
E. Toutant, whose parents, natives of France, 
settled in that place about the year 1847. 
Capt. and Mrs. Poisson have four children liv- 
ing and five dead; the living ones are Joseph 



H., a photographer of Grand Rapids; Marie 
Sarah, wife of John Brown Schneider, a cabi- 
netmaker of this city; Marie Josephine, mar- 
ried to George King, a stock dealer of Ivent 
count}', and Charles B., who operates the en- 
gine on his father's vessel. 

In his political views the captain is a demo- 
crat. He was one of the first trustees of the 
village of East Grand Rapids, and also served 
for number of years as a member of the school 
board, besides holding other official stations of 
trust and profit. He was reared in the Catholic 
faith, has ever been a true son of the church, 
and for a third of a century has been one of 
the leading members of the St. Andrew's con- 
gregation, to which his family also belong. 




ILLIAM J. ORMOND, deceased, 
although not an old settler of 
Grand Rapids, was very well known 
as an official, and respected as a 
useful and public-spirited citizen. He was 
born in Ireland, and in that country was ap- 
prenticed to a baker, but, his father dying, he 
came, while yet a lad, to America with his 
mother and three brothers, but never after- 
ward worked at the trade he had started in to 
learn. The family, on reaching the United 
States, came at once to Grand Rapids, where 
young William J., being industrious and atten- 
tive to any kind of work he found to do, and 
being of fine physique, soon attracted atten- 
tion, and was appointed an officer on the po- 
lice force, a position he held for eight years, 
giving the fullest satisfaction as a guardian of 
the public peace. He next engaged , in rail- 
road work, and later in pipe-laying, and while 
thus employed was seized b}' a sickness, the 
result of exposure, which terminated in his 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



347 



death, May 22, 1886. He was a true and de- 
vout Catholic, and in politics was a democrat, 
and the city lost in him a good citizen and his 
family a true and provident husband and an 
affectionate father. 

Mr. Ormond was married at St. Andrew's 
church. Grand Rapids, to Miss Kate Mc- 
Carthy, a native of the city of New York, and 
this union was blessed with eight children, 
named, in order of birth, as follows: Mary E. , 
Jennie, Jerome \\'., Margaret A., Daniel E., 
Lida H. , Blanch H., and Julia, the last- 
named of whom died at the age of two 3'ears. 
Several of these hold good positions in the 
city, and are industrious and filially assist in 
supporting their mother, who enjoys the re- 
spect of her many friends and neighbors, as 
well as that of the congregation of St. 
Andrew's church, of which she is a devout 
member. 



SQUIRE C. PHILLIPS, one of the best 
known citizens of Grand Rapids, and 
a gallant ex-soldier of the war of the 
Rebellion, was born in Newfane, 
Niagara county, N. Y., 1833, and is a son of 
Abraham and Betsey Phillips, highly respected 
residents of the village. 

At the age of seventeen years young Phil- 
lips went to Fort Wayne, Ind., and was em- 
ployed three years on the Wabash, St. Louis 
& Pacific railroad in the run between Fort 
Wayne and Toledo. He then passed a year 
at home and subsequently came to Grand Rap- 
ids, and here learned the carpenter's trade. 
Alter working a reasonable time as a journey- 
man, he was emploj'ed one year as foreman at 
Saddlebag Swamp by the D. & M. Railroad 
company, and afterward returned to work in 



the city, where his ability and industry had 
previously been so generally recognized. 

In 1858, Mr. Phillips married, in Grand 
Rapids, Miss Mary Hall, who was born at Gun 
Plains, in Allegan county, Mich., in 1839, and 
is a daughter of Silas and Susan Hall, who 
came to Grand Rapids in 1842. To this mar- 
riage have been born five children, named Su- 
san M. , George B., Frank, Ella M. and 
Cora D. 

In 1S59 Mr. Phillips went to Denver, Colo., 
but returned to Grand Rapids in time to enlist 
at the first call for volunteers to suppress the 
attempt to disintegrate the Union by the dis- 
gruntled politicians of the south, and aid in 
the defense of the honor of the national flag. 
In the spring of i86r, therefore, he enlisted in 
company B, Third regiment, Michigan volun- 
teers, under the command of Capt. Baker Ber- 
dan. He fought at the battle of Bull Run and 
also took part in a number of skirmishes, and 
at the termination of his six months' term of 
enlistment was honorably discharged. He im- 
mediately re-enlisted, but this time in com- 
pany B, First regiment, Michigan engineers 
and mechanics, and took part in all the bat- 
tles, skirmishes and marches in which the regi- 
ment participated until he was again honor- 
ably discharged at Chattanooga, Tenn., after a 
service of three years, with the rank of orderly- 
sergeant. Having made an excellent military 
record, Mr. Phillips was employed for some 
time in Nashville, after being mustered out of 
the service, by the United States government. 
Mr. Phillips comes from a warlike family, his 
grandfather having fought in the Revolution, 
and his father in the war of 18 12. 

On returning to Grand Rapids, Mr. Phillips 
was associated with Wheeler, Borden cS: Co. 
in a sash, door and blind factory, for nearly 
or quite four years, and then bought fifty-si.x 
acres of land in Walker township, close to the 
city, and engaged in fruit growing, in which 



348 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



he has made as grand a success as he has in all 
his other undertakings, having fifty acres of 
bearing trees. 

Fraternally Mr. Phillips is a Freemason, and 
he and wife are members of the order of the 
Eastern Star; Mr. Phillips is likewise a granger, 
and a member of theOld Settlers'society,aswell 
as of the Grand Army of the Republic. He has 
served as justice of the peace four years, is a 
charter member of Gen. Innes command, has 
been treasurer of the Grand River Valley Hor- 
ticultural society for fifteen years, is also vice- 
president of the Durfee Embalming Fluid 
company, and for twelve years was moderator 
in school district No. 7, West Bridge street. 
His residence is on a commanding site at the 
west end of the city, and for this " West 
Side " he has done more than any one else, in 
spite of strennous antagonism toward its im- 
provement — such as securing the extension of 
street sewers and the extension of grading, etc. , 
and the consequent enhancement of the value 
of the property. • 

The parents of Mrs. Phillips were among 
what may be designated pioneers of Grand 
Rapids, Mr. Hall having erected the first frame 
house on the West side, on Front street, and 
having served as supervisor of Walker town- 
ship when the town came to the river, in 1848 
The mother of Mrs. Phillips was called away 
in 1867, at the age of fifty-five years, and her 
father in 1874, at the age of sixty-five years, 
and no more respected people ever lived in 
the city of Grand Rapids. 



EV. SIMON PONGANIS, pastor of St. 
Adalbert's (Polish) Catholic church, at 
the corner of Fourth and Davis 
streets, West side, Grand Rapids, was 
born in Poland, April 24, 1S59, and his earlier 




education was acquired at Warsaw, in the 
gymnasium and theological seminary. After 
graduating from the latter, in 1883, he went 
to Rome, took an additional course in theology 
at the Gregorian university, and in 1885 was 
adopted by Bishop Richter, of Grand Rapids, 
and came here in August of the same year. In 
December, 1885, he was ordained priest at 
St. Andrew's cathedral, was assistant to the 
bishop four months, and was then ap- 
pointed to the charge of St. Adalbert's parish. 
Here he is greatly beloved by his people; no 
dissensions have taken place in the congre- 
gation since his incumbency, and he is now 
the oldest priest, in point of service, in the 
city of Grand Rapids. 

St. Adalbert's church was erected in 1881, 
and the following year it was dedicated by the 
Right Rev. H. J. Richter, D. D. Its first pas- 
tor was Father Jablowski, who remained but 
a few months and was succeeded by Father 
Matkowski, who continued as pastor for two 
years. In 1886 Father Ponganis assumed 
charge, the congregation then consisting of 
about 120 families and the parochial school 
having an enrolment of ninety pupils. The 
new school building adjoins the church yard 
on the north, and is a handsome stone and 
brick structure of eight rooms, and cost $15,- 
000. The class-rooms are in charge of nine 
sisters from Notre Dame, Ind., and during the 
past ten years has had a remarkable growth, 
the enrolment being now over 600. In 1889 
the church was enlarged and greatly improved, 
the seating capacity being largely increased, at 
a cost of $6,000. The congregation has 
steadily increased under the pastoral care of 
Father Ponganis, and now numbers about 700 
families, although it was divided in 1897, in 
September of which year the corner-stone of 
St. Stanislaus was laid and blessed. The new 
house of worship is on North Diamond street, 
East side, is now completed and finished, cost 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



349 



$10,000, but as yet no pastor has been ap- 
pointed to take charge. This new church will, 
in course of time, take about 150 families from 
St. Adalbert's congregation, but still Father 
Ponganis will have the largest congregation in 
the city, that of St. Andrew's cathedral alone 
excepted. 

There are seven benevolent sodalities con- 
nected with St. .Adalbert's, the chief of which, 
St. Adalbert's society, erected at a cost of 
$15,000, a large casino, in which their meet- 
ings are held and their entertainments given. 
This society numbers 250 members, and is in 
a most prosperous condition. 

In 1895, the congregation of St. Adalbert's 
erected a Sister's house, at a cost of $6,000 
or more; the priest's house, on P'ourth street, 
south of the church-edifice is a handsome two. 
story frame. 

Not a dollar of debt rests against the par- 
ishes of St. Adalbert and St. Stanislaus, and 
for this commendable fact much credit is due 
to Father I-'onganis, whose zeal and untiring 
labor, exercised among his loving and faithful 
parishioners, have brought about this happy 
condition. 




EV. ISAAC PLATT POWELL, of i 
Grand Rapids, Mich., was born May 
7, 1S38, in Clinton, Oneida county, 
N. Y. His father, John Powell, was 
born in Washington, Litchfield county, Conn. 
The latter was a man of strong character, 
deep convictions and earnest religious life. 
He took an active part in the religious and re- 
form movements of his time, and was ulti- 
mately associated with such men as William 
Lloyd Garrison and Gerrit Smith in the great 
anti-slavery struggle. He died at the age of 
sixty-one years. His wife, Mary (Johnson) 
Powell, was born in Vermont, of sturdy New 



England stock. She was a woman, of deep 
earnestness and resistless energy, and pro- 
foundly interested in the great reforms that 
absorbed the attention of the best men and 
women of her day. She died in her ninetieth 
year, in the full possession of her mental 
powers. 

In early manhood John Powell moved to 
Clinton, Oneida county, N. Y., where he en- 
gaged'in farming and fruit-growing. His farm 
was located on the approach to the beautiful 
hill which is crowned with Hamilton college 
and its unrivaled campus, a situation of rare 
beauty and exceptional advantage. 

The Rev. Isaac P. Powell, the subject of 
this sketch, was born under these circum- 
stances, and spent his early life there, having 
a brother five years older than himself, now 
the Rev. Edward P. Powell, a man of high 
standing in the literary and scientific world — 
lecturer, pastor and publisher. He resides at 
Clinton, N. Y. 

At the early age of seven 3'ears Isaac P. 
Powell lost his father, and upon his brother 
and himself fell the cares of life. He worked 
upon the farm and in the fruit orchard in 
summer, and attended the district school in 
winter. In due time he entered the village 
academ}', then taught by his brother, and pre- 
pared for college, which he entered Uhen 
eighteen years of age. Like many others he 
worked his way through college, cultivating 
the farm as well as attending to college work. 

He graduated in i860, and in the autunm of 
the same year entered Union Tneological 
seminary in New York city. The Civil war 
soon began, and in the autumn of the follow- 
ing year, 1862, he left the seminar}-, returned 
to his home and recruited a company for the 
One Hundred and Forty-sixth-regiment, New 
York volunteers. He was given a captain's 
commission by Gov. E. D. Morgan, and soon 
went to the front with his regiment, which 



850 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



was assigned to the Fifth corps of the army of 
the Potomac. After being engaged in the 
battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, 
Gettysburg, Wiiliamsport, Bristow Station 
and Union Run, he was captured in the battle 
of the Wilderness, and spent seven months in 
southern prisons. He was brevetted major 
for services on the field, and was given a 
major's commission as soon as he rejoined his 
regiment. In this capacity he served through 
the final campaign of the army of the Potomac, 
and was at Appomatox when the Confederate 
army surrendered. 

As soon as he was mustered out of service 
he returned home, and after a short interval 
returned to New York city to complete his 
theological studies. His health was greatly 
impaired, but he completed his course with 
honor. When about to graduate he was 
stricken with illness which prostrated him for 
an entire year. After his recovery he was 
offered a tutorship in Hamilton college, his 
alma mater, and also a professorship in 
Roberts college, Constantinople, but declined 
them and accepted a call to the Congregational 
church of North Canaan, Conn., and remained 
there about five years. On June 2, 1868, he 
was married to Miss Sara H. Clay, of Grand 
Rapids, Mich., a lady of fine family, lare 
culture and charming character, and soon 
after took charge of his parish, where he was 
duly ordained and installed. But his health 
was by no means established, it having been 
sadly undermined during the war, and after 
five years of very successful service his 
strength was exhausted and he was obliged 
very reluctantly to turn aside from professional 
life, which he greatly enjoyed, and for which 
he was well qualified. 

During the following twelve years he was 
utterly unable to engage in work of any kind. 
His wife, also, was an invalid. In 18S1 he re- 
moved to Grand Rapids, where health began 



to improve and life looked brighter. On the 
14th of May, 1886, his wife died. Three 
children had preceded her, all in infancy. 

When his health was partially restored, 
Mr. Powell's services were sought for the work 
of preparing boys for college — a work in which 
he has continued until the present time with 
much success. 

On December 18, 1890, Mr. Powell was 
married to Mrs. Helen Griffith Smith, widow 
of the late Hon. Henry S. Smith, of Grand 
Rapids, a lady well known in the religious, lit- 
erary' and social circles not only of the city but 
throughout the state. A son, Edward Merrion 
Powell, was born to them May 6, 1892. Mrs. 
Powell is a sister of H. J. Hollister, a leading 
banker of Grand Rapids, is of English extrac- 
tion paternally, and maternally of New Eng- 
land descent; she is a lady of fine literary at- 
tainments and of strong christian temperament, 
is a leader in church circles, and a teacher 
whose place could not well be filled in the 
Sunday-school, and she is one who never tires 
in good work. 

Mr. Powell has been prominent and active 
in the services of Park Congregational church 
of Grand Rapids for many years and is con- 
stantly called upon for addresses in religious, 
political, literary and army circles. He has 
not identified himself with any social organiza- 
tion excepting the Loyal Legion. The Chris- 
tain church abundantly satisfies him. 

Maj. Powell is a man of rare literary genius, 
and is especially gifted in oratory. The mis- 
fortune of a life time of ill health has proven 
to him a blessing in disguise. Though pos- 
sessing a genial temperament and happy dis- 
position, his leisure moments have been spent 
largely in study and thoughtful reading, result- 
ing in a cultured mind, well stored with infor- 
mation, covering not only his professional 
sphere, but those of science, philosoph)', liter- 
ature and politics. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



851 



As a public speaker he is graceful and log- 
ical, his very earnestness and sincerity carr}'- 
ing conviction. His enunciation is perfect, 
his gesticulation natural and easy, his command 
of language unlimited. He is a man above 
the medium stature — graceful and dignified, 
whether it be as the entertainer of his army 
comrades, whom he loves so well, or in. the 
discussion of the weightier topics pertaining to 
his profession. 

His career as an educator is spoken of in 
the highest terms by the refined people of 
Grand Rapids, some of whom e.xpress the 
opinion that his usefulness in that sphere is 
second only to that of the other high calling 
wherein he was a recognized success. 

It is said that " experience is a good school," 
and the proverb is fully verified in the life of 
l\Iaj. Powell. As a writer he possesses the 
rare accomplishment among scholars — that of 
brevity and terseness. His sentences are clear- 
cut and free from ambiguity, simplicity of lan- 
guage seeming to be his crowning desire. 

It is to be hoped that this record of a life- 
time of usefulness, wrought out under the 
most trying circumstances, may inspire some 
struggling young man to emulate so worthy an 
e.xample. 




ACOB TOME PRESTON, a member 
of the Kent county bar, office 58 and 
59 Wonderly building. Grand Rapids, 
is a native of Maryland, born in the 
town of Port Deposit, on the banks of the 
Susquehanna river, February 3, 1861. He is a 
son of Joseph Brown and Melissa (Trump) 
Preston, both natives of the above state and 
of English ancestry, respectively. 

Joseph B. Preston, the father, was a man 
of reputation in the town where he lived, di- 



rectly interested in the bank of that place and 
other business enterprises. During the troub- 
lous davs of the Rebellion he was a strong- 

o 

Union man and gave e.xpression to his convic- 
tions with an openness and courage which 
made him very unpopular with certain of his 
fellow-citizens, whose sympathies were with the 
Confederacy. Several years prior to the war 
he was enga;ged in the lumber business on the 
Susquehanna. During the war, he owned 
and operated flouring-mills. He was a man 
who combined literary talent with great busi- 
ness sagacity, and at his death left a valuable 
estate which he accumulated by his well-di- 
rected industry.- He had a family of nine chil- 
dren, two of whom died in infancy, and seven 
of whom are now living, the subject of this 
review beii^g- the fourth in order of birth. His 
widow now makes her home in Grand Rapids. 

Jacob Tome Preston laid the foundation of 
his literary education in the local school, 
which he attended at intervals until eighteen 
years of age, when he became a student in 
Maplewood institute, near Philadelphia, where 
he pursued the higher branches of learning 
for two years, then entered the junior year at 
Pennsylvania college, at Bellefont, remaining 
one year, then entered the literary department 
of the university of Michigan, at Ann Arbor. 
In 1882 he entered the law department of the 
university, the full course of which he com- 
pleted in two j'ears, receiving his degree LL" 
B. in 1884. 

After a short visit to the scenes of his boy- 
hood, Mr. Preston, in the fall of 1884, began 
the practice of his profession in Grand Rapids 
with Turner & Carroll, in whose office he re- 
mained for a period of two years, receiving 
valuable instruction during that time in the 
practical work of the law. He then opened 
an office of his own and practiced by himself 
until 1889, at which time he became a mem- 
ber of the firm of Turner, Carroll & Preston, a 



35: 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



partnership which continued until the begin- 
ning of 1891. Severing his connection with 
the above partnership, he removed to the 
Wonderly block, and after practicing by him- 
self for one year, became a member of the firm 
of Dunham & Preston, which partnership lasted 
until the spring of 1897. Since that date Mr. 
Preston has been alone in the practice, doing 
a safe and lucrative business in the courts of 
Grand Rapids and Kent county, and the state 
at large, and winning for himself the reputa- 
tion of a capable and painstaking attorney. 
His practice has been successful, and he stands 
high professionally among the lawyers of his 
city. His habits of industry, with other qual- 
ifications which guarantee ultimate promotion, 
have tended to enlarge the area of professional 
advancement, and he occupies to-day a place 
in the front rank of attorneys noted for high 
intellectual and legal attainments. In all his 
professional relations Mr. Preston is recognized 
as possessing a strong sense of truth and jus- 
tice, and he has ahvaj's endeavored to shape 
his life according to these principles. 

Mr. Preston was married March 3, 1898, 
to Miss Minnie Hicks, who was born in Ypsi- 
lanti, Mich., in the year 1868; she is a daugh- 
ter of Stephen and Rhoda Hicks, formerly of 
that city. Mr. Preston is a member of lodge 
No. 48, B. P. O. E., and is also an active 
worker in the order of Woodmen, belonging 
to Kent camp. Grand Rapids. He and wife 
are attendants at the Baptist church, and they 
reside in a beautiful home at No. 39 Eureka 
avenu2. 



KNRY BENJAMIN PROCTOR— .\n 

enumeration of those men of the 
present day who have achieved suc- 
cess and won public recognition for 
themselves, and at the same time have hon- 




ored the state to which they belong, would be 
incomplete were there failure to make refer- 
ence to the one whose name appears at the 
head of this article — tht present popular and 
efficient treasurer of Kent county. A gentle- 
man of high intelligence, broad-minded and 
public spirited, he sustains an honorable repu- 
tation among his fellow citizens, and as a pub- 
lic servant has proved true to every trust re- 
posed in him. 

Henry B. Proctor is a son of John T. and 
Mary J. (Corey) Proctor, both natives of 
Genesee county, N. Y., a state which has con- 
tributed much of its sterling manhood and 
womanhood to the population of the north- 
west. John T. Proctor was brought to Mich- 
igan in his childhood and grew to maturity in 
the county of Macomb, where he received his 
education and learned the trade of milling. 
He became a resident of Kent county in 1855 
and for a number of years thereafter followed 
agricultural pursuits in Cascade township, de- 
parting this life at his 'home there on the loth 
of t)ctober, 1883. Much might be written 
about this excellent citizen, as he was a man 
of sterling character, successful in the accumu- 
lation of this world's effects and possessed of 
much mpre than ordinary powers of mind, 
which were cultivated and strengthened by 
literary training. He was a potent factor in 
the community where he resided; prominent 
in local affairs of his township and county, 
and as an active worker in the Methodist 
church did much to stimulate and advance the 
moral as well as the material interests of his 
neighborhood. His wife, a fit helpmate fur 
such a husband, whom she greatly assisted by 
wise counsel as well as by the untiring labor 
of her hands, was called from the scenes of 
the earth on the 5th day of March, 1888. 
The two children of this worthy couple, Elmer 
G., of Grand Rapids, and Henry B., possess 
in a marked decjree their strong traits of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



353 



character and high, noble quahties, a heritage 
in comparison with which houses and lands, 
public honors and the applause of men, are 
insignificant in value. 

Henry Benjamin Proctor was born in Cas- 
cade township, Kent county, February 4, 
i S60. In early life he attended the district 
schools of his neighborhood, and subsequentl}' 
entered the high school of Caledonia, where 
he pursued the more advanced branches of 
learning until his twentieth j'ear. He then 
turned his attention to the time-honored call- 
ing of a tiller of soil, and in connection there- 
with carried on general trading, b}' means of 
which he was enabled to accumulate a hand- 
some property, both real and personal. In 
1S89 he was elected township supervisor over 
a popular competitor by a majority of fifty 
votes, and discharged the duties of the position 
until 1896, when he resigned in order to take 
possession of the count)' treasurer's office, to 
which he had been elected in 1S96. 

The popularity of Mr. Procior is attested 
by the fact that, in the election which placed 
him in office, he carried the county by the 
handsome majority of 3,329, and so ably did 
he conduct the affdirs of the position, tliat in 
189S he was chosen his own successor by an 
increased majority — that of 3,972 votes. In 
the discharge of his public duties Mr. Proctor 
has been uniformly kind and obliging, and his 
manner of conducting the office is proof suf- 
ficient of the party's wisdom in his election. 
As custodian of the public funds, the people 
have unbounded confidence in his honesty and 
integrity of purpose, and so long as he handles 
the finances the public may rest assured of a 
strict and accurate rendering of the high trust 
repostd in him. 

The domestic life of Mr. Proctor has been 
most agreeable, and a beautiful home at No. 
289 La Grange street is presided over by a 
lady of culture and refinement, to whom he 



w^as united in marriage on the iSth of March, 
1882. The maiden name of Mrs. Proctor was 
Alice Richards, daughter of H. S. and Susanna 
Richards, and her birth occurred in the city of 
Kalamazoo, June 5, i86r. The home of Mr. 
and Mrs. Proctor has been gladdened by the 
birth of one child, Harry, now a bright lad of 
si.xteen years. Mr. Proctor is one of the lead- 
ing republicans of Kent county, and has con- 
tributed much to his part3''s success in many 
county, state and national campaigns. He is 
a Mason of high standing, belonging to the 
lodge at Ada. Measured by a financial standard, 
Mr. Proctor has met with encouraging success, 
having already acquired a sufficiency of this 
world's goods to put himself beyond the pale 
of an.xiety, owning a fine farm of no acres in 
Cascade township and some valuable city 
p'ropert}'. In every relation of life he has met 
the expectation of his many friends, and on 
the roster ol Kent county's representative men 
his name is deserving of an honorable and 
especial mention. 



HEODORE PROSKAUER, M. D., a 
regularly practicing physician in the 
Porter block, Grand Rapids, but who 
dd\otes his talents to such specialties 
as diseases of the eye, ear, nose and throat, 
in the treatment of which he has met with 
more than ordinary success, was born July 2, 
1865, in Prussia, Germany, and in that coun- 
try received his education and grew to man- 
hood. He passed from the minor schools to 
the gymnasiu:n at Kreuzburg (which corre- 
sponds with our American high school), and 
there passed nine years in its curriculum. He 
next attended the Medical college of Berlin 
five years, received a license to practice medi- 
cine in 1889, and in the same year receix'ed 



554 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



his diploma as M. D. at Leipsic. He was 
then appointed assistant physician in an eye 
and ear hospital at Xiirenberg, Bavaria, and 
held this position until 1891, when he estab- 
lished a practice on his individual account, 
which he followed in Germany until 1896, 
making specialties of the eye and ear, and 
while thus engaged prepared several valuable 
articles on scientific subjects, as follows: (i) 
Ein Beitrag zur m\'opiestatistik, in Graefe's 
Archie far Ophthal. (2) Ptosis congenita. 
(3) Ein Beitrag Autophthalmoskopic, in.Cen- 
tralblatt fur pract. Augenhlkder. (4) Em- 
bryonen von ox\'nris in der Nase in Zeitschrift 
fur obrenheilkundes. (51 Treatment of Tras- 
homa, in Centralblatt fur pract. Augenhlkder 
— the doctor being especially proficient in his 
original method of operating upon cataract. 

In 1896 Dr. Proskauer came to America 
and for several months resided in New York 
city. In 1897 he came to Grand Rapids, and 
has already established an enduring fame and 
a remunerative practice along the line of his 
specialties. The doctor is still unmarried, and 
is the only representative of his family in 
America. 

Salo and Helen iKalisher) Proskauer, the 
parents of the doctor, were both born in Prus- 
sia, but the mother was called from earth at 
the age of fifty-one years; the father is now a 
resident of Breslau, and is engaged in mer- 
chandizing. Of their four children, Ignatz, 
the brother of the doctor, is a merchant in 
Hirschberg, and is married; the two sisters are 
Julia and .\dalia, and are still single. 



HOMAS E. REED, farnu r, dairv man, 
justice of the peace, etc., at Paul P. 
O., Kent county, Mich., was born on 
the farm where he now li\es. May 4, 
1S47, and is a son of Porter and Polly (De- 



Long) Reed. The father came to this farm in 
1833, being the first family to locate a home 
on the shore of Reed's lake — which is named 
for this pioneer. Two uncles, Lewis and Ezra 
Reed, located on government land, taking a 
quarter of a section each. Porter Reed owned 
and cleared up a fine farm, which was subse- 
quently divided among four children, the old 
homestead falling in part to Thomas E. , and 
he subsequenty purchased the interests of the 
other heirs. This gives him the home in which 
he" was born. The father came from Ilion, 
Herkimer county, N. Y., where he was born 
July II, 1S12, and where the parents were 
married; the father died here at the age of for- 
ty-five years; the mother survived him until 
December 2, 18S3; she was born November 5, 
I 8 I 3. The family of four children were named 
Julia, born August 22, 1838, died May 29, 
1868, the wife of Daniel Defendorf; Gibson, 
born July 31, 1840, is living in Grand Rapids, 
is a farmer and served in the same regiment in 
the Civil war with his brother, Thomas E. ; 
Thomas E. is the subject of this sketch, and 
Ransom R., born August 23, 1854, is the 
youngest. 

Thomas E. Reed was educated in the dis- 
trict schools and has always been a farmer. 
He served gallantly in the Union army during 
the Civil war as a member of company B, 
Twenty-first Michigan volunteer infantry, and 
was seriously wounded in the battle of I?enton- 
ville, N. C. , for which he receives a pension. 

Mr. Reed was married in Ottawa county, 
Mich., February 21, 1867, to Miss Mary L. 
Walker, who was born in St. Clair county, 
Mich., a daughter of Hampton L. and Mary 
(Earle) Walker, natives of Vermont, but mar- 
ried in St. Clair county, Mich. The father 
was a shoemaker in early life, but in later 
years became a farmer. Mr. and Mrs. 
Walker had a family of eight sons and four 
daughters, named as follows: Alpheus E.; 




X.^^^rT'/^^jL^^-^^i^-- S^ y^ ■^^i-t^^^^ ^:^^-*^^ 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



355 



Marcia, died in infancy; Henry H.; Will- 
iam, killed in battle of the Wilderness dar- 
ing; the Civil war; Mary; John N., died in 
hospital from wounds received in action before 
Knoxville; Marcia Euraina; Albert, dead; Milo 
B. ; Alvin; Hiram, and Harriet Sophia, dead. 

Mr. and Mrs. Reed have three children liv- 
ing and one deceased: Kittie Zoe, wife of 
Charles E. Morgan, lives at Reed's Lake; 
Polly Adel, wife of Charles Snow; Caroline, 
married to George Young, lives in the family, 
and William I. died at the age of nineteen 
months, although the second born. 

Mr. Reed has been justice of the peace for 
three years, town treasurer several years, and 
has also served three years as village president. 
He is a member of the G. A. R. and of the 
Court of Honor, and politically is a republican. 
Two of Mrs. .Reed's brothers were killed in the 
Civil war while serving in the Union arm\'. 

Thomas E. Reed is one of the most hon- 
ored men of his township, and the family name 
is one that will be remembered with esteem 
as long as there is a resident in the county. 



EMUEL D. PUTNAM, M. D, , de- 
ceased, was a well-known ph3'sician 
and druggist in Grand Rapids, NJich., 
as far back as 1846. He was born in 
Herkimer, the county seat of Herkimer count)', 
N. Y. , August 31, 1S23, a son of Alfred P. and 
Sophia (Dickerman) Putnam, the parents of 
the latter being natives of Bra'ttleboro, Vt. 

Lemuel D. Putnam, M. D., was reared to 
a farmer's life, but had no liking for the voca- 
tion, his tastes leaning toward the study of 
physiology and correlative sciences. He was 
afforded good school opportunities, and first 
attended the common school of his native 



town, then an academy at Fairfield, Herkimer 
county, and finally graduated from the Union 
college in Schenectady, in 1S45, and later at- 
tended medical lectures in Philadelphia, Pa., 
and Cleveland, Ohio. After full preparation, 
literary and professional, he came to Grand 
Rapids in 1S46, and at once entered upon the 
active practice of medicine, being among the 
earliest practitioners to locate here. His 
practice, however, was not confined to the 
city, but extended through a considerable por- 
tion of the surrounding country, yet, after one 
year of this arduous toil, he discovered that 
it was too great a strain on his physical endur- 
ance, and he was compelled to relinquish it. 

Dr. Putnam then formed a partnership 
with Dr. Charles Shepard, under the firm- 
name of Shepard & Putnam, and engaged in 
the drug trade. Dr. Shepard came to Grand 
Rapids in 1S35, and was the first to open a 
drug store in the then village. This store was 
a small affair at first, but answered its purpose, 
and gradually but steadily grew in importance 
and in its volume of business. In due course 
of time. Dr. Putnam bought out the interest 
of Dr. Shepard, and several years afterward 
formed a partnership with F. J. Wuerzburg, 
formerly his clerk, in the same trade, but in 
1857 the building and contents were totally 
destroyed by fire, yet Dr. Putnam immediately 
re-established the business in a new building 
on the south side of Monroe street. 

In 1859 there were only five drug stores in 
Grand Rapids; in 1867 there were nine; in 
1875 eighteen; in 1885 thirty-four, and in iSgo 
five wholesale and fifty-seven retail stores, and 
this latter number has since been fully main- 
tained. It will thus be seen that Dr. Putnam 
was among the pioneers in this line, and this 
he conti)\ued following until 1S87. 

When Dr. Putnam came to Grand Rapids 
men of. his caliber and education were very 
few and far between, and his advice was sought 



356 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



on many important occasions and his judgment 
called into exercise in all matters of public 
weight or moment. Although proverbially 
kind and benevolent, he was successful as a 
business man, and at the time of his death, 
which occurred Jul}' 22, 1895, was a director 
in the City National bank, and was universally 
recognized as one of the best business men in 
the city, as well as a man of the strictest in- 
tegrity, and one faithful to all the obligations 
of life. In politics he was ever a republican, 
and fraternall\- was a member of the Chi Psi 
society of Union college. 

Dr. I'utnam was united in marriage, in 
1852, with Miss Caroline Willard Williams, a 
daughter of Dr. Stephen West Williams, of 
Deerfield, Mass., and this happy union was 
blessed with one child, Isabel Williams Put- 
nam. Mrs. Putnam is a lady of intelligence 
and refinement and a fit mate for her husband, 
than whom she never could have found a bet- 
ter. Mrs. Putnam, with her daughter, has 
visited many interes'.ing parts of the world, in- 
cluding England, France, Germany, Belguim. 
and even up the Nile, and the mother and 
daughter now live in elegant ease, at their at- 
tractive home, No. 20 Sheldon street, honored 
by all who know them. 




KJ.-GEN. BYRON ROOT PIERCE, 
the only full brigadier-general of the 
late Ci\il war living in the state of 
Michigan, was born in East Bloom- 
field, Ontario county, N. Y., September 20, 
1829, a son of Silas and Mary (Root) Pierce — 
the former a native of New York and the latter 
of Massachusetts, and both of English descent, 
the father of Mrs. Mary (Root) Pierce having 
been a hero of the Revolutionar}' war. 



Gen. Byron R. Pierce was educated at 
Rochester, N. Y., and began his business life 
in a woolen factor}', a vocation in which his 
father had been engaged; he later became 
identified with the dental profession, and in 
1856 came to Grand Rapids and followed his 
profession up to the date of his enlistment. 
He had in the interval been captain of the 
Valley City Light Guards for two or three 
years, and thus had had some experience as a 
drillmaster; he was at Joliet, III., when he en- 
listed in the United States volunteer service, 
and was hurried home to Grand Rapids to 
take command of a company alread}' organ- 
ized. He was at once commissioned captain 
of company K, Third regiment, Michigan vol- 
unteer infantry, and was mustered in May 13, 
1 86 1 — a very early date of the Civil war, in- 
deed — and from that time forward, for braver}- 
and meritorious conduct in face of the enemy 
and other places, his promotion was rapid 
until his muster out, August 24, 1865, a period 
of over four years and three months, and this 
valiant service was recognized even after the 
war had closed by the national and state gov- 
ernments. These promotions ma}' be briefly 
enumerated as follows: 

Major of Third Michigan infantr}-, October 
21, 1861 ; lieutenant-colonel of Third Michigan 
infantry, July 25, 1862; colonel of Third Mich- 
igan infantry, January i, 1863; brigadier-gen- 
eral, U. S. volunteers, June 7, 1864, mustered 
on field, June 18, 1864, at Petersburg, by Maj.- 
Gen. W. S. Hancock's acting-assistant general; 
brevet major-general of U. S. volunteers, 
April 5, 1865, for gallant services at the bat- 
tle of Sailor's creek. 

A brief list of the various engagements in 
which Gen. B. R. Pierce took an active part, 
as copied from the archives in the war de- 
partment at Washington, D. C. , is as follows: 

Richardson's brigade. Mills' division, Mc- 
Dowell's army — Blackburn's Ford, Va., July 




/XJl^^ 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



859 



i8, 1861 ; Bull Run, Va., July 21, 1861 ; Bailey's 
cross roads, Va., August 30, 1861, reconnais- 
sanc? to Pohick church, and the Occoquan, 
November 10-14, 1861; reconnaissance to Oc- 
coquan village, February 3, 1862. 

First brigade. Third division, Third corps — 
Yorktown, Va. , April 4 to May 4, 1862. 

Third brigade, First division, Third corps 
— Williamsburg, Va., May 5, 1862; Fair Oaks, 
Ma}- 31, 1862; seven days' fight before Rich- 
mond; Savage Station, June 29, 1862; Peach 
Orchard, June 29, 1862; Glendale, June 30, 
1862; Malvern Hill, July i, 1862; second Bull 
Run, August 29-30, 1862; Chantilly, Septem- 
ber I, iS62;dutyin defense of Washington, D. 
C, until November, 1862; Burnside's march, 
January 20-24, '863. 

Third brigade. Second division. Third corps 
— Chancellorsville, Va., May 13, 1863 — 
wounded May 3, in left hand and right arm; 
Gett_\sburg, Pa., July 2, 1863 — wounded 
through left leg, below knee; New York city 
and Troy, N. Y., August 17 to Septeinber 17, 
1863; Auburn, \'a., October i, 1S63; Kelley's 
Ford, \'a., November 7, 1863, and Mine Run, 
November 29-30, 1863. 

Second brigade, Third division. Second 
corps — March, 1864. 

First brig ide. Third division. Second corps 
— Wilderness, May 5-7, 1864; Todd's Ta\ern, 
May 8, 1S64; Po River, May 10, 1864; Spott- 
sylvahia. May 12, 1864; led the charge on the 
Salient; wounded in left leg; horse killed under 
him; commanding First brigade; North Anna, 
May 23-24, 1864; Cold Harbor, June i to 
12, I S64. Commanding Third division. Sec- 
ond corps, before Petersburg, Va., June i i to 
22, 1864; wounded June 18, in left shoulder; 
Weldon Railroad, June 22 to 23, 1864; Deep 
Bottom, July 27-28, 1864; Mine Run e.\plo- 
sion, July 30, in reserve; Strawberry Plains, 
August 14-18, 1864; Ream's Station, August 
24, 1S64; Poplar Springs Church, September 



30 — October i, 1864; Boydton road, October 
27-28, 1864; Fort Sedgwick, November 5, 
1864; Dabney's Mills, February 5-7, 1865; 
Hatcher's Run, March 28, 1865; White Oak 
Road, March 30-31, 1865; Boydton Road, 
April 2, 1865; fall of Petersburg, April 3, 
1865; Sailor's creek. April 5, 1S65; Farm- 
ville, April 7, 1865; New Store, April 8, 1865; 
and Appomattox Court House, April 9, 1865, 
mustered out, August 24, 1865. 

The above statement, although concise, is 
valuable, as it gives the dates on which these 
important engagements, in which Gen. Pierce 
took so active a part, occurred, but the details 
of which are precluded from publication in a 
work as limited in its scope as is this, as, in- 
deed, the history of any one of the large en- 
gagements would require a volume much 
larger than this. 

Gen. Byron R. Pierce was united in mar- 
riage, in Grand Rapids, October 12, 1881, with 
Miss Abbie L. Evans, a native of Rhode Isl- 
and, and a daughter of George G. and Mary 
A. (Reynolds) Evans, both natives of Provi- 
dence, and Capt. James L. Reynolds, great- 
great-grandfather of Mrs. Gen. Pierce, having 
been a patriot of the Revolutionary war. 

Gen. Pierce has served two years as de- 
partment commander of the Grand Army of 
the Republic of Michigan, and also as senior 
vice comuiander of the Loyal Legion, depart- 
ment of Michigan; he is also a master Mason 
and an Odd Fellow; in politics he is an active 
and influential republican, and in religion is a 
Universalist; Mrs. Pierce, a lady of refined 
tastes and many accomplishments, is an Epis- 
copalian,' and has been a faithful and valued 
helpmate to her husband m much of his \aried 
career. 

Gen. Pierce had three brothers and one 
brother-in-law in the Union army during the 
Civil war, and of these one brother, Frederick, 
died of disease while in the service. Of the 



3G0 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



surviving brothers, Col. E. S. Pierce is deputy 
sergeant-at-arms in the house of representa- 
tives at Washington, and Capt. Silas K. Pierce 
is a business man in Lansing, ISIich. Maj. H. 
C. Grout, who married Gen. Pierce's sister, 
was paymaster in the United States arm\-, and 
died after the close of the war. Samuel O. 
L. Potter, M. D., who married Mrs. Gen. 
Pierce's sister, is brigade-surgeon on the staff 
of Gen. Hale, at Manila, — and thus it will be 
seen that the military spirit pervades the 
whole family. 

From 1887 (the date of its opening). Gen. 
Pierce was commandant of the Michigan 
Soldiers' Home until 1S91, when a cfiange was 
made in the administration through the muta- 
tions of the politics of the state government. 
Soon after leaving the Home, the general 
leased the W'arwick hotel, which he success- 
fully operated until the spring of 1S99, when 
he retired, having made it the most popular 
hotel in the state, and is now living in (]uiet 
ease, surrounded by a host of warm-hearted 
friends. 




EORGE R. REWVICK, M. D., at 
No. 12 Canal street, Grand Rapids, 
is a native of this city, was born 
November 23, 1855, and is a son of 
Thomas R and Julia (Pattersonj Renwick, 
natives, re.^pectively, of Canada and New 
York state, and pa.rents of three children, of 
whom the doctor is the eldest; Loren X. is a 
florist of Grand Rapids, and his twin sister, 
Mrs. Abram Ledeboer, is also a resident of 
this city. The father was a florist and 
gardener by calling, passed the major portion 
of his mature years in Grand Rapids, and 
died in April, 1896, at the age of si.Kty-seven 
years, his wife still surviving him. 



Dr. Renwick was elementarily educated in 
the public schools of Grand Rapids, and in 
early manhood was a florist. \Vhile engaged 
in this vocation he entered upon the stud}- of 
medicine. After proper preparation he entered 
Rush Medical college at Chicago, 111., in 
1888, completed a full course and graduated 
in 1892. He then opened practice in Grand 
Rapids, where he has met with unusual success, 
and has a large list of patien's among the 
better class of citizens. 

The doctor is a member of Grand Rapids 
Medical association, and is a prominent mem- 
ber of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
being medical e.\aminer for Grand River lodge. 
No. 408; is also a medical examiner for the M. 
\V. of A. ; a member of the Degree of Honor, 
the Home Forum, the Columbia League, the 
Fraternal Mystic Circle, the Royal Arcanum, 
the Select Knights, and the Knights of Fidelity 
( F"oresters). He has been reared in the faith 
of the Congregational church, and in politics 
is a stalwart republican. His social standing 
is with the best people of the city and county, 
his professional reputation is second to none 
in the Valley city. The doctor was married at 
Sparta, Kent county, Mich., in 1S81, to Alice 
White, by whom he has two children, viz: 
Millison and G. Robson. They reside at i 57 
Straight street. 




KK RIEMERSMA, a retail dealer in 
wood, at No. 236 West Leonard 
street. Grand Rapids, Mich., was 
born in Holland May 7, 1844, and 
came to America about si.\teen years ago. 
He first found employment on reaching Grand 
Rapids, in the W^iddicomb furniture factory, 
as fireman, but also attended to the engine. 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



301 



keeping it clean and cleaning things generally, 
and this labor furnished him a living for nearly 
four years. He then engaged in the retail fuel 
business, and b}- hard work and close attention 
to the needs of his customers succeeded in real- 
izing sufficient money to purchase his present 
wood-yard and dwelling about seven years ago, 
and has here gained the reputation of being 
strictly honest in all his dealings. 

Mr. Riemersma was married, in the old 
country, to MissOfga Fitsbeck, who has borne 
liim nine children. vi;c: William, Dirk, David, 
Ilia, .^nnie, Maggie, Hendrick, Mary and Fin- 
christ, si.\ of whom are still at home. Mr. 
Riemersma deserves great credit for having 
made the advance in life which he has 
reached, as he was worth nothing when he 
came to Grand Rapids, had no knowledge of 
the English language, had quite a family to 
support, and had many difficulties to struggle 
against and to o\erconie; but he was by na- 
ture industrious, honest and frugal, as well as 
persevering, and now owns his own wood-yard, 
teams and dwelling, as stated, and is compar- 
atively independent of the world. In religion 
he is a member of the Christian Reform church 
(Holland), and in politics is a republican. 



3HN RINGOLD, sexton of the Fulton 
street cemetery, in Grand Rapids, is 
a native of Holland, and was born 
near Zeeland on the 19th of October, 
1849. He came to America with his parents 
in 1863, and lived in Cincinnati, Ohio, for 
about si.\ 3 ears. From there he came to 
Grand Rapids m 1S71, and has since made 
this city his permanent home. 

The parents of subject were Gerard and 
Anna S. (Tilame) Ringold, were natives of 



Holland, and the father was a gardener — the 
business he followed in Cincinnati and also in 
Grand Rapids. He died here at the age of 
si.xty-eight years and five months, and his wife 
died at the age of sixty-five years. The 
father's father is also buried in Grand Rapids, 
having died at the age of seventy-nine years, 
and the remains of all were interred in the 
cemetery of which the subject now has charge. 

John Ringold learned the business of a 
gardener and served at that callmg, as well as 
coachman, in Cincinnati, and also in this city. 
Two years were spent at the same business in 
Salem, Mass. In 1880 he was elected sexton 
by the board of directors of Fulton street cem- 
etery, and has held that position continuously 
since. This is a private cemetery, irrespective 
of church organization. Its patrons are the 
old settlers of the city and county, this being 
the oldest cemetery in the city, having been 
laid out-in 1835. Mr. Ringold has buried at 
least 3,000 people, and he is of the opinion 
that there are 2,000 unmarked graves. The 
grounds include about fifteen acres, all laid out 
in burial lots, there being onl\- about fift}' un- 
occupied. The grounds are handsomely kept, 
Mr. Ringold having from three to seven men 
emploj'ed as assistants. His nineteen years' 
continuous work as sexton is sufficient recom- 
mendation of his ability and adaptibility. 

Mr. Ringold was married in this city June 
23, 1S80, to Hattie Konning, a native of Hol- 
land, Europe, who came to this country in 
childhood. Her parents were Harry and Talge 
■Stolp, both natives of the same country. The 
mother died in 1SS6, and the father lives at 
Alaska, Mich. 

Mr. Ringold has five brothers and two 
sisters living — he being the eldest. The 
second is Cornelius, who lives at 445 Wealthy 
avenue, and is a furniture packer for Berkey 
& Gay. Henry is a traveling furniture sales- 
man; Nicholas is employed with Julius Berkey 



m2 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



in the furniture business; Peter is in Chicago, 
interested in the laundry business; Mary — twin 
sister of Peter — is the wife of Jacob Bastiansa, 
of this city ; Minnie is now married to Cornelius 
Copeman, a grocer on Fulton street, this city. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ringold have a family of nine 
living children — four sons and five daughters 
— named as follows: Anna, Harry, Gerard, 
Cornelius, Albert, Tildena, Minna Marietta, 
Margaret Helen and Elizabeth, all at home, 
and they had still another daughter, Tillie, 
who passed away at the age of two months 
and eleven days. 

Mr. Ringold is a stanch republican, as are 
also his brothers, and the family church rela- 
tions are with the Bethany Reform chu.rch. 
Mr. Ringold is a member of the I. O. O. F., 
and also the Holland Aid society. He has 
been very successful in accumulating property, 
having by his own efforts secured valuable 
properties in Grand Rapids. He owns a good 
comfortable home, where his family live. He 
and family are highl}- respected, and well de- 
serve the high regard in which the}' are held 
b}' everybody in the city. 




EORGE RUSSELL PERRY, mayor of 
Grand Rapids, Mich., was born in 
Bridgeport, Conn., January 30, 1849, 
and is a son of George H. and Han- 
nah Perry. 

In every communil\- there may be found 
rising above their fellows individuals born to 
command, who dominate not alone by superior 
intelligence and liberal mental acquirements, 
but by a natural force of character, which 
minimizes discouragements and dares great 
undertakings; such men are b\' no means 
rare, and it is always profitable to study their 
Jives, weigh their motives and hold up their 



achievements as incentives to greater activity 
upon the part of those just entering upon their 
first struggle with the world. These- reflec- 
tions are suggested by the career of one who 
has forged his way to the front ranks of the 
favored few, and who by the e.xercise of a 
strong inherent force, directed by intelligence 
and judgment of a high order, stands to-day 
among the representative men of his city and 
state. 

George H. Perr\-, father of George R., was 
descended from one of the old and highly re- 
spected families of New England, and in his 
youth learned the hatter's trade, which he 
followed all of his life. It is a fact worthy of 
note that he opened in Detroit many years ago 
the first exclusive hat and cap store in Michi- 
gan, and from 1851 until his death, on the 
I 2th day of August, 1893, he was an honored 
and successful resident of that city, doing much 
to promote its commercial and its industrial 
interests. 

The wife of George H. Perr}- was Hannah 
Dobbs, a native of Danbury. Conn., and a 
member of a famil}- noted \n Revolutionary 
annals, Dobbs Ferry, where an important bat- 
tle of that historic struggle took place, being 
named in honor of one of .her ancestors. She 
bore her husband five children, four of whom 
yet survive, and, being a woman of great force 
of character, and active christian sympathies, 
early impressed upon the minds of her offspring 
the necessity of noble aims and high ideas as 
essential to success in the great struggle of life. 

Of the elder Perry it is sufficient to state 
that he was a man of sterling worth, inheriting 
in a marked degree the sturdy virtues of an in- 
telligent and God-fearing New England an- 
cestry, and combined, with a liberal education, 
a rare business tact, which made him finan- 
cially successful in the several business enter- 
prises which from time to time engaged his 
attention. For a number of vears he was 




4^. Q (^ 




AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



365 



identified with the Banner Tobacco company 
of Detroit, being vice-president of the same at 
the time of his death, and, in addition to his 
career in the commercial world, achieved con- 
siderable local distinction as a politician, first 
as an old-line whig, and later as a supporter 
of the democratic party. Reared in the tenets 
of the Episcopal faith, he remained loyal to 
his church, and exemplified his creed by a life 
devoted to his loved ones and to the good of 
the community in which he lived and moved. 
George Russell Perry was quite young 
when taken by his parents to Detroit, and in 
the schools of that citj' he received his educa- 
tional training, completing the high-school 
course in the year 1S64. Previous to his 
graduation, however, he was at different times 
employed as clerk in a drug house, and imme- 
diately after laying aside his studies, entered 
upon a three-year apprenticeship in pharmacy, 
which he completed in 186S, removing in that 
year to Grand Rapids, with the history of 
which place he has since been identified. 
During the five years succeeding his arrival in 
this city Mr. Perry served as clerk and business 
manager of Charles M. Shepard's large drug 
store, and in 1872 entered the employ of T. J. 
Bluthardt, a druggist and pharmacist in Chi- 
cago, also opening a branch house on the 
corner of Twelfth and Halsted streets, to 
which he gave his personal attention for a 
period of two years. In the meantime he en- 
tered into the marriage relation with Miss 
Jennie Blake, and for a short time thereafter 
resided in Chicago. He soon returned to this 
city and accepted a position as bookkeeper 
with the wholesale grocery firm of L. H. 
Randall & Co., with which he remained 
throughout its various changes until becoming 
a partner in 1883. The firm, under the name 
of Freeman, Hawkins & Co., continued one 
year, when Mr. Perry purchased the former's 
interest, and from its re-organization until 



1891 the house became wideK' and favorably 
known in commercial circles as Hawkins & 
Perry. 

Severing his connection with the mercan- 
tile trade in the year last named, Mr. Perry 
engaged in the brokerage "business, which has 
since claimed his attention, his operations be- 
ing confined principally to dealing in the whole- 
sale staple grocery line, bringing him in con- 
tact with the leading business men of Michi- 
gan and the northwest. He has large dealings 
in the cities of Grand Rapids, Traverse City, 
Cadillac, Lansing, Muskegon, Detroit, Kala- 
mazoo, Battle Creek, and- many other im- 
portant commercial centers, and a conserva- 
tive estimate puts the annual volume of his 
transactions at over $1,250,000. 

Additional to his large and constantly in- 
creasing business in the line of brokerage, 
Mr. Perry is also interested in various other 
enterprises, in the management of which he 
displays ability of the highest order, and the 
success of which places him in the front rank 
of Michigan's clear-headed snd substantial 
financiers. 

As already stated, Mr. Perry is a married 
man, the ceremony which united him to the 
lady of his choice. Miss Jennie Blake, daugh- 
ter of Ale.xander Blake, a former promiment 
lumber dealer of west Michigan, having been 
solenized on the 6th day of January, 1874; 
the issue of the union has been five chidren, 
Ale.xander, Florence, George Russell, an infant 
that died unnamed, and Jeannette, the last 
named being the only survivor. 

An aggressive and public-spirited man in 
every sense of the term, it would indeed have 
been strange had Mr. Perry not been attracted 
to other important matters outside the pale of 
his business interests. A close student of 
economic and political questions from his 
youth, his inclinations led him into the public 
arena, and from 1S76, the date of his first 



^66 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



active participation in general campaigns, to the 
present time, he has been a prominent factor 
in local, state and national politics. He en- 
thusiastically espoused the cause of Samuel 
J. Tilden in the notable contest of 1876, and, 
although a young man, did such distinguished 
service for his favorite candidate that he won 
an enviable reputation as a successful cam- 
paigner in the councils of the party, and thus 
attracted the favorable notice of the leading 
politicians of the state. 

In 18S6 he was made chairman of the 
executive committee of the Fifth congres- 
sional district, which he held for four years. 
At the earnest solicitation of his many friends 
in Grand Rapids, Mr. Perry, in the spring of 
1886, accepted the nomination for the office 
of cit\' treasurer, and after an animated con- 
test was elected. He filled the position four' 
years, having been chosen his own successor 
in 1890, and after an interval of rest from of- 
ficial cares was elected in the spring of 1898 
mayor of Grand Rapids by a majority of 738 
votes. It is a compliment worthily bestowed 
to class him among the ablest and most worthj' 
men ever elected to the dignified and respon- 
sible position of city executive, and the hon- 
orable course he has pursued, and his impar- 
tiality in the discharge of his official functions, 
mark his administration as one of the most 
upright and satisfactory in the history of 
Grand Rapids. 

In the fall of 1898 Mr. Perry was nomi- 
nated for congress against his protest, he be- 
ing in favor of giving the honor to some person 
seeking the same, and was absent from the 
convention when nominated. He made the 
race, however, in a dignified manner, but with 
the national, state and county tickets went 
down in honorable defeat. 

Immersed as he lias been for many years 
in the cares of large business interests, and 
carrying a burden of official responsibility un- 



der the weight of which many of less deter- 
mination would have broken down, Mr. Perry 
has found time amid all these to devote much 
attention to other matters of a different na- 
ture. For nearly a quarter of a century his 
name appears prominently connected with a 
number of ci\-il, social and benevolent organi- 
zations and societies, having for their object 
the symmetrical development of a true and 
noble manhood. He is a Mason of high stand- 
ing, being a member of local lodge. No. 34, 
Grand Rapids, besides receiving the thirty- 
1 second degree in that ancient and honorable 
fraternity. He is also greatly interested in 
the Pythian order, belonging to Eureka lodge, 
besides being a leader in the recently estab- 
lished side degree of Khorassan. The Modern 
Woodmen claim him among their best mem- 
bers, as do also the Woodmen of the World, 
and the benevolent order of Maccabees. 

Mr. Perry's connection with the noble 
order of Elks merits more than a passing 
notice. He was active in bringing about the 
organization of the local lodge in this city, 
putting his name upon the charter, and ever 
since it became an established fact his time 
and means have been given without stint to 
make it a success, and to keep ever before the 
minds of the members the great underlying 
principles through the agency of which the 
order has found such an abiding place in the 
affections of all benevolently inclined lovers of 
humanity. 

Owing to many unfavorable circumstances, 
the growth of the order in Grand Rapids was 
for some time considerably hampered, the 
treasur}- became depleted and membership 
constantly decreased, but the election in 1895 
of Mr. Perry as e.xalted ruler marked a new 
era in its history, and his induction into office 
proved the beginning of a greatly increased in- 
terest on the part of its friends and well 
wishers. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



8C< 



Convinced that too much emphasis had 
previously been put upon the purely social 
phase, and firml\' of the opinion that the 
world failed to appreciate the broad humani- 
tarian foundation upon which the fraternity 
rested, he called to his aid kindred spirits of 
like enthusiasm with himself, and within a 
period of two years succeeded in o\ercoming 
much unreasonable public prejudice, and in es- 
tablishing the society upon a basis which 
promises to be permanent for all time to come. 
Numerically weak when he assumed manage- 
ment, it increased during his administration to 
an active membership of 606, with $9 090 in 
the treasury, and ninetj'-five applications on 
file, with many to be presented. Mr. Perry 
filled the position of exalted ruler two terms, 
and refused a third election, and during his in- 
cumbency enjojed the satisfaction of seeing 
the great numerical increase noted, besides as- 
sisting to the e.xtent of his abihty in bringing 
about the erection and completion of the pres- 
ent beautiful and commodious lodge room, 
which for elegance, convenience and furnish- 
ing is perhaps unequaled by any like structure 
in the United States. 

He served as a member of the ritual com- 
mittee, which met in October, 1897, in New 
York, and a number of his suggestions were 
embodied in the ritual as now used by the 
order throughout the United States; at the 
meeting of the Michigan League of Municipal- 
ities, which he re-constructed and was instru- 
mental in organizing, held in Grand Rapids in 
September, 1899, he was honored by being 
elected its president. The prominence he has 
attained as an active worker in the order, both 
local and national, has brought him to the favor- 
able notice of leading Elks in all parts of the 
country, and it is fitting to predict for him a 
continuance in the confidence and esteem of 
the large and growing membership of this most 
popular and benevolent fraternit}'. 



In many respects Mr. Perry is much more 
than an ordinary man, and his life forcibly 
illustrates what intelligence and well-directed 
energy can accomplish, though opposed at 
titles by obstacles calculated to deter and dis- 
courage. An apt pupil in the school of prac- 
tical life and self-supporting from the early age 
of si.xteen, he has been able to comprehend 
and successfully solve the many different prob- 
lems in the stern school of experience, and, 
while eagerly taking advantage of everj' favor- 
able circumstance that came his way, he nev- 
er sat down idly waiting for opportunities, but 
with rare sagacity and foresight created them. 
As a promoter and manager of large business 
interests, as an efficient and painstaking cus- 
todian of iinportant public trusts, as a leader 
in benevojent enterprises for the material and 
moral elevation of humanity, as a citizen in 
the private walks of life, he has ever com- 
manded respect, and by reason of strength of 
character and broad liberal views upon all 
questions of public moment, he has made his 
mark in the history of the community and 
state. Of fine presence and vigorous person- 
ality, to which may be added a natural com- 
bining of the elements calculated to win and 
retain strong and permanent friendships, he 
has always been a potent factor in molding 
public sentiment, and the resolution with 
which he addresses himself to every duty in 
hand, and the ability displayed in the various 
positions to which he his been called, prove 
him to be a natural leader of men. 



I^.\NK AUSTIN RODGERS.— There is 
no more important office to the people 
of a county than that of prosecuting at- 
torney. The diversity of business of 
the office, ranging from the prosecution of all 




ms 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



persons charged with criminal offenses within 
the county to the careful attention of the 
county's civil interest, calls for a man to take 
and hold that position who has had an equally 
diverse and extended range of legal and busi- 
ness experience. 

The present efficient prosecuting attorney 
of Kent county, Mich., is Frank Austin Rod- 
gers, a native of Massachusetts, born in the 
town of Sandwich on the Sth day of Novem- 
ber, 1849. His father, George H. Rodgers, 
also a native of Massachusetts, was born of 
English ancestry, and for many j-ears followed 
agricultural pursuits and fishing in both Massa- 
chusetts and Maine. The mother of the sub- 
ject, whose maiden name was Catherine Aus- 
tin, was also born in the state of Massachu- 
setts. When the subject was a lad of ten 
years his parents moved to Maine and settled 
on a farm near the city of Bangor. There he 
attended the public schools until eighteen, 
when he entered Kent's Hill college, from 
which in due time he was graduated arid im- 
mediately thereafter he engaged in teaching, 
and followed that profession for several years. 
Having early determined to prepare himself 
for the legal profession, he began a systematic 
course of reading while slill engaged in teach- 
ing, and afterwards entered the office of W. P. 
Young, prosecuting attorney for the county of 
Piscataquis, Maine, where he continued his 
study until his admission to the bar on the 
iith day of September, 1879. Mr. Rodgers 
was admitted to the bar by the supreme court 
of the state of Maine, and after practicing in 
the east until 1880 he removed to Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., where he has since been located, 
having in the meantime succeeded in building 
up a large and lucrative legal business in the 
courts of Kent county and elsewhere. Im- 
mediately upon locating in this city, he joined 
the West Side Republican club, an active 
political organization which contributed much 



to the success of the party in that year and 
since. 

Mr. Rodgers continued the active practice 
of his profession until the spring of 1S88, at 
which time, upon the earnest solicitation of 
his man)- friends, he accepted the nomination 
for alderman of the Seventh ward, a section 
of the city which was then, and has been 
since, overwhelmingly democratic, giving ma- 
jorities ranging from 400 to 700. Notwith- 
standing the discouraging outlook, he entered 
the contest with a will, and by his personal 
effort, combined with his popularity, defeated 
the democratic nominee by a safe majority. 
Mr. Rodgers was an active member of the city 
council, serving on many important commit- 
tees, and was instrumental in bringing about 
much important municipal legislation. 

In 1896 Mr. Rodgers was his party's candi- 
date for the office of prosecuting attorney, 
and his election to the same was by the larg- 
est majority ever given to one running for that 
office, with a single exception. Prior to his 
election, he had served the county as assist- 
ant prosecuting attorney under \\'illiam J. 
Stuart for two years and four months, and 
also held the same position under Alfred Wol- 
cott for a period of fourteen months. So 
ably did Mr. Rodgers discharge his duties as 
prosecutor that in 189S he was chosen his 
own successor b}' a largely increased majority. 
He has made an enviable record as a public 
official and has been conscientious in the dis- 
charge of every duty, and it is safe to say that 
the county of Kent has never been served by 
a more careful, painstaking and able public 
servant. It has been frequently said that for 
the last two years the prosecuting attorney's 
office has been more ably conducted than dur- 
ing any period in the history of the county. 

The record of Mr. Rodgers from January 
I, 1897, to July I, 1898, is an especially cred- 
itable one. Some idea of the amount of busi- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



369 



ness transacted during that period may be 
obtained from the following figures; Number 
of persons convicted of some offense, 1,315; 
number acquitted, 93; number of years rep- 
resented by sentences in the penal institu- 
tions of the state, 275.^; sentences in the 
county jail aggregating 25?, j'ears, making a 
grand total of over 300 years. The amount 
of fines collected was $5,009.50, not includ- 
ing costs collected. There were also two life 
sentences imposed upon convictions secured 
by him. Mr. Rodgers called to his assistance 
only men of well recognized abilit}' in the le- 
gal profession; his first corps of assistants 
consisted of J. S. McDonald, B. M. Corwin 
and Harry Rodgers, with Miss Ollie Stewart 
as stenographer; with the exception of Mr. 
Corwin, who was succeeded by D. E. Minor, 
the present corps is the same as the first. 

Mr. Rodgers was married in Milo, Maine, 
to Miss Sarah D. Foster, a native of the Pine 
Tree state and daughter of Leonard and 
Sarah (Williams) Foster. The issue of this 
union is two children — Harry E., a graduate 
of the university of Michigan, and Frank A., 
Jr. Mr. Rodgers is identified with quite a 
number of social orders and fraternities, in- 
cluding the Masonic, in which he has taken the 
degree of Sir Knight, K. of P. and Wood- 
men's. He and his wife are attendants upon 
the services of the Fountain street Baptist 
church, of which Mrs. Rodgers and their son, 
Harry E., are members, and active in all the 
good work of the same. Sufficient has al- 
ready been said to give the reader a proper 
conception of the high professional standing 
of Mr. Rodgers since engaging in the practice 
in this city. In addition to his official duties 
he has been connected with a number of im- 
portant cases, among which may be noted 
the celebrated McCard murder trial, in which 
he acted as counsel for the defense. So ably 
did he handle this case, and w^th such power 

19 



did he appeal to the jury, that he succeeded 
in obtaining a verdict of manslaughter, with 
a sentence of four years in the state's prison, 
which was afterward reversed by the supreme 
court, and he was subsequenty acquitted. He 
was also counsel in the noted Wilson case, 
where he also displayed unusual ability which 
brought him into prominent notice among the 
leading lawyers of central Michigan. 



•:ORGE ROELOFS, general insur- 
ance, real-estate and loan agent, at 
No. 29 Canal street, Grand Rapids, 
is a native of the Netherlands and 
was boruv May 8, 1853, a son of Egbert and 
Johanna (Glazer) Roelofs, of whom further 
mention will presently be made. 

George Roelofs received a sound common- 
school education in his nati\e land, including 
instruction in the vernacular and the German 
and French languages. At the age of nineteen 
years he came to America and settled in Grand 
Rapids, rapidly acquiring a knosvledge of the 
language of the country, and for four years 
was employed in a crockery store, a business 
for which he was peculiarly fitted, as he had 
spent his youth in the store of his father, who 
was a dealer in china and crockery in the city 
of Zwolle, Holland. He was next employed 
in the office of the auditor of the Grand Rap- 
ids & Indiana railroad for six years, and the 
succeeding seven years were passed as book- 
keeper for the Osterhout & Fox Lumber com- 
pany. While in this employ he became in- 
terested in the insurance business, and after 
about two years' experience in this line in a 
sort of amateur way, he resigned his position 
as bookkeeper, rented a room from his employ- 
ers, became a full-Hedged insurance agent, and 
gradually added the real-estate and loan 



370 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



features. From this humble beginning he has 
developed his present extensive business, and 
for the past eight years has occupied his 
present office, at No. 29 Canal street. 

During the political campaign of 1892, Mr. 
Roelofs established the " Een Stemdes Volks," 
a weekly newspaper printed in the Holland 
language, and this is the only Dutch prohibi- 
tion journal in America. It is a faithful advo- 
cate of temperance and receives a cordial sup- 
port from the hundreds vvho harmonize with 
the views of its fearless editor, having a cir- 
culation of about 1,300 in Holland families, 
principally in Grand Rapids. 

In 1895, Mr. Roelofs made a trip to his 
native Holland. During the twenty-three 
years he had been in America his father had 
died, and his mother has died since. His onl}- 
living brother has spent all his mature years 
in the regular arm}' of Holland, and now holds 
the rank of captain. Four other members of 
the family have reached the years of maturity, 
and five died in childhood or infancy. 

George Roelofs was united in marriage, in 
Grand Rapids, November 25, 1875, with Miss 
Mary Dvkema, a native of the city and daugh- 
ter of well-known parents, of whom mention 
is made elsewhere in this volume. To this 
happy union five children have been born, of 
whom Flora, the eldest, is her father's very 
efficient bookkeeper; Henrietta, Irene, Eber- 
tha and Howard Russell, are still under the 
parental roof — the elder two daughters being 
graduates of the Grand Rapids high school. 

Mr. Roelofs has been connected with the 
Reformed church for twenty-five years; he is a 
sincere Christian and supporter of the Gospel, 
and lives strictly up to the lessons he early ac- 
quired in the faith. He is a constant and 
zealous student of the classics and the lan- 
guages, and passes his evenings in these studies 
and in writing editorials for his paper — "A 
Voice of the People," as its title signifies, trans- 



lated into English. In his writings he is con- 
scientious and vigorous, "hewing to the line, 
let the chips fall where they may." In his 
business he is pleasant and accommodating, 
and as a man he is respected by the entire 
communit}'. 




ICHAEL RONAN, one of the most 
successful farmers and fruit grow- 
ers of Kent county, Mich., with 
his home on section No. 10, 
Grand Ivapids township, was born ni county 
Wexford, Ireland, March 4, 1827, and came 
to the United States in 1851, with but $25 in 
cash, but possessed of an abundance of energy. 
After working in Michigan on farms about 
three years, he bought sixty acres of new land 
in Newaygo county, on which he lived ten 
years, more or less, cleared up the land and 
then traded for eighty acres in Barry county, 
also all new. On this tract he lived five years 
and then came to Kent county and located in 
Plainfield township on 160 acres, which he 
still owns, and in 1880 he settled on his pres- 
ent farm of 160 acres in Grand Rapids town- 
ship. This farm had been newly cleared, and 
was in bad condition, but he has converted it 
into one of the best farms in the township, 
and has twenty acres set in peach trees. 

Mr. Ronan married, in Newaygo county, 
Miss Mary Deborah Murray, a native of Can- 
ada, and this union was blessed with the fol- 
lowing-named children: Bridget, widow of 
James Pierce, and a resident of Grand Rapids; 
Matthew W., of whom further mention will 
be made; Maggie, wife of Michael Haynes, of 
Plainfield township; Charles, in Grand Rapids; 
Peter, in Wisconsin; John; Michael, who 
died of diphtheria at the age of twenty- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



871 



three years; Frank, who died in child- 
hood, and Frank (second), who, with John, 
operates the farm. The family are members 
of the St. Alphonsus' Catholic church of Grand 
Rapids, and in this faith Mrs. Ronan passed 
away December 7, 1S96. 

A brother, Patrick Ronan, came to America 
two years later and settled in Newaygo county, 
but in 1S65 came to Grand Rapids township 
and has since resided in fvent county. 

Matthew \V. Ronan, mentioned above, has 
served as township clerk and township treas- 
urer. When a child, disease deprived him of 
the use of his lower limbs, but his brain is 
phenomenally active, and his keenness of per- 
ception and clearness of intellect is a matter 
of wonder to all who meet him. Like all the 
famil\-, he has been an active democrat. 

As already mentioned, Mr. Ronan has one 
of the best farms in I\ent county. It is located 
in the fitiest fruit region of the state, and Mr. 
Ronan has made it what it is, inasmuch as it 
was, when he took possession, in a very ru^jged 
condition, full of stumps, and with great brush 
hedges for fences; but he has remodeled every- 
thing and made the place a delight to the eye 
of the passer-by, and rendered it profitable in 
all its parts. 

In 1898, Mr. Ronan made a visit to his old 
home in Ireland, but soon returned to his 
home in America better satisfied with it than 
ever, as he is here respected by everybody 
and is recognized as one of the best of Irish- 
Americans. 



LPHONSO L. RUFFE, M. D., prom- 
inent as a homeopathic physician and 
surgeon at Grand Rapids, with his 
office in the " Gilbert " building, is a 
native of Ohio, was born in Hanoverton, Co- 




lumbiana county, February 24, 1854, and is a 
son of John and Sarah I. (Smith) Ruffe, also 
natives of the Buckeye state and the parents 
of eleven children, viz: Jennie, Samuel J., 
Mary E., Henry E., Alphonso L., Frank P., 
John A., Eli W., George W., Luella May and 
Florence Jessie. All are living excepting 
Luella May. The parents now reside in Den- 
ver, Colo., where the children also live, with 
the exception of Alphonso L. , and one who is 
a resident .of Oregon and another of New 
Mexico. 

The elementary education of Dr. A. L. 
Ruffe was acquired in the common schools of 
Hanoverton, and his higher courses of study 
were pursued at the Rootstown academy and 
the Northwestern Ohio Normal university at 
Ada. From 1875 until 1878 he followed 
school-teaching as a profession, in the mean- 
while assiduously studying medicine. He was 
next employed as a bookkeeper until 1880, 
when he became manager of a business enter- 
prise at Grand Rapids, but continued to de- 
vote all his spare time to his preparatory med- 
ical studies. In 1884 he entered the Chicago 
Homeopathic Medical college, from which he 
graduated in 1887, and immediately thereafter 
located at Au Sable, Mich., entered upon the 
practice of his profession and opened a drug 
store in partnership with Dr. A. M. Webster, 
of whom mention in full is made on another 
page of this work. 

In 1891 Dr. Ruffe went abroad and passed 
the greater part of a year in travel through 
Europe, Egypt, Africa, India, China and 
Japan; he then returned to Au Sable, resumed 
his practice, and remained there until 1895, 
when he came to Grand Rapids, and estab- 
lished his present office — still in conjunction 
with Dr. Webster — and now is among the 
leading practitioners of his school of medicine 
in this city. 

Dr. Ruffe was one of the organizers of the 



372 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



fraternal insurance association known as the 
New Era, is its medical director, passes upon 
all the examinations, and appoints all assistant 
medical examiners. He is a member of the 
Hahnemann society of Chicago, is a thirt}- 
second degree Mason and a Shriner, and in 
politics is independent, as he votes according 
to his own conscience, regardless of party lines 
or nominations. 

The marriage of Dr. Ruffe took place in 
Grand Rapids, May 17, 1882, to Miss Clara 
E. Haire, youngest daughter of Hon. John 
Haire, of Pentwater, Mich. Mr. Haire was 
one of the early settlers of the Grand river 
valley, but about 1889 removed to Pentwater, 
where he has been entensively engaged in 
lumbering, has filled many official stations, 
and from which district he is a representative 
in the state legislature. To the felicitous 
marriage of Dr. and Mrs. Ruffe have been born 
two children — Lawrence Earle and Evelyn 
Lucile, aged, respectively, fifteen and four 
3'ears — the son being at present a student in 
the Grand Rapids high-school. 

The doctor and his wife are members of 
the Order of the Eastern Star, and Mrs. Ruffe 
is particularly active in forwarding the inter- 
ests of the various societies connected with the 
Church of Christ. The social standing of the 
family is with the best circles of Grand Rap- 
ids, and the professional rank of the doctor is 
of the highest order. 



ILL E. RYAN, the professional gen- 
tleman whose name introduces this 
biographical sketch, is a well- 
known member of the Kent count}' 
bar and has acquired much repute in the par- 
ticular department of jurisprudence pertaining 




to commercial law. Mr. Ryan is a son of the 
well known journalist, Martin T. Ryan, for 
many years editor of the Allegan Democrat, 
and Sarah Ryan, whose maiden name was 
Harmon. The parents, both natives of Mas- 
sachusetts, still reside in Allegan, and the fam- 
ily consists of two children — Celia A., and the 
subject of this review. 

Will E. I-iyan was born in Adams, Mass., 
November 18, 1867. He received his educa- 
tion in the high school of Allegan, from which 
he was graduated in 1884, and immediately 
thereafter entered his father's office, arid later 
became his associate in the editorial manage- 
ment of the Democrat. He continued in 
journalism until 1889, though he entered the 
law department of the Michigan university in 
1887, where he pursued his legal studies until 
his graduation in 1889, then practiced law in 
Allegan, Mich., until April, 1890, when he be- 
gan the practice of his profession in Grand 
Rapids with Arthur Rood. The law firm of 
I-iood & Ryan continued until January, 1897, 
since which time Mr. Ryan has practiced alone, 
making a specialty, as already stated, of com- 
mercial law. He is a careful student, pos- 
sesses a clear, analytical mind, and is blessed 
in a marked degree with those qualities which 
are so necessary in the prosecution of the legal 
profession. He is recognized as a safe and 
honorable counselor and adviser, a good advo- 
cate, and although not old in the profession 
has already succeeded in building up a large 
and lucrative practice. 

Mr. Ryan was united in marriage at Ann 
Arbor, December 23, 1889, to Miss Ella M. 
Brush, a native of that city, born on the 23d 
day of October, 1S69. She is the daughter of 
George S. and Elmina Brush and has borne 
her husband one child, Raymond B. Ryan. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ryan are popular in the social 
circles of Grand Rapids and occupy a deserv- 
edly high place in the esteem of a large nuni- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



373 



ber of friends in and out of the cit}-. She is a 
member of the Park Congregational church, 
active in the work of its various departments, 
and exemplifies in her daily life the faith which 
she professes. While not visibly identified 
.with any church organization, - Mr. Ryan is a 
friend to all religious and moral enterprises, 
and encourages every movement affecting the 
well being of the city and community. 




LLIAM KOWE. retired business 
man of Grand Rapids, was born in 
the town of Penzance, Cornwall, 
England, about ten miles • from 
Land's End, the extreme west point of that 
country, on the iith day of Jul}-, 1S30. He 
is a son of William and Jane Rowe, who spent 
their lives in Cornwall, the former dying at 
the age of forty-nine and the latter departing 
this life when sevent^'-three years old. By 
occupation the elder Rowe was a nurser3'man 
and met with success with his vocation; he 
was the father of a large famil_\-, but four of 
whom are living at this time, the subject being 
the only one to come to the United States. 

By reason of his father's ill- health, ^^'ill- 
iam's early educational advantages were some- 
what limited, as he was compelled, when quite 
young, to contribute towards the support of 
the family by assisting with the work of the 
nursery. Being studious by nature, he de- 
voted all his leisure to reading such books as 
he could command, and with the education re- 
ceived by a few years' attendance upon an 
elementary school in the neighborhood of his 
old home he became, while still a mere lad, 
unusually well informed. His first work for 
himself was in the line of his father's business, 
and the knowledge of horticulture thus re- 
ceived served as so much capital after he be- 
came a citizen of the United States. In 1S49 



he left the familiar scenes of his native land 
and turned his face toward the shores of the 
new world, there joining some relatives who 
had preceded him to this country, and who 
had settled at Rochester, N. Y. 

Shortly after reaching that city Mr. Rowe 
found employment in a nursery, and in due 
time formulated plans for engaging in horti- 
culture upon his own responsibility. By the 
advice of his friends he finally gave up these 
plans and turned his attention to mechanical 
pursuits in Rochester, where he spent some 
years in becoming skilled as a worker in wood 
and iron. For about ten years he worked in 
an establishment where threshing machines 
were manufactured, and during that period 
became a skilled mechanic, earning good 
wages, which were carefully hoarded with the 
purpose in view of engaging in business for 
himself when a favorable opportunity presented 
itself. 

In due time he succeeded in accumulating 
sufficient means to purchase a small tract of 
land at Fowlersville, N. Y. , upon which he 
erected a beautiful residence; there he began 
his wedded life, having married at Rochester, 
January 2, 1852, Miss Salome Sargisson, whose 
parents, John N. and Sophronia (Bower) Sar- 
gisson, were natives, respectively, of Lincoln- 
shire, England, and Durham county, Ontario. 
Spending a single year in Canada after mar- 
riage, he returned to Fowlersville, where he 
remained ten years, and from there, in the fall 
of 1864, came to Grand Rapids, locating his 
family in this city in April of the year following. 

During the next fourteen j'ears Mr. Rowe 
carried on different kinds of mechanical pur- 
suits and also devoted considerable attention 
to horticulture, having in the meanwhile pur- 
chased a fruit farm in the township of Walker, 
between which and his shop in the city he 
di\ided his time about equal!}'. 

For several years after moving to Grand 



374 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Rapids from his home in Walker township, 
Mr. Rowe was on the road as traveling rep- 
resentative for the T. S. Hubbard Vine- 
yard company, of Nevv York, in which capacit\' 
he visited many states and familiarized him- 
self with that important line of industry 
throughout the Union. It was while thus em- 
ployed that- he became acquainted with the 
wonderful possibilities of Arkansas as an agri- 
cultural and fruit-growing section, and after 
severing his connection with the company, he 
was led to locate there. He purchased a farm 
near the town of Judsonia, Ark. , where he 
moved in 1SS3, and at once engaged in fruit 
growing upon quite an extensive scale, realiz- 
ing therefrom financial returns far exceeding his 
expectations. He was one of the earliest 
northern men to engage in fruit growing in that 
state — a business that has since assumed 
wonderful proportions. While a resident of 
Arkansas he served as representative of White 
county in the legislature, having been elected 
by the Farmer's association without regard 
whatever to party lines. He took strong 
stand for the development of the resources of 
the state, a matter that has since made rapid 
strides. He also took steps to organize the 
White county Fair association, an institution 
that met with wonderful success, and its in- 
fluence extended to every feature of life in the 
county, agricultural, educational and social. 
He also secured a law to prohibit the sale of 
liquor within three miles of the university of 
Judsonia, working a revolution in the place. 
Although well satisfied with the south as 
far as he was concerned, through the influence 
of his family he finally disposed of his interest 
there and returned in 1890 to Grand Rapids. 
Soon afterward Mr. Rowe began buying and 
shipping grain at Saranac, ^fich., and con- 
tinued the business with encouraging success 
for about six years. He located at his present 
home, No. 4(4 Broadway, Grand Rapids, in 



October, 1895, and since that time has- 
superintended .the large fruit farm on Plain- 
field avenue, belonging to The Valley Cit_v 
mills of this citw a position of much responsi- 
bility and also liberally remunerative. 

Mr. Rowe has always taken an active in- 
terest in fruit growing and is one of the best 
informed and most widely known horticultur- 
ists in the state. He was a charter member 
of the State Pomological society, now known 
as the State Horticultural society, of which he 
served as vice-president from Kent county, 
and his name also appears upon the charter of 
the Grand River Valley Horticultural society, 
in the organization of which he was a potent 
factor, and of which he served as president 
four years previous to his moving to .Arkansas. 
While a resident of the latter state he was 
president of the Farmers' association of 
White county, served in the same capacity 
with the Judsonia Horticultural association, 
and was president and secretary of the White 
count}- Fair association, which was the first 
county fair held in that part of Arkansas up to 
that time. By his advice thirty acres of land 
were purchased for a fair site, inclosed with a 
six foot fence, and the necessary buildings 
erected at considerable cost, all on credit, but 
such w-as the success of the venture that with- 
in five years the entire debt was discharged and 
the association left in a flourishing condition. 
This fair proved a good advertisement for bring- 
ing White county to the notice of the public, 
and did as much as, if not more than, anything 
else toward developing its wonderful resources 
by inducing a thrifty and well-to-do class of 
people to locate within its borders. Through 
the instrumentality of Mr. Rowe, much im- 
proved machinery was introduced from the 
north and east, which tended greatly to ad- 
vance the agricultural interests of that section 
and replace the crude implements which had 
previously been used by the farmers there. 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



375 



Mr. Rowe has never lost interest in the 
work to which the greater part of his mature 
years have been devoted, and now, as previous- 
1\-, he is considered an authority on all matters 
pertaining to horticulture and agriculture in 
general. He keeps fully abreast of the times, 
and although practically retired from active 
life, is still one of the substantial factors in 
promoting the advancement and highest good 
of Grand Rapids and Kent county in the mat- 
ter of keeping them in the front rank of Mich- 
igan's most progressive and enlightened agri- 
cultural and industrial sections. 

Mr: and Mrs. Rowe are the parents of a 
large family, --thirteen children in all — of 
whom but six are now living, viz: William N., 
of Valley City Mills; Alma Sophronia, wife of 
Isaac Whittemore, of Wayland, Mass. ; Rev. 
George E., minister of the Baptist church and 
farmer, residing in Paris township, Kent county; 
J. Scofield, chief accountant and auditor of the 
Globe Employers' Liability Insurance associa- 
tion, of London, England, in the headquarters 
for the United States at Boston; Violet, a sten- 
ographer of Grand Rapids, and Jennie May, a 
student in Mrs. Street's Kindergarten school 
of Grand Rapids. Of the deceased members 
of the family three died of that fell disease, 
diphtheria, within eight days; they were Ina 
Jane, aged twelve; Dora E. , aged ten, and Car- 
rie S., aged three years. Two children died in 
infancy, and two, Janie and Susan, died at the 
age of five and thirty-four years, respectively. 
The last named was the wife of Leonard Jenks, 
and left a family of four children. 

Mr. Rowe has been successful in the accu- 
mulation of this world's goods; he has dealt 
liberally with his children, giving them e.\- 
ceptionally good educational advantages and 
starting each in life with abundant financial 
resources. He owns valuable real estate in 
Grand Rapids and elsewhere, besides a com- 
fortable competence more than sufficient for his 



earthly sojourn. Mrs. Rowe and her chil- 
dren are communicants of the Baptist church; 
Mr. Rowe was reared in the church of Eng- 
land, and while a regular attendant upon re- 
ligious services and believer in the truths of 
Revelation, does not subscribe to any creed or 
profession of faith. 

Mrs. Rowe was born October 4, 1^35. Her 
parents moved from their home in Durham 
county, Canada, to Rochester, N. Y., many 
years ago, and the mother died on the home 
farm near that city at the age of forty-five. 
The father lived to be a very old man, depart- 
ing thislife at the advanced age of ninety \ears. 



tm 



T. .\LPHONSUS' ROM.\N CATHO- 
LIC CHURCH, on East Leonard 
street, between Lafayette street and 
Coit avenue, with the Rev. Patrick 
H. Barrett, C. SS. R. , as the present pastor, 
was erected in iSSS. The parish was created 
in August of that year, and the Rev. Theodore 
Lamy was the first priest appointed to the 
charge, came to the new parish August 21, 
and one week later was joined by the Rev. 
Terrence Clarke. The parish includes all the 
East side, north of Fairbanks street, and with- 
in its limits are about 200 Catholic families. 
The first services of the congregation were 
held September 2, 1888, in one of the large 
rooms of the then unfinished orphans' asylum, 
as the church-edifice was as yet incomplete, 
and afterward in Patrick Finn's hall on Plain- 
field avenue, and were so continued until the 
occupancy of the chapel proper a few weeks 
later. Father Lamy held the charge until 
1893, and then Father F. Girardey officiated 
about one year; then in November, 1S94, Rev. 
Daniel .Mullane; following him came Father 



876 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Joseph Distler, who remained-until May, 1898, 
when the present incumbent, Father P. H. 
Barrett, was placed in charge as superior. 

The congregation numbers about 1,000, 
forty of the families living in the country. 
The assistants of Father Barrett are the Rev. 
John B. Cronin, C. SS. R. ; Henry Urben, C. 
SS. R. , and Joseph Scholly, C. SS. K. 

St. Alphonsus' parochial school-building, 
the corner-stone of which was laid in October, 
1S88, is 110x54 feet, and was blessed and 
occupied January 6, 1889. It has an attend- 
ance of about 275 pupils, under the cliarge 
of six Dominican sisters, has five rooms and 
twelve grades — teaching a thorough high- 
school course. 

Rev. Fr. Patrick H. Barrett was born in 
New York city May 25, 1856. and there ac- 
quired his early education; his literary educa- 
tion was had at St. Clemenfs colltge, II- 
chester, Md., and his theological studies were 
pursued at the seminary in Ilchester, Howard 
county, Md., near Baltimore, through a course 
of twelve years. He was then appointed pro- 
fessor of classics and rhetoric of St. Mary's 
college at North East, Erie county. Pa. ; was 
next appointed president of St. Clement's col- 
lege at Saratoga Springs, X. Y., and filled the 
position seven years, or until 1S93, and was 
then appointed rector of St. Patrick's church, 
at Toronto, Canada, and remained until No- 
vember, 1894. His next appointment was to 
St. Joseph's college, Kirkwood, Mo., near St. 
Louis, as president and professor of classics, 
mathematics and rhetoric, filled the offices 
until April 20, 1898, and on May 4 came to 
Grand Rapids to assume the rectorship of St. 
Alphonsus' parish. 

The assistants of Father Barrett do mis- 
sionary work whenever called upon in an}' 
part of the United States, officiating as long 
as their services are needed, according to the 
size of the parish to which the}' ma}- be called. 



The congregation of St. Alphonsus has reached 
its present numbers by gradual growth, and 
under the administration of its present pious 
and erudite head is destined, beyond a doubt, 
to develop more rapidly. The priest's house, 
at No. 165 East Leonard street, is a large 
frame structure adjoining the school building, 
was built about 1890, and is occupied by 
Father Barrett and his assistants. 




OHN W. POWERS, attorney at law, 
of Grand Rapids, Mich., is a native of 
New York state, and was born in his- 
toric Louisville, St. Lawrence county. 
November 19, 1869, a son of Henry and Su- 
san (Shoen) Powers, also natives of the Em- 
pire state. 

Henry Powers, who is of Irish parentage, 
is a substantial farmer, owning 320 acres of 
good land — the farm on which the subject of 
this sketch was born. To his marriage with 
Miss Susan Shoen there have been born six 
children, all of whom have been reared to ma- 
turity and all well educated. They are James 
L., in St. Lawrence county; Jennie, Guy D. 
and William S., on the homestead; Frank H., 
in Syracuse, N. Y., and John \V. The parents 
are consistent members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, and in politics Mr. Powers is a 
republican. 

John W. Powers lived on the old home- 
stead and attended public school until fifteen 
years old, and then Potsdam normal school 
until nineteen, when he graduated, and for the 
following two years was principal of the pub- 
lic school at North Lawrence. In the fall of 
1892 he came to Michigan, entered the law 
department of the uni\ersity of Michigan, 
graduated in 1894 with the degree of LL. B. , 



1 i'Ln 

I Win 






t-c^jjy^ .' 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



379 



and was admitted to the bar in June of the 
same j-ear. The following summer he spent 
at home, and in the fall he came to Grand 
Rapids and opened his law office, and here his 
talents have attracted numerous patrons and 
secured for him a lucrative practice. 

Mr. Powers was united in marria£;;e at Mil- 
waukee, Wis., June 28, 1898, with Miss Jes- 
sie I3aldwin, who was born in Elgin, 111. But 
the matrimonial bliss of Mr. Powers was too 
untimely terminated by the sad death of his 
bride October 29, 1898 — a bereavement that 
has required his most strenuous efforts to 
withstand. The funeral services were held at 
home November i, 1898, Rev. Daniel F. 
Bradley officiating, and the remains tenderly 
laid to rest in Valley City cemetery. 

Mr. Powers was elected circuit court com- 
missioner in November, 1898, receiving the 
largest plurality of any one on the ticket — 
4,226 votes — and the time he has occupied 
the office shows that the people were not 
wrong in the estimation of the abilities of their 
candidate. 

Mr. Powers was made a Mason in Deer 
River lodge, No. 499, New York state; he is 
a Knight of Pythias, a Modern Woodman of 
America, and a member of the Court of 
Honor, and no gentleman in Grand Rapids is 
held in more cordial esteem. He makes his 
home at No. 21 Ethel avenue. 



M 



T. ANDREW'S CATHEDRAL, south- 
west corner of Sheldon and Maple 
streets. Grand Rapids. — A Roman 
Catholic mission was located by the 
Rev. Frederic Baraga, in June, 1833, on the 
west bank of the river. Ere this the Rev. Ga- 
briel Richards and other priests from Detroit 



had visited the Indian villages of this section, 
but Father Baraga, afterwards bishop of Mar- 
quette from 1S53 to 1868, was sent by Bish- 
op Fenwick, of Cincinnati, to establish a per- 
manent mission among the mi.xed population 
of that period. It then consisted of the Indian 
village of the Ottawa tribe, situated about 
where the L. S. & M. S. round-house now 
stands, a few trappers, and a score or two of 
early settlers. The missionary selected a tract 
of about si.\ty-five acres on the west bank of 
Grand river, opposite the head of Island No. 4 
(in the later maps No. 3), and there erected 
a frame building for a chapel, and just north 
of it a small dwelling. Soon after, a building 
for church uses was secured on the east side. 
It stood a short distance above the present 
site of the Barnard house, near Waterloo 
street. It was a large frame building, with 
dormer windows, was originally painted with 
yellow ochre, and figured prominently in the 
initiatory efforts of religious bodies. This was 
begun on the west side, moved across on the 
ice, and transferred to Father Baraga, but re- 
mained his only a year, after which services 
were held in a rude structure which he, with 
the assistance of some Indians, built on the 
west side. In the fall of 1834 he was assisted 
as rector of St. Andrew's parish, established in 
June, 1833, by Rev. Andreas Viszoczky, who 
succeeded him in 1835 — ^ Hungarian, whose 
eminently useful career was here ended by 
death, January 2, 1853, at the age of fiftv-five. 
In 1837 Louis Campau built a church for 
St. Andrew's parish on the southwest corner 
of Monroe and Division streets, which was 
never deeded to the bishop; yet the congrega- 
tion worshiped there for some time. Later 
the pastor and flock were sheltered by the 
chapel of the Indian village, or a small, red 
school-houseon Division street, between Brown- 
son and Bridge streets, or in private dwellings; 
but in 1847 the bishop sold for $4,000 the 



380 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



lands years before granted by the government 
for the benefit of the mission, and out of this 
fund Father \'iszoczky bought the Richard 
Godfrey house and grounds on the southeast 
corner of Monroe and Ottawa streets, now oc- 
cupied by the Aldrich-Godfrey-W'hite block. 
The price was $1,500. There a stone church 
was built in 1849 by Robert Hilton, C. B. 
White, William C. Davidson and Ebenezer 
Anderson, the corner-stone being laid June 10. 
The house upon the lot became the priest's 
residence, and this was destroyed at 3 A. M., 
January 14, 1850, by a fire that proved most 
disastrous, for the records of the parish per- 
ished in the fiames, the unfinished church- 
building, which was dedicated by the Rt. Rev. 
Peter Paul Lefevre, August 11, 1850, was 
somewhat damaged, and saddest of all, the 
aged mother and the sister of Father Kilroy, 
assistant priest, were consumed with the 
house. Father Viszoczky and a male servant 
having saved their lives only by jumping out 
of the second story. About i,S6o baptisms 
had been registered in the books thus lost. 
From that date for several months their 
worship was conducted in the largest room of 
Maxime Ringuette's house, later known as the 
Grand River house, on Waterloo street, and 
this hospitality generously offered by the 
owner included a temporary shelter for the 
rector. 

The succession of pastors from that time 
has been as follows: The Revs. Edward \'an 
Pammel, rector, April, 1853, to June, 1S57; 
F. J. \'an Erp, rector, September, 1857, to 
August, 1859, and associated with him No- 
vember, 1857, to February, 1858, the Rev. 
H. Rievers, and January, 1858, to F'ebruary, 
1859, H. Quigley, D. D. ; F. N. Pourrot, rec- 
tor, February, 1859, to July, i860; Thomas 
Brady, rector, July, i860, to January, 1862; 
Joseph Kindikens, rector, January 17, 1S62, 
to December, 1865; B. J. Wermers, rector. 



December 27, 1865, to October, 1868; James 
C. Pulcher, rector, October 6, 1868, to spring 
of 1872, when he built and became pastor of 
St. James' church, on the west side; P. J. 
McManus, rector, June, 1S72, until April, 
22, 1S83, when St. Andrew's became the ca- 
thedral of the then consecrated bishop of the 
diocese of Grand Rapids. It appears that 
the following have also been assistants: Fa- 
thers Pierce, in 1837: Mills. 1837-38; Boehm, 

1838-39; Lang, 1839; , 18 — ; Kilroy, 

1847-50; DeKuninck, 1850-53; Montard, 
1857-58. 

The present dioscese was created May 20, 
1S82, by brief of Pope Leo NIII, and em- 
braces that part of the southern peninsula of 
Michigan lying north of the south boundaries 
of Ottawa, Kent, Montcalm, Gratiot and 
Saginaw counties, and west of the east bound- 
aries of Saginaw and Bay counties. 

The first bishop of the diocese is the Rt. 
Rev. Henry Joseph Richter, who was pro- 
moted to his present office by papal brief dated 
January 30, 1883, and consecrated April 22 
of that year. Father McManus remained at 
the cathedral until his death from an accident, 
December 29, 1885. Other assistants at St. 
Andrew's were the Rev. J. F. Lovett. from 
the fall of 1883 to that of 1884; the X'ery 
Rev. C. J. Roche, October, 1884, to Septem- 
ber, 1887; the Rev. John Sanson, March 17, 
1886, to February, 1888; the Rev. H. 
Frencken, appointed September, 1887, who 
now has charge of St. Joseph's (Holland) 
church; the Rev. Joseph Benning, appointed 
in F'ebruary, 1888; the Rev. Thomas L. 
Whalen. appointed June 24, 1S84; and the Rev. 
John A. Schmitt, appointed in August, 1889. 
In 1890, Rev. James Byrne, and same year 
Rev. Napolean Poulin; in 1892, Rev. Byrne 
was transferred to Cascade, Kent county; in 
1 89 1, Rev. John E. Troy; in 1896, was trans- 
ferred to Hemlock, Saginaw county ; in the fall 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



381 



of 1893. Rev. Benning was transferred to St. 
Mary's, Grand Rapids; in 1894, Rev. Timothy 
O'Connor; in 1896, Rev. Michael J. Gallagher; 
in 1898, Rev. O'Connor was transferred to St. 
James, Bay City, and Rev. Edward Racelte 
took his place and remained until December, 
1S98, when he was transferred to the Holy 
Family church at Saginaw. At present, 1899, 
Revs; Schmitt and Gallagher are at the ca- 
thedral; also Revs. Thomas Reid and John 
Baptiste Abel. 

The fine church bell was purchased during 
Father Wermer's incumbency. In the winter 
of 1 872-73. the grounds on Monroe street were 
sold to the late Moses V. Aldrich for $56,000, 
and the stone of the old church was used for 
the foundation of the present edifice. Bef.re 
this. Father Mc.Manus had begun the erection 
of the $1.5,000 school-house opposite the ca- 
thedral, whose chapel on the second floor was 
blessed by Bishop Borgess March 27, 1874, 
when the old house was vacated, and here the 
services were held until the dedication of the 
new church by the same bishop, December 19, 
1876. This fine house of worship and its 
furniture cost $50,000. It has a seating 
capacity of 945 in the body of the church and 
200 in the gallery. A few years since the 
residence was bought just south of the paro- 
chial school for the teachers — Sisters of Charity 
--who instruct the pupils. More recently two 
lots were secured just south of the church, 
upon which the episcopal residence, costing 
$[5,000, is built. The aggregate value of this 
church property is about $110,000. From 
time to time large numbers of its parishioners 
have been dismissed to organize other congre- 
gations, leaving St. Andrew's present parish 
bounds as follows: All of this city east of 
Grand river and south of the Fifth ward, or 
Fairbanks street, the north end of the city 
having been set off in August, 188S, to con- 
stitute St. Alphonsus parish. 



RECAPITULATION. 



Bishop 1 

Secular priests. ... 78 

Priests of relfgious 
orders 12 

Total 9U 

Churches with re.";!- 

ident priest G6 

Missions with 
churches 70 

Stations 40 

Chapels 9 

Ecclesiastical stu- 
dents for diocese 45 

Academies for 

young ladies 2 

Parishes with paro- 
chial schools 45 



Pupils 

Orphan asylums.... 

Orphans 

Industrial school. . . 

Inmates 

Total of young 
people under 
Catholic care. . . . 

Hospitals 

Homes foraged poor 

Inmates during the 
year 

Baptisms 

Marriages 

Burials 

Catholic families. . . 



10,383 

2 

220 

1 

110 



10,600 
4 
1 

110 
4,074 

645 

1,220 

17,836 



m 



T. JOSEPH'S CATHOLIC CHURCH, 

at No. 29 Rumsey street, Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., was organized in 1887, and 
Rev. Henry Frencken, the present 
pastor, placed in charge of the congregation. 
February 10, 1889, the edifice was dedicated 
by the Right Rev. Henry Joseph Richter, 
bishop of the diocese of Grand Rapids, and 
the communicants at that time numbered 
about seventy families. The parochial school, 
conducted in the church building, was opened 
in September, 1889, the priest's house erected 
in 1891, and an assembly hall in 1897. Al- 
though not the most pretentious church edifice 
in the city, St. Joseph's is complete and con- 
venient in all its appointments. 

Rev. Henry Frencken, the devout and 
earnest pastor of St. Joseph's, was born in 
Bois le Due, Holland, March 5, i860, and his 
preliminary studies were pursued in his native 
land, and his theological course was had at the 
American college at Louvain, Belgium, where 
he graduated in 1887, was ordained, and" the 
same year came to the United States, and was 
here at once placed in charge of the congrega- 
tion of St. Joseph. The sermons and lectures 
here are delivered in the language of the peo- 



1382 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



pie of Holland, of which nation the members 
of the congregation are natives or descendants 
■of natives. Father Frencken has made two 
visits to Europe since he became pastor of 
St. Joseph's — first, in 1892, when he passed 
■si.\ months in visiting his parents and in con- 
tinental travel, and secondly, in 1899, when, 
in February, he again visited his old home and 
passed four months in travel, on this occasion 
visiting Rome, where he had the honor of an 
audience with the Pope. July 3, he again re- 
turned to his beloved Hock of St. Joseph's and 
resumed his pastoral labors, which have been 
more than ordinarily successful. Father 
Frencken's parents are still living in Holland, 
where he has also a brother, who is likewise 
in the ministry of the Catholic church, and he 
has also two brothers in the ministry of the 
church in the United States — Rev. Charles, of 
Spring Valley, 111., and Rev. H., of Seattle, 
Wash. 

St. Joseph's school was taught the first 
year by lay teachers, but the following year 
the Dominican Sisters took charge, and three 
of these still conduct the school under the 
supervision of the pastor. The attendance 
has increased from forty pupils the first year 
to one hundred at the present time, and though 
no language save the English is taught it is 
called the "Holland" school. The course of 
study embraces all branches necessary to en- 
trance upon collegiate work. 

Assembly hall is used for school entertain- 
ments, the meeting of sodalities, etc., and is 
nicely furnished and arranged for the purposes 
intended, and is supplied with ample seating 
capacity. The Altar society numbers seventy- 
five members, and the C. M. B. A., branch 
No. 74, has a membership of forty. All the 
buildings adjoin each other on Rumsey street, 
and the parish is in a most flourishing condi- 
tion, greatly due to the able ministration and 
good management of its accomplished pastor. 




ILLIAM H. ROSS, M. D.— Few 
physicians of Grand Rapids have 
gained as wide a distinction in their 
profession as has Dr. William H. 
Ross, who for many years has occupied a con- 
spicuous place among the successful medical 
men of western Michigan. He was born in 
the township of Norwicli, 0.\ford county, On- 
tario, Canada, on the 27th day of July, 1845, 
and is a son of Hopkins and Mary (Mustard) 
Ross, both natives of the same county and 
province and of Scotch descent. 

Hopkins Ross, by occupation a farmer and 
mechanic, reared a family of four sons and 
three daughters, the doctor being first in or- 
der of birth. The second is Alexander Nel- 
son, a stationar}' engineer, and interested in 
the manufacture and sale of lumber near the 
city of Seattle, Wash. ; Sylvester is a well- 
to-do farmer living in the vicinity of Hersey, 
Mich.; the fourth son, Daniel, was hurt at 
the age of fourteen by falling upon the ice 
and never recovered from the injury; he lin- 
gered as an invalid seven years and died at 
the age of t\vent}--one from necrosis of the 
bone. The three daughter's are Mary, Sarah 
and Martha — the first two twins. Mary mar- 
ried James Hogadone, a lumberman of the 
state of Washington; Sarah became the wife 
of James H. Hope, a farmer of Hersey, Mich., 
and Martha resides at Kendallville, Ind., 
where her husband, E. W. Crewitz, owns and 
operates a large flouring-mill. The mother 
of these children departed this life in her na- 
tive country in 1858, and the father, after his 
second marriage, became a re^ident of Michi- 
gan, locating in Grand Rapids in the year 
1863. Subsequenty he removed to a farm 
near Hersey. where he served for some time 
as justice of the peace, and where his death 
occurred after having reached his seventy- 
second year. 

Dr. Ross received his earlv education in 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



385 



the schools of his native county, and after the 
death of his mother, which occurred when he 
was but fourteen }ears of age, he entered upon 
an apprenticeship to the blacksmith's trade. 
In 1863, he located in Kalamazoo, Mich., 
where for a period of about two years he oper- 
ated a shop and did a fairly remunerative busi- 
ness, at the same time studying medicine under 
Dr. Barnhart, of Schoolcraft, Mich. When 
twenty years old he was married to Miss Mary 
A. Hope, of Kalamazoo, and two years later 
moved to the town of Everett, where he 
erected a building and engaged in general 
mercantile trade, a venture which proved 
financially profitable and to which he devoted 
his time and attention until disposing of his 
stock and locating in Hersey in the year 1873. 
At the latter place the doctor embarked in the 
hotel business as proprietor of the Hersey 
house, at the same time engaging in the drug 
trade, which he carried on successfully in con- 
nection with his duties as a caterer to the 
traveling public. He continued in Hersey 
three years, during part of which time he 
served as under-sheriff of the county, and also 
devoted the leisure hours at his command to a 
course of preliminary medical study and work 
in pharmacy and chemistry. Disposing of the 
hotel, the doctor turned his entire attention to 
the drug business, which he conducted until 
1879, the meanwhile prosecuting his medical 
studies, with a vigor which overcame every 
obstacle and placed him, long before actively 
engaging in the practice, among the widest 
read and best informed medical men of the 
town where he resided. 

After closing out his stock of drugs at Her- 
sey to Dr. R. J. Kirkland, Dr. Ross, in the 
spring of 1S80, moved to Grand Rapids, began 
the practice of medicine in 1881, and opened 
another drug store on West Fulton street, 
which he conducted in connection with the 
duties of his profession. He seemed from the 



start naturally adapted to the practice of 
medicine, as is shown by the success which 
almost immediately attended his efforts. His 
duties multiplied year after year until his prac- 
tice became very extensive, especially in the 
treatment of rheumatic complications and in- 
flammatory diseases, which soon gained for 
him much more than local distinction. 

The better to fit himself for a wide and 
varied practice, the dottor in 1883 took a 
course in the Hahnemann Medical college, 
Chicago, and during the year 1884-5 pursued 
his studies in the Pulto Medical college, Cin- 
cinnati. Not content with the knowledge de- 
rived from those institutions, he took another 
course in 1885-6 in the Eclectic Medical col- 
lege of Cincinnati, where he achieved high 
rank as a 'student, graduating at the head of 
his class and also serving as its president dur- 
ing his period of attendance. 

While attending the colleges referred to, the 
doctor was not content to be a student merely; 
but continued the practice in Chicago and Cin- 
cinnati, in both of which cities he established 
an enviable reputation as a specialist in in- 
flammatory and kindred diseases. 

Further to add to his professional knowl- 
edge. Dr. Ross in 1892 took a postgraduate 
course in the Chicago Medical college, and 
some time prior to that date received instruc- 
tion from Prof. Vilas, the eminent eye, ear and 
throat specialist, in the treatment of ailments 
peculiar to those parts of the human body. 
He also took a special course in obstetrics 
under Prof. Sheldon Leavitt, of Chicago, in 
the summer of 1884. 

In the treatment of inflammatory and all 
constitutional diseases, fie is without a peer in 
Grand Rapids, and the success with which he 
has performed many skillful and delicate sur- 
gical operations, and the relief afforded nu- 
merous sufferers from complicated rheumatic 
difficulties, place him in the front rank of the 



3cS6 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



state's distinguished professional men. During 
his twenty years' residence in this city his pro- 
fessional record has been without blemish, and 
the extensive practice he conmiands here and 
elsewhere is the legitimate result of a life con- 
secrated to the noble service of alleviating 
human suffering. 

Though endowed by nature with superior 
talents, Dr. Ross has attained his present en- 
viable position by long and patient effort. 
From the beginning of his career as a physi- 
cian he has closely de\-oted himself to his pro- 
fession, permitting neither attractions of travel 
nor the enticements of political office to turn 
him from his high purpose. As a consequence 
of this devotion, liberal financial returns have 
been his, and he is now the possessor of a 
magnificent competence, including valuable 
real estate in Grand Rapids and in various 
parts of Michigan and other states. Situated 
on the St. John's river, opposite the city of 
Paiatka, Fla., is the doctor's winter home, 
which he has fitted up for the accommodation 
of such patients as desire his professional serv- 
ices during his annual sojourns in the south- 
land. The building stands on the east bank 
of the river, lOO feet back from the water, is 
commodiously constructed and supplied with 
the conveniences and appliances necessary to 
the successful treatment of patients; and the 
enterprise, the outgrowth of a philanthropic 
motive, has already proved a safe investment 
from a financial point of view. 

Politically Dr. Ross has strong convictions 
as a member of the republican party, but, as 
already stated, he has consented to fill no of- 
ficial position, not having the time to spare 
from his profession. He is an active member 
of the American Medical association and for a 
period of twenty-five years has been identi- 
fied with the Masonic fraternity, in which he has 
taken many degrees, including among others 
that of Sir I-inight; he is also a member of 



the I. O. O. P., and from his fourteenth year 
has belonged to the Baptist church. The doc- 
tor possesses musical talents of a high order, 
and at this time is leader and director of the 
choir of the English Lutheran church of Grand 
Rapids. He filled a position as first tenor in 
the St. Mark's Episcopal church for several 
years, and also for several years filled a like 
position in the Second street M. E. church 
choir of this city. 

The doctor's marriage, to which allusion 
has already been made, has resulted in the 
birth of two children, the elder of whom, 
Clarence H., died when one and a half years 
old; the second, a daughter, Alex May, is 
now the wife of Dr. Eugene Cohn. She was 
graduated from the Grand Rapids high school 
and is a lady of versatile talents. She is an 
accomplished musician and an elocutionist of 
high standing, in both of which she enjoyed 
the benefits of the ablest instructors inChi- 
cago and elsewhere. Her husband is a prac- 
ticing physician at St. Jacob's, 111. 

The wife of Dr. Ross is a native of Kala- 
mazoo, Mich., and only daughter of Edward 
and Mary (Stevens) Hope. Her father was 
an early settler and prominent citizen of that 
city. He was a government contractor during 
the war of the Rebellion, and gave two of his 
sons to battle for the national Union. 

Dr. Ross is a man of scrupulous integrity, 
and no unworthy act has ever been charged to 
him professionally or otherwise.' Hi is cour- 
teous in his general intercourse, and especially 
so with members of the medical profession, 
with whom under all circumstances he is 
scrupulous to observe the code of ethics. He 
is bold and daring, yet feeling and sensiti\e 
as a surgeon, and though eminently successful 
as such, is none the less distinguished as a 
physician and obstetrician. He is social with 
friends, and possesses a personality that at- 
tracts all classes to his acquaintance, and his 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



387 



conversation is ciiaracterized by good sense 
and solidity. As a professional man and citi- 
zen he is liighh' respected, and the f^ood he 
has accomplished for suffering humanity will 
always be his most enduring monument. 



^m 



T. MARY'S CATHOLIC CHURCH is 
the second oldest in Grand Rapids. 
The preparatory work of starting a 
church for the German-speakingCatho- 
lic population of the city was begun in 1856, by 
the Rev. Edward \'an Pamel, of St. Andrew's, 
and consummated when the first services 
were held in St. Mary's, in 1857, by Rev. M. 
Marco, who remained pastor until 1862. From 
that year till 1865, Father Allgeyer was pas- 
tor; from 1865 to 1870, Father H. Berhorst; 
from 1870 until 1886, he and Rev. J. G. 
Ehrenstrasser, were pastors, respectively. The 
death of Father Ehrenstrasser, builder of the 
new St. Mary's church (1874), took place to- 
ward the close of 1886, and from 1S87 until 
1S93 the congregation was temporaril}- in 
charge of a Franciscan Father, Rev. Joseph 
Schwick, and Rev. J. A. Schmitt, successive- 
ly. In 1893, for the first time after the death 
of Father Ehrenstrasser, a pastor was ap- 
pointed in the person of the Rev. Joseph M. 
Benning, with the Rev. Francis J. Berhorst 
as assistant, and these two clergymen preside 
over the parish at present. The new St. 
Mary's church building was erected about 
twenty-five years ago, is an imposing struct- 
ure, in pure Gothic style, and in point of 
architectural beauty is one of the handsomest 
in the state, and its interior is replete with 
works of art. 

St. Mary's School. — August 6, 1866, three 
of the school Sisters of Notre Dame, from 
Milwaukee, took charge of St. Mary's school 



at Grand Rapids, and opened with eighty chil- 
dren, which number rapidly increased .the first 
year. The old school- building was a small 
frame structure, situated at the corner of First 
street and Broadway, and contained three 
miniature class-rooms. In 1S84, the pupils 
numbered 200. and the old church-building 
was repaired and divided into four class-rooms 
for the use of the increased number of pupils. 
But this building proved to be inadequate for 
the still growing school, and within a few years 
St. Mary's congregation found it necessary to 
erect a new school-house on Turner street, 
and this is superior to most of the school- 
buildings in the city, and of it the congrega- 
tion may well be proud. It contains ten spa- 
cious, well ventilated class-rooms, a large hall 
on the thi-rd flat for the use of the pupils, 
who now number 520,, and are taught by ten 
Sisters, the course of instruction being the 
same as in the public schools, to-wit: a kinder- 
garten, eight grades and a commercial course. 
Verj' Rev. Joseph M. Benning, vicar- 
general of the diocese and pastor of St. Mary's 
Catholic church, Grand Rapids, Mich., is a 
native of the grand duchj- of Oldenburg, Ger-' 
many, was born October 5, 1855, and came 
to the United States when \-oung. He was 
educated in Cincinnati, Ohio, at Mount St. 
Mary's Seminary of the West, and was or- 
dained to the priesthood July 9, 1880, by Most 
Rev. William Henry Elder, archbishop of 
Cincinnati. His first pastoral duties were as 
chaplain of the orphan asylum at Cummings- 
ville, Ohio, was next assistant to Right Rev. 
Henry Joseph Richter, then pastor of St. Law- 
rence church, Cincinnati, and on the appoint- 
ment of that reverend gentleman, in 1883, to 
the bishopric of Grand Rapids, Father Ben- 
ning accompanied him to Michigan and be- 
came pastor of St. Joseph's parish at Muske- 
gon, where he erected a church-building, priest 
house and school-building, and remained until 



888 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



1 886, when he was transferred to the pastorate 
of Saginaw, where he again manifested his 
ardor and wonderful energy by erecting SS. 
Peter and Paul's church, and at the same time 
built St. [ohn the Baptist's church at Carroll- 
ton; when these churches were about com- 
pleted, he was transferred to St. Andrew's 
cathedral at Grand Rapids, and was first as- 
sistant under Bishop Richter from 1887 until 
1S93, during which period he built St. John's 
orphan home and the episcopal residence, and 
also made substantial repairs to St. Andrew's 
school-building and made additions thereto. 
This work includes the raising of the large 
brick structure about nine feet, and the plac- 
ing of another suite of rooms beneath. 

In 1893 Father Benning was appointed 
pastor of St. Mary's church. Grand Rapids, 
where he has since devoted his earnest atten- 
tion to the improvement of the spiritual and 
temporal condition of his congregation, in 
which noble work he has met with the most 
flattering success. His life has been busy and 
untiring in the service of his beloved church, 
and his labors have been of incalculable value 
to his fellow-men. 

February 14, 1897, Father Benning was 
appointed vicar-general of his diocese, and this 
position of responsibility and honor he holds 
in connection with his pastorate of St. Mary's, 
a history of which church is summarized above. 



<m 



T. J.\MES CHURCH.— No house of 
worship in the city of Grand Rapids 
is more architecturally beautiful than 
the Catholic church of St. James. 
Owing to the rapid growth of the western por- 
tion of the city during the years just following 
the outbreak of the late Civil war, the late 



Rev. James C. Pulcher, then pastor of St. 
Andrew's, with the zeal and energy that had 
always been characteristic of that enlightened 
clergyman, conceived the idea of organizing a 
congregation and erecting a church for the ac- 
commodation of the faithful Catholics of that ' 
portion of the city. The subject was sub- 
mitted to the bishop of Detroit, under whose 
jurisdiction Grand Rapids then was, and that 
dignitary designated the Sixth, Seventh and 
Eighth wards of the city as the parish of St. 
James, with Rev. J. C. Pulcher as pastor. 
The lamented deceased had, however, already 
begun the work of building a church, and the 
action of the bishop greatly stimulated the 
work, as the people rejoiced in the fact that 
they were soon to have a parish and church of 
their own. The foundations were built, in 
1869, by Thomas Berry; Patrick O'Neil was 
the contractor for the brick work; Smith & 
Grady were awarded the wood work, and a 
Mr. Warden the painting and decorating. The 
corner-stone was laid July 21, 1870, Bishop 
Borgess presiding, and during the next year 
steady progress was made by the builders, as 
July I, 1 87 1, William G. Robinson, the archi- 
tect, reported the work completed. The dedi- 
cation, however, did not take place until July 
25, 1875, when Bishop Borgess again presided. 

The architecture of St. James is of the 
Romanesque style, with Gothic gables and 
tower, the exterior combining symmetry with 
utilization of space. There are eighteen 
stained-glass windows, presented by members 
of the congregation in memory of deceased 
relatives, and one large window purchased by 
the congregation. The frescoing and interior 
finishing are remarkably rich in design and the 
workmanship and the subjects well selected. 
The cost of the edifice was $38,000, which, ~ 
with the value of realty and other church 
property, makes an aggregate of .$50,000. 

Father Pulcher, to whose untiring zeal St. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



389 



James church was brought from incipiency to 
maturity, was at its completion transferred to 
the church of Our Lady of Help, at Detroit, 
and Rev. (lustave Limpins, a native of Ghent, 
Belgium, pastor of that church, was placed in 
charge of St. James. The death of this rever- 
end gentleman occurred January 25, 1881, and 
two days later his remains were interred in 
the Grand Rapids Catholic cemetery. Father 
Pulcher was at once recalled to St. James, 
and February 5, i88r, resumed his pastoral 
duties, but his health failed, and in December, 
1897, he was relieved from his charge and the 
church was placed under the ministration of 
Rev. Robert \\'. Brown. 

Rev. James C. Pulcher was born in Jeffer- 
son county, N. "\'. , March 21, 1843, studied 
for the priesthood at Mount St. Mary's of the 
West, Cmcinnati, then in Belgium, and was 
ordained over thirty years ago, December 23, 
1 866. His devotion to his faith and the pro- 
motion of the welfare of his congregation and 
the glor)' of his church were remarkable and 
probably never excelled. When relieved of 
his charge of St. James, besought relief in va- 
rious sanitariums, including those of Cincin- 
nati, also in the far south, at Rome City, Ind., 
and at Battle Creek, but all in vain. The end 
came at Detroit, the night of August 14, 1899; 
the remains were brought to Grand Rapids, 
and here interred in St. Andrew's cemetery, 
on the 1 8th, I^ishop Richter officiating at 
mass in person, assisted by numerous clergy- 
men, and attended by a large concourse of lay- 
men to the final resting place, but the limited 
scope of this volume will not permit of a de- 
tailed recount of the obsequies. 

Rev. Robert W. Brown, the pious and able 
successor of Rev. Father Pulcher to the pas- 
torate of St. James, has proved his worthiness 
by his successful management of the affairs of 
the congregation, both spiritual and temporal, 

during the protracted illness of his predecessor. 
20 



He was born in Chester township, Ottawa 
county, Mich., December 9, 1859, and reared 
on his father's farm until eighteen years of age, 
in the meantime attending the common schools, 
and at the age of seventeen entering the 
graded school at Lisbon, in his native county. 

On leaving his home young Robert Brown 
began teaching public school in Alpine town- 
ship, Kent county, and at the termination of one 
term returned to Ottawa county and taught 
three consecutive years. In 1881 he entered 
upon an elective course in the Grand Rapids 
high school, beginning there in the junior 
year's work and graduating in 1 S83, after which 
he taught one more term, and this wound up 
his career as a pedagogue. 

In the spring of 1884 Father Firown en- 
tered St. Vincent's college at Latrobe, Pa., 
under the Benedictine Feathers, there com- 
pleted a classical and theological course in 
1889, and on the 29th day of June, in the 
same year, was ordained priest by the Right 
Rev. Bishop Richter at Grand Rapids, and at 
once assigned as assistant pastor at St. Simon's, 
Ludington, Mich. After serving si.\ months 
in this capacity, Rev. F'ather I^rown was ap- 
pointed pastor of St. Simon's, but after four 
years of zealous and successful labor his health 
became impaired, and at his own request 
he was transferred from the humid atmosphere 
in the vicinity of the lake to the more salubri- 
ous air of Saginaw county, where he was ap- 
pointed pastor of the Hemlock missions. 
Later, the missions were divided, and Father 
Brown was given charge of the church at Mer- 
rill, in the same county, where he assiduously 
labored, accomplishing much that was bene- 
ficial to his flock, until January, 1897, when 
he took up missionary work with Rev. E. H. 
A'ouman, C. S. P., and labored in the diocese 
of Grand Rapids until February 7, 1898, when 
he relieved the late Father Pulcher, whom he 
has succeeded as pastor of St. James. 



890 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Father Brown is broad-viewed and liberal- 
minded, and while his devotion to the church 
and its work is paramount to all things else, 
he is not seclusive, but affable and agreeable 
in his manner and conversation, and the pa- 
rishioners of St. James, whose affection he has 
won, are well pleased that he has become 
their pastor, rather than that any other might 
be called to succeed Father Pulcher. 

The priest's house, or parsonage, adjoining 
St. James church, is a handsome modern edi- 
fice, erected in 1873. The parochial school- 
house was built in 1886, and an elegant hall, 
having a seating capacity for about 500 persons, 
was erected in 1896. The school is in charge 
of seven Sisters of Notre Dame, who have 325 
pupils under their instruction. The societies 
connected with St. James are the League of 
the Sacred Heart, St. James' Aid society, the 
Ladies' Sewing society, and a branch of the 
C. M. B. A 
dition. 



all in a most flourishing con- 




RED SAUNDERS, ex-alderman from 
the Fifth ward. Grand Rapids, and 
proprietor of the popular Baldwin 
house, on Plainfield avenue, near the 
passenger depot of the D., G. H. & M. R. R., 
was born in the village of Adams, Jefferson 
county, N. Y., August 12, 1859, and is what 
may be called a hotel-keeper by heredity, his 
father before him having been a " Boniface " of 
the old and genial style for which the landlords 
of early days were noted, but upon whos3 gen- 
erous hospitality modern inventions have added 
many comforts. 

Burton C. Saunders, father of Fred Saun- 
ders, married Abigail Maxom in New York 
state, and at the time of the birth of the sub- 



ject was in the stock business. He came to 
Grand Rapids about the year 1863, and in 
1864 opened the Sherman house at the corner 
of Leonard street and Plainfield avenue. He 
continued to grow in popularity not only as a 
hotel-keeper but as a citizen, served in the 
common council eleven years, and for two 
terms was its president; for four years he was 
a justice of the peace, and also a school trus- 
tee, and in man}- other ways the public mani- 
fested their confidence in his integrity and 
sound business knowledge. 

Fred Saunders grew to manhood in Grand 
Rapids and was educated in its common and 
high schools. He began the business activities 
of life by working in one of the factories for 
which the cit\' is so famous, but his father de- 
cided that his services in the hotel would prove 
of advantage to both, and in 1877 young Fred 
began his career as a hotel assistant, and at 
the death of his father, in 1880, succeeded to 
the business. The old Sherman house con- 
ducted by his father and himself for twenty 
yeais, was later destroyed by fire, but in its 
close vicinity the present Baldwin house was 
erected and business at once resumed, and so 
prosperously that Mr. Saunders is now dis- 
posed to sell and retire, and allow some one 
else a chance to make a fortune. 

On the 4th day of March, 1885, Mr. Saun- 
ders married Miss Fannie Somniers, an ac- 
complished young lady of German extraction, 
who has blessed him with six children, born in 
the following order: Fred, Burton, Carl, Vel- 
ma, Leila and Claude. In his fraternal rela- 
tions, Mr. Saunders is a member of Valley 
City lodge. No. 157, I. O. O. F., of the B. P. 
O. E., of the I. O. R. M., and of the National 
Union. As a democrat, he first held the office 
of collector for the Fifth ward in 1881 and 
. 1882; in 1884 he was elected alderman, served 
six terms, and after an interval of one year 
was re-elected; he has three times been presi- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



891 



dent of the council, and has been a member of 
every committee of that honorable body, with 
the exception of that on license; his last term 
of service expired May i, 1899, ^s a member 
of the council, and on that day he was ap- 
pointed a member of the board of assessors 
for three years, and it may be added that he 
has also served for several years as an efScient 
member of the board of health. Asa landlord 
his popularity is almost unbounded, and as a 
citizen and official his name stands without re- 
proach. From even this brief record of his 
successful career, the reader can form an al- 
most adequate idea of his usefulness as a resi- 
dent of Grand Rapids, but, at the same time, 
that usefulness can hardly be expressed in 
words. 




ENRY G. SAUNDERS, M. D., one of 
the oldest and most experienced phy- 
sicians of Grand Rapids, Mich., is a 
native of Petersburg, Renssaelaer 
county, N. Y. , was born June 15, 1S19, and 
is a son of Isaac and Matilda (Wells) Saunders, 
natives of Rhode Island, and both of English 
descent. These parents settled in New York 
state in their young days, and to their mar- 
riage were born seven sons and two daughters, 
of whom three, besides Dr. Henry G., are still 
living, viz; Thomas P., a prominent attorney 
of Adams, N. Y. ; William G., a well-known 
physician of Grand Rapids and for twenty 
years a justice of the peace, and Mrs. Eliza- 
beth Scriven, also of Grand Rapids. The de- 
ceased children were named Matilda, Isaac, 
Thompson W., Porter and Burton, all of whom 
died in Adams township, Jefferson county, N. 
Y. , with the exception of Burton, who died in 
Grand Rapids, Mich., and all well advanced in 



years, except Porter. Both parents died in 
New York state — the father at the age of eighty- 
one years, and the mother at fifty-seven. 

Dr. Henry G. Saunders was reared on the 
home farm in the Empire state, and his pri- 
mary education was acquired in adistrict school 
during the winter months. At the age of eight- 
een years he entered a select school at Bell- 
ville, N. Y. , which he attended three winters, 
being alsu employed as an assistant teacher. 
He riext attended Union academy, of Jeffer- 
son county, one term, and then one term at 
the DeRuyter institute, Madison county; he 
was next employed as a teacher in Jefferson 
county, and while thus engaged had occa- 
sion to call for the services of Dr. William V. 
Rosa, to treat an affliction of the eye, brought 
on, doubtless, by over reading. The intimacy 
formed with this physician during this treat- 
ment led to his study of medicine, for three 
years, under this able man, and during this 
course of study he was elected superintendent 
of schools, a position he held for three years, 
when he resigned, in order to secure more time 
to devote to his medical studies. He attended 
lectures at Geneva, N. Y., in the winter of 
1S45-46, and the following year at the medical 
department of the university of New York city, 
also at the Broadway hospital and Dr. Det- 
mold's school of Surgery & Medicine, receiv- 
ing diplomas from the latter institution, as 
well as from the university, in the spring of 
the year 1847. 

for some years Dr. Saunders remained in 
New York attending hospitals, infirmaries, 
alms houses, clinics, etc., then visited Phila- 
delphia, and for some months pursued a similar 
course. He then went to Adams, N. Y. , 
where he at once secured a lucrative practice. 
He also established an office at Ellisburg, 
about nine miles west of Adams, and there, 
likewise, built up a large professional practice 
and also engaged in prosecuting claims against 



30: 



THE aTY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the United States government, mostly to re- 
cover pensions for disabled soldiers. 

About 1855, the doctor visited Grand 
Rapids for the first time, the city then having 
a population of about 5,000. He next visited 
Oceana county, Mich., where he purchased a 
large tract of land, with a view of engaging in 
lumbering, and then returned to Ellisburg, N. 
Y. , resumed his profession and remained there 
until 1858, when he came back to Grand 
Rapids, and this city has since been his per- 
manent residence. He went to the trouble, 
however, of first looking around for a suitable 
location in which to engage in the lumber 
trade, but finally rejected this business as not 
profitable at that day, and resumed his pro- 
fessional practice and the prosecution of claims, 
as formerly. Until 1875 he held a very ex- 
tensive practice, professionally, but his health 
became impaired, and he has confined him- 
self since then to the treatment of friends who 
insist upon his services during office hours. 

The early experience of Dr. Saunders in 
Grand Rapids, owing to a series of misfortunes 
was not of a very encouraging character, as he 
was three times burned out during the first 
eighteen months of his residence here, and by 
these confiagrations he lost most of his per- ] 
sonal effects, including a library of great value, 
his surgical instruments and his account books, ^ 
with no insurance. But he possessed indomit- 
able courage and energy, has lived to see 
Grand Rapids grow from a village of about 
5,000 population to a thriving city with a j 
population of over ioo,000, and through his 
personal efforts alone has acquired a com- 
petency. He now owns 1,500 acres of timber . 
land, one good farm, six large tenements and 
about thirty city lots, and for forty-one years 
has resided in the same dwelling on North 
Ionia street. 

August 22, 1853. Dr. Saunders was united in 
marriage with Mary E. \\'odell, only daughter 



of William and Sarah Wodell, of Ellisburg, 
N. Y., but this lady passed awa}' June 12, 
1878, without issue; but the doctor has reared 
an adopted daughter, Anna, who is now the 
wife of E. H. King, a druggist of Chicago. 
Mrs. Saunders was a member of the Division 
street Methodist Episcopal church at the time 
of her decease, but the doctor has never 
affiliated with any religious organization; he 
has, however, maintained a membership with 
the various medical and surgical associations 
of Grand Rapids. Almost his entire life has 
been devoted to his profession, but for the past 
few years he has sought relief in paying some 
attention to his other business interests. For 
a man of his years he is remarkably well pre- 
served, but he has lived a plain and abstemious 
existence, has never used intoxicants of any 
kind, and his indulgencd in tobacco, most of 
his life, has been limited to an occasional 
smoke. 



I£XRY O. SCHERMERHORN, a much 
respected retired farmer of Grand 
Rapids, Mich. , was born in Port 
Rowan, Norfolk count}-, province of 
Ontario, dominion of Canada, January 20, 
1830, and is a son of Daniel and Ann (\\'all) 
Schermerhorn, the former a native of Greene 
county, N. Y., of pure old Knickerbocker de- 
scent, and the latter of Nova Scotia, of Scotch 
extraction. These parents were married in 
Ontario, and had born to them a famil\" of 
thirteen children, six of whom still survive; the 
father, who was a farmer all his life, died in 
Kent county, Mich., in 1887, at the advanced 
age of eighty-two years, and the mother at the 
same age, died four years later, both being re- 
spected and honored by all who knew them. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



893 



Henr}' O. Schermerhorn was educated in 
his native town of Port Rowan, and quit school 
to accompany his parents to Kent county, 
Mich., in 1845, and here his father purchased 
a farm whicli was then owned and used by the 
county as its poor farm. On this place Henry 
O. f;rew from youth to manhood, continued to 
attend school during the winter seasons and 
assisted his father, in the summer seasons, in 
clearing and cultivating the then wild land. 
At the age of twenty-three years he went to 
New York city and took a course in a business 
college, and in that city was employed in va- 
rious lines of business for about ten years. In 
1862 he returned to Michigan and engaged in 
farming in Walker township, Kent county, for 
about fifteen years, and during this period 
served as township clerk, and school inspector 
ex-officio, as a democrat. In iS77hecame to 
Grand Rapids and was elected a member of the 
county board of supervisors from the Seventh 
ward and filled that office sixteen years, and 
also served one term as a supervisor at large. 
Although influential with his party, he is not 
severely partisan, and has filled office more 
from a sense of public dut}' than from any de- 
sire for reward or fame. 

In all his business transactions Mr. Scher- 
merhorn has met with more than ordinary suc- 
cess, from a financial point of view. Strictly 
honorable aud truthful in all his dealings, he 
has won the confidence of the business com- 
munity, and this confidence he never violated. 
He has acquired a fine estate in Grand Rap- 
ids, comprising, chiefly, residences and im- 
proved property of other kinds, and all has 
been the result of his industry, good manage- 
ment and sound judgment, as he was an abso- 
lutely poor young man when he left his father's 
farm, and is, in the business sense of the 
phrase, a self-made-man. He can now well 
afford to retire to the ease and comfort of pri- j 
vate life and enjoy the fruit of his early indus- 



try and husbandry, without even the care of 
a wife and family. 

The surviving members of Mr. Schermer- 
horn's family, beside himself, are Anna M., 
widow of J. W. Phillips, and residing at No. 
143 Scribner street, city; Mrs. Prisilla McEwan, 
on a farm in Plainfield township; Mrs. Harriet 
Fretts, a widow, also ifi Grand Rapids; Mrs. 
Sarah E. Whitworth, wife of Dr. Herbert 
Whitworth, of Dodge City, Kans. ; John W. , 
a hotelkeeper at Thompsonville, Mich. The 
deceased members that reached adult age 
were Cornelius P., who died in 1897 at Lake 
Charles, La. ; George, who was a soldier dur- 
ing the Civil war, and was president of the G. 
A. R. association at Grand Rapids at the time 
of his death. The others all died in their in- 
fancy. Mr. Schermerhorn is not identified 
with any social or secret order, nor with any 
church organization. In early manhood he 
was a member of the Presbyterian church in 
New York city, and still holds his "letter," 
but he has not re-joined the society since he 
has resided in Grand Rapids. He hasi how- 
ever, led a life of strict morality and is at heart 
a sincere Christian. 



APT. WALTER IvARL SCHMIDT, 
pharmaceutist and proprietor of the 
popular Thum's drug store, at No. 
84 Canal street, Grand Rapids, 
Mich., is a native of this city, was born March 
7, 1868, and is a son of August and Josephine 
Schmidt, a sketch of whose life appears on 
another page of this work. 

\\'alter K. Schmidt was educated in the 
public schools of Grand Rapids, and this educa- 
tion was supplemented by a course in pharmacy 
in the scientific department of the university 



894 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



of Michigan. In this line he served an ap- 
prenticeship of two years, under German tu- 
tors, H. & F. Thum, and is practically a 
bachelor of science, but lacked a few hours 
during semester of stud}^ in some specialty of 
obtaining the diploma entitling him to that 
degree. From the date of his graduation, in 
June, 1 891, until January i, 1892, he was 
employed by his former tutors, the Messrs. 
Thum, and was then taken into partnership. 
His special qualifications as an analytical chem- 
ist were soon recognized, not only by his part- 
ners but by the scientific people of the com- 
nianity. Good positions and business oppor- 
tunities were open to him in every direction, 
and he soon discovered the fact that his posi- 
tion as a junior partner was neither profitable 
nor distinguished. This consideration finally 
led to his purchase of the entire business in 
October, 1894. To the original stock he has 
added a line of photographic supplies — on a 
small scale at first, but now extended so as to 
cover an entire floor of his block. This branch 
has become a very e.xtensive department, and 
gives employment to a number of travehng 
salesmen, as well as to a number of emplovees 
in the store. 

In keeping with his ancestral history, Capt. 
Schmidt, at a great sacrifice of his business in- 
terests, promptly offered his services, at the 
breaking out of the war between the United 
States and Spain. He had joined the militia 
of the state as a member of company B, Grand 
Rapids guards, in 1884, and had received e.\- 
cellent lessons m drill, which fully qualified 
him as a commander. Consequently, when 
the trouble with Spain arose, he was commis- 
sioned first lieutenant of company G. Thirty- 
second Michigan infantry, under Col. McGur- 
rin, and a sketch of this regiment will be 
found in the biography of the colonel on 
another page. On his return from active 
service, Lieut. Schmidt was promoted to the 



captaincy of company M, formerly company 
G, Second Michigan national guards — a posi- 
tion he still holds. 

Capt. Schmidt is a member of \"alley City 
lodge. No. 86, F. & A. M.; Grand Rapids 
chapter. No. 7. R. A. M. ; Daisy lodge. No. 
48, B. P. O. E.; the German Workingmen's 
society; the Lakeside Social club, and the 
Military club. Politically he is a democrat. 

The captain married in Grand Rapids, in 
October, 1892, Miss Nellie L. Turner, a native 
of the city and a descendant of one of its 
oldest and most prominent families. 




ESTELL B. SCRIBNER, real estate, 
loan and insurance agent, at No. 18 
W^est Bridge street. Grand Rapids, 
was born across the street from his 
present office March 15, 1849, and is a son of 
James and Eliza I'Slocum) Scribner. natives of 
New York city and early settlers of Grand 
Rapids. 

James Scribner was born in iSoi and his 
wife October 27, 1807, and they were married 
in their native city August 26, 1826. In 1836 
they removed to Detroit, Mich., and a few 
months later Mr. Scribner came alone to 
Grand Rapids, but later brought on his family 
— in March, 1837. They settled on the west 
side, and Mr. Scribner purchased large tracts 
of timber land in Alpine and Sparta townships, 
and was a man of wonderful enterprise, pluck 
and charity. He built the fiist bridge across 
the Grand river, which proved to be of such 
public benefit that the state bought it. He 
was one of the first directors of the G. R. iS: I. 
R. R., established salt works here, and by a 
liberal policy toward the poorer class of immi- 
grants induced many of them to make perma- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



395 



nent settlement roundabout the city. He died 
in Grand Rapids October 2, i860, most 
mourned of all the mourned. His wife, who 
born in the same house in which her mother 
was born, and in which she was made a bride, 
lived to reach the greatly advanced age of 
ninety-one years, retained her mental facul- 
ties until the latest hour and passed away in 
peace December 24, 1898, a member of St. 
Mark's Episcopal church and of the Order of 
the Eastern Star, her mortal remains being 
interred beside those of her husband in the 
\'alley City cemetery. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. James 
Scribner comprised eight sons and four daugh- 
ters, concerning whom the following record 
may be made in brief; Hail Columbia lost his 
life at \'icksburg. Miss., during the Civil war; 
James L. , also a soldier, was wounded at the 
disastrous battle of Chancellorsville, was taken 
prisoner and long confined on Belle Isle and 
in Libby prison; Stephen R., for the last two 
years a resident of San Francisco, Cal., first 
went west about 1857, remained ten or twelve 
years, engaged in gold mining, then came east 
and engaged in the hardware business for ten 
years, sold out and returned west, realized a 
fortune, and finally retired to his present 
home; Charles H., a partner in business with 
his brother; Nestell B. was a member of com- 
pany C, First Michigan engineers, served four 
years, being a veteran, but incurred a disease 
from which he has never recovered. 

Others of the family are William R., who 
died in Grand Rapids, December 16, i8g8, 
just previous to the mother's death; Mrs. 
M. A. Pew, of No. 99 Broadway; Mrs. E. J. 
Sawyer, No. 213 Barclay street; Sarah M. 
Stevens, No. 3 1 3 Lagrave street, corner of 
First a\'enue; Belle S. Temple, at No. 311 
South La Fayette street; and David C. , the 
},-oungest of the family, is secretary and treas- 
urer of the Grand Rapids Paint & Wood 



Furnishing company, and resides at No. 103 
LaFayette street. 

Nestell B. Scribner graduated from the 
G.'and Rapids high school and is a member of 
its Alumni association. He has been identified 
with the real-estate business of Grand Rapids 
all his life, his father having been the pioneer 
in this line. One year, however, he passed in 
travel for pleasure throughout the west, and 
beside this made a trip ,to the Pacific coast 
with a party of eighteen from this city for the 
purpose of going to Alaska and navigating 
the Yukon river, but unforseen delays in the 
construction of a boat for that purpose caused 
him to sell out his interest in the expedition at 
Seattle, and to return home via San Francisco, 
arriving here during his mother's last illness, 
since wheYi he has devoted his time to the set- 
tlement of the family estate and to a general 
real-estate business. 

Mr. Scribner is prominently identified with 
se\eral of the leading fraternal societies of the 
world, being a member of York lodge. No. 
410, F. & A. M. ; Grand Rapids chapter. No. 
7, R. A. M. ; DeMolai commandery. No. 5, K. 
T. , and has attended several of the national 
meetings of the Knights Templar since and in- 
cluding 1876, when they were in Philadelphia; 
is a charter member of DeWitt Clinton con- 
sistory, was its first S. G. W., and assisted in 
initiating all the thirty-second degree Masons 
in western Michigan; is a member of the O. 
E. S. in the grand chapter of Michigan, or- 
ganized the first chapter of the order in Grand 
Rapids, and for three years was its first 
worthy patron. Mr. Scribner is also a charter 
member of Imperial lodge, K. of P., of Grand 
Rapids, and was first S. W. of Doric lodge, 
and is likewise a member of Daisy lodge, No. 
48, B. P. O. E. His mother donated the first 
lot to the St. Paul's P. E. Memorial Church 
society — being the first contribution — and Mr. 
Scribner was the first junior warden of that 



396 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



organization. He has always taken an active 
interest in vocal music, being a chorus singer 
in church choirs and identified with musical 
circles generally. 

In politics, Mr. Scribner has been a life- 
long democrat, as was his father and all his 
brothers, but he has ne\er been ambitious as 
to public office. 

Mr. Scribner is a splendid specimen of 
physical manhood, standing nearly six feet in 
height and weighing nearly 200 pounds. He 
knows no sickness, and his physical strength 
and endurance cannot be measured, while the 
scope of his mentalit}' can only be guessed at; 
yet some slight idea may be formed of the 
tenacit}- of his memory, when one reflects 
upon the fact that every word and phrase per- 
taining to the exalted offices he holds in the 
fraternal societies has been acquired through 
oral instruction, as not even a word is allowed 
to be written, for the purpose of memorizing 
it, or tor any purpose whatever. 

Mr. Scribner has never married. 




RTHUR RAYMOND ROOD, promi- 
nent as an attorney at law in Grand 
Rapids, with his office at No. 301 
^^''iddicomb building, was born in 
Lapeer, Mich., September 27, 1858, and is of 
English descent. 

Henry C. Rood, father of .Arthur K. Rood, 
was a native of Vermont, and descended from 
ancestors who came to America long before 
the Revolutionar}' war and settled in \\'ilbra- 
ham, Mass., but members of the family later 
removed to \'ermont. Moses Rood, great- 
grandfather of subject, served as a soldier in 
the struggle for the independence of the colo- 
nies, and Aaron Rood, grandfather of Arthur R. , > 



was a soldier of the war of 18 r 2. Ann Eliza 
(Clark) Rood, mother of Arthur R., was born 
in Michigan, but her parents were both natives 
of the north of England. Henry C. Rood was 
brought to Michigan by his parents when only 
six years of age, and became one of the 
pioneer farmers of Lapeer county, where he is 
]i\ ing at the present time. 

Arthur I'laymond Rood worked on his 
father's farm in youth and attended the district 
school in season until thirteen \'ears old. He 
then entered the high school at I^apeer, 
finished its course, and was graduated in 1876. 
In the autumn of the same year he matricu- 
lated at the uni\ersity of Michigan and pur- 
sued the studies of the literary department 
continuously for three years. He had by this 
time found it necessary to earn the money for 
his college expenses, and after teaching for one 
year he returned to the university of Michigan, 
completed the Latin and scientific course, and 
was graduated in 18S1 with the degree of Ph. 
M. ; the master's degree was conferred on him 
for extra work done during the course. For 
the first year after his graduation he was su- 
perintendent of the public schools at Saline. 
The vacations and all the hours that could be 
spared from his duties as teacher were occu- 
pied with the study of law, and his proficiency 
was such that he was admitted to the bar in 
the fall of 1882. About the same time he was 
admitted to the senior class of the law depart- 
ment of the university of Michigan, as his pre- 
liminary studies were accepted as the equiva- 
lent of the first year's course of study; so that 
he was able to graduate with his class in the 
spring of 1883, and received the degree of 
bachelor of laws. 

Immediately after graduation, Mr. Rood 
located at Grand Rapids and spent a short 
time in the law office of Hughes & Smile}-. 
This was followed by a brief period in the 
office of Fred A. Maynard, and a 3ear with 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



899 



Turner & Carroll. He then opened an office 
for himself, through the substantial assistance 
of Charles C. Rood, and practiced alone until 
January, 1893, when he formed a partnership 
with Will E. Ryan. The firm of Rood & 
Ryan continued until 1897, when Mr. Ryan 
was succeeded by Ambrose C. Hindman, which 
firm continues to the present time; their prac- 
tice is general. 

Mr. Rood is a republican. He was chair- 
man of the republican city committee in the 
campaign of 1896, and re-elected chairman of 
the committee in 1897. In the spring of 
1898 — he was nominated for mayor on the re- 
publican ticket, but was defeated. In the 
state convention of September, 1898, he was 
elected one of the members of the state cen- 
tral committee from the Fifth district. 

Mr. Rood has been a Mason since 18S6, 
has advanced to the thirty-second degree, and 
is a member of all the Masonic bodies in Grand 
Rapids. He is a man of active temperament 
and energetic, has traveled somewhat, and is 
unmarried. As a lawyer he is recognized as 
among the able men in his profession in west- 
ern Michigan. 




AMUEL L. SHARPSTEEN, the ac- 
complished and truly artistic photog- 
rapher of Grand Rapids, and prize 
winner at all photographic exhibits 
where his work has been placed in competition 
with that of others, was born near Battle 
Creek, Mich., June 10, 1850, and is the fifth 
of the eight children that graced the marriage 
of Anson and Caroline (Parker) Sharpsteen, 
natives of New York and early settlers in 
Michigan, the old homestead here entered by 



them being still the property of the family. 
The father died on this homestead in 1876, 
and the mother in 1889, and of their children 
all but one are still li\ing. The parents were 
sincere members of, the Methodist church, and 
in politics the father was a republican and lo- 
cally quite prominent. 

Samuel L. Sharpsteen was educated in the 
public schools of Battle Creek, and remained 
with his parents until twenty years of age, 
when he' apprenticed himself to a photographer 
in his native town, and at the end of two 
years had perfected himself in the art, as far 
as it was then known. He then went to 
Owosso, Mich., and in partnership with his 
elder brother opened a gallery. The partner- 
ship lasted but si.\ months, when subject 
became the sole proprietor and carried on a 
successful business until 1882, when he re- 
moved to Ionia, where he remained eight 
years; he then passed one year and si.\ months 
in Detroit, whence he came to Grand Rapids 
and stands to-day as the leading photographer 
of the city. 

Mr. Sharpsteen married, in Owosso, Mich., 
Miss Nettie Tuttle, a native of Cleveland, 
Ohio, and to this union were born two chil- 
dren — ^Carrie and Roy — but both have been 
untimely called avva}'. 

Mr. Sharpsteen is a Blue lodge Mason, is 
a republican in politics, and is a member of 
the Lincoln club. He is the owner of consid- 
erable realty in the north, has a pleasant resi- 
dence at No. 305 South L'nion street, and he 
and wife hold high rank in the social circles of 
the city of Grand Rapids. , 

As an indication of the excellent photo- 
graphic work done by Mr. Sharpsteen, it may 
be mentioned that he took the first prize, a sil- 
ver medal, at the photographic convention 
held at Chautauqua, N. Y., where eighteen 
states were represented and where there were 
forty-four exhibits of competitive skill. 



400 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 




OHN STEKETEE. — The Steketee 
family, consisting of father, mother, 
seven sons and three daughters, 
formed a valuable part of the remark- 
able colony of Dutch emigrants, conducted to 
this country by Rev. Dr. \'an der Meulen in 
1847, that settled in the southwestern part cf 
Ottawa and northwestern part of Allegan 
counties, where the Rev. Dr. Van Raalte had 
established a colon}' in 1846. 

John Steketee, one of the stalwart sons 
alluded to above, was born in the province of 
Zeeland in the kingdom of the Netherlands, 
January 13, 1833. His father was an em- 
ploj'ee of the Netherlands government in the 
capacity of constructor of dykes and canals, 
as had been his ancestors before him for many 
generations, for which important employment 
a special education and training had to be ob- 
tained. A great part of that low country was 
redeemed from the ocean by the construction 
of canals and dykes, and to maintain them 
effectually against one of the greatest forces 
of nature was the first and most constant care 
of the public officials; therefore no more hon- 
orable, trustworthy and useful position could 
be conferred on a citizen than that given the 
elder Steketee. The loving father, who joined 
the pious Van Raalte with his large family of 
sons and daughters, in seeking a new home in 
the wilds of Ottawa county, did so entirely for 
the advantages such a removal would confer 
upon his children, and not with any expectation 
that it would improve his own condition. 

The Steketees settled at Zeeland, Ottawa 
county, Mich., and were the first of the colony 
who made choice of that localitj' for a home. 
John Steketee was, at the time of that settle- 
ment, fourteen years of age. Three years 
afterwards he became a clerk in the store of 
James P. Scott, at Grandville, remained thus 
employed until 1852, and then removed to a 
farm near Reed's lake. That same year he 



was married in Grand Rapids to Miss Cather- 
ine Van der Boegh. After a residence on this 
farm for eight years, he sold it and established 
his home in Grand Rapids, on Goodrich 
street, which home Mr. Steketee still retains. 
Its twenty-six years of happy family associa- 
tions and neighborly acquaintances form the 
largest figure in the good round sum of his 
earthly pleasures. 

In the memorable and eventful presiden- 
tial contest of i860, Mr. Steketee was a sup- 
porter of the great Senator Douglas, of Illi- 
nois. Through the war he followed that 
distinguished patriot in becoming a war demo- 
crat, but immediately after the assassination 
of President Lincoln he joined the republicans, 
and had the honor of being the first repub- 
lican chosen supervisor from the old First 
ward, which office he held continuously for 
eleven years. On the 12th of July, 1889, he 
was appointed collector of internal revenue 
at Grand Rapids, by President Harrison. He 
held this highly responsible office four years 
and discharged its complicated duties with 
honor to himself and satisfaction to the pub- 
lic. Whatever credit is due that office during 
that term is to be accorded Mr. Steketee, who 
gave his entire time to the place with charac- 
teristic interest and mastered its details. 

In April, 1884, Mr. Steketee was selected 
by the government of the Netherlands for the 
position of its vice-consul for Michigan. This 
office imposed upon him many matters of a con- 
fidential nature in behalf of his former coun- 
trymen, who had located in great numbers in 
western Michigan, and especially in Grand 
Rapids. In the execution of these various 
duties, always of a more or less delicacy and 
interest, Mr. Steketee displayed such good 
judgment, sincerity and generosity, that it en- 
deared him greatly to all those who required 
his advice and official aid. This office he now 
holds, and will probably continue to do so to 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



401 



the end of his life. In reco[:;nition of his 
wise and valuable aid, during his consulship, 
to the men and women of Dutch birth, the 
loved and beautiful W'ilhelmina, upon attain- 
ing her sixteenth birthday, conferred upon Mr. 
Steketee the Knighthood of Orange-Nassau, 
one of the highly honorable, noble and select 
orders of the Netherlands. Two years later, 
when the \oung queen attained her majority 
and ascended the throne under so many prom- 
ising auspices for the Dutch nation, \'ice-con- 
sul Steketee sent the following hearty cable- 
gram to her. 

To Her Majesty, Wilhelmina, Queen of the 
Netherlands, The Hague. 
Congratulations from one hundred thousand 
Hollanders residing in the state of Michigan. 
May God's blessing rest upon your Majesty 
and people. John Steketee, 

Vice-consul of the Netherlands, at Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., U. S. A., and Knight in the 
Order of Orange-Nassua. 

The Steketee family is one of the most dis- 
tinguished both in politics and business of all 
the Van Raalte colony. It can be said of 
John Steketee that he has had the highest 
office ever conferred upon a Hollander in this 
state by the Federal government. He has 
won his successes by a quiet, modest, upright 
life, and strict devotion to his own household 
and his own affairs. He is not one of those 
who have climbed up by the footholds of in- 
justice. No man has fallen because he has 
risen. His sons, worthy of the sire, have 
already succeeded to his business, and he is 
devoting the sunset of age to recreation and 
leisure, spending his summers in a handsome 
cottage on the shore of Black lake, where the 
colony, which settled at Zeeland and Holland, 
Mich., landed in the spring of 1847, when this 
region was in its primitive condition. He is 
at ease in his possessions and at peace with his 
fellow-men. 



John M. Steketee, son of John and Cath- 
erine Steketee, mentioned above, was born in 
Grand Rapids, June 29, 1S55, and there at- 
tended the public schools until thirteen years 
of age; he was then employed as clerk in a 
grocery store until seventeen years old, and 
next was given employment for two years in 
the carpet department of Spring & Avery's 
dry-goods store, and thus acquired a practical 
knowledge of mercantile affairs. In March, 
1877, he was employed by the City National 
(later the National City) bank as janitor, and 
held the position until July, 1889, being per- 
fectly reliable and trustworthy in the perform- 
ance of his duties. He was then called to his 
father's office as an assistant, and later suc- 
ceeded to the business, with his brother, Jacob, 
as a partrter, and the two now deal extensively 
in real estate and manage all the details per- 
taining to that line, such as notarial work, etc. 
John M. Steketee married in Grand Rapids, 
November 19, 1S90, Miss Jennie Ypna, and 
he and wife are members of the Congrega- 
tional church, with their pleasant home at 
No. 96 Goodrich street. In politics Mr. Steke- 
tee is a republican. 

Jacob Steketee, also a son of John and 
Catherine Steketee, was born in Grand Rap- 
ids, February 22, 1873, and at the age of sev- 
enteen years graduated from the public school 
— in 1-891. He then began the study ot 
law in the office of Smiley & Earle, continued 
it under Smiley, Smith & Stevens until Sep- 
tember, 1893, and then entered the law de- 
partment of the university of Michigan at Ann 
Arbor, from which he graduated with the class 
of 1S95, and also took a course in literary 
studies. He was admitted to the Kent county 
bar, b}' local examination, April 20, 1S95, 
prior to graduation, and since that date has 
been in active practice, every day adding to 
his success and remuneration. Jacob Steketee 
married in Grand Rapids, November 3, 1895, 



402 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Miss Frances Walder, a native of the city, 
born N'ovember 7, 1874, and a daughter of 
Frank and Anna Walder, natives of Germany, 
and this marriage has been crowned by the 
birth of one son, John. Mr. and Mrs. Steketee 
are members of the Congregational church, 
and own a handsome residence at No. 49 
James street. 




ILLIAM READ SHELBY, of Grand 
Rapids, vice-president of the Grand 
Rapids & Indiana -Railway com- 
pany, was born in Lincoln count}', 
Ky., December 4, 1842. 

The family,- of which he is a representative 
of the si*cth generation, was founded in 
America by Da\id Shelbj', who came from 
Cameron, Wales, about the year 1730 and 
located near North Mountain, in the vicinity 
of Hagerstown. Md., and gave the country a 
line of descendants who have well exemplified 
the sterling, robust manhood, the fearless 
courage and perseverance of the Welsh race. 

Evan, son of David Shelb_v, was a noted 
hunter and Indian trader, and rose to the 
grade of brigadier-general, appointed by the 
state of Virginia, in 1779, for services rendered 
in Indian warfare, this being the first officer of 
that grade west of the Alleghany mountains.- 

His son Isaac, born December i i, 1750, on 
the homestead near Hagerstown, Md., founded 
an estate in Lincoln county, Ky., which he 
named "Travellers' Rest," was elected first 
governor of Kentucky, and re-elected in 18 12. 
He was a distinguished Revolutionary officer 
and the hero at King's Mountain. The result 
of that battle turned the tide in the southern 
states in fa\or of the Continental army and 
]ed to the surrender of Cornwallis at York- 
town. 



On the breaking out of the war of 1812 he 
issued a call for troops, and at the head of a 
brigade of 4,000 Kentuckians marched to the 
aid of Gen. Harrison and participated as one 
of the commanders in the battle of the Thames, 
which ended the hostile operations of the 
British in the northwest, for which distin- 
guished service congress voted and presented 
him a gold medal. In 18 17 he was called by 
President Monroe to a seat in his cabinet as 
secretary of war, but declined the office on 
account of his age. He died at "Travellers' 
Rest" July 18, 1826, from a stroke of 
apoplex}'. 

His son Evan, born at "Travellers' Rest" 
July 27, 1787, inherited a portion of his father's 
estate, named it " Milwood " and was a 
wealthy land and slaveowner and an extensive 
stock raiser. He died in Segmn, Texas, April 
19, 1875. 

John \\'arren Shelby, his son, the father of 
the subject of this sketch, was burn at " Mil- 
wood'' November 11, 1814, and succeeded to 
a portion of his father's estate, to which he 
gave the name of " Knightland."' On the 
breaking out of the Civil war he espoused the 
Union cause and lost his large property, con- 
sisting of a valuable estate, stock and slaves, 
as a consequence. He moved to Pevvee Val- 
ley, K}., in 1875, and died in that place Feb- 
ruary 25, 1S81. 

He was married January 16. iS^S, to Mary 
Humphreys Knight, daughter of Dr. Joseph 
W. Knight and Ann Catherine Humphreys, of 
Louisville, Ky., and granddaughter of Dr. 
John Knight, a surgeon in the army of the 
Revolution, of the family of the Scottish earl, 
John Graham, of Claverhouse. To them 
were born six children, of which \\'illiam 
Read was the eldest son and third child. 

^^'iliiam R. Shelby acquired his education 
in the preparatory schools and Centre college 
of Danville, Ky., his collegiate course being 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



405 



cut short by the Civil war, and subsequent oc- 
cupation of Kentucky by the Federal and 
Rebel troops, at which time, as a member of 
the " Home Guard," he was able through his 
extensive acquaintance and knowledge of the 
political tendencies of the citizens of the state 
to render valuable aid to the Union cause in 
enrolling and recruiting men for the national 
army. 

During the 3'ears 1S63-4-5 he devoted 
himself to supplying wood to steamers on the 
Mississippi river at Island No. 37, being pro- 
tected by the United States gunboats. From 
that time until 1869 he was employed by the 
Adams Express company in their offlce in 
Louisville, Ky. , and in that year removed to 
Pittsburg, Pa., to accept the position of secre- 
tary and treasurer of the Continental Improve- 
ment company. This company was organ- 
ized under charter from the state of Pennsyl- 
vania for the purpose of building railroads, 
and among its promoters were such eminent 
financiers as Gen. G. W. Cass, Thomas A. 
Scott, William Thaw, of Pennsylvania; Hon. 
Samuel J. Tilden, J. F. I). Lanier, of New 
York; Hon. John Sherman and Reuben 
Springer, of Ohio, and this company is still in 
active operation. 

Among its first undertakings was the con- 
tract to build the Grand Rapids & Indiana 
railroad in the states of Michigan and Indiana. 
For this purpose a branch office was opened in 
the city of Grand Rapids in 1 871, to which 
place Mr. Shelby removed in September of 
that year to take charge of the office, having 
in the year previous been elected secretary and 
treasurer of the Grand Rapids & Indiana and 
the Michigan & Lake Shore Railroad com- 
panies. 

On the completion of this contract the 
Michigan office was abolished, and in March, 
1877, Mr. Shelby resigned his official connec- 
tion with the Continental Improvement com- 



pany to assume the position of vice-president 
and treasurer of the Grand Rapids & Indiana 
railroad company, to which he had been elected. 
January i, 1892, he was made first vice-presi- 
dent of this company,, retaining also the position 
of treasurer and purchasing agent, which he- 
had assumed in March, 1877. In June, 1896, 
the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad company 
was sold out under foreclosure proceedings, a 
new company, the Grand Rapids tS: Indiana 
Railway company, was formed, and Mr. Shel- 
by elected vice-president, treasurer and pur- 
chasing agent. 

From 1870 to 1873 Mr. Shelby held the 
offices of secretary and treasurer of the South- 
ern Railway Security company, at that time 
controlling and operating the East Tennessee, 
Virginia & Georgia, the Memphis & Charles- 
ton, and other southern railroads. 

October 16, 1899, he was elected president 
of the Muskegon, Grand Rapids & Indiana 
Railroad company, and president of the Big- 
Rapids & Western Railroad company, and Oc- 
tober 24, 1899, he was elected president of the 
Cincinnati, Richmond & Fort Wayne Kail- 
road company. 

In addition to the many duties involved in 
the positions above named, Mr. Shelby has 
been actively and extensively interested in the 
development of farming interests in various 
sections of the country. Since 1875 he has 
been manager of the "Cass" farm, a portion 
of which is more generally known as the ' ' Great 
Dalrymple" farm in North Dakota, the first 
farm opened in the Dakota territory, and is 
president of the Lake Agricultural company, 
owners of about 20,000 acres of land in what 
is known as the Kankakee valley, lying about 
fifty miles south of Chicago in the states of 
Indiana and Illinois, on which some .$200,000 
has been expended in drainage and prepara- 
tory work. 

Mr. Shelby, in addition to these interests. 



406 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



has been for 5'ears a member of the board of 
directors of the First National bank and the 
Old National bank, its successor, of Grand 
Rapids, as well as a stockholder in various 
manufacturing and mercantile ventures, which 
have contributed to the growth and develop- 
ment of the city's interests. 

As a member of the board of education, 
and chairman of its committee on grounds, he 
was instrumental in establishing the system of 
adorning and ornamenting portions of the 
public school grounds, which has tended so 
much to enhance the beauty of the city. 

In May, 1888, he was appointed a member 
of the board of public works and served in this 
capacity five years, a portion of which time he 
was president of the board, which office he re- 
signed on account of other exacting duties. 

During all his residence in Grand Rapids 
Mr. Shelby has been an active member of St. 
Mark's Episcopal church, a member of its ves- 
try for the past twenty- five years and senior 
warden since 1883. 

An adherent of the democratic party, his 
work in this connection has been to further its 
interests in assuming a full share of the finan- 
cial burdens imposed by party affiliations and 
an active interest in its meetings, but never 
sought or held political office. It was on his 
motion in the sound money conference in 
Chicago that the Indianapolis convention was 
held in 1896, causing the defeat of the Chi- 
cago platform and Bryan. He was chairman 
of the sound money democratic organization 
in Michigan, which conducted so vigorous a 
campaign in 1896. 

Mr. Shelby was married June 16, 1869, at 
Sewickley, Pa., to Mary C, daughter of Gen. 
George ^^^ Cass, the issue being seven chil- 
dren — five sons and two daughters — six of 
whom survive: Cass Knight Shelby, born Sep- 
tember 18, 1870; Charles Littleton, born 
August 9, 1S72, Walter Humphreys, born 



March i, 1875; Ellen Dawson, born February 
20, 1876; George Cass, born December 5, 
187S; William, born April 30, 1881, died in 
infancy, and \'iolette, born April 23, 1882. 

By those of his fellow-citizens with whom 
Mr. Shelby, through his business and social 
interest, comes into contact, he is accorded a 
character above reproach, and the following 
from the pen of one of his intimate friends 
voices the sentiment of all: 

Mr. Shelby is a splendid specimen of phys- 
ical development, always presenting the 
appearance of being well cared for. He is 
domestic in his habits, unostentatious in his 
manner of living, affable and cordial in his 
greeting alike to rich and poor, and although 
having large and perplexing interests to attend 
to in his every day business he never shrinks 
from the duties and responsibilities every man 
owes to the community in which he lives. The 
nature of the work to which the most of his 
time has been devoted to the present has 
tended to develop a keen insight into financial 
matters. Clear headed and far seeing, with a 
quick perception of the pulse of the people, a 
disposition at once open and liberal, his is cer- 
tainly a valued presence in the various business 
and social organizations necessary to the 
progress and development of the city's best 
mterests. 




ALCOLM C. SINCLAIR, M. D. , of 
Grand Rapids, Mich., was born on 
a farm near St. Thomas, Elgin 
county, Ontario, October 3, 1S50, 
and here he spent his youth, during which 
time he passed through the usual course of a 
Canadian country school, after which he en- 
tered the St. Thomas high school, and from 
there went to the grammar school of the same 
place, where he took a full course in the classics 
and the higher branches of learning, with the 
intention, when through, of teaching school; 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



407 



but instead of so doinj,' he at once began the 
study of medicine, and at the age of eighteen 
years entered the office of Dr. Leonard Luton, 
of St. Thomas, Ontario — the present president 
of the college of Physicians & Surgeons of On- 
tario; there he spent two years in preparatory 
studies, then entered Hahnemann Medical 
college, Chicago, 111., from which he graduated 
in the spring of 1873; besides attending Hah- 
nemann Medical college, he also attended sur- 
gical clinics at both Cook county and Mercy 
hospitals, Chicago. After graduating he be- 
gan the practice of his profession at Newaygo, 
Mich., where he remained for nearly two years, 
and from there, in 1876, came to Grand 
Rapids, which offered a larger field for the 
practice of his chosen profession; sickness in 
his family caused a temporary removal from 
Grand Rapids, during which time he went 
south, spending a winter in Florida; he also, 
in the meantime, visited Europe, spending the 
most of his time in England and Scotland — 
combining pleasure and recreation with pro- 
fessional study and observation in hospitals, 
particularly those of London. 

In 1880 the doctor returned to Grand Rap- 
ids, and soon established the extensive and 
lucrative practice which he now enjo3S. The 
doctor is a member of the American Institute 
of Homeopathy, being at present a member of 
the Inter-State committee of the said organi- 
2ation; he is also a member of the Michigan 
Homeopathic Medical society, having served 
as its president during the year of 1897; he was 
prominent m the organization of the college 
of Homeopathic Physicians & Surgeons of 
Grand Rapids, of which he was the first presi- 
dent. He is one of the collaborators and 
founders of the Medical Counselor, a medical 
journal published in the city of Detroit; is also 
a member of the board of censors of the De- 
troit Homeopathic Medical college, and has 
recently been appointed by Gov. Hazen S. 



Pingree a member of the Michigan state board 
of medical examiners in medicine, and was 
elected president of said board at its first meet- 
ing at Lansing, which office he now holds; he 
is a member of the staff and one of the lec- 
turers of the U. B. A. hospital, as well as a 
member and ex-president of the Grand Rapids 
board of health; he is also a director and one 
of the founders of the Grand Rapids Mutual 
Building & Loan association. The doctor 
is likewise associated with the Masonic fra- 
ternity, being a member of Grand River lodge. 
No. 34, F. & A. M., Grand Rapids chaptt^r. 
No. 7, R. A. M., Tyre council. No. 10, and 
DeMolai commandery. No. 5, K. T. , and Sa- 
ladin temple, Mystic Shrine. 

The doctor is a son of Coll and Jean (Mc- 
Larty) Sinclair, both natives of Argyleshire, 
Scotland, but who early located in Canada, 
where they married and settled on the farm on 
which the doctor was born. His father was 
an active and highly respected business man, 
farmer, and extensive dealer in cattle; he was 
a man of sturdy character, who never turned a 
deaf ear to those in need; and many there are 
who can attest to his sterling qualities and un- 
bounded generosity. The mother was a repre- 
sentative of the highest type of womanhood, 
possessing a broad and cultivated mind, well 
stored with knowledge; she exemplified the 
higher ideals of life, and her memory, on ac- 
count of her good qualities and many acts of 
kindness, is sweetly cherished by her immedi- 
ate family, and those whose good fortune it 
was to know her. They are both deceased. 

The doctor can clearly trace his genealogy 
back to the celebrated clan Sinclair, so noted 
in early Scottish romance and historj', and he 
takes just pride in the fact that one of the 
knights selected to accompany the good Sir 
James Douglas, in performing the sacred duty 
of bearing the heart of Sir Robert Bruce to 
the Holy Land, was a Sinclair, of Rosslyn. 



408 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



There were born to his parents twelve 
children — nine of whom are living — two beside 
the doctor being physicians; one, Dr. Coll 
Sinclair, being a graduate of McGill college, 
Montreal, and a resident of Alymer, Ontario, 
where he is prominently and favorably known; 
and it might also be worthy of mention that 
three of the doctor's sisters also married 
physicians. The otht^r physician is Dr. D. S. 
Sinclair, who, after receiving a classical edu- 
cation at the St. Thomas collegiate institute, 
was prepared for teaching and followed that 
profession for a time, after which he entered 
the Chicago Homeopathic Medical college and 
graduated therefrom in the spring of 1887. 
Coming directly to Grand Rapids, he asso- 
ciated himself with the subject of this sketch; 
he is also a member of the staff and lecturer 
of the U. B. A. hospital, and is known in 
Grand Rapids as one of her most successful 
physicians and citizens. 

Politically, Dr. Sinclair is an active and in- 
Ifuential republican, possessing the confidence 
of his party, and while not an active worker 
in politics, he, in a quiet way, e.xerts a great 
influence in political matters pertaining to the 
party to which he belongs; in his religious 
affiliations, the doctor and family are mem- 
bers of the Disciples' church. 

Dr. M. C. Sinclair was married May 25, 
1885, to Miss Edith M. Luton, a daughter of 
\\'illiam and Eliza Luton, of Spring Water 
I^odge, Mapleton, Ontario; she was educated 
in the high schools of Ontario, devoting con- 
siderable time to music and art. Two beauti- 
ful and interesting children have been born to 
this union — Douglas and Jean — the former, 
tweKe years of age and the latter ten. Mrs. 
Sinclair is an active worker fn the Disciples' 
church, being at the present time president of 
the Ladies' Ten, also a member of the board 
of lady managers of the U. B. .\. hospital; 
both she and the doctor stand very high in 



social circles in Grand Rapids, and are equally 
interested and active in any movement de- 
signed for the welfare of the people of that 
citv. 




BEL TOWN PAGE, one of the old- 
est, most energetic and most suc- 
cessful of real estate dealers in Grand 
Rapids, has reached his present 
prominence through his intelligent and liberal 
use of "printer's ink," at which he is an 
adept. He is, moreover, a writer of more 
than ordinary attainments, and this gift has 
been employed, in part, in historical editorials 
on Grand Rabids, its growth and prosperity, 
and in advertising his business. In 1892 he 
published a quarto pamphlet of over a hun- 
dred pages, in which may be found a wonder- 
ful amount of valuable information. The 
primary object of its publication was to per- 
sonally answer the many letters received from 
prospecti\e buyers, relative to settling in 
Grand Rapids. The little work, however, in- 
cludes choice selections of prose and poetry, 
as well as original articles on forestry, horti- 
culture, health, travel and a " thousand and 
one" interesting subjects, altogether practical 
and useful. In addition to this, Mr. Page 
has contributed special articles on various 
topics to the horticultural journals and city 
papers, evincing a familiarity with his sub- 
jects which renders his productions eagerly 
sought and as eagerly read. But it is neces- 
sary that his birth and parentage be spoken 
of, and his earlier career be traced: 

Abel Town Page was born at Rutland, \'t., 
April 15, 1S29, and is the fifth of si.xth chil- 
dren whose parents were Abel and Zilpha 
(Barnes) Page. The former was born at 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



409 



Rindge, X. H., January 30, 1775, married 
October 17, 1809, and died April 30, 1854. 
The latter was born January 14, 1790, and 
departed this life at Grand Rapids May 25, 
1849. 

The subject of this sketch accompanied his 
parents to Detroit in 1835, and in the fall of 
1S36 to Grand Rapids. The eldest son, Will- 
iam B., remained at Detroit, where he died 
March 11, 1841. Abel T. was reared amid 
, pioneer surroundings and associations and is 
therefore well versed in the early history and 
prof^ress of Kent county. He obtained his 
early education at a village school taught in 
the old National hotel, on the present site of 
the Morton house, and subsequently on the 
corner of John and Barclay streets, with Mrs. 
Streeter as preceptress; then on Prospect Hill, 
in a school-house (used on Sunday for public 
worship), and taught by Mrs. Dr. Winslow, 
wife of a pioneer physician. He afterward 
finished his schooling at the academy taught 
by the late Henry Seymour, Rev. Addison 
Ballard, Rev. James Ballard, now deceased, 
also Prof. Franklin Everett. When young, he 
assisted his father in horticultural and agri- 
cultural pursuits, and in 1844 he and his fa- 
ther set out the first nursery within the limits of 
Kent count}'. He then went to Monroe, and 
for several j'ears was employed as clerk in a 
store owned by James Armitage. He came 
back to Grand Rapids, and assisted his father 
in the nursery business until the latter's death 
(in 1854), when he took charge of the busi- 
ness, which he operated until 1857. He then 
sold the nursery, and after a year's residence 
at Grand Rapids purchased a farm four miles 
northeast of the city, where he resided, en- 
gaged in farming and horticulture, until the 
fall of 1S60, when he sold his farm, and two 
years later returned to and engaged in the 
grocery business in the city. After being en- 
gaged for some years in different pursuits he 
21 



established his present business, in which he 
has made a noble success. 

Mr. Page is a member of the Old I'iesi- 
dent's association, the Y. M. C. A., the Kent 
county Horticultural society, the Grand Rap- 
ids Sanitary association, and board of trade. 
He was one of the founders of the Westmin- 
ster Presbyterian church, and has been elected 
deacon, besides filling various other offices. 

Mr. Page was first married December 21, 
1852, to Martha Briggs, a native of Scio, 
Washtenaw county, Mich. Two children 
were born to them — William B., an e.xpert 
machinist, constantly in the employ of railway 
companies, and Edward, who died at the age 
of one year. Mrs. Page died January 30, 
i860, and December 30, 1863, Mr. Page mar- 
ried Harriet E. Butler, a native of Grand 
Blanc, Genesee county, Mich., and a daugh- 
ter of John and Sarah P. (Walkley) Butler, 
natives respectively of New York and Connect- 
icut, but this lady died in this city April 13, 
1887, since which time Mr. Page has resided 
in the family of relatives. 

In 1890 Mr. Page became interested in a 
pleasure resort or summer home in northern 
Michigan. He purchased seventy acres of land 
on Omena bay and set about improving and 
beautifying it for a home. Always a lover of 
Nature and a close observer of her laws, he 
made this ideal spot soon a popular resort for 
pleasure seekers. It was christened "Che- 
Minwahbe," an Indian word signifying '• Fine 
view," and the application of the aboriginal' 
term was no misnomer. Nature, art and 
science, combined with a liberal expenditure 
of money, have rendered " Che-Minwahbe " ''a 
thing of beauty and a joy forever." 

Mr. Page having devoted' much time and 
talent to the collection of fruit and ornamental 
trees, in his earlier years, "Che-Minwahbe" 
farm has received its share of attention in this 
direction, partly for profit, but more largely 



410 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



for the pleasure of employing his knowledge of 
horticultural science. Oinena Resort adjoins 
this farm, and recently Mr. Page purchased 
five lots on the extreme point of land extend- 
ing into the ba}-. 

In 1896 he built Omena Inn, a summer 
hotel for the accomodation of pleasure seekers. 
So popular was this resort that it was found 
necessary to build large additions in 1898, 
doubling the capacity of the house. Beautiful 
natural scenery, heightened by the intelligent 
ingenuity of the owner, renders this a most 
beautiful spot. The hotel, built after the idea of 
modern cottages, is a handsome structure, very 
inviting to the weary, overworked pleasure 
seeker. Parties from Grand Rapids, and from 
various states as well, have erected summer 
cottages there and spend their vacations among 
the rustic beauties of nature. Among those who 
have availed themselves of this privilege are 
Rev. D. F. Bradly, Gen. B. M. Cutcheon, the 
Bevere Sisters, Mrs. fudge Withey, F. H. 
Graves and Mrs. W'illard, of Grand Rapids. 
Besides these. Prof. Currier, of Oberlin (Ohio) 
college, and others have purchased lots and 
are constructing cottages this summer. Three 
years ago the site of Omena Inn, with its 
beautiful surroundings, was in its primitive 
state, covered with natural timber. Che- 
Minwahbe farm is also in a high state of cul- 
tivation, with good buildings and other im- 
provements. It is leased, and serves to supply 
the cottagers and hotel guests with fresh fruits 
and vegetables in season, together with neces- 
sary poultry and dairy products. Omena 
Inn is also leased to competent person, who 
caters to the wants of the pleasure seeker or 
careworn man of business. 

Mr. Page takes great interest in his 
possessions in the north, and usually spends 
his summers there, as far as business in Grand 
Rapids will permit. Though already past the 
three score and ten \'ears allotted to man, he 



is active and energetic, and in the full posses- 
sion of all his faculties to a remarkable degree. 
Yet he feels tiiat his pilgrimage here will 
necessarily be of short duration, and his only 
regret is, that he has not been able to accom- 
plish more for the benefit of his fellow-man. 
Mr. Page is a republican, yet cast his first vote 
for John P. Hale, a free soiler; but upon the 
organization of the republican party he cast 
his influence with' it, though ever voting for the 
best man, regardless of party, in local affairs. 
He is a member of the Humane society, and is 
thoroughly domestic in this tastes. 



.ARIv E. SLOCUM, the popular 
alderman from the Twelfth ward. 
Grand Rapids, and president of the 
board of councilmen, as well as fore- 
man of the G. R. & I. R. R. company's cop- 
per and tin department, was born in Norwalk, 
Huron county, Ohio, January 14, 1853, and 
is a son of Edward and Amelia (Clark) Slocum, 
the former of whom was a competent and 
well-known railroad foreman, but is now de- 
ceased, and the latter a resident of Santa Ana, 
Cal., for the past seven years. 

About the year 1856 the Slocum family 
left Norwalk for Crestline, Ohio, whence they 
went to Fort Wayne. Ind., where Clark E. 
Slocum served an apprenticeship in the Penn- 
sylvania railroad shops, learned his business 
thoroughly, and met with rapid promotion. 
He then passed a short time in Pittsburg, Pa., 
but returned to Fort Wayne, Ind., where he 
lived, all told, about twenty-five years, when 
the railroad company at Grand Rapids, need- 
ing a thoroughly competent foreman, em- 
ployed him to come here and take charge of 
its copper and tin department, the duties of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



411 



which he assumed March 20, 1882, and has 
since held with every satisfaction to all con- 
cerned. He has made himself very popular 
with all classes of the population, especially 
with railroad men, and his present exalted 
municipal position plainly shows the esteem in 
which he is held by the democratic party, of 
which he is a faithful and ardent member, but 
of this position mention will be made further 
on, as well as of his election to the honorable 
bod}' over which he presides. 

Mr. Slocum married, March 23, 1874, Miss 
Augusta Hart, who has blessed him with two 
•children, the elder of whom," May Amelia, was 
highl}- educated, graduated from the literary 
department of the university at Ann Arbor, 
and is now occupying a responsible position as 
teacher m the Wealthy avenue school of 
Grand Rapids, where her ability is fully recog- 
nized; the younger child is named Edward. 
The family are members of the Congrega- 
tional church, to the support of which they 
never fail to make liberal contributions, and 
fraternall}' Mr. Slocum has long been a mem- 
ber of South End lodge. No. 250, I. O. O. P., 
in which he has served as past grand, and he 
is also a member of the encampment. The 
Ivnights of Pythias likewise hold him within 
their ranks, and the Royal Arcanum find it 
necessary to assess him on proper occasions, 
which assessment no member more cheerfully 
pays than he. 

To revert to Mr. Slocum's popularity as a 
democrat, it may be mentioned that he was 
elected alderman from the Twelfth ward of 
Grand Rapids in 1892, without solicitation on 
his part, and so well did he care for the in- 
terests, not only of his ward but those of the 
city, that he was, to his surprise, elected presi- 
dent of the honorable body in 1899, he hav- 
ing served as a most effectual member of the 
ways and means committee for the previous 
six \ears, as well as on several other import- 



ant committees. His present term will expire 
in 1900, and it is ten to one that he will suc- 
ceed himself — if not reach a higher office. 

For the past sixteen years Mr. Slocum has 
had his pleasant home at No. 280 Ninth 
avenue, where he and family extend a gener- 
ous hospitality to a host of warm-hearted 
friends, and enjoy, in return, their sincere 
regard. 




DWARD L. SMITH, a successful busi- 
ness man of Grand Rapids and one of 
the leading manufacturers of cigars 
and wholesale and retail dealers 
therein, is a native of Detroit, Mich., and a 
son of Frederick and Caroline (Benz) Smith. 
He was born on the 7th day of November, 
1858, and passed the first ten years of his life 
in Detroit, removing thence to Ann Arbor 
about 1868. He attended school in the latter 
city until his fifteenth year, and then went to 
South Bend, Ind., where, at the age of six- 
teen, he entered upon a three years' appren- 
ticeship to learn the cigarmaker's trade, which 
he has since made his life work. After becom- 
ing proficient in his chosen calling, Mr. Smith 
located in Cold water, Mich., where he re- 
mained during the interim from 1881 to 1885, 
and in the latter year began work as a journey- 
man, which he followed in various places until 
1887. From that date until 1890 he sold 
goods and then engaged in business for him- 
self in Grand Rapids, establishing a stand at 
No. 1 98 East Bridge street, where he carried 
on a large and lucrative trade until 1S98. In 
September of the year last named, Mr. Smith, 
by reason of the rapid increase in his business, 
removed to more commodious quarters on 
Crescent avenue. No. 20, where he now has a 



41: 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



large manufacturing establishment, and also 
one of the most complete stands for the retail 
trade in the city, and the goods which Mr. 
Smith manufactures have a first-class reputa- 
tion. Mr. Smith's success is all that he can 
reasonably expect, and the position which he 
has attained in the commercial world is the 
direct result of his energy and well-directed 
business sagacity. His reputation in business 
circles is quoted as first-class, and his great 
personal popularity has been a potent factor 
in winning him not only a large number of 
customers, but many warm friends as well, in 
the city and elsewhere. In addition to the 
claims of business, which are quite onerous, 
Mr. Smith finds time to devote to other mat- 
ters of a social and political nature, being an 
active member of the Pythian, Forester and 
Woodmen fraternities, and an earnest worker 
in tlie ranks of the republican party in Grand 
Rapids and Kent county. 




XSON LEE SMITH, M. D. , of No. 545 
Ottawa street, Grand Rapids, Mich., 
is a native of West Unity, ^^'illiams 
county, Ohio, was born February i, 

1862, and is a son of Anson L. and Rosetta 
(Herrick) Smith, who were born, respectively, 
in Ohio and New York, but were married in 
the Buckeye state. 

Anson L. Smith, the father, removed from 
Ohio to Portland, Ionia county, Mich., in 

1863, and there engaged in farming until 1868, 
when he settled in Crystal, Montcalm county, 
purchasing large tracts of pine timber, and en- 
gaging iu the sale of logs and in the manu- 
facture of lumber until his death in 1892. His 
widow still resides at Crystal, in affluent 
circumstances. They had born to them three 
sons and one daughter, of whom William H. 



is an electrician at Detroit; Anson Lee is the 
gentleman whose name opens this sketch; 
Myron E. is an invalid at the maternal home, 
and Rosetta M. is the wife of George W. 
Allen, a caterer at Detroit. 

The' early education of Dr. Anson Lee 
Smith was acquired at the village school in 
Portland, Ionia county, which he attended 
until sixteen years old; he then went to 
Stanton, Montcalm county, graduated there 
from the high school, and for the following 
two years was employed in teaching. He next 
purchased a drug business in Crystal, which he 
conducted for three j'ears, then sold, and for 
the twelve years following continued to bu\" 
and sell similar stores at various points 
throughout the state, realizing a profit on each 
transaction, by which he was enabled to 
acquire a complete medical education. In. 
I S93 he matriculated at Detroit Medical col- 
lege, received one year's credit on account his 
knowledge of chemistry, and graduated in 1896 
with the degree of M. D. For a few months 
after graduating he practiced his profession in 
Detroit, and then, in the autunm of 1896, 
came to Grand Rapids, and has here already 
attained a prominent position before the public, 
both as surgeon and physician. As may be 
inferred, the doctor is a registered pharmacist, 
and he is also a member of the Grand Rapids 
Medical & Surgical society. 

Dr. Smith was happily united in marriage 
in 1 88 1, at Maple Rapids, Clinton county, 
Mich., to Miss Minnie L. Corbley, a native of 
Montcalm county and a daughter of William 
Corbley, an extensive agriculturist and the 
owner of a fine body of 500 acres of land near 
Crystal, with most excellent improvements. 
Mrs. Minnie L. Smith was educated in Crystal 
and at the Stanton high school, is a lady of 
many accomplishments and natural refinement 
improved by culture, and has blessed her hus- 
band with one son — Alba Lee — born in 1890. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



413 



In politics Dr. Smith is a stanch republic- 
an. Fraternally he is a member of the I. O. 
O. F. , lodge and encampment; of the M. W. 
of A., and the Court of Honor. He and family 
attend divine services at the Fountain street 
Baptist church, and socially no family in Grand 
Rapids is held in higher esteem. 




ber 



ATHANG. SMITH, M. D., botanical 
physician, at No. 64 Canal street, 
Grand Rapids, is a native of Oak- 
land, Mich., and was born Septem7 

1S36, a son of Dr. Frederick and Sarah 



(Gott) Smith, the former a native of Con- 
necticut and the latter of Germany. 

Dr. Frederick Smith was a graduate of 
Yale college and passed his life principally in 
the drug business and the practice of medi- 
cine, and in farming. In 1836 he came from 
Connecticut to Michigan, and located in 
Dixboro, Washtenaw count}-, near Ann Ar- 
bor. He entered from the government a 
farm on the bank of Silver creek, where he 
lived many years, but died on his farm near 
Plymouth, Wayne county, at the ripe age of 
about eighty-five years, his v.'ife also dying at 
the same place and at about the same age. 

The early life of Dr. Nathan G. Smith 
was passed among the Indians, there being 
but few'white settlers in Washtenaw county, 
where his parents had located just after his 
birth. For ten years he attended school at 
Ypsilanti, Washtenaw county, and then en- 
tered Ann Arbor universit}', in the same coun- 
ty, where he pursued his medical studies for 
two \ears, and then entered the Cincinnati 
(Ohio I Medical college, where he pursued a 
course of study in botanical treatment, and 
the practice of this school of medicine he has 
continuously followed for forty-four years. 



In 1854 the doctor came to Grand Rapids, 
and here was in the active and successful prac- 
tice of his profession when the Civii war broke 
out, at which juncture he was appointed to the 
medical department of the army. For two 
years he served as surgeon of the Twenty-sec- 
ond Michigan regiment, and then three years 
in hospitals, his last position being that of 
surgeon in hospital. No. i, at Murfreesboro, 
Tenn., where he was honorably discharged at 
the close of 1865, after a service of nearly 
five years. In his last position, he had charge 
of the entire hospital, including the dispen- 
sing of all medical supplies, and holds a very 
complimentary letter from the inspector-gen- 
eral of the United States, in which he is com- 
mended for his honorable record in handling 
over $50,000 worth of these supplies, and for 
his painstaking and competent administration 
of his department. 

After the war, the doctor returned to 
Grand Rapids, but did not resume business 
until he had traveled from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific ocean, passing through thirteen differ- 
ent states. In 1870, however, he finally set- 
tled down here and re-engaged in practice. 
It has been his habit to prepare his own com- 
pounds, from native roots, herbs, etc., and has 
kept one man constantly employed in gather- 
ing these ingredients. The doctor has been 
successful as a physician, but is a failure as a 
collector of fees. He has at this moment ac- 
counts outstanding that exceed $22,000 in 
Grand Rapids alone, but has never resorted 
to legal measures in order to enforce collec- 
tion. He has nevermissed a call night orda}', 
nor has he ever inquired, "Will he pay.'" 
He has signed but three death certificates in 
ten years, and a singularity is, that he has 
never attended a funeral in his life, and has 
never been inside a church — being of Ouaker 
stock. 

Dr. Smith was married in Sturgis, Mich., 



414 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



in 1870, to Miss Melissa Whiting, a native of 
Halifax, N. S., and of Scotch ancestry. Two 
children have blessed this union, viz: Arthur, 
a civil engineer by education, but now a deal- 
er in hardware at East Jordan, Mich., and 
Effie G., who is living with her parents, neith- 
er of the two being married. In politics, the 
doctor is inclined to republicanism, but is liber- 
al in his views and at times votes for a demo- 
cratic friend. 



^ 



ARRY SMITH is a practical and ex- 
perienced sign-writer, of No. 14 Canal 
street, Grand Rapids, was born in 
Phillipsburg, Warren county, N. J., 
March 7, 1855, and is the eldest of the four 
children that crowned the marriage of Samuel 
and Amelia (Arnold) Smith, both natives of 
Pennyslvania. Their remaining three children 
are Jarvis, a farmer at Roscoe, 111.; Anna, 
wife of John Brown, a farmer of Chickasaw 
county, Iowa, and Edward, a molder, in Grand 
Rapids, Mich. All are married and heads of 
families. 

Harry Smith was an infant when his par- 
ents removed from New Jersey to Rockford, 
111., and there, when ten years of age, he was 
bereft by death of his mother, since when he 
has been self-supporting. His father remar- 
ried and is now engaged in fruit growing at 
Fruitport, Mich. Harry Smith attended the 
common schools of Rockford, 111., until his 
mother's death, and remained in the town 
until twenty years of age. In 1876 he came 
to Grand Rapids and began an apprenticeship 
of two years at his present calling. In 1S7S 
he bought the business from his employer and 
is now the oldest sign-writer in the city.. 
From his early boyhood he developed a taste 
for his art, and preferred it to any other em- 



ployment, even then resolving that it should 
be his life work, and his budding talent at that 
early day has fructified in the production of 
one of the best artists in this line in tlie state 
of Michigan. 

Mr. Smith also became much interested in 
base-ball in his early manhood, and followed 
his fortunes on the " diamond " for nine years, 
playing in the cities of Danville, Rock Island, 
Rockford and Freeport, 111. ; Dubuque and 
Davenport, Iowa; Janesville, Beloit and Ra- 
cine, Wis., and also with several amateur 
teams. 

Mr. Smith was married in Grand Rapids, 
December 25, 1878, to Miss Susie DeYoung, 
a native of this city and a daughter of Cor- 
nelius and Johanna DeYoung, old residents — 
the father having been engaged in teaming 
here for many years — and the parents of seven 
children, viz: John, Mary, James, Jennie, 
Susie, Hannah and Samuel, all married, with 
the exception, perhaps, of Samuel, who has 
not been heard from in fifteen years. |ohn is 
in business in Cadillac, and James is mayor of 
Holland, Mich. ; the ethers are all in Grand 
Rapids. To Mr. and Mrs. Harry Smith have 
been born four sons, viz: Judson, an artist in 
Detroit; Howard, who assists his father, and 
Perry and Roger A., attending school. 

Politically, Mr. Smith is democratic in his 
views, but is not violently partisan. Fra- 
ternally he is united with various orders. He 
joined the A. O. U. W. in 1889, has passed 
all the ofScial stations in the local lodge, and 
is now a member of the grand lodge of Michi- 
I gan, and is a member of the Knights of Fidel- 
I ity, a uniform rank of the A. O. U. W. ; he is 
also a member of the M. W. of A. He owns 
a pleasant home at No, 225 Clancy street, 
where he and family have lived the past fifteen 
years, and where their long residence has 
placed them among the most respected people 
' of the whole neighborhood. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



415 




1:NKY SMITH, a prominent horticult- 
urist and florist, is one of Kent 
county's native sons, and dates his 
birth from the 24th of July, 1859. 
His father was from Canada. He was a thor- 
ough farmer, an earnest worker, and leader in 
all church work of the Methodist Episcopal 
denomination. His mother, Mrs. Sarah Es- 
cott Smith, came with her parents from New 
York city to Grand Rapids in 1839, where she 
soon learned the names of the forest trees and 
plants, and loved them as companions. She 
was a pioneer teacher of Kent county, was 
married to George Smith in 1854, and went 
with him into the dense forest west of English- 
\;lle Station, where the road was marked with 
blazed trees, and hewed them out a home of 
100 acres, which was sold in 1 86g. 

They then located just west of the city on 
Bridge street, where four years later George 
Smith died after an illness of twenty months, 
leaving a home of twenty acres, encumbered 
by debt, to the wife and son. 

The son being then in high school con- 
tinued his studies there, afterward taking a 
course in the commercial college, fitting him- 
self for a business career, but the love of horti- 
culture and floriculture predominated in their 
choice of a vocation for a living. 

With an unvarying trust in divine help in 
time of need, Mrs. Smith commenced the 
cultivation of plants under glass in a very 
limited way, which, with careful industry, grew 
from year to year, so that, with the fruit in- 
terest, they have been able to add to both 
farm and glass. 

There are now over twenty greenhouses, 
where they gather thousands of roses, carna- 
tions, violets, etc., every day, for a fine 
trade here and throughout the state: also 
several hundred dollars' worth per month 
are shipped to Chicago; they also raise 
thousands of potted plants for spring trade. 



Their 200 acres of farm are covered with al- 
most all kind of fruits adapted to this climate, 
which have paid well. They employ from 
fifty to 100 people during the fruit season, 
and have thirty employed during the winter 
months; have a boarding house where they 
care for about twenty men, also furnish homes 
for two or three families that work for them. 

The greenhouses are at the farm, the store 
at the corner of Monroe and Division streets. 
They have also an interest in the Citizens' 
Telephone company. They have a fine mod- 
ern residence, where they annually entertain 
the G. R. V. H. society, their church societies, 
etc., in which they are interested. 

Mr. Smith is enthusiastic in the pursuits 
to which he devotes his time and attention, 
and is likewise devoted to his home and busi- 
ness. He is a public-spirited man, active in 
all movements looking to the prosperit}' of the 
city, and also a zealous worker in the church. 
He is a Methodist in his religious belief and a 
trustee of the congregation worshiping on 
Second street. In politics he is a republican, 
and fraternally belongs to lodge No. 52, I. O. 
O. F., in Grand Rapids. 




ARINUS A. SORBER, for the past 
seven years an undertakerat No. 267 
Grand\ille avenue. Grand Rapids, 
and for tvventj'-five years a resident 
of the city, was born in Holland in 1848, 
and was reared a carpenter and cabinetmaker. 
He was married November 20, 1873, in the city 
of Grand Rapids, to Miss Anna Vanderschoor, 
a native of the Netherlands, and to this union 
have been born eight children, of whom four 
only are now living, viz: Catherine, wife of 
Jacob W'qsterbaan, and the mother of one 
child, Annie; Nellie, wife of Wallace Waalkes; 



416 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Marina and Jennie, all of Grand Rapids. Mr. 
Sorber has taken f^reat pride in the education 
of these children and is also an ardent friend 
of public education. 

His trade of cabinetmaker naturally led 
Mr. Sorber to the making of coffins, and this 
to the undertaking business, in which he' is 
now fully posted and up-to-date in all its de- 
tails; he has achieved an excellent reputation 
in this line, being decorous in his demeanor 
and affable and obliging in his disposition, and 
now commands a good share of the funeral di- 
recting business of the city. 

In politics Mr. Sorber is a republican in his 
proclivities, but in local affairs votes for the 
man he deems most suitable for the duties of 
the oflice to be filled. His religion is that of 
the Lutheran church, of which he and his fam- 
ily are members, and his course of life has 
been such as to win the respect of all who 
know him. 

Mr. Sorber has been a good, true and law- 
abiding citizen, and has done all in his power 
to advance the interests of his adopted city and 
to prouTote its substantial prosperity, and this 
patriotism has been reflex in its action, for 
with the prosperity' of the communit}' his own 
affairs have prospered, and the object he had 
in view when, in his early days, he came here, 
has been dail\- plainer to his sight and has be- 
come a palpable realization — the independence 
that results from industry, but which is so 
seldom rewarded even with a bare pittance in 
his native laud. 



ILLIAM ROSE, V. S., at No. 128 

East Fulton street. Grand Rapids, 

Mich., is a native of the pro\ince of 

Ontario, Canada, was born Ma}' 1 1, 

1844, a son of William and Elizabeth (Mc- 




intosh) Rose, both natives of Scotland, but 
who were married in Canada in the spring of 
1839. His mother died January 31, 1899, 
and his father May 11, 1899. Before coming 
to America the father followed his trade of 
tailor, but after his arrival in Canada engaged 
in agricultural pursuits. To his marriage with 
Miss Mcintosh were born eight children, in the 
following order: George, who died when about 
fourteen years of age; John, a farmer in 
Canada; William, whose name heads this 
paragraph; Elizabeth, wife of George Martin, 
a member of the Interior Decorating company, 
of Chicago, Hi. ; Jane, who was the wife of 
Percy J. Pierce, died at the age of forty-two 
years; Daniel is a veterinary surgeon at 
Muskegon, Mich. ; George A., who spent many 
years as traveling auditor for the Pullman 
Palace Car company, is now retired and lives 
in Canada, and David is a practicing physician 



in Chicago, 111. 



Dr. William Rose was educated in the 
public schools of Port Dover, Norfolk county, 
Canada, and his earlier years of labor were 
passed in farming on his father's homestead. 
In the fall of 1879 he entered the Ontario 
\'eterinary college, from which he graduated 
in 1 88 1, and then came to Grand Rapids, 
where, for the past eighteen years, he has been 
favored with a most excellent line of practice 
at the same office he still occupies, and where 
his residence is also situated, to wit: No. 128 
East Fulton street, and during this period, it 
may be here interjected, he has realized a 
fortune of $75,000, a fact that most eloquently 
proclaims his professional skill. 

The marriage of Dr. Rose took place in 
Buffalo, N. Y., May 25, 1874, to Miss Jennie 
Allen, who was born in the neighborhood of 
the doctor's nativity and who was educated in 
the public schools of Simcoe, Canada. Two 
sons have come to bless this marriage^ viz: 
Frank Howard, born September 12, 1884, and 




(fU-^x^ ^-s. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



410 



Delos Blodgett, born April 25, 1886, both of 
whom are bright pupils of the South Division 
street school at Grand Rapids. The parents 
of Mrs. Rose, Ralph and Elizabeth (Trenzo) 
Allen, still reside in New York state, the 
former being a native of Connecticut and the 
latter a Canadian, as mentioned, being of 
French extraction. Mrs. Rose and her chil- 
dren are members of St. Mark's Episcopal 
church, while the doctor, who is distinctively 
liberal in his views, is not a member of any 
religious body. 

Fraternally, Dr. Rose has been an Odd Fel- 
low for several years, and politically he is a 
republican. The sons are both members of 
the Evening Press club, No. t, of which Delos 
is the secretary. This organization is main- 
tained by the Evening Press for the literary 
training and social entertainment of their ac- 
tive "little merchants," who have made it a 
success. The Pleasant Hour on Sunday after- 
noons is looked forward to with pleasure by 
the little fellows who cry the Penny Press. 
The stranger of observing disposition, who 
visits Grand Rapids, cannot fail to notice that 
the venders of newspapers in the city are 
usually little gentlemen, who no doubt have 
received necessary hints on deportment at the 
Pleasant Hour. If a prospective Ijuyer says 
" I can't read," the worst thing they say is — 
"Well, look at the pictures." 




1'2\RY SPRING is the veteran among 
the dr\-goods merchants of Grand 
Rapids. In the early 3'ears of the 
present century a young couple of 
Farmersville, Cataraugus county, N. Y., formed 
a life copartnership. Sturdy, healthy bodies, 
sound minds and honest purposes, composed 
their stock in trade. They were Jared S. 



Spring and Catharine, his wife. Their simple 
life moved modestly, in content, through sum- 
mer's shine and winter's storm, until, one cold, 
blustering morning, while the snow was drift- 
ing about and sifting into their humble home, 
February 7, 1830, a little boy came there to 
stay. They named him Henry. He was the 
eldest of si.x boys who found good quarters in 
the hearts of this robust couple. The boys 
were given the advantage of the district school 
in the winter — in summer they were obliged to 
lend the mite of their small strength for family 
support. 

Tired at length of living "from hand to 
mouth, " the parents decided to try life in the 
then "far west," hoping thus to better the 
opportunity for their boys. In the spring of 
1845 they~ started with their sons, their house- 
hold goods on a wagon, a team of horses, and 
two cows. From Buffalo they took steamboat 
for Detroit, and there began the struggle over 
the log ways and through the deep sands 
of Michigan. The cows and a bag of meal 
.furnished sustenance until they reached Can- 
nonsburg, in Kent count)'. In Clinton county 
the horses were exchanged for two yoke of oxen. 
At the present day the pains and pleasures 
of such a journey may be more easily imagined 
than realized. They purchased a farm, and 
the family struggled onward through fever and 
ague and dire necessities until fairer skies ap- 
peared, and they felt that they were literally 
"out of the woods." Jared and Catharine 
lived to celebrate their golden wedding anni- 
versary, all the six boys being present, each 
with wife and family, in Cannon township, 
September 2, 1878. Jared S. Spring died in 
1 89 1, at the mature age of eighty-eight years, 
having survived his wife some seven years. 
The six sons still gather annually at the old 
home in Cannon. 

Henry Spring, the subject of this sketch, 
began business as a clerk in a small general as- 



420 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



sortment store in the village of Cannonsburg, 
where barter was the fashion of the time. 
Aspiring to something more he came, in 1849, 
to Grand Rapids, applied to Jefferson Morri- 
son, then one of the leading merchants of the 
place, for a position, and received it. Mor- 
rison's store stood near the spot where now is ; 
the beautiful four-story front whose sign reads 
' ' Spring Dry Goods Company. ' ' In February, j 
1854, while in the employ of Lewis Porter as 
clerk in a clothing store, Mr. Spring had an 
invitation from two enterprising men of this 
city who were looking for some bright young 
man of good habits to whom they could intrust 
the management of a large stock of goods — to 
unite his business ability with their capital. 
They were David Burnett and Amos Rath- 
bone. He promptly accepted their proposal. 
In February, 1S54, also, he married Annis 
Salsbury, daughter of a farmer of Clarendon, 
Orleans county. N. Y. After a few years his 
partners retired from the mercantile firm, leav- 
ing Mr. Spring sole proprietor. From this 
modest beginning has grown the fine business 
which now for many x'ears has been so well 
known as that of the firm of The Spring Dry 
Goods Company. From November, i860, 
until the spring of 1S76, he was associated 
with Edwin Avery, under the firm name of 
Spring & Avery. The firm then became Spring 
& Company, which continued until April i, 
1S98, when the corporation as it now exists 
sprang into existence with a capital stock of 
$100,000, Mr. Spring being its president. 
The building now owned and occupied by the 
company is a colossal brick structure, four 
stories and basement, 44x265 feet, fronting 
Monroe and extending through to Louis street. 
The trade, which is strictly dry goods, is whole- 
sale and retail, crowds closely the figure 
of $1,000,000 per annum, and keeps busy 
some 120 employees. 

Mr. Spring relates an incident of his boy- 



hood which kindled the desire by which he 
was led into the mercantile life which he has 
so closely and successfully followed, substan- 
tially as follows: 

When I was about ten years old we lived 
near Victor, N. Y. One morning my mother 
sent me to the village with a basket of eggs, 
to exchange them for groceries. It was the 
first time I had been charged with such a 
duty, and I felt that a responsibility rested 
upon me to do the errand so well that she 
would trust me again. At the store I was re- 
cei\ed politely b}' a boy but little older than 
myself. He attracted me. He was dressed 
nicely. His shoes were black and his collar 
was white. He deftly and pleasantly waited 
upon me, and I was kindled with a desire to 
occupy such a position — to know how to wait 
upon people, especially boys, as well as he 
did, and be able to trade and figure up as 
easily. I remained, asking him questions 
about the business, until there was no excuse 
to stay longer. The boy was as polite when 
I left as when I came in. From that hour my 
chief ambition was to get into a store, and 
when, at the age of fifteen, I entered a little 
general store, at Cannonsburg, I was the hap- 
piest boy imaginable. 

Mr. Spring is president of the Grand Rap- 
ids Electric Light & Power company and 
vice-president of the Grand Rapids Mutual 
Building & Loan association, through which 
many homes have been secured in the city. 
Always a republican, he has not sought office, 
though any in the gift of the people would 
have been his for the taking. He early took 
interest in the old County Fair association, 
and the district and state fairs have found him 
a valued assistant. The Lakeside club, of 
which he is president, has done much to im- 
. prove the social side of the lives of business 
men, and in it Mr. Spring takes just pride. 
Its influence is felt over a wide area, and its 
membership now exceeds 1,000. He is a 
Mason and an Elk, and no man stands higher 
in the hearts of the brethren. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



421 



As was hinted in the beginning of this 
sketch, Mr. Spring leads all now in mercantile 
business in length of continual prosecution of 
the dry-goods trade in this city, having been 
connected with it for iifty years. In 1859 
thirteen dry-goods stores were noted in the 
city directory; of the names there given only 
that of Henry Spring now remains in the same 
connection. Though his head is "silvered 
o'er," his eye is bright, his step elastic, his 
countenance smiling and pleasing, his'greeting 
hearty and cordial. Public-spirited and gen- 
erous, with ready ear and open hand for those 
in misfortune or distress, he is everywhere rec- 
ognized as an honorable, whole-hearted and 
genial citizen. 




ENS SORENSEN, M. D., a regular 
practicing physician and surgeon, 
located at No. JJ Canal street, Grand 
Rapids, is a native of Braband, near 
Aarhuus, Denmark, born on the 7th of Octo- 
ber, 1863. He was educated in his native 
country, his studies covering Latin, Greek, 
Hebrew, Danish and English. He in fact mas- 
tered twelve languages, and is to-day able to 
speak and write them. 

His professional education was received in 
the university of Copenhagen, where he pur- 
sued a course covering eight years, and grad- 
uated from that, the only medical university 
in Denmark, on the last day of January, 1887, 
his e.xaminations having covered the entire 
month. In 1885 he was a delegate to the 
medical students' convention in London, Eng- 
land, where he met students from all the 
European nations. He was one of the fortu- 
nates who received the national stipendium — 
a donation of funds by the kingdom to certain 
of the best students completing the university 



course. This enabled him to spend a year in 
travel, and he visited various European cities, 
principally Leipsic. One of the conditions on 
receiving this stipendium is that the student 
shall make careful memorandums of what he 
observes in the various hospitals, colleges, 
etc., which he visits. This is published at the 
expense of the state and distributed among 
the students in the university. The doctor 
states that the most interesting character 
whom he met on his European trip was Dan- 
ant — the founder of the Red Cross society — 
whom he met in Switzerland. Another char- 
acter whom he met was the French physician, 
Siebault, who sought to introduce hypnotisna 
into the medical science. 

Returning from his trip, he established him- 
self in practics in his native country. There 
he occupied a position in a department under 
the state corresponding nearly with our Amer- 
ican health department in large cities. In 
1892, owing to a cholera epidemic in Ger- 
many, that government sent calls to foreign 
countries for physicians, and Dr. Sorensen 
responded to this call and practiced in Ham- 
burg for one year. From Hamburg he went to 
Edinburgh, thence to London, and thence to 
Liverpool. There he took an engagement on 
the steamship Toronto, and was physician on 
this vessel for seven trips across the Atlantic. 
The steamship company gave him transporta- 
tion to the world's fair at Chicago, where he met 
many of his countrymen and became im- 
bued with the idea that the United States is a 
pretty good place to live in. From Chicago 
he went to Howard county, Nebr. , where he 
was the county physician. He then moved, 
to Omaha and practiced in that city for a 
short time, and still has his certificate from the 
state board of health of Nebraska. In July,. 
1898, he located in Grand Rapids, Mich., and 
here he has already established a very satis- 
factory practice. 



i22 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



In Februar}-, 1898, his sister joined him, 
coming from Russia, where she had spent 
about eight years. The late czar of Russia mar- 
ried a daughter of the king of Denmark, and 
hence his association with the Russian royal 
famil}'. 

Dr. Sorensen was married in western Ne- 
braska, October 7, 1894, to Miss Minnie Ander- 
son, a native of Denmark, though reared in 
America. At the time of marriage, she was 
a student in Omaha Medical college, and is 
now engaged in practice with her husband. 
They have no living children. The doctor 
and wife are members of the Danish Luther- 
an church, and the doctor is a member of the 
Danish Medical society, and of the I. O. O. 
F. lodge. No. II, of this city, and keeps up 
his dues in each. He is a genial, affable and 
scholarly gentleman, well up in his profession 
and destined to make his mark in the world. 
He is the only graduate of the university of 
Denmark in the state of Michigan. He is also 
the only N-ra\- expert in Grand Rapids, and 
is now constructing X-ray machines himself. 




HE KT. REV. HENRY JOSEPH 
RICHTER, bishop of Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born on the 9th of April, 
1838, at Neuenkirchen, in the grand 
duchy of Oldenburg. After studying in the 
local schools and under a private teacher, he 
came to the United States in 1854, and 
entered St. Paul's school in Cincinnati in the 
succeeding year. This was followed by five 
years' of study application in St. Xavier's, St. 
Thomas, at Bardstown, and Mount St. Mary's 
college, in Cincinnati. He went to Rome in 
i860, entered the American college, and, win- 
ning his doctor's cap in 1865, was ordained on 
the loth of June by Cardinal Patrizi. Return- 



ing to Cincinnati in October, he filled the 
chair of dogma, philosophy and liturgy in 
Mount St. Mary's seminary, and a year later 
was made vice-president of that institution. 
In 1870 he founded the church of St. Laur- 
ence and made it a thriving parish; was chap- 
lain to the Sisters of Charity at Mount St. 
Vincent's academy, and a member of the arch- 
bishop's council, and one of the committee of 
investigation of the diocese. 

When his Holiness, Pope Leo XIII, estab- 
lished the diocese of Grand Rapids on the 20lh 
of May, 1882, the Rev. Dr. Richter was 
selected for the new see. He was consecrated 
and enthroned in St. Andrew's, Grand Rapids, 
on the 22nd of April, 1883, by the Most Rev. 
William Henr\' Elder, of Cincinnati. At the 
beginning of his administration Bishop Richter 
found thirty-si.\ priests, thirty-three churches 
with resident pastors, and seventeen parochial 
schools with 2,867 pnpils, out of a population 
of 50,000 Catholics. At present there are in 
his diocese ninety priests, sixty-six churches 
with resident pastors, and forty-five schools 
with 10,383 pupils. At his request the Fran- 
ciscan Fathers, the Fathers of the Holy Ghost 
and of the Most Holy Redeemer, have estab- 
lished houses in the diocese. \"arious new 
charitable institutions have been established, 
and substantial churches have been built and 
are in the course of erection in different parts 
of the diocese. Having taken part in the 
second pro\incial council of Cincinnati, in 
1882, as one of the secretaries, he assisted as 
bishop at the third plenary council of Balti- 
more, in 1884. In the spring of iSS5hemade 
his first official visit at Rome, and attended 
the provincial council of Cincinnati in 1889. 
Bishop Richter is of a very modest, quiet and 
retiring disposition. He has always had the 
reputation of being a \'ery learned and able 
theologian. A man of principle and energy in 
the discharge of his dut}-, he always seeks the 




W"' 



Vr 



t- 







AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



425. 



most unostentatious manner of performing it. 
Combining an unusual activity with such high 
talents, he labors with untiring zeal at the im- 
portant work entrusted to his care. 



RIAS S. SPRINGER, V. S., of No. 
112 North Ionia street, Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., was born in Waterloo, 
Ontario, Canada, January 19, 1856, 
a son of Moses and Barbara (Shantz) Springer, 
the former of whom was a native of Doon, 
Ontario, Canada, and the latter of Ohio. 
These parents were married in Waterloo, the 
mother of Mrs. Springer having gone from 
Ohio to Canada when their daughter was a 
mere child. 

Moses Springer was born August 31, 1824, 
and was a son of Benjamin and Mary Springer. 
He was of remote Holland extraction, his 
great-grandfather having been a clergyman of 
the Episcopal church in that country, but 
later went to Sweden, where he became a 
bishop and also a baron. Charles Christopher 
Springer, a son ot the bishop and baron, was 
educated for the Episcopal ministry and came 
to America in 1665, thus being the founder of 
the family on this side of the Atlantic. Moses 
was a man of sterling integrity and great 
prominence in his community, served as a 
member of the Canadian parliament and was 
sheriff of Waterloo county at the time of his 
death, September 5, 1898. He had been three 
times married — his first wife, Barbara Shantz, 
having been born August 11, 1825, and dying 
October 13, 1884, the mother of six sons and 
six daughters, of which family ten still survive. 
To the two subsequent marriages no children 
were born. 

Dr. Urias S. Springer was the sixth child 
born to his parents. He received a sound lit- 



erary education at Waterloo central school, 
which he attended until about sixteen years of 
age, and then, for a brief period, was employed 
in a machine shop. He supplemented his cen- 
tral school education by an attendance at the 
Berlin Collegiate school, from which he gradu- 
ated at the age of twenty years, and then en- 
tered the Toronto Veterinary college, where he 
pursued a full course of study, and while still 
a student had charge, for a time, of the pro- 
fessor's practice. He took the highest honors 
of his class and was graduated with the degree 
of V. S. Immediately after this event, in 
1880, he went to Tipton, Iowa, at the solici- 
tation of a number of stock breeders, and with, 
the highest recomendations from his tutors, 
and remained there until 1887, when became 
to Grand Rapids, and from the first until the 
present has enjoyed a lucrative practice in the 
city and surrounding country. 

Dr. Springer was joined in matrimony, 
January i, 1890, at Preston, Waterloo county, 
Ontario, with Miss Lucena Clemens, a native 
of that cit}', and a daughter of Joel and Mag- 
dalina (Shoemaker) Clemens, both natives of 
Canada and the father a retired farmer of 
wealth, now residing with his wife at Preston, 
Waterloo county, Ontario. Mrs. Springer 
grew to womanhood on her father's farm, but 
was educated in Zion, where she received 
special instruction in vocal music, and was for 
eleven years the leading soprano in the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church at Preston. 

Dr. Springer is a member of the I. O. O. 
F., which he joined in Grand Rapids, and in 
which he has filled the principal chairs of his 
lodge, and has represented it, beside, in the 
grand lodge; he is also a member of the Royal 
Arcanum. He was also a member of the 
Iowa State Veterinary society and its secre- 
tary for some years, but resigned on coming 
to Grand Rapids. 

The doctor and wife are members of the 



426 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Fountain street Baptist church, this city, and 
Mrs. Springer is a member of all the church 
societies and very active both in church and 
Sunday-school work. In politics the doctor is 
a republican, but he does not confine himself 
to party lines in local affairs. He is devoted 
to his profession and keeps himself supplied 
with all helpful publicatio^ns, being an ever- 
lasting student, and no one stands higher 
than he in the veterinarv art. 




DWARD G. SQUIRES, superintendent 
for the Grand Rapids district of the 
Prudential (life) Insurance company 
of America, whose headquarters are 
in Newark, N. J., has his office in Nos. 310 to 
315 Houseman block, corner of Pearl and 
Ottawa streets, Grand Rapids, and is probably 
the busiest, and certainly one of the most 
energetic, insurance men of the city. 

Mr. Squires was born near Manchester, 
Delaware county, Iowa, November 29, 1869, 
and is a son of Uriel John and Emma ]. 
(Boynton) Squires, both natives of the state of 
New York, but, who settled in Delaware 
county, Iowa, about 1863, where the father 
died on his farm about 1877, his widow being 
now a re'sident of Madison, 111., a suburb of 
St. Louis, Mo. Their family consists of three 
sons and three daughters, all of whom have 
reached the years of maturity and have been 
named, in order of birth, as follows: Cora B., 
who is the wife of Charles W. Gibson, a rail- 
road employee in Madison county. 111.; Minnie 
\'., living with her mother; Edward G., the j 
subject; Ernest D wight, a car-builder, at Mad- 
ison, 111., and Arthur Jerome, a bookkeeper in 
a railroad office in Venice, 111. 

The mother of this family remarried and is 



now Mrs. Knowles, although a second time a 
widow, and to her second marriage was born 
one child, Maude, now the wife of Albert 
Esque, a car-builder of Jerseyville, 111. 

Edward G. Squires, the subject of this 
biographical notice, received his early educa- 
tion in a common school of his native county, 
and his attendance thereat was of brief dura- 
tion, as, at the age of eight years, he was 
bereft by death of his father, but, being a 
bright lad, managed to educate himself for the 
activities of business life. When sixteen j'ears 
old he ventured forth on the "road" as a 
solicitor of orders for the enlargement of 
photographs. After three years thus spent, he 
learned the photographic business in Alabama, 
whither the family had removed in the mean- 
time, and for five years traveled with a port- 
able gallery of his own. He then came north- 
ward as far as Cairo, 111., where, for a year, 
he acted as a superintendent of a fruit farm, 
and then accepted a position in St. Louis, 
Mo., as foreman of grade work for the Chicago 
& Alton Railroad company, which position he 
retained one year, returning to Delaware 
county, Iowa, and was employed ior a year 
by the C. & G. W. Railroad company. He 
ne.xt went into the meat-market business for a 
year at Dubuque, Iowa, then sold out and 
bought an interest with N. H. Hyde in a 
photographic gallery at Manchester. 

About November, 1894, Mr. Squires went 
to St. Louis and continued in the photograph 
business until November 11, 1895, when he 
became agent and collector for the Prudential 
Insurance company, and April 6, 1896, was 
promoted to the position of assistant superin- 
tendent at East St. Louis, III. ; two years later 
he was advanced to the superintendency of the 
Grand Rapids (Mich.) district, took up his res- 
idence here, and has since established a repu- 
tation of being one of the most active and 
energetic insurance men in the state — a fact 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



427 



which is duly appreciated by his company. 
He has direct charge of all the company's 
agents in the district, the direct payment of all 
liabilities caused by the death of the insured in 
the company's industrial branches, and the 
supervision of the interests of the company 
generally. In this class small weekly payinents 
on premiums are accepted and infantile insur- 
ance as low as fi\e cents per week, and in case 
of death the full amount of the policy is 
promptly paid; and in one instance, it is relat- 
ed, the policy on the life of a child accidentally 
killed by a street car was paid within fifty 
minutes afterdeath. The following table speaks 
for itself: 

FIVE VEAR-STRIUES IN ACONTINUOU.S FOR- 
WARD MOVEMENT. 

ASSETS. 

1878 S 21,391.2(1 

1883 563,278.49 

1888 2,874,lfi2..5(; 

1893 11,021,444.93 

1898 28,888,196.42 

INCOME. 

1878 S (i0,48\06 

1883 84rj,902.62 

1888 3,7.17,084.1.') 

1893 9,.'')21,912.19 

1898 - 17,481,875.74 

SURPLUS. 

1878 $ 14,357.08 

1883 175,656.69 

1888 776,218..56 

1893 2,735,560.67 

1898 5,888,894.76 

INSURANCE IN FORCE. 

1878 S 2,027,888.00 

1883 23,053,935.00 

1888 93,661,783.00 

1393 2,30,641,299.00 

189« 414.-547,053.00 

Mr. Scjuires was, joined in matrimony at 
Strawberrypoint, Clayton county, Iowa, Sep- 
tember I, 1894, with Miss Minnie A. Sisson, 
a native of Delaware, Iowa, and a daughter of 



Hiram Sisson, an early settler of that county 
and a prosperous farmer. This union has 
been crowned by the birth of two children, viz: 
Elva Mildred, born September 20, 1895, and 
Edna Cora, July 4, 1897. Mrs. Squires is a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church, to 
the teachings of which Mr. Squires also strong- 
ly inclines, and to which he liberally contrib- 
utes financially. In politics Mr. Squires is a 
republican, and socially he and wife enjoy the 
esteem of many of the best citizens of Grand 
Rapids. 




NDREW JACKSON STEBBINS, the 
well-known real-estate dealer and in- 
surance agent at Grand Rapids, was 
born in Madison county, N. Y. , Oc- 
tober 14, 1840. In October, 1846, he came 
to Michigan with his father, Gaius P. Steb- 
bins, who settled Kent county, two miles 
south of Sparta village. Charles D. Stebbins 
now owns and lives on the farm first taken by 
his father, on section 26, in Sparta township. 
Andrew J. Stebbins in youth attended the 
common school. \\'hen the war of the Re- 
bellion came on, he enlisted in company B, 
Twenty-first Michigan infantry, and had charge 
of medical supplies at hospitals No. i and No. 
4, Nashville, Tenn., and was hospital steward 
until the close of the war. After his return 
he worked on a farm two years, and then en- 
gaged in the lumber trade for se\eral years, 
owning and operating mills on section No. i, 
Sparta, known as Stebbins' mills; also lum- 
bered several years for William T. Powers. 
He then built an elevator at Sparta Center, 
and bought grain for some tiine. Afterward, 
in 1880, he went to Dakota, and spent a year 
at Deadvvood, lumbering there also for W. T. 
Powers. Mr. Stebbens is niainlv a self-edu- 



428 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



cated man, but has always taken great inter- 
est in schools. At his mills in Sparta, after 
two years of hard work in that behalf, and 
several defeats, he succeeded in securing the 
organization of a school district, formed of 
territory taken from the four towns of Sparta, 
Algoma, Tyrone and Solon; also in having a 
good school-house built and nicely furnished 
with patent seats and desks. While he lived 
there he managed to have at least nine months 
of school each year, often making personal 
contributions for the maintenance of the 
schools, and frequently giving presents to the 
small scholars for constant attendance and 
faithful work in their studies. For several 
years in Sparta he held the otSce of justice 
of the peace. In 1882 he was elected 
treasurer of Kent county, since which time he 
has resided in Grand Rapids, and was re- 
elected in 1884, thus holding the office four 
years. In 1889 he was elected a member of 
the common council — alderman from the 
Fourth ward — serving as president of the coun- 
cil during the administration of Edwin F. Uhl 
as mayor. 

Mr. Stebbins married, in 1866, Mary \'. 
Gillam, of Sparta. They have three children 
— Miss Elsie, born in i86g, teacher; Orson 
D., born in 1S70, bookkeeper, and Leo .\. J., 
born in 1S88. Mrs. Stebbins died in this city 
on March 23, 1895, ^'''d was buried in Green- 
wood cemetery. On August 11, 1898, Mr. 
Stebbins married Elizabeth A. Pierce, of 
Grand Rapids, who had been a teacher in the 
public schools of this city for many years, and 
at the time of her marriage was principal of 
the Straight street school, which position she 
resigned upon her marriage. 

Politically, Mr. Stebbins is a democrat. 
He was a charter member of Kent chapter of 
royal arch Masons, and was high priest therein 
until he removed to Grand Rapids. For many 
years he has owned a fine farm in Sparta, but 



never lived on it. At present he is engaged 
in the real-estate and insurance business, and 
is a leader in this line. 






ILLIAM S. STOUGHTOX, of the 
firm of Hester & Stoughton, and 
an experienced undertaker, em- 
balmer and funeral director of 
Grand Rapids, was born on his father's farm 
in the Buckeye state July 5, 1867, a son of 
Col. S. J. and Helen A. (Shannon) Stoughton. 
S. J. Stoughton, a successful lawyer in 
Ohio, at the breaking out of the late Civil war 
recruited a companj' of men and entered the 
service as first lieutenant in the Forty-fourth 
Indiana volunteer infantry, and tlirough his 
gallantry and meritorious conduct was pro- 
moted, step by step, until he attained the rank 
of colonel of the One Hundredth Indiana 
regiment, but his hard service so affected his 
rugged constitution that he was completely 
broken down, and he was eventually dis- 
charged, near the close of the contiict, his death 
taking place four years later. His widow is 
now living in Grand Rapids, Mich., and is the 
mother of two children — Clara A., wife of C. 
F. Parmalee. of this city, and William S., the 
subject of this biography. 

William S. Stoughton, two years after his 
father's death, was taken to Canada by his 
mother, and there passed ten years, after 
which they w^ent to North Dakota. His 
education has been somewhat neglected, as 
when seven years of age he was compelled to 
go seven nnles to school, driving an old horse, 
with his sister for a companion, but years later 
he had an opportunity of attending a business 
college in Minnesota. After working on a 
farm two years in North Dakota, Mr. Stoughton- 
secured a position with an uncle, who was in- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



429 



the furniture and undertaking business, and 
was experienced in his line. For four years 
he worked and studied hard and gained a 
thorough knowledge of the business in all its 
details, and for two years was a partner with 
his uncle. His health, however, began to 
fail, and a change became necessary, and he 
sought out-door work as a carpenter; through 
this means he regained his health and strength 
and some twelve years ago settled in (irand 
Rapids, where his skill with tools readily 
secured him steady employment. About 1896 
he formed a partnership with Mr. Hester in his 
present line, and did a good business of about 
$ 1 2,000 per year, at the corner of Fountain 
and Ionia streets, until its dissolution, June 20, 
1898, Mr. Stoughton now being the sole pro- 
prietor. 

Mr. Stoughton was married in Grand Rap- 
ids, on the 16th day of October, 1895, to 
Miss Mina Lyon, of Kent county, and one 
child has blessed this union — Arthur Tracy. 
Mr. and Mrs. Stoughton attend the Congre- 
gational church, and in politics Mr. Stoughton 
is a republican. For four years he was a trus- 
tee of East Grand Rapids, and for four years, 
also, was a member of the board of revision 
for the township. Fraternally, he is a mem- 
ber of the Modern Woodmen of America, and 
he and wife are among the most respected 
citizens of their neighborhood. Mr. Stough- 
ton is a member of the North American, and 
owns two houses and lots adjacent to the city, 
besides other realty. 



ILLIAM JAMES STUART, a mem- 
ber of the Grand Rapids bar, was 
born in Yankee Springs, Barry 
county, Mich., November r, 1S44. 
His early education was received in the com- 
mon schools of his native county, which he 
22 




attended during the winters until he was fif- 
teen years of age, in the meantime pursuing 
the uneventful life of a farmer's son during 
the remaining portion of the year. At fifteen 
he entered the public schools at Hastings, and 
later on the high school at Kalamazoo. He 
was graduated from the latter in 1863 with the 
iirst class graduated from that school. y\fter 
teaching school during the following winter, 
he entered the freshman class of the univer- 
sity of Michigan in the spring of 1864, and 
upon completion of the literary course was 
graduated with the degree of bachelor of arts 
in 1868. Irrespective of having earned the 
means with which to pay the expenses of a 
college course, he was self-educated. 

For two years succeeding his graduation 
from the university Mr. Stuart taught school 
at Hastings, and then entered the office of 
Balch, Smifey & Balch, where he pursued the 
study of law. He had early formed the pur- 
pose to become a lawyer, and while prosecut- 
ing his literary studies and employed in teach- 
ing, he had constantly kept in view this acme 
of his hope and ambition. After his prepara- 
tory course of reading under the instruction of 
the firm mentioned, he entered the law de- 
partment of the university of Michigan, com- 
pleted its course and received the degree of 
LL. B. upon his graduation in 1872. Return- 
ing to Kalamazoo he became a partner in the 
firm in which he had formerly been a student, 
but the association was only temporary. In 
November of the same year he removed to 
Grand Rapids, and in January, 1873, was ap- 
pointed assistant prosecuting attorney for 
Kent county under E. A. Burlingame. At the 
same time he formed a partnership for general 
practice under the firm name and style of 
Burlingame & Stuart, which continued until 
April 20, 1-876. He was appointed city at- 
torney for Grand Ripids in 1S80 and held the 
position for two terms. In May, 1888, he 



480 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



was appointed prosecuting attorne\- of Kent 
county to fill the vacancy caused by the re- 
moval of the incumbent, and was afterward 
elected for a full term. 

In' addition to these offices, which are 
strictly in the line of his professional work, 
Mr. Stuart has held other positions, both 
educational and political. For two years he . 
was a member of the board of education of 
Grand Rapids. In 1892 he was elected mayor 
of the city and re-elected in 1893, serving two 
terms. The university of Michigan conferred 
upon liim the degree of master of arts, and for 
1894-5 he was president of the society of the 
alumni of the university. He has devoted his 
talents and energies almost without reserve to 
the practice of law. He was associated 
with E. F. Sweet, under the firm name of 
Stuart & Sweet for twelve years, from April, 
1876, and for five years, from April, 1888, he 
■was in partnership with Loyal E. Knappen, 
■under the firm name of Stuart & Knappen. 
From 1893 to 1897 he was engaged in the 
general practice alone. In the spring of 1897 
he formed his present partnership with S. W. 
Barker, under the st^le of Stuart & Barker. 
They conduct a large busi^iess, all of which 
receives much of his personal attention 
and is conducted in such a manner as to hold 
a profitable clientage. He is exceedingly 
methodical in the arrangement of his business 
and painstaking in the preparation of his 
cases. He is equally careful in the trial of 
cases in court, and is also a successful advo- 
cate. His command of language is easy and 
his manner of speech agreeable. In social in- 
tercourse he is affable and courteous with 
everyone. Fraternally, he is a Mason and 
Knight of Pythias, and politically he has 
always been a stanch republican ; religiously, 
he is a communicant and \estryman of St. 
Mark's Episcopal church. On April 13, 1874, 
he married Miss Calista Hadley, of Hastings. 



i^ 



LFRED MORLEY SWITZER, M. 
D., a popular young physician at 
1/ West Bridge street, Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., was born in Ontario, 
Canada, December 24, 1870, and is a son of 
Benjamin and Anna (Taylor) Switzer, natives, 
respectively, of Pennsylvania and the New 
Dominion. 

Benjamin Switzer is of German descent 
and is a near relative of the late Gen. J. B. 
Switzer, of Pittsburg, Pa. — a hero of the 
Civil war. Mr. Switzer was formerly a mer- 
chant in Canada, and was also engaged in 
stock-raising in the United States, and is now 
the owner of several farms near Ontario. Of 
the three children born to him beside the doc- 
tor, Herbert C. is a student in the Detroit 
Medical college; Clara A. is now Mrs. Albert 
\\'ise, of Clinton, her husband being an active 
business man and successful farmer, and Ber- 
tha M. is residing with her parents in Clinton. 

Dr. Switzer, the subject of this memoir, 
received his early education in the common 
schools of Canada, and later graduated from 
the Clinton Collegiate institute. He naxt read 
medicine for three years in the office of a 
Canadian physician of some repute, and then 
entered Detroit Medical college in 1893, com- 
pleted a three years' course of study, after 
which he passed on^ summer at Bartholo- 
mew's and Middlesex hospitals in London, 
England. On his return to America, he opened 
an office in Grand Rapids, in 1897, and here 
is rapidly rising in popularity as an accom- 
plished and skillful physician and surgeon. 
The doctor is a member of the Grand Rapids 
Medical society, also of the Independent Or- 
der of Odd Fellows and of the Maccabees, 
of which latter order he is the medical examin- 
er, as well as medical examiner for the New 
Era InsLu-ance company. 

Dr. Switzer was united in marriage, No- 
vember 2, 1898, at Grand Rapids, with Miss 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



431 



Madge E. Hogadone, a native of the city and 
a daughter of George Hogadons, a fruit farmer 
in the neighborhood, and whose family is 
prominently identified with the county of Kent, ■ 
and whose brother-in-law has served several 
times as state representative and is now sena- ; 
tor. Politically, the doctor is a republican in 
his proclivities, but votes intelligently, or as 
his common sense may dictate. 




3SES TAGGART, one of the lead- 
ing lawyers of I-ient county, and 
ex-attorney-general of Michigan, 
was born at Wilson, Niagara coun- 
ty, N. Y. , February 27, 1S43. His ancestors 
were men of character, ability, education and 
resources. His great-grandfather, James Tag- 
gart, emigrated from Ireland to America in 
boyhood, and settled in Londonderry, Rock- 
ingham county, N. H. James Taggart mar- 
ried' Jane Anderson, whose father was one of 
the first locators of Londonderry, N. H., and 
whose mother was born at Londonderry, Ire- 
kind, during the memorable siege of 1688. 
His grandfather, Samuel Taggart, a native of 
Londonderry, N. H., was born about the mid- 
dle of the eighteenth century, graduated from 
Dartmouth at twenty, and licensed to preach 
in the Presbyterian church during the year 
that the American colonies declared their in- 
dependence of British domination. Sam- 
uel Taggart was for many years pastor of the 
Presbyterian church of Colerain, Mass., where 
he died in 1825. He served fourteen years 
as member of congress from a district in the 
state of Massachusetts, having been first 
elected in 1802 as a federalist. He was a 
man of large abilities and retentive memory; 
a powerful speaker, and a writer of recognized 



force on religious subjects, as well as political 
topics. Moses Taggart is a member of the 
Sons of the .American Revolution by virtue of 
his maternal grandfather Ichabod Cone's en- 
listment and service, in both the states of 
Connecticut and New York, in the Continent- 
al army. 

Upon both sides Moses Taggart comes 
from New England families whose representa- 
tives occupied honorable and important posi- 
tions in the public service. His early life was 
passed upon his father's farm, where he laid 
the basis of a strong physical organization. 
He had expected to go through college and 
had finished his preparatory course at Wilson 
Collegiate institute, when the enlistment of 
two older brothers in the war of the Ribaltion 
imposed upon him in a great degree the care 
and maintenance of his parents. He there- 
fore gave up college and returned to the 
farm. Subsequently he entered as a student 
the office of the late Judge Taggart, of Bata- 
via, his uncle, formerly judge of the supreme 
court and court of appeals of New York; 
graduated from the law department of the 
Michigan university in 1867, and was admit- 
ted to the bar of New York, at Buffalo, in De- 
cember of the same year. He came to Michi- 
gan in January, 1869, settling first at Cedar 
Springs; afterward removed to the city of 
Grand Rapids and entered first th° office of, 
and then into partnership with, B. A. Harlan, 
then judge of probate. He soon after formed 
a new business connection with Eugene E. Al- 
len, and the firm of Taggart & Allen thus 
formed was afterward changed by the admis- 
sion into the firm, in 1875, of L W. Wolcott, 
and subsequently by the withdrawal of Mr. 
Allen on account of ill health and the admis- 
sion to the firm of C. V. Gaunn. Until Jan- 
uary, 1898, the firm of Taggart & Wolcott and 
Taggart, Wolcott & Gaunn was a prominent 
one in the city, and the gentlemen compos- 



4;j2 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



ing it have ranked among the leading mem- 
bers of the bar. 

Since his admission to the bar Mr. Taggart 
his given almost his entire time and attention 
to the study and practice of his profession. 
As the community around him has increased 
and given him wider opportunities for develop- 
ment, he has grown with it. Years of hard 
work in a profession which is singularly exact- 
ing has brought him appropriate compensation 
in a quickened comprehension and strong 
grasp of legal questions and a continuing ca- 
pacity for growth. 

In the fall of 1884 Mr. Taggart was elected 
to the office of attorney-general of the state, 
as the candidate of the republican party. It 
was an office the importance of which is not 
generally understood outside of the profession. 
To that position he brought an industry and 
ability that made its administration by him 
noticeable in the state at large. He found its 
duties so importunate that to their complete 
performance it was necessary he should suffer 
much pecuniary loss in his private practice. 
He did not hesitate, but, submitting to that 
loss, gave himself unreservedly to the delicate 
and important questions which arose in the 
conduct of his office as attorney-general. After 
having been re-nominated by his party, and 
re-elected by the people in 1886, he retired at 
the end of his second term, having won fcr 
himself by the discharge of his duties an en- 
viable reputation. During his e.xercise of the 
functions of the office he formed the acquaint- 
ance of the bar generally throughout the 
state and won the respect of all by his candor, 
courtesy and impartiality. His conduct was 
regulated by a high standard of morality and a 
keen sensibility of the importance, and some- 
times delicacy, of the official duties imposed 
upon him. He was frequently called upon to 
explain or construe statutes in advance of any 
judicial expression upon the same, and he es- 



tablished the reputation of preparing his opin- 
ions thereon conscientiously, and expressing 
his views with unusual clearness. The law- 
has engaged his attention absolutely since he 
first engaged in the practice, and he has uni- 
formly exhibited ability, industry and skill as 
a practioner. 

Mr. Taggart's friendship is marked by a 
sincerity and firmness which always com- 
mands respect. His Christianity is of the 
practical sort, which affects the daily life and 
conversation. In the relations of society and 
citizenship he aims to be guided as nearlj' as 
possible by the Golden Rule. He was mar- 
ried October 17, 1872, to Miss Lillie Ganson, 
of Ypslianti. His children are Ganson, Ralph 
C., James M. , \'an Cleve, and Anna, and since 
January, 1898, his son Ganson has been a 
member of his father's law firm, which is now 
Taggart, Ganson & Taggart. 

Personally, Mr. Taggart is a man of strong 
convictions, firm in his friendships, courteous 
in his bearing. A member of the Presbyte- 
rian church, he carries his Christianity into his 
daily life — in all things having a great deal of 
the steadfastness of his Puritan ancestors, 
without any of the Puritan bitterness. Not 
only as a lawyer, but as a man, he has won 
and enjoys the sincere respect of the com- 
munity in which he lives. 



m'^j^mmMMi 


PKBI 


M 


J 



LLIAM ALDRICH TATEUM, a 
member of the Grand Rapids bar, 
came to this city in 1887. His 
early life was passed in Massachu- 
setts, his natal state, and in Connecticut, 
where he graduated from the Wesle^an uni- 
versity at Middletown, and was prepared for his 
chosen profession at Hartford, later becoming 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



483 



a student at the Boston university law school. 
Since coming to Grand Rapids, Mr. Tateum 
has taken an active interest in political affairs, 
as a republican. In 1891 and 1892 lie was a 
member of the board of aldermen of the city. 
In the session of the state legislature of i 893-4, 
he was a member from this city in the house 
of representatives. Although this was his first 
term in that body, he received the unusual 
honur from his colleagues of being elected 
speaker, and presided during the session. 




[ULIAM WISNER TAYLOR, one of 
the oldest and most experienced 
attorneys at law in Grand Rapids, 
was born in Geneva. Ontario coun- 
ty, N. v., April 25, 1843, a son of Walter T. 
and Charlotte (Dobbin) Taylor, natives of the 
same^state — the former a classical scholar and 
professor, and the latter a daughter of Gen. 
Hugh Dobbin, of the war of 181 2. 

Prof. \\'alter T. Taylor, in iSsr, came to 
Michigan and established, under the auspices 
of the general synod of the Dutch Reformed 
church, the academy at Holland, Ottawa 
county, which afterward developed into Hope 
college. With the academy he maintained his 
connection until 1855, when he returned to 
Geneva, N. Y. He was a practical philologist, 
and had been a professor in Hobart college, 
N. Y'., as an educator, but ended his days in 
Geneva, N. Y'., in 1857 — his widow surviving 
until I 889. They were the parents of thirteen 
children — the subject, William W. , being the 
twelfth — and of these there ar^ eight still 
living. 

William Wisner Taylor was under the in- 
struction of his father at Geneva, N. Y'., and 
Holland, Mich., until si.xteen years of age; he 



then passed two years as a clerk in a book- 
store in Geneva, then entered Hobart college, 
N. Y'. ,and graduated in 1865 as second-honor 
man. For some time he taught school on 
Long Island, then entered Columbia College 
(New Y'ork cit)) Law school, under President 
Theodore W. Dwight, and was admitted to the 
bar in the citj- of New York in the fall of 1867. 
He was sent to Charleston, S. C, under the 
auspices of the Protestant Episcopal church, 
as superintendent of a colored school, remained 
two years, and in June, 1869, came to Grand 
Rapids and engaged in the practice of his pro- 
fession. Asa democrat, Mr. Taylor served as 
city attorney from 1874 until 1879, inclusive, 
was next assistant city attorney for two years 
under James W. Ransom, and then again 
filled the' office of city attorney from 1889 
until 1S93. 

The marriage of Mr. Tajdor took place at 
Oyster Bay, Long Island, N. Y'., Jul)' 23, 
I 87 I, to Miss Olivia R. Burtis, who was born 
in Brookl3'n, N. Y., January 8, 1848, a daugh- 
ter of Oliver D. and Rachael (Smith) Burtis. 
This happ\' union has been blessed with six 
children, viz: William Wisner, late sergeant 
of company H, Thirty-second Michigan N. G., 
but now serving in the Philippines as corporal 
of the Fourth infantry; Olivia, Louise R. , 
Charlotte B., Elizabeth and Julia B. Mr. 
and Mrs. Taylor are members of St. Mark's 
Episcopal church, and the social standing of 
the famil}' is most desirable. 



ILLIAM JAMES THOMAS, county 
clerk of Kent county, Mich., was 
born in Cannon township, Novem- 
ber 24, 1859, a son of John M. 
and Carrie (Kromer) Thomas, the former of 
whom was born in Lycoming count}'. Pa., and 




434 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the latter in New York. These parents were 
married in Kent county, Mich., November 24, 
1858, settled on a farm, on which their two 
children, William J. and Fred, were born, and 
where Mrs. Thomas died in 1866. In the 
meanwhile Mr. Thomas had served a year in 
company H, Twenty-first Michigan volunteer 
infantry. The second-born child, Fred, is a 
resident oi Grand Rapids, and is a furniture 
finisher by vocation. 

John M. Thomas remained on the old 
homestead in Cannon township, after being 
bereft of his wife, continued his occupation of 
farming, and in 1868 married Miss Carrie 
Scott, a native of New York, and to this mar- 
riage has been born one child — Blanche. In 
politics Mr. Thomas is quite prominent as a 
republican. He served as deputy sheriff in 
1S78, and was the republican candidate for 
sheriff in 1884; during Harrison's administra- 
tion he served as deputy United States mar- 
shal, and now holds the office of county drain 
commissioner. In 1889 Mr. Thomas removed 
from Cannon township to Grand Rapids town- 
ship, a half-mile north of the city limits of 
Grand Rapids, where he still resides. He is a 
royal arch Mason, and is highly respected 
throughout the county. 

William J. Thomas was educated in the 
union school of Cannon township and at the 
high school of Grand Rapids. He began his 
business life at the early age of eighteen years, 
by teaching a country school two years, fol- 
lowed by twelve terms as principal of the 
Cannonsburg union school. He next engaged 
in lumbering, followed the calling during the 
years 1882 and 1883, and then settled down 
to farming. For three years (1894-95-96) he 
served as supervisor of Cannon township, and 
in the fall of 1896 was elected county clerk, 
and again in the fall of i8g8. This compli- 
ment is pretty good evidence that he has filled 
the latter office with abilitv and faithfulness. 



The marriage of Mr. Thomas took place 
in Cannon township June 4, 1881. to Miss 
Cora L. Lacey, who was born in Rockford, 
Kent county, Mich., May 17, i860, a daughter 
of John I. and Catherine (Gray) Lacey. Four 
children have come to bless this marriage, and 
are named, in order of birth, John N., Mae, 
Charles and Leah. Fraternally Mr. Thomas 
is a member of Rockford lodge, No. 246, A. F. & 
A. M. ; Daisy lodge, No. 48, B. P. O. E. ; Cannon 
tent. No. 815, Maccabees; Grand Rapids court 
of Foresters, and Kent camp of Woodmen. 
Mr. Thomas and family reside at No. 265 
North Prospect street. Grand Rapids, but Mr. 
Thomas still owns his farm of 320 acres in 
Cannon township, which he has cultivated in 
small grain by hired help, and on which he 
breeds some fine live stock. As a republican 
Mr. Thomas is greatly in favor with his party 
as well as with the public, and socially he and 
wife enjoy the esteem of a very wide circle of 
warm-hearted friends. 



fL\RLES WELLINGTON TUFTS, 
of the city of Grand Rapids, al- 
though not an old settler, is among 
the enterprising men of the place, 
and of recent years has been a considerable 
factor in its improvement and development. 
He was born in Gallon, Ohio, January 8, i 856, 
and, through, a long line of notable ancestry, 
traces his lineage back to Peter Tufts, who 
was the progenitor of the f.unily in .\merica. 
and came from Norfolk county, England, 
about the year 1630. He was a Massachu- 
setts colonist, and with his brother-in-law, 
William Bridges, kept the Maiden ferry in 
1646 and 1647. He lived in Everett and on 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



43& 



the site of the niter storehouse in Maiden, and 
was a large land owner. He married Mary, 
a daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Pierce, 
of Charlestown. She died January lO, 1702, 
aged seventy-five years. He died May 13, 
1700, aged eighty-three years. Their grave- 
stones in Bell Rock cemetery, Maiden, are still 
in an excellent state of preservation. 

From this beginning, the Tufts family multi- 
plied, and its representatives may be found in 
all parts of the United States. As a rule they 
have been prominent in social and political 
affairs, and the name of Tufts is intimately as- 
sociated with many notable events, and phil- 
anthropic enterprises. Among them was Peter 
the second, known as Capt. Tufts. He was 
commissioned lieutenant of a cavalry troop 
October 17, 1699, and later was much inter- 
ested in educational affairs; and John Tufts, 
whose name appears on the rolls of old Har- 
vard as far back as 1 708. He studied theology, 
was pastor of Second church, at Newbur}', from 
1 7 14 to 1738, and wrote, as early as 17 14, 
"An Introduction to the Singing of Psalm- tunes, 
in a plain and easy method, with a collection 
of tunes; In three parts." He advocated 
singing by note, and his was the first book of 
the kind published in New England, and 
passed through several editions. 

Generations later came Charles Tufts, the 
granduncle of the subject of this sketch, who 
was born in Medford, Mass., July 16, 1781, 
and died at Somerville, December 24, 1S76. 
He was a manufacturer and active business 
man, promoted the prosperity of his town, and 
added to his fortune by sagacious investments. 
He was a liberal friend of education, and to 
his effort, liberality and influence, was founded, 
in 1847, Tufts' college, at Boston. The 
college has become the largest and strongest 
institution of its class in the United States. 
He gave not only large amounts of money, 
but seventy acres of valuable land, upon a 



part of which the college stands. This same 
land was purchased by Peter Tufts in 1690. A 
charter was obtained in 1852, and instruction 
actually began in 1855. The college is under 
the control of the Universalist church, and the 
divinity school prepares students for the minis- 
try of that denomination. Otis Tufts, a 
second cousin of Charles Wellington, was the 
inventor of the grain elevator, the first being 
operated by a large screw, which ran up the 
center of the elevator car, and this he used for 
years in his machine shop in Boston; he after- 
ward improved upon this, and built a large 
number, which are still in use in the same 
city. He was also the first man to use se\eral 
cables on cars for safety in case of breakage. 
James W. Tufts was the inventor of the soda- 
water fountain, and realized a fortune from 
its sales. 

The parents of the subject of this sketch, 
George A. Tufts and Sarah R. fPettyes) Tufts, 
moved to Leslie, Mich., in 1864, where Charles 
Wellington received his primary education. 
He was graduated from the high school in 
1876, and that same year entered the uni- 
versity of Michigan and was graduated in 1880, 
with the degrees of A. B. and A. M. Sub- 
sequently he studied one j'ear in Berlin and 
Leipsic, German}'. Then, returning to the 
United States, he engaged in teaching, first for 
one year at Sheboygan, Wis., then as princi- 
pal of the high school at Kalamazoo, and later 
as principal at the Normal at Ottawa, 111., 
for four years. Mr. Tufts graduated from 
the law department of the university of 
Michigan, at Ann Arboar, was admitted to the 
bar at Mason, Ingham county, came to Grand 
Rapids in 1888 and commenced the practice of 
law, forming a partnership with C. R. 
Buchanan, under the firm name of Tufts & 
Buchanan; this arrangement continued for 
two years, during which time Mr. Tufts' 
personal business had increased to large pro- 



430 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



portions, and the partnership was dissolved bj' 
mutual consent. 

This gave the subject an opportunity to 
give more attention to the real-estate business, 
and in this line of work he has accomplished 
much. He bought five acres between Madi- 
son and Union streets, near Fifth avenue, 
and platted the same, and this is known as 
C. W. Tufts' First addition to Grand Rapids. 
This tract is now mostly improved and in its 
management he built four residences himself. 
Later he platted another five acres, known as 
C. W. Tufts' Second addition, and since com- 
ing to this city he has built and sold 1 56 
houses — many of them fine models of archi- 
tecture, and all of them a good class of resi- 
dences. He is also interested in other addi- 
tions to the cit}', his own holdings taking the 
greater part of his time. 

In 1893 Mr. Tufts began and completed 
the attractive building on Fulton street known 
as the Wellington fiats. This edifice is one of 
the best in the city, is 45 .\ 168 feet, six stories, 
and contains about 200 rooms. In 1899 he 
enlarged this building — making an addition of 
48x62 feet, seven stories, and containing 
ninety-eight rooms — the entire building cost- 
ing upward of $100,000. The Wellington 
flats are so called from early associations. A 
great uncle of Mr. Tufts, who was a promi- 
nent man in Boston, bore the name of Well- 
ington, and after him also was named the 
subject. 

Mr. Tufts was married at Toledo, Ohio, 
September 18, 1877, to Gertrude L. Clapp, 
who was born in Ovvego, N. Y., December 
25, i860, a daughter of James H. and Mary 
(Dana) Clapp, of Massachusetts, whose an- 
cestry is traceable in direct lii e to members 
of the Mayflower colony. They have one 
daughter — Lura G., born January 25, 1885. 
Mr. and Mrs. Tufts attend the Congregational 
church, and in politics Mr. Tufts is a repub- 



lican. Socially Mr. Tufts is a genial gentle- 
man, whom it is a pleasure to meet. Frater- 
nally he is connected with the Masonic order 
and is a member of the Patriarchal Circle. 





EORGE SLATER, a respected retired 
farmer residing on South Division 
street. Grand Rapids, is a native of 
England, and was brought by his 
father to Lower Canada, his mother having 
died when he was still an infant in England. 
The parents were Robert and Elizabeth 
;Reeves) Slater, both natives of England. 
The father was born May 22, 1787,- and died 
in Lower Canada in 1S64; the mother was 
born August 18, 1781, and died in 1827. Of 
their family of si.s, the eldest, a daughter, died 
in infancy; John, whom subject has never 
seen, remained in England, and is a very old 
man, if living; Henry died at St. Marys, Can- 
ada West; William died in Lower Canada; 
Richard is a farmer of Preston, Minn., aged 
seventy-eight years; Robert died in this coun- 
try about 1892; George, the subject, was born 
October 25, 1825; Samuel, born in 1834, is in 
Caledonia township, I\ent county, Mich. ; he 
is a son by his father's second marriage. The 
stepmother was Esther, a widow of a soldier 
of the English army, her former name having 
been Mrs. Asprey Lewis. She also died in 
Lower Canada. 

George Slater, the subject, ran away from 
home in boyhood and located at Canaan, \'t., 
and was voriously employed in \"ermont. New 
Hampshire and Connecticut until his mar- 
riage, November 24, 1851, after which he 
farmed on Canaan Hill for seven years. His 
wife was Emilv Beecher, a distant relative of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



439 



Henry Ward Bsecher and descended from 
Revolutionary stock. Her parents were Jo- 
seph and Maria (Cramer) Beecher, Joseph's 
parents, Nathan and Lucy Beecher, having 
been born in Connecticut, as was his wife, 
and they ended their days in New Hampshire. 
The father, a farmer, died at the age of eighty- 
seven and the mother at fifty-two years of age. 

Nathan Beecher, paternal grandfather of 
Mrs. Slater, was a soldier under Washington 
in the Revolutionary war. Mrs. Slater had 
five brothers and four sisters, five of whom are 
living; these are Chester Allen, in New Hamp- 
shire, a farmer; Mrs. Slater: Reuben is in 
Lower Canada; Nathao.is in New Hampshire, 
and Catherine Dearth also lives in that state. 

Afier seven years spent in farming in Ver- 
mont, Mr. Slater brought his wife and three 
children to Michigan and located on a farm in 
Paris township, Kent county. This was in 
Afarch, 1859. He bought eighty acres of 
partly improved land and lived in a log cabin 
for some years; afterward he bought 100 acres 
adjoining. This land is still in the family, 
though I 10 acres have been added. 

Mr. and Mrs. Slater are the parents of six 
children living and one dead', viz: Allen G. , 
born in \'ermont on October 18, 1853, and 
now on a farm in Paris township; Richard J., 
born in Vermont September 16, 1856, and 
now a farmer in Cascade township; Maria E., 
wife of Charles Dennett, resides in California; 
she was born in \'ermont May 6, 1858; Ches- 
ter];., born November 19, i86r, in Paris town- 
ship, died August iS, 1863; Alfred W. , born 
March 5, 1864, is a farmer in Paris township; 
Nellie M., born May 30, 1866, was married 
March 1.7, 1887, to Joseph Apsey, and lives on 
the old home farm; John E., born October 30, 
I 868, lives on the old home farm, a portion of 
which he owns. The descendants of George 
Slater are represented by twent^'-five grand- 
children. 



Mr. and Mrs. Slater remained upon the Paris 
township farm until their children were grown 
to maturity, when they gave each of the sons 
a farm and retired to city life. One of these 
farms cost Mr. Slater $6,000. They came to 
Grand Rapids in February, 1890, and pur- 
chased the block in which they live, beside 
other city property and they still own a por- 
tion of the old home farm upon which they lo- 
cated in 1859. They brought $1,600 with 
them from \'ermont, and this was invested in 
the eighty acres, leaving a debt of $300. From 
this humble beginning, by virtue of hard work 
and economy, they became very well to do. 
Mr. Slater has been a life-long democrat 
and has held various offices in Paris township. 
He is a member of the church of England, and 
his wife iS a member of the Congregational 
church. They have assisted with their means 
in building up a church in Paris township, and 
contribute to the support of many others. Mr. 
Slater has been self-sustaining ever since he 
ran away from home in boyhood. His father 
was a man of good education, and was a jus- 
tice of the peace in Lower Canada for many 
3''ears. Subject's educational advantages were 
somewhat limited, but he makes up for this 
lack by being blessed with good hard common 
sense. He is joll^' and wholesouled — a joker 
who appreciates a joke on himself as well as 
on his companion, and is a universal favorite. 
He is strictly temperate, never having used 
stimulants, even tea or coffee. 



AMES M. TRA\TS, who buys and sells 
everything on earth and has storage 
room for more at his unique museum. 
No. Gj Canal street, Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in Staunton, Augusta county, 




440 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Va., October 8, 1S45, and is a son of Johji 
W. and Anna (Trimble) Travis, the former of 
whom was born in Augusta, and the latter in 
Rockingham county, of the Old Dominion. 
The father, by inheritance, was a slaveholder, 
but was conscientiously inimical to the sys- 
tem, and freed five of his human chattels long 
before the breaking out of the Civil war. He 
came west during the childhood of "Jim," 
and died in Edgar county. 111., where his wife 
also passed away. They were the parents of 
eight sons and four daughters, of whom the 
subject is the seventh son. Five of the sons 
were soldiers in the Union army during the 
Civil war, and one was in the Confederate 
service. The Union bo3"s were George, Will- 
iam, Henry, James and Charles, and though 
all escaped death, James was twice wounded 
and Henry wounded once. The first "un- 
pleasantness " that happened James, in the 
way of an injury, was at Stone River, and the 
second was at Missionary Ridge. John Travis, 
who served in the Confederate army, has since 
gone to his eternal home. George is now a 
practicing physician in Missouri, and Charles 
is now a major in the United States regular 
army. 

James M. Tra\is was educated in the 
country schools of Edgar county. 111., and 
after serving three and a half jears in the 
Seventy-ninth Illinois infantry, with the army 
of the Cumberland, traveled eight years with a 
brother as manager of the latter's entertain- 
ment troupe. In 1S71 he came to Grand 
Rapids and was first employed in clearing off 
the timber of the right of way of the Holland 
railway, and ne.xt engaged in the flour and 
feed trade, then in the livery business for five 
years, and next in his present business as 
salesman. He succeeded to the ownership of 
this peculiar establishment in 1S87, and its 
designation, or title, as already given, explains 
the nature of the traffic he conducts. The 



business was established over fifty years ago- 
by Squire Buddington, passed from him to 
Robert Smith, who was the employer of Mr. 
Travis, and at his death came into the bands 
of the latter through purchase. Of course it 
would be useless to attempt to describe the 
tremendous stock of curios, relics and other 
articles, useful and ornamental, that he has 
constantly on hand. In fact, it is more than 
he can do himself; but whatever a buyer may 
want he can get, and whatever a seller has to 
dispose of he can sell, at No. Sj Canal street. 

Mr. Travis was married in Grand Rapids, 
in 1S72, to Miss Marcia E. Dunton, a native 
of Wisconsin, and to this marriage have been 
born four daughters and one son — Calla, Evy- 
lin, Ella, Maud and " C. C. " The eldest 
daughter is a teacher of physical culture, del- 
sarte, calisthenics, etc., at the Akley institute, 
of which she is herself a graduate, and she 
also has charge of the Charlevoix resort enter- 
tainments during the summer season. The 
other children are still at home. 

The mother of Mr. Travis was a lady 
highly connected in Virginia, as she was a 
double full cousin of John Randolph, of Roan- 
oke. ^^'illiam Travis, brother of subject, is a 
sketch artist of national reputation, and is 
located in Burlington, X. J. He has traveled 
extensively in European countries, is fully 
equipped for an elaborate business in his line, 
and has already made a grand success in life. 
James has himself been very successful finan- 
cially,' having accumulated a fine property 
through his close application to business. His 
family home, at No. 508 Jefferson street, is a 
model of good taste. He is a teetotaler, as 
far as the use of intoxicants is concerned, 
but is a genial companion. He receives a 
pension on account of wounds received in the 
service of his country, and in politics is a 
democrat, although he has never sought polit- 
ical honors. Jovial and goodnatured, with a 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



441 



strong sense of humor, he delights in the title 
of plain "Jim Travis," rather than in the 
more dignified cognomen of Mr. James Travis. 



1S73. 



HRISTIAN VANDERVEEN, a well- 
known physician and surgeon of 
Grand Rapids, was born in Holland, 
Mich., on the 12th day of May, 

He is a son of Rev. Christian \'ander- 



veen, who cam-e to America when a boy with a 
colony of emigrants from Holland, and settled 
in Holland, Mich. The elder \'anderveen was 
a minister of the Dutch Reform church and 
an alumnus of Holland academy, now Hope 
college, and also completed a theological 
course at Rutger's college. New Brunswick. 
He began the jninistry at the age of twenty- 
one, and spent the greater part of his life in 
the sacred calling, dying in October, 1896. 
His wife, whose maiden name was Maria 
Louise Taylor, was born in New York and is 
still living, residing at this time in the city of 
Grand Rapids. The family of Christian and 
Maria Vanderveen consisted of nine children, 
all of whom are living and named as follows: 
Charlotte, Richard, Christian, Maria Louise, 
Hugh Woodruff, Theodore P., Francis C, 
Agnes Emily and Edward Ferry. The eldest 
brother is clerk in the service of the United 
States on the G. R. & I. R. R. ; the others are 
still under the parental roof. 

Dr. Vanderveen was educated in Grand 
Rapids, graduating from the high school with 
the class of 1893, and after a year entered the 
medical department of the university of Mich- 
igan, where he completed a four years' course, 
receiving his degree in 1898. His professional 
education completed, the doctor at once be- 
gan the practice in Grand Rapids, and not- 
withstanding the fact of his being one of the 



youngest ph\sicians in the city, has already 
succeeded in building up a lucrative business. 
The doctor is an enthusiastic student. His 
knowledge of the science of medicine is com- 
prehensive and accurate, and by constant 
perusal of medical literature and contact with 
his professional brethren he keeps abreast of 
the times in all matters pertaining to the heal- 
ing art. His fidelity to every duty of profes- 
sional and social life has gained him high 
esteem, and his ability in the line of his call- 
ing has already won him gratifying success 
financially and otherwise. 

The doctor is a member of the Knicker- 
bocker society, his name appearing upon its 
charter, and he belongs to the A. O. U. W. , 
holding at this time the position of examining 
physician for Grand Rapids lodge. No. 8. He 
is also a member of the Prudent Patricians of 
Pompeii, being the physician for Palmleaf 
primary. No. 44. 

Doctor Vanderveen is a democrat, belong- 
ing to that wing of the party which believes in 
sound money; otherwise, a gold democrat. 
He is not identified with any religious organ- 
ization, but is a friend of the church, believ- 
ing it to be a potent factor for substantial 
good in the community. 

He was married in Grand Rapids March 
23, 1899. to Miss Cecelia \V. Schickell, a na- 
tive of Madison, Wis., and daughter of Peter 
C. Schickell, a well known insurance and real- 
estate dealer of this city. 



OHN |. VOS, deputy treasurer of Kent 
county and one of the leading military- 
men of Grand Rapids, is a native of 
Michigan, born on the 15th day of 
July, 1865, in the city of Grand Haven. He 
is descended from sterling Dutch ancestry, his- 




442 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



father, |ohannas D. Vos, having come from 
the Netherlands many j ears ago and having 
located near Grand Haven, Mich., of which 
part of the state he was one of the early 
pioneers. Johannas Vos married Zena Bosch, 
also a native of Holland, and for a number of 
years after coming to Michigan was a success- 
ful dealer in lumber. He is still living at a 
good old age, his home at this time being Mus- 
kegon, Mich., where he is engaged in the mer- 
cantile business. 

John J. \'o3 attended the public schools of 
Grand Haven until his fifteenth year, and ob- 
tained while so doing a fair knowledge of the 
branches constituting the common-school cur- 
riculum. He early turned his attention to 
business affairs, and while a lad in hij teens 
proved a valued assistant to his father in the 
latter's luinber trade. At the age of eighteen 
he entered Swensberg's B'jsiness college. Grand 
Rapids, in which he completed the prescribed 
commercial course, and after receiving a cer- 
tificate of graduation became connected with 
the hardware firm of Vandeveer & Witman, 
in whose employ he remained continuously for 
a period of eleven years. His long continu- 
ance with a single firm proves the high esteem 
in which he was held by his employers, and is 
also a glowing tribute to the efficienc\- to 
which he has attained in his profession. 

Severing his connection with the hardware 
house, Mr. Vos accepted the position of deputy 
county clerk under F. D. Eddy, the duties of 
which office he discharged for three years, and 
then became chief deputy in the county treas- 
urer's office under H. B. Proctor, a place to 
which, with the exception of eight months 
spent in the United States service, he has since 
devoted his time and attention. 

On the breaking out of the Spanish-Ameri- 
can war Mr. \'os tendered his ser\ices to the 
state and was commissioned lieutenant-colonel 
of the Thirtj-second regiment, Michigan vol- 



unteers, having previously held the rank in the 
National Guards, with which he has been con- 
nected for fifteen years. He saw no active 
service in the late war, and after the return of 
his command resumed his duties in the treas- 
urer's office. For many years Mr. Vos has 
been prominent in military affairs, both as a 
student and actual participant, and for a period 
of four years served as captain of the West 
Side company, a superb organization, and, as 
already stated, later became lieutenant colonel 
in the National Guards. He was instrumental 
in bringing about the consolidation of the 
three Grand Rapids military organi<{ations, 
thus securing their admission into the army 
designed for the invasion of Cuba. He is now 
engaged in important military work in connec- 
tion with the organization in the city, and ex- 
pects to bring them up to a standard of effi- 
ciency second to that of no other company or 
battalion in the s'.ate. 

Mr. Vos is a public-spirited man, inter- 
ested in the prospeiity of the city, and is a 
recognized force in the republican party of 
Kent county. He is a member of the Pjthian 
and Elk fraternities, and also belongs to the 
insurance organizations known as Foresters 
and Woodinen of the World. 



K. SALSBURY, city attorney of 
Grand Rapids, was born in the town 
of Saline, Washtenaw county, Mich., 
March ii, 1868. His parents were 
George and Corintha (Edwards) Salsbury, the 
former a native of New York, born of English 
parentage, and a relative of Lord Salisbury, 
the present premier of the British empire. 
Mrs. Salsbury is a native of Michigan and 
died in this state in 1S95. She was the 




ii^S* Wlf;lllll!!ll![!i;!lil!llliiJ|i 




AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



445- 



mother of seven children, the subject of this 
sketch being the second of the family. L. K. 
Salsbury was twelve years of age when the 
family moved to I\ent county. Until his si.x- 
teenth year he attended the common schools, 
making such rapid progress that at that early 
age he obtained a teacher's license. He taught 
school in Kent county until 1883, at which 
time he entered Albion college, where he took 
a four years' literary course, completing the 
same in 1887. He then began the study of 
law with John W. Mathewson, of Lowell, and 
after continuing there one year entered the 
United States mail service and was thus em- 
ployed about a year. He then resumed the 
study of law in the office of Turner & Carroll, 
of Grand Rapids, under whose instruction he 
continued one and a half years, and then for 
one year he was a student in the law depart- 
ment of the state university at Ann Arbor. 

Mr. Salsbury was admitted to the bar by 
the supreme court of Michigan in 1890, in 
July of which year he opened an office in part- 
nership with J. M. Mathewson of Lowell, and 
for some time carried on business in that town, 
and also in Grand Rapids. This partnership 
continued until 1892, at which time Mr. Sals- 
bury became associated in the practice with 
his present partner, E. A. Maher, of Grand 
Rapids, and the firm thus constituted has a 
large and constantly increasing business in the 
courts of Kent and other counties. 

In 1896, and again in 1898, Mr. Salsbury 
was the democratic candidate for prosecutmg 
attorney, but failed of election, though running 
ahead of his ticket each year — 1,000 votes in 
1896, and 1,800 in 1898— and in May, 1899, 
he was elected city attorney , the duties of which 
position he has since discharged in an eminently 
satisfactory manner. Mr.' Salsbury brought to 
the profession a mind well fortified with liter- 
ary training, and during the period of his 
practice, which has taken a wide range, he 



has won a position in the ranks of the thorough 
and logical lawyers of the I\ent county bar. 
In the general practice, as well as in the dis- 
charge of his duties as city attorney, his char- 
acteristic energy and industry are everywhere 
manifest, and he has discharged every relation 
with credit to himself and to the profession 
which he honors. 

Mr. Salsbury is a Mason, Elk, and a mem- 
ber of the K. of P., the Foresters, Maccabees 
and Woodmen fraternities. He was married 
in Muskegon, Mich., November 10, 1891, to 
Miss Gertrude Shanks, who was born near 
Columbus, Ind., December 26, 1865, the 
daughter of Mark Shanks, who at this time is 
a prominent lumberman of Ionia county, 
Mich. Mr. and Mrs. Salsbury have one child, 
Helen. Financially Mr. Salsbury has met 
with encouraging success, having accumulated 
valuable city property, including his beautiful 
home. No. 41 Lawn court. 




EORGE F. UPTON, retired farmer 
and lumberman and for many years 
a familiar figure on the streets of 
Grand Rapids, was born in New 
Brunswick, May 21, 1819. His ancestors were 
among the early families of that province, and 
there his father, Samuel Upton, a successful 
fisherman and farmer, lived and died. The 
mother, Mary Upton, also a native of the same 
country, like her husband lived to a ripe age 
and lies by his side in the ancestral burying 
ground. 

George F. Upton was reared to manhood 
in the county of his nativity, but enjoyed 
meager educational advantages, the primitive 
schools of that time being few and far between. 
He learned the alphabet at his mother's knee, 



446 



■ THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and under her instruction was taught simple 
spelling and the mysteries of elementar}' read- 
ing. From this meager beginning he soon be- 
came a fluent reader and eagerly perused such 
books and scraps of literature as fell into his 
hands, and he recalls with much satisfaction 
the grand delight with which he pored over 
the pages of the Arabian Nights, the first vol- 
ume he ever read from beginning to end. Not 
content with a single perusal of these thrilling 
tales, he read and re-read them until the con- 
tents were thorough!}' memorized, and he also 
studied a History of England until he could 
repeat verbatim nearly every chapter of its 
contents. At the age of nineteen he first saw 
a newspaper, and from that time to the present 
he has been a persistent reader of current 
periodicals, thus storing his mind with a vast 
fund of information and keeping himself fully 
abreast with the times in all matters of politics, 
religion and science, besides drinking deeply 
from the fountain of general literature. 

While still in his 'teens, Mr. Upton began 
life for himself as a lumberman in the woods 
of New Brunswick, where vigorous exercise 
in the pure free air developed a strength of 
muscle which made him a true type of the 
hard}' athlete among a class of men noted for 
their great physical strength and endurance. 
He followed this kind of work almost contin- 
uously until 1854, at which time he came to 
Michigan and engaged in farming and lumber- 
ing in the county of Ottawa, where he pur- 
chased a 220 acre tract of land, covered with 
a dense forest growth and otherwise as nature 
made it. 

The greater part of this land was cleared 
for cultivation by his own hard labor, and the 
sound of his ax was frequently heard before 
sunrise, and the echo-s died not away until 
darkness rendered too indistinct the log or tree 
upon which he was working. He experienced 
in all its details the vicissitudes of pioneer life. 



and now tells how he frequently chased the 
deer over the frozen snow until they were fair- 
ly run down and killed after an all-night chase 
through the thick woods with which the coun- 
try was then covered. 

In September, iS6r, Mr. Upton entered 
the United States service as a member of com- 
pany C, First Michigan engineers and mechan- 
ics, and remained with the same until July of 
the following year, when he was discharged 
by reason of an injury, from the effects of 
which he has ever since been a sufferer. He re- 
turned home on crutches, and these he has 
since been compelled to use, the nature of 
his hurt being such that locomotion would be 
difficult and painful without them. Mr. Up- 
ton's army record, like that of his experience 
in civil life, was exemplary, and his sacrifice 
upon the altar of duty was made braveh" and 
uncomplainingly. Like thousands of other 
gallant defenders ol the flag, he is now the re- 
cipient of a pension from the go\-ernment, 
which, although gratefully appreciated, is in- 
significant when compared with his injuries 
received while at the front. 

Mr. Upton was married in Ottawa county, 
Mich., March 26, 1856, to Lydia M. Piatt, a 
native of Saratoga county, N. Y. , who bore 
him two children: Nellie, born in 1859, mar- 
ried Milton Piatt, had three children, and died 
in November, 1898; the other, a son, George 
Nathaniel Upton, was born in i860, and de- 
parted this life at the early age of twenty-six 
years. After nearly forty years of happy mar- 
ried life, Mr. Upton was left alone in the 
world, his devoted companion being sum- 
moned from the scenes of earih on the 8th day 
of May, 1895. Much might be said of the 
sweet, pure life of this noble woman and faith- 
ful wife. She was cultured far above, the 
average woman of her day, possessed a keen 
discriminating mind, was well versed in the 
world's best literature, and tor a period of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



447 



twenty-seven years taught in the schools of 
her native county and elsewhere. Since her 
death and the breaking up of his familx', Mr. 
Upton has lived among strangers, and in so 
doing has always been surrounded with friends 
whom he has won by his genial and com- 
panionable disposition. As stated in the be- 
ginning of this sketch, he has been a familiar 
figure on the streets of Grand Rapids the 
greater part of the time since 1854, and one 
of the pathetic experiences of his life is recall- 
ing the names of his many friends and com- 
panions of former days, now sleeping their last 
sleep in "The windosvless palaces of rest." He 
is one of the few remaining links connecting 
the present with a generation rapidly passing 
away, and when contemplating the changes 
time has wrought he can with the poet truly 
say : 

All, all are gone, the old familiar faces. 

Although old and somewhat infirm in body, 
his mental faculties have been to a wonderful 
degree retained and he is still the close student 
and careful observer he was before advancing 
years laid their restraining hands upon his 
phj'sical powers. 

One reason for his remarkable vitality may 
be found in the fact that, throughout his life, 
Mr. Upton has been temperate in all his 
habits, and for years his voice has been heard 
in no uncertain tones in behalf of temperance 
and sobriety. He belongs to no church or 
secret society, and in religion is what may be 
termed a materialist. He does not accept the 
prevalent doctrines and dogmas of Christianity', 
and from early manhood has been a careful 
and unbiased reader of all books and publica- 
tions supporting or antagonizing what the 
■world has been pleased to call Revelations. 
Few, if any, are as well acquainted as he with 
the writings o( Payne, Voltaire, Huxlej', Dar- 
win, Spencer, Tyndall, Bishop Taylor, Bishop 
Davidson, Judge Ladd, and numerous other 



great thinkers, both for and adverse to the 
christian system, and he has arrived at con- 
clusions and formed his opinions only after 
full intelligent investigation and painstaking 
research. 

In the sense in which the term charity is 
usually understood, Mr. Upton has been most 
liberal, contributing of his means to worth}- 
enterprises and never turning a deaf ear to the 
appeals of the deserving unfortunate. During 
a long and active business career he succeeded 
in accumulating a competence which, sup- 
plemented by his pension, enables him to pass 
his declining years in comfort, his infirmities 
being the only detractions therefrom. Though 
at times a great sufferer, he long since learned 
the true philosophy of life— to meet every mis- 
fortune uncomplainingly — and by the reason 
of the exercise of this spirit of resignation he 
is, despite his fourscore years, a charming 
companion and the life of every social circle 
of which he forms a part. It is the earnest 
prayer and fervent hope that good old " Uncle 
George," by which term he is familiarly 
known, may 3et be spared many years in 
which to complete his journey to the mysteri- 
ous bourn whence no traveler ever returns. 




RIE VERHEU, wholesale and retail 
dealerin coal, wood, flour, feed, grain, 
hay, straw, lime, hair, cement, etc., 
at Grand Rapids, was born in the 
south part of Holland, December 10, 1848, 
was fairly well educated, and began his busi- 
ness life in a grocery store in his native land. 
In 1 89 1 he came to America and soon found 
his way to Grand Rapids, and here first went 
to work ii the coal yard of Albert Himes 
& Son, and in that employ learned the details 
of his present business, in which he em- 



448 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



barked about the year iSgr, in a small way, 
and later bought out a Mr. Peterson, on West 
Leonard street, where his sons are still con- 
ducting the coal department of the concern. 
His main office is now at No. 108 West Bridge 
street, and the coal-yard and office at the 
crossing of the C. & W. M. railroad, his office 
telephone being No. 1852, and the yard 'phone 
No. 1842. He is doing a most thriving trade 
and well deserves the success with which he 
has met, as he is very courteous and obliging, 
and conducts his business with strictly honest 
principles and a sound sense of justice. 

Mr. Verheii was married in Holland, in 
May, 1875, to Miss Derke Bastemeyer, and 
this union has resulted in- the birth of nine 
children, in the following order: Frederick, 
Jacob, Ka'te, Johanna, Peter, Cornelius, Tini, 
Katie and Willie, all of whom were born in 
Holland, with the exception of Willie, who 
was born in Grand Rapids, but all are now 
living in this city. The family have been 
reared in the faith of the Holland Reformed 
church, and in politics Mr. \'erheii is a repub.- 
lican. 

Mr. Verheii has proven himself to be a 
good citizen and shown himself appreciative of 
republican institutions. He is progressive 
himself, and has shown himself to be greatly 
interested in the progressiveness of the city he 
has chosen for his home, and by such as he 
the prosperity of any community is always 
sure to be unfalteringly advanced. 



VRON HAMILTON WALKER, for 
over twenty years in practice at 
Grand Rapids as an attorney at 
law, was born in Westboro, Mass., 
January 17, 1855, a son of Silas and Louisa 




E. (Everett) Walker, and the youngest in a 
family of six children, viz: Irving E., who 
died in a Rebel prison; Melvin H., of West- 
boro, Mass. ; Erastus E., of Pittsburg, Pa. ; 
Herbert S., deceased; Emma L., wife of Os- 
car A. Rowland, of Oceana county, Mich., 
and Myron H. 

Silas Walker was born in Holden, Mass., 
December 30, 181 i, was there reared to farm- 
ing, then moved to Westboro, and there lived 
until 1866, when he removed to Wooster, 
Mass , came thence, in 1870, to Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., and lived here until 1887, when 
he removed to Hesperia, Oceana county, where 
he was called away in 1892 and his wife Feb- 
ruary 25, 1896, both in the faith of the Bap- 
tist church. Mr. Walker was a quiet man of 
strong convictions. He was first a whig m poli- 
tics and later an abolitionist and republican; 
was firm in his religious belief, was an indus- 
trious student of the Bible, and was greatly 
respected wherever he was known. 

Myron H. Walker had attended the com- 
mon schools in Massachusetts until 1870. or 
until the family came to Grand Rapids. He 
here entered the high school, graduated in 
1874, then taught a district school one winter, 
and next took a course at the Grand Rapids 
Business college. For a year he kept books 
for L. M. Cutcheon, lumber dealer, then en- 
tered the university of Michigan and graduated 
from the law department in 1S78 with the de- 
gree of LL. B. He was at once admitted to 
the bar of Kent county, and in company with 
Charles A. Renwick opened an office at No. 
8 Canal street, Grand Rapids. This partner- 
ship was maintained two years, when Mr. 
Walker moved to Lowell, Kent county, where 
he practiced until 1885, when he came back 
to Grand Rapids, and here he has had his 
hands full of business ever since. June i, 
1897, he formed a partnership with Gerald 
FitzGerald, and this firm now stands among 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



449 



the best in the count}', doing a general and 
comprehensive law business. 

Mr. Walker was married in Kalamazoo, 
September 18, 1888, to Miss Lounettie E. 
Stevens, who was born in New York, August 
18, 186', and this union has been crowned by 
the birt'i of two children — Marjorie L. and 
Richard E. Mr. and Mrs. Walker are attendants 
of the Fountain street Baptist church, and in 
politics Mr. ^^'alker is a prohibitionist, as well 
as a social and industrial reformer; for two 
years he has been president of the Social Sci- 
ence club of Grand Rapids, and is a hard 
worker for the promotion of all projects de- 
signed for the public good. His standing in 
society, as well as professionally, is very high, 
and his wife enjoys with him the esteem of all 
who really know them. 




AJ. ELIJAH DUDLEY WATERS, 
deceased, was born July 29, 1830, 
at West Falls, Erie county, N. Y. 
His early education was obtained 
at the common schools of that vicinity and at 
the Aurora academy. In 1857 he came to 
Grand Rapids, and soon, with his brother, 
Daniel H., engaged in the meat-packing busi- 
ness on the east side of Canal street, between 
Lyon street and Crescent avenue, which was 
continued until the breaking out of the war of 
the Rebellion. October 13, 1862, he was 
commissioned major of the Si.xth Michigan 
cavalr}', and went to the field with that regi- 
ment. On its way to the front, in December 
of that year, Maj. Waters had charge and 
command of a portion of the regiment, but on 
account of the difficulties attending transporta- 
tion in those days, the journey to Washington 
occupied about a week. An incident of that 

23 



trip, illustrative of the sensitive nature and 
humane disposition of Maj. Waters, as well as 
of his self-assertion in an emergency, is related 
by some of his men. In consequence of the 
delays on the route, their supplies became ex- 
hausted, and at a station in Pennsylvania he 
asked the railroad train officials to stop and 
give him time to feed his men and horses. 
They refused, saying they were running that 
road. He replied: "You may be running 
this road, but I am running this train. " There- 
upon he ordered the train side-tracked, and the 
men and horses were unloaded, rested and fed. 
His men lustily cheered him for this act of 
kindness, and soon thereafter they reached 
W^ashington in fine spirits. 

The major remained with the regiment in 
front of Washington during the winter, but in 
the spring following was obliged to resign on 
account of ill-health, and was honorably dis- 
charged May 7, 1863. Maj. Waters was pop- 
ular with the men of his command, and spoken 
of by members of the regiment as thoroughly 
patriotic and the very soul of honor. Return- 
ing to Grand Rapids from the war, with his 
health partially restored, with his brother, 
Daniel H. Waters, he engaged in manufact- 
uring, and together they built up in a few 
years what was destined to become one of the 
most successful business enterprises in the city 
— the manufacture of bent-work woodenware. 
In 1S59 Mr. Waters served the city as director 
of the poor, and was alderman for his ward in 
1860-61. In 1867 he united with the St. 
Mark's Episcopal church. He died in this 
city January i r, 1868, leaving a wife and two 
children. In business life, though cut down 
at his prime, he had thoroughly won the public 
confidence and esteem, and at the time of his 
death was rapidly gaining a most honorable 
position among his fellow men. One who knew 
him well, at that time wrote of him; " In his 
friendships and in all his dealings he was true 



450 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



as steel. He loved the truth, and could not 
be tempted to be dishonest. He could be 
trusted without bonds. He was gen'erous to a 
lault. The poor loved him, for he was their 
friend. None suffered from want within his 
knowledge, if in his power to relieve. He 
•died young, but lived long enough to be grate- 
fully remembered by all our citizens." 




ON. ERWIN CURTIS WATKINS, a 
prominent attorney at law, at Grand 
Rapids, and an ex-soldier of the Civil 
war, with his residence in Rockford, 
Kent county, Mich., was born in Covington, 
N. Y. , January 15, 1839, the fourth of the five 
children of Milton C. and Susan (Joy) Wat- 
kins — the latter a cousin of James F. Joy, the 
railroad magnate of Detroit. 

Milton C. Watkins, one of Kent county's 
earliest pioneers, was a native of West Rut- 
^land, Vt., where he was reared, and where he 
married Miss Joy, who was born in Deerfield, 
Mass. After marriage he located in Troy, N. 
Y. , where he was employed in carpenter work 
until 1835, when he removed to Genesee 
county, in the same state, where he taught 
school, engaged in carptnter work, and finally 
bought a farm, which he cultivated until 1844, 
when he came to Kent county, Mich., assisted 
in organizing Grattan township, and was its 
first supervisor. He was very prominent as a 
republican, and served in the lower house of 
the state legisla ure from 1858 until i860, and 
was a member of the state senate in 1862; he 
svas assistant internal revenue collector four 
years, was a man of literary taste, possessed 
considerable means, and died in the faith, as 
a member of the Congregationalist church. 
May 16, 1886, his wife surviving him until 



January 22, 1889. The five children born to 
Milton C. Watkins and wife were named as 
follows: Mary, now wife of J. B. Colton, 
formerly of Grand Rapids, but now of South 
Dakota; Charles J., of Grattan township, 
Kent county, Mich.; Electa, widow of Andrew 
Chellis, of New Hampshire; Erwin C. , the sub- 
ject of this sketch, and Louis, deceased. 

Erwin C. Watkins attended the district 
school of Grattan township until fifteen j'ears 
of age, and then the Union school in Otisco, 
Ionia county, until seventeen; he next attended 
school in Grand Rapids two years, and finished 
his literar)' course at Everett's academy in 
i860. In the meantime he had been studying 
law in the offices of Miller& Wilson and Lucius 
A. Patterson, and was about to enter the law 
department of the Michigan university at Ann 
Arbor, when the Civil war broke forth. Being 
a member of the Valley City guards, Mr. Wat- 
kins was about to take part with his company 
in the three months' service, but before the 
guards were ready to leave the city there 
came the call for three-year men, in response 
to which Mr. Watkins enlisted for this term in 
company K, of the Lincoln cavalry, afterwards 
the First New York cavalry. The regiment 
was sent via Washington, D. C. , to the front, 
in Fairfax county, Va. , to Yorktown, up York 
river, and to Chickahominy, Mr. Watkins be- 
ing then a sergeant. At Mechanicsville he was 
commis>ioned lieutenant, and for two months 
acted with this rank. He was next placed 
in command of a company, and on the field, 
after the first battle of Fredericksburg, was 
made adjutant; then served as aid for two 
months; was next acting assistant adjutant- 
general of a brigade, then of adivision of 
cavalry in the department of West Virginia, 
on the staff of Gen. Hunter. After the bat- 
tle of Lynchburg, Gen. Hunter was relieved 
and Adjt. Watkins reported to Gen. Sheri- 
dan, who appointed him adjutant-general 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



451 



of a cavalry corps. After the battle of Cedar 
Creek, he received orders from the war de- 
partment to report to Gen. Neil and aid him 
in organizing the troops in the Shenandoah 
valley. Gen. Neil was relieved by Gen. Sew- 
ard, and the subject was ordered to report to 
him as adjutant-general, having been ap- 
pointed by the president and confirmed by the 
senate as assistant adjutant-general, with the 
rank of captain, and later brevetted major. 

Maj. \\'atkins took part in lOO battles, 
m'any of which were noted fights. It was he who 
captured Gen. Mosby and his accoutrements, 
but the general managed to escape from the 
guards while the captain was still leading his 
men in battle. ^ 

Maj. Watkins, at the close of the war, re- 
signed his commission at Martinsburg, Va. , 
April i6. 1865, immediately returned to 
Grand Rapids, and was here admitted to the 
bar by Judge Lovell in 1866. He began 
practice in partnership with Fred Nims (now 
of Muskegon), but remained with him a short 
time only. He removed to Rockford, his 
present home, bought a half-interest in a 
tiouring-mill, of which he took charge in Sep- 
tember, 1866, and also engaged in the prac- 
tice of law. Shortly afterward he became the 
owner of a saw-miU, shingle-mill and planing- 
mill, and his business so increased in these in 
dustries that he relinquished the practice of 
law, as far as Rockford was concerned, and 
devoted his entire time to his milling interests. 

In Z872 Maj. Watkins was elected by the 
republican party to the state legislature, and 
so ably did he e.xecute the duties of the office 
that he was re-elected in 1874. He served 
through three sessions, one being a special. 
During his term in this body he served as 
chairman of the committee on railroads and 
as speaker pro tempore. In 1875 ^^i- Wat- 
kins was appointed, by the United States gov- 
•ernment, an inspector of Indian afTairs, and, 



as there were three of these, there were three 
districts created, and Maj. Watkins was 
elected president of the board. In i88i he 
was appointed warden of the state house of 
correction at Ionia, Mich., and served eight 
years. After an intermission of two years, 
spent at Thompson, in the upper peninsula as 
manager of the Delta Lumber company's mills, 
he returned to his mills in Rockford, where he 
remained until 1894, when he sold«out, went 
to Chicago, and for six months was engaged 
in the wholesale and retail furniture trade. 
He next embarked in the manufacture of fine 
cigars, as manager and treasurer of the field- 
ing Cigar company, of fielding, Ionia county, 
Mich., and was nominated for mayor in the 
spring of 1896. He was elected chairman of 
the state central committee of the>union silver 
party of Michigan in 1896. At the close of 
the presidential campaign he opened a law 
office in Grand Rapids, in partnership with 
B. L. Ransford, and here he has been in act- 
ive practice ever since, but still retains his 
home in Rockford. In July, 1899, the firm 
was changed to Watkins & Watkins, his son 
being the jimior member. 

The marriage of Maj. Watkins took place 
in Putney, Vt., October 30, 1864, to Miss 
Julia S. firown, daughter of Elijah and Cyn- 
tha firown. Mrs. Watkins was born in Deer- 
field, Mass., January 30, 1837, and died June 
27. 1899, in Rockford. She bore her husband 
two children, viz: Ella Rose, who graduated 
from Olivet college in 1887, and Roy Milton, 
who, from June, 1893, to January, 1897, held 
a clrrkship in the ofifice of the state auditor- 
generdl. and who graduated with honors from 
the law department of the university of Michi- 
gan, with class of 1899. Mrs. Watkins was 
a member of the Congregationalist church, 
and she and her husband were liberal in their 
contributions to its maintenance. The major 
is a thirty third degree Mason, Memphis rite; 



452 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



is a member of the Grand Army of the Repub- 
lic, being the first commander of the post at 
Rockford, and is also a member of the Loyal 
Legion. He has had a wonderful life-career, 
and has always had the intelligence to avail 
himself of opportunities as they offered them- 
selves and the courage to act as his conscience 
dictated. Besides the business interests al- 
ready alluded to, the major has interests in 
Nevada mica mmes, and timber lands in north- 
ern Michigan. He is one of the most enter- 
prising business men of the state, and profes- 
sionally, as well as socially, stands in the fore- 
most rank. 




HARLES R. SLIGH, founder of the 
Sligh Furniture company and one of 
the leading business men of Grand 
I-iapids, was born in the Valley city 
January 5, 1S50, and is a son of lames W. 
and Elizabeth (Wilson) Sligh, the former of 
whom was born in Scotland and the latter in 
Ireland. His father was one of the first to 
respond to the call to arms at the outbreak of 
the Civil war, was captain of a company in the 
First Michigan mechanics and engineers, served 
with honor and abilitj', and died at Tullahoma, 
Tenn., November 15, 1863, from injuries re- 
ceived in a railroad accident while the train 
was being attacked by the Rebels. 

Upon the death of his father, and while an 
elder brother was \'et serving in the army, 
Charles R. Sligh was obliged to leave school 
to earn his own living and to aid in the sup- 
port of the loved ones at home. He served a 
three years' apprenticeship at the tinsmith's 
trade under W. D. Foster and then worked a 
year at the trade in Grand Rapids, and in the 
railroad shops at Galesburg, 111. He then ac- 
cepted a clerkship in Foster, Stevens & Co. 's 



hardware store, where he remained si.\ years. 
During these years he devoted his spare hours 
to study and reading under the direction of an 
old schoolmate, who had graduated from the 
State university. When a. young man he be- 
came a communicant of the Episcopal church, 
and was for several years superintendent of 
Grace church Sunday-school. At the age of 
twenty-five years Mr. Sligh became a traveling 
salesman for the Berkey & Gay Furniture 
company, and as such covered the territorv 
west of Pittsburg and south to the Gulf of 
Mexico. He was the first to sell Grand Rap- 
ids furniture in the southwest, visiting Texas 
before many railroads were built, and when 
the stage coach was the principal means of 
conveyance. 

In 1S80, Mr. Sligh and others organized the 
Sligh Furniture company, and under his man- 
agement it has become one of the large furni- 
ture concerns of the country and thoroughly 
representative of Grand Rapids' chief industry. 
The company started with a small factory, 
limited capital and about twenty-five work- 
men. Its capital is now $150,000. Its fac- 
tory has three acres of floor space and gives 
employment to 300 artisans. The establish- 
ment is known wherever furniture is sold; its 
success has been in a large measure due to 
the executive abilitj', enterprise, energy and 
good judgment of Mr. Sligh in its manage- 
ment. He was for several years successfully 
engaged in importation of mahogany logs and 
lumber, visiting Central America five times 
on this business. 

He was one of the organizers of the Grand 
Rapids Furniture association and was twice 
elected its president. He was one of the 
chief movers in the organization of the West- 
ern Furniture Manufacturer's association, and 
was its president until it merged into the Na- 
tional association; and of the new association 
he was the first president, and twice re-elected. 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



455 



He was a charter member and one of the 
chief movers in the organization of the Grand 
Rapids board of trade, for several years serv- 
ing as vice-president, and from the beginning 
was chairman of the River Improvement com- 
mittee — a conunittee whose work has made 
possible the improvement of Grand river for 
deep water navigation. He was also the first 
to suggest and was the chief organizer of the 
•Citizens' Telephone compan)', and is still a di- 
rector in the same. He was likewise a charter 
member of company B, Michigan state militia. 

Mr. Sligh visited Germany in 1890, and 
after thoroughly canvassing the glass dis- 
tricts, made arrangements to buy the products 
of scattering factories, not controlled by the 
trust, and b}- importing direct, caused the dis- 
solution of the monopoly. Later he made a 
tour of Great Britain to study the possibili- 
ties of selling American furniture abroad, 
an effort which has resulted in the establish- 
ment of a Grand Rapids furniture store in 
London, the beginning of an export trade 
which promises to be highly profitable and 
beneficial to all American furniture men. 

In politics, Mr. Sligh was a republican up 
to 1S96, and, firm in his convictions and true 
to his political faith, he was a liberal contribu- 
tor and a stanch supporter of his party, while 
he thought his party was right. He took as ac- 
tive a part in political affairs as comported with 
good citizenship and as his business would 
permit, repeatedly declining offices and honors 
which he could have had for the taking. He 
studied carefully and thoroughly the issues as 
they arose, and on the financial question be- 
came convinced that this country never could 
obtain lasting prosperity without bimetallism. 
Having reached this conclusion, he advocated 
the polic}-, and when the national republican 
convention surrendered itself to the gold ring 
and the moneyed syndicates, he left the party 
with which he had been identified from his first 



ballot. He advocated the organization of a 
silver party and was active in its work of edu- 
cation and organization. Upon the death of 
Hon. James Turner, of Lansing, he was chosen 
to succeed him as chairman of the state central 
committee of the Union silver party, and did 
much to further the work. At the Bay City con- 
vention in 1896, he was unanimously nominated 
for governor by the largest political convention 
ever held in the state. The selection proved a 
wise one, his personal popularity drawing many 
friends to the cause, which was ably discussed 
by him throughout the state; but the result 
at the polls showed that the great masses of 
voters had not as yet studied the question suf- 
ficiently. His personal bearing and campaign 
was such as to largely increase the number of 
his friends, and he stands to-day one of the 
recognized leaders of advanced thought in 
Michigan. 

Mr. Sligh was united in marriage, in 1875, 
with Miss Mary S. Conger, and this union has 
been blessed with three children — Edith, Ad- 
eline and Loraine. 

The Sligh home is one among the many 
attracti\e ones of the city, and in the midst of 
the family he finds his greatest enjoyment. 




LFRED M. WEBSTER, M. D., the 
well-known homeopathic physician 
and surgeon of Grand Rapids, and a 
member of the firm of Ruffe & Web- 
ster, is a native of the Wolverine state and was 
born in Richland, Kalamazoo county, August 
19, 1849. 

Dr. Webster received his elementary edu- 
cation in Richland, and after leaving school 
worked on a farm for a few years; he then 
learned the printer's trade, which he fol- 



456 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



lowed as a journeyman for two years. 
He next taught school for fifteen years 
in Alaska, Birmingham, Monroe an East 
Tawas, Mich., in all of which places he 
filled the office of superintendent. He gradu- 
ated from the State Normal school of Michi- 
gan in the classical course in 1869, entered 
the Chicago Homeopathic college in 1885, and 
graduated from the latter institution in 1887. 
He engaged in active practice of his profession 
at East Tawas for a short time, built up a fine 
practice, and in 1889 formed a partnership at 
Au Sable with Dr. A. L. Ruffe, where they 
practiced medicine together and also operated 
a drug store. Dr. Webster being a registered 
pharmacist. In 1891 these gentlemen came 
to Grand Rapids, and now stand at the head 
of their school of practice in this city. 

Dr. Webster is a member of the Michigan 
Homeopathic Medical society; of Grand River 
lodge. No. 34, F. & A. M. ; Royal Arch chap- 
ter, No. 7; Oriental chapter. Eastern Star; 
the Amaranth and the M. W. of A., and is 
one of the originators of the New Era associa- 
tion of Grand Rapids, of which he is the gen- 
eral secretary. The New Era is a fraternal 
insurance company, was established October 20, 
1897, has at present a membership of 2,000, 
and differs from other insurance societies, in 
that it is conducted without lodge expenses. 

Dr. Webster was first united in marriage, in 
1870, with Miss Caroline M. Donaldson, of 
Saline, Mich., but this lady was called from 
earth in 1879, leaving one son, Donald Eu- 
gene, who is now employed as local secretary 
of branch No. i, of the New Era. The sec- 
ond marriage of the doctor took place Novem- 
ber 25, 1880, the lady of his choice being Miss 
Hattie Hale, of Alaska, Mich., who blessed 
him with two daughters — Ida C. and Ruey M. 
— and died in Au Sable ten years after her 
marriage. 

The doctor is a member of the Division 



street Methodist Episcopal church, is mission- 
ary superintendent of the Sunday-schools, and 
lives fully up to the teachings of the denomi- 
nation to which he belongs. In politics he is 
independent, but is a prohibitionist from prin- 
ciple, and voted with the party as long as it 
had a distinctive existence. He was its can- 
didate for congress from the Tenth district of 
Michigan in 1884, but shared in the general 
defeat. Of late years, however, the doctor 
has eschewed politics, as his large practice re- 
quires nearly all his attention, what little time 
he has to spare being devoted to the affairs of 
the New Era, the office of which he is con- 
tiguous to his own in the "Gilbert" building. 



EMMETT WELSH, M. D., of Grand 
Rapids, is one of the most eminent 
specialists in the treatment of dis- 
eases of eye, ear, nose and throat 
in the state of Michigan. He was born in Co- 
lumbia, Lancaster count}'. Pa., January 22. 
1S58, and there received his elementary edu- 
cation in the public schools. For four years 
he was under the tuition of Dr. Craig, surgeon 
for the Pennsylvania Railroad compan}-, and 
then entered Jefferson Medical college, fron> 
which he graduated in 1878. For six years 
thereafter he was in active and successful 
practice in Latrobe, Westmoreland county, 
and while there was mine physician for the 
Loyal Hanna Coke & Coal company, the Sax- 
man's mines and the H. Clay Frick & Co. 
Coal company. He next went to Philadelphia, 
took a special course of study, and was ap- 
pointed assistant at the university of Pennsyl- 
vania for the treatment of nose and throat 
diseases, out-door department, to Prof. Carl 
Seiier; assistant to Prof. John B. Roberts, in 
surgery, at the Philadelphia Polyclinic, and 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



457 



was resident physician at Wills' eye and ear 
hospital in the same city. 

Dr. Welsh also attended lectures in Lon- 
don, England, and Paris, France, as well as 
lectures by Dr. Berry, at Edinburgh, Scot- 
land, and holds certificates entitling him to ad- 
vanced privileges in his peculiar line. 

July 6, 1885, Dr. Welsh settled in Grand 
Rapids and has here met with uninterrupted 
success ever since. His unusual skill has led 
to his being appointed to many prominent po- 
sitions; in 1886 he was appointed, by President 
Cleveland, expert pensioner e.xaminer for 
western Michigan, and still holds this impor- 
tant office. He is ex-president of the Grand 
Rapids board of health, ex-president of the 
Grand Rapids Academy of Medicine, ex- 
vice-president of the Michigan State Medical 
society, and ex-secretary of the National asso- 
ciation of Railway surgeons. He is a member 
of the Michigan State Medical society, of the 
National Medical association, of the Missis- 
sippi Valley Medical society, and of the Na- 
tional association of Rhinology; also an hon- 
orary member of the Pennsylvania State 
Medical society, and, by dimit, of the Western 
Laryngological society. His system of exam- 
ination in sight and hearing is so near perfec- 
tion that it has been adopted by several rail- 
road companies both in the United States and 
Canada. 

The doctor is the present examiner for 
color blindness and other visual defects, as 
well as disorders of the ear, for the G. R. & I., 
C. & W. M., D. G. R. & W. railway com- 
panies, and the consolidated street railway, 
police and fire departments of Grand Rapids. 
Fraternally Dr. Welsh is a thirty-second de- 
gree Mason, and is also a member of the 
Royal Arcanum, the Maccabees, the Red Men, 
and the Benevolent and Protective Order 
of Elks. 

The marriage of Dr. Welsh took place in 



Grand Rapids, January 20, 1898, when he was 
united to Miss Grace Vivian Diver, a native of 
this city. Dr. Welsh is permanently located 
in the Wonderly building and he resides on 
Jefferson avenue. 




.1 WILLIS WELLS, V. S., of No. 
15S Kent street. Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in Norfolk county, 
province of Ontario, Canada, Novem- 
ber 17, 1852, a son of William and Mary 
(Walker) Wells, of whom further mention will 
be made. 

Dr. E. W. Wells was educated in the high 
school of, Victoria and in Simcoe, was reared 
on a farm and followed agriculture as a voca- 
tion until he entered Ontario Veterinary col- 
lege in 1879, in which he completed his studies 
in 1 88 1. He practiced for a short time at 
Port Rowan, Ontario, then for four years at 
Lowell, Mich., and in 1885 settled in Grand 
Rapids, where he has been actively and re- 
muneratively employed ever since, with the 
exception of a few months that he passed in 
Chicago, 111. 

The parents of Dr. Wells were both natives 
of Canada, the father being of Welsh extrac- 
tion, but the mother's family emigrated from 
North Carolina in the early part of the present 
century, when the country was quite new and 
the journey made in wagons and on horseback. 
The Walker family was of Irish and Scotch 
origin, but both the Wells farnily and the 
Walker familj' are now recognized as long es- 
tablished and prominent among the residents 
of Norfolk county, Ontario. To William and 
Mary Wells were born two sons and one daugli- 
ter, of whom Eli W. is the eldest; Martha, 
the daughter, died at the age of twelve }ears, 
and Edgar is a farmer in Canada. The father 



458 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



died in 1865, at the age of sixty-five, and the 
died July, 1899, on the old Canadian home- 
stead, at the age of eighty-nine years. Both 
parents, however, had been previously wedded, 
and each had a family of four children by the 
first marriage, but all harmonized and formed 
one happy family. Seven of these half-brothers 
and sisters of the doctor are still li\ing, are all 
married and variously located, though the most 
of them live near the old Canadian home. 

Dr. Wells was himself united in marriage, 
in his native country, in 1875, to Miss Lizzie 
Thorne, who was born in Dunstable, England, 
in 1851, and four children have crowned this 
union, viz: Daniel .\delbert, Archie Walter, 
George Arthur and Lottie May. The elder 
two of these children are machinery salesmen 
and the younger two are still at home. 

In politics, Dr. Wells is a republican, but 
is not offensively partisan, as he is able to see 
faults in the republican party and virtues in 
the democratic. 

The ^^'ells family stand high socially, the 
sons being honorable and upright young men, 
and respected by every one. They are free 
from many of the vices of "Young America," 
neither drink nor smoke, and are of unusually 
moral habits. 




SA W. SI^AYTOX is widely known 
throughout central and western Mich- 
igan and possesses a striking person- 
ality and versatile talents. His 
name is inseparably connected with the growth 
and -development of one of the state's great in- 
dustries, and through the medium of various 
publications his ideas relative thereto have 
been given wide publicit}'. 

Mr. Slayton's family history contains much 
that is interesting to the biographer and is 
traceable in an unbroken line back to 1690. 



In that 3'ear an orphan boy in his eighth year, 
among the hills of Scotland, through the 
machinations of certain realitives who united 
in a conspiracy to obtain possession of a valu- 
able estate to which he was heir, was sent to 
America under an assumed name, landed in 
Massachusetts, and found himself practically an 
exile in a new country. From this individual, 
Thomas Slayton, there have been enumerated 
1,393 descendants, one of whom is the subject 
of this review, who was born on the 27th day 
of December, 1830, in Middlesex, Yates count}', 
N. Y. His parents were Russell and Berthena 
(Clark) Slayton, who had a family of six boys 
and two girls. He received his name in honor 
of his paternal grandmother's father, whose 
birth occurred in one of the New England col- 
onies in 1743, and who figured in the early 
annals of \'erniont, to which state he removed 
at a period antedating the struggle for inde- 
pendence. 

Asa \V. Slayton was educated in the high 
school of 'Victor, Ontario county, N. Y., and 
at the age of sixteen years came to Michigan 
with his parents, locating in Grattan township, 
Kent county, where subsequently he engaged 
in farming and teaching. In addition to the 
above mentioned vocations, he was for some 
years variously employed as surveyor, mason, 
tinner, carpenter and painter, devoting the 
winter seasons to educational work, in the 
prosecution of which his success was most en- 
couraging, his popularity as an instructor be- 
ing attested by the fact of his frequent reten-. 
tions in the same school; and he has a record 
of forty years in the school-room, during which 
time he taught seventy-three terms — a longer 
time of service perhaps than that of an\- other 
instructor in the state. He was in the army 
two years, lieutenant of Company B, Twenty- 
fifth Michigan; as acting-engineer, he built the 
fortifications at Mumfordville, Ky., and at 
Camp Nelson. 





fj^ 



^^M^^ . 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



461 



Since 1S57 Mr. Slayton has been actively 
identified with the arboricultural interests of 
Michigan, having set out the first large pear 
and cherry orchards in the western part of the 
state and demonstrated to the satisfaction of 
all the peculiar adaptability of the soil and 
climate for fruit growing. His interest in 
this important industry has by no means abated, 
and he is still a leading spirit and ardent sup- 
porter of the West Michigan Agricultural so- 
ciety and a frequent contributor to the leading 
periodicals of agriculture and horticulture. 

He was one of the si.\ original members of 
the State Horticultural society organized in 
1869, and has served si.x years as treasurer 
of the same; and it was largely owing to his 
untiring efforts that the first horticultural ex- 
hibits were made in Grand Rapids, out of 
which eventually grew the West Michigan so- 
ciety referred to above. 

Mr. Slayton has always been a public-spir- 
ited citizen, interested in everything calcula- 
ted to advance the general good, and few have 
done as much towards developing the splen- 
did resources of the county as he has. In 
1 87 I he rented his farm in Grattan township 
and removed to Saranac, Mich., where he 
taught for five years; thence, in 1876, to 
Whitehall, Muskegon county, where for a pe- 
riod of eleven years he served as principal of 
the city schools. He disposed of his farm in 
1885 and purchased a five-acre tract in the 
suburbs of Grand Rapids, vvhich he has great- 
ly improved by building and setting out va- 
rious kinds of fruit and other trees, thus mak- 
ing a comfortable and delightful home, where 
he e.xpects to spend his remaining years. 

Mr. Slayton takes much pleasure in attend- 
ingtohis grounds and experimenting scientific- 
ally in the propagating of various kinds of 
fruits, the results of which have been not a 
few valuable additions to this important and 
enticing branch of industry. For many years 



he has paid much attention to collecting ar- 
ticles of scientific and historic value, and at 
this time his museum of natural history, con- 
taining also numerous instruments for chem- 
ical, philosophical and astronomical experi- 
ments and observations, is one of the finest 
private collections in the state. Many of 
these instruments are theresultsof his own in- 
ventive genius and mechanical skill, and his en- 
tire collection, valued at several thousand dol- 
lars, represents a vast amount of research and is 
a creditable monument to scientific devotion. 

I Mr. Slayton is also a skillful ta.xidermist, 
and has many fine specimens of stuffed skins 

1' of animals, birds and reptiles. 

Not the least interesting of the hundreds 
of articles in his collection is a miniature man- 
sion, constructed after modern architectural 
ideas, finished and furnished with the latest 
household appliances, by his daughter Ivy, 
who enteri with enthusiasm into all her fa- 
ther's work and investigations. 

The marriagi of Mr. Slayton was solem- 
nized on the 30th day of October, 1865, in the 
township of Vergennes, Kent county, with 
Miss Margery McPherson, who was born in 
thit township, May 5, 1844, and who for a 
number of years was a teacher in the public 
schools. The following are the names of the 
children born to Mr. and .Mrs. Slayton: Ivy, 
Myrtle and Zena, all three graduates of the 
Whitehall high school, and Victor and Flora, 
graduates of the high school of Grand Rap- 
ids. Ivy is a teacher in the city schools, Myr- 
tle for nine years has been a stenographer for 
the Widdicomb Furniture company, Zena is 
the wife of P. H. Travis, a lawyer, and the 
son Victor is a journalist. Mr. Slayton has 
spared no efforts in fitting his children for 
honorable positions in life, and the high esti- 
mation in which they are held in social circles, 
and the responsible places which some of them 
already fill, show that this sol'citude for thsir 



462 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



welfare and the advantages for intellectual ! 
culture have by no means been misdirected. 

A happy wedded life of over thirty years' 
duration was sadly severed on the 23rd of De- 
cember, 1896, at which time Mrs. Slayton 
was summoned to the higher life. She, with 
her husband, united with the Congregational 
church in Whitehall in 1877. and she ever ex- 
emplified the pure faith professed. Mr. Slay- 
ton served as deacon and treasurer of the above- 
mentioned congregation until his removal from 
Whitehall, although he still retains his mem- 
bership there; the daughters are members of 
the Park Congregational church of Grand Rap- 
ids, and are active in all good work connected 
therewith. 

For fourteen years, Mr. Slayton devoted 
much time and patient research in tracing his 
family genealogy, and the result of his work was 
published in book form in 1898. The volume 
contains a vast amount of exceedingly inter- 
esting and valuable information and will 
always prove a source of great satisfaction to 
all Slayton posterity, by preserving in perma- 
nent shape facts and dates that would other- 
wise have been lost. 

Politically Mr. Slayton has always voted 
with the republican party, or the prohibition, 
and while not a partisan in the sense of aspir- 
ing to official preferment, he has been an act- 
ive worker, contributing not a little to the suc- 
cess of the party in many contests. He has 
filled various township offices, but in so doing 
sacrificed his inclinations for the public good. 
He is a temperance man and has never been in 
a saloon. 

Mr. Slayton is a dignified and polished 
gentleman of the old school. He is prepos- 
sessing, courteous and sociable, positive in 
opinion, decided in action, and a man of hon- 
esty and independence of spirit. He has 
more than ordinary powers of mind, developed 
and enriched by study and professional expe- 



rience; and these, with a refined taste and high 
ideals of life, make him a most charming ad- 
dition to any social circle. He is widely re- 
spected and influential, and his name is worthy 
of conspicuous mention with the representative 
citizens of Grand Rapids and Kent count)'. 
But he says there are hundreds of other better 
men; and he thinks that the credit for settling 
up the new country belongs mostly to the 
fathers and mothers who have gone to the 
brighter home. 



.\PT. EDWIN WENT, soldier, sailor. 
and old settler of Grand Rapids, 
Mich., was born in Hastings, Eng- 
land, January 14, 1830- He was 
but ten years of age when his parents, with 
their ten children, landed at Montreal, Cana- 
da, but of these further mention will be made 
toward the close of this biographical notice. 
Young Edwin learned the wig-maker's trade 
in Montreal, and later went to New York city 
to find employment, and while there shipped, 
in 1849, on board a passenger sailing vessel, 
as steward, for a trip around Cape Horn for 
San Francisco, this being at the time of the 
early and intense gold excitement. The ship 
had a very stormy passage and was five 
months in making the trip, but nevertheless 
Mr. Went passed six years on the ocean and 
on the Mississippi river. 

Returning to New York, Mr. Went 
worked at his trade until near the breaking 
out of the Civil war, and then went to Aurora, 
111., where he organized company H, Thir- 
teenth Illinois volunteer infantry, of which he 
was commissioned captain, and was for three 
months on duty in the state, and was then mus- 
tered into the United States service May 21, 
I 86 1, and served three years and three months 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



46S 



with the army of the Tennessee under Gens. 
Grant and Sherman. He participated in the 
battle of Pea Ridge, the march through Mis- 
souri to Helena, Ark., and took part in several 
severe skirmishes en route. He was next at 
Chickasaw Bayou, Miss., where, out of si.xty 
men in his company, forty were lost, the regi- 
ment being almost annihilated. He was then 
appointed an aid-de-camp to Gen. Sherman, 
held the position temporarily, and then re- 
turned to command his company at \'icksburg, 
where he was wounded on the top of his head 
by a piece of shell, and for five hours lay in 
the broiling hot sunshine before relief came. 
At Lookout Mountain he was wounded 
through the right ear, and through the right 
leg at Champion's Hill, Miss. He fought at 
the battle of .Arkansas Post while still under 
treatment for his wounds, preferring to stay 
with the boys rather than be ill in the hospit- 
al. For six months, also, Capt. Went had 
command of his regiment as senior captain. 
He was on the Atlanta campaign and fought 
in the battle of Resaca after the expiration of 
his term of service, and then went with Sher- 
man to the sea. 

Capt. Went was one of the guards of 
honor over the remains of the martyred Lin- 
coln while they lay in state at Chicago, being 
one of twelve officers in the volunteer service 
selected by the war department for this pur- 
pose. This honor Capt. Went remembered 
with pride, as he had been honorably dis- 
charged from the service some months prior 
to the assassination. The captain returned to 
.Aurora, 111., with the remnant of his companv, 
was mustered out, and soon after went to Chi- 
cago and resumed work at his trade. 

In 1866 Capt. Went came to Grand Rap- 
ids to visit a friend, and while on this visit 
decided to remain, and at once engaged in the 
barber business, in conjunction with his wig- 
making. 



Capt. Went was united in marriage, in 
Jersey City, N. J., in 1849, with Miss Cor- 
nelia Dermeus, a native of Brooklyn, N. Y., 
born in 1829. The grandfather of this lady 
was an officer in the American navy during the 
Revolutionary war, and the name is well 
known in the state of New York. The captain 
and his wife have lost the three children born 
to their marriage, but have reared a daughter 
they adopted in early childhood, and who is 
now Mrs. Cornelia Irving, residing near Hol- 
land, Mich. 

Capt. Went receives a pension on account 
of his wounds received in the service. For 
three years he did the barber's work at the 
soldier's home, having been appointed for that 
purpose by the board of managers, and he has 
received other marks of appreciation of his 
gallant services. He is a member of Custer 
post. No. 5, G. A. R. , and is now serving his 
ninth term as delegate to the state encamp- 
ment. He is a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity and has been an Odd Fellow since 
twenty-one years of age. 

Before the war, Capt. Went was a Douglas 
democrat, but since its close he has supported 
the principles of the, republican party. 

The parents of Capt. \N'ent both died in 
Brooklyn, N. Y., the father at the age of 
eighty-four years and the mother at eighty- 
two, the captain being present at the deathbed 
of the latter, who was blind for six years prior 
to her demise. Of the children, William was 
a sea-captain, but lost his vessel and now 
lives in Australia; .\nn married Charles Price, 
but died under a surgical operation in Brook- 
lyn; Ellen is the wife of Charles Einsfeldt, 
and Maria is married to Charles Johnston — 
both of Brooklyn; Charlotte, now Mrs. Ladd, 
resides in Boston; Caroline died in Havana, 
Cuba, and Henry died in infancy at Montreal, 
Canada. 

Capt. Went has been a resident of Grand'. 



464 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Rapids since 1866, having come here when 
the city contained a population of 15,000 
only, and has lived to see it grow into a me- 
tropolis of 100,000 or over, and this growth 
has been watched with commendable pride on 
his part, although he has not been able to 
take any very important action in promoting 
its progress. He is quiet and unassuming, 
yet is one of the best known men in the city, 
is honored for his past career, and stands very 
high in the esteem of all as an upright man 
and a useful citizen. 




HARLESO. SMEDLEY, aprominent 
attorney at law, of Grand Rapids, is 
a native of the Buckeye state; he 
was born in Massillon, Ohio, Decem- 
ber 27, 1856, and is a son of William and 
Mary (Lowe) Smedley, natives of Rusholm, 
near Manchester, England. 

William Smedley, with his wife and a large 
family, came to the United States in 1852, 
and located in Massillon, Ohio, where he was 
employed as a stationary engineer. In 1857 
the familyremoved to Wooster, Wayne county, 
Ohio, where they lived until 1875, when Mr. 
Smedley and his family came to Michigan. 
They lived in Grand Rapids one year, and then 
moved onto a farm in the township of Blen- 
don, Ottawa county, where the parents spent 
their last days. William Smedley's wife died 
in 1888, and he died in 1893. He was a hard- 
working, earnest man; was a republican in 
politics, and cast his first presidential vote for 
Abraham Lincoln. She was a noble woman, 
loved by all who knew her, and revered by 
her children. 

Charles O. Smedley received his earh' edu- 



cation in Wooster, Ohio, which city is noted 
for its splendid schools and university. Here 
he attended the public schools until seventeen 
years of age, when he came to Ottawa county, 
Mich., and engaged in teaching; he taught 
school in district No. i, of Blendon, Ottawa 
county, the winter of 1874-75; this was his 
first winter in Michigan; he boarded one and 
one-half miles from the school-house and often 
had to walk through an unbroken road when 
the snow was four feet deep and the ther- 
mometer at thirty-five degrees below zero; all 
the peach trees and seme other (ruit trees were 
killed that winter. 

In 1875-76 he taught the graded school in 
Ferrysburg, Ottawa county, Mich., as princi- 
pal; he also taught school in Allendale, Blen- 
don, Eastmanville and Georgetown, all in Ot- 
tawa county, teaching in all about eight years. 
In April, 1878, he was elected township super- 
intendent of schools of the township of Blen- 
don, and did much towards the improvement 
of the public schools of that township. 

In 1 88 1 he etigaged in the mercantile 
business at Bauer, Ottawa count}', Mich., 
with his brother, Thomas, under the firm 
name of Smedley Brothers, dealers in general 
merchandise. Here he established the Bauer 
post-office and was its first postmaster. In 
1 88 1 he was elected a justice of the peace 
for the township of Georgetown. This first 
interested him in the study of law; and he 
soon had Blackstone, reading it nights and at 
odd times while clerking in the store. In the 
spring of 1882, he entered the iasv office of 
Turner & Carroll, in the city of Grand Rapids, 
to study law. Mr. Turner was elected prose- 
cuting attorney in the fall of 1S82, and Mr. 
Smedley was soon made his deputy; he con- 
tinued the study of law with Turner lS: Car- 
roll, and on the 7th day of July, 1SS4, he was 
admitted to the bar in the Kent circuit court; 
and in the supreme court on the 17th day of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



4(57 



March, 1885, and in the United States circuit 
and district courts the 3d day of June, 1890. 
He entered the law department of the iini\er- 
sity of Michigan, and graduated in June, 1885. 
Returning to Grand Rapids in 1885, he en- 
tered into the practice of the law, with a good 
education, but with an empty pocl<;et-book, 
being obliged to borrow money to buy his first 
law library; he immediately formed a part- 
nership with William W. Irwin, a graduate 
of the same law class, whose acquaintance he 
had made at Ann Arbor; they opened an of- 
fice at 14 Canal street under the firm name of 
Smeilley & Irwin, which partnership continued 
imtil July, 1889; then he opened an office and 
practiced law without a partner, at 12 Canal 
street, where he continued until 1893; then he 
removed to his present quarters, 15, 16 and 17 
New Houseman Building. On account of in- 
creasing business, he formed a partnership, 
January, 1899, with Benn M. Corwin, under 
tne firm name of Smedley & Corwin; these 
gentlemen now hold a large and remunera- 
tive line of practice in their profession; they 
have made commercial and corporation law 
their specialty. 

In addition to his law business, Mr. Smed- 
ley owns and is interested e.xtensively in real 
estate in the city of Grand Rapids. He has 
attained his present position through hard, 
steady work, and careful attention to \\\s 
business. 

Mr. Smedley was married September 3, 
i8go, to Miss Lillian M. Hinsdill, of Grand Rap- 
ids; she was born in North Bennington, \'t., 
June 30, 1868, and is a daughter of Edward 
and Nancy M. (Towsley) Hinsdill; they have 
two children, a son and a daughter. Harold 
Hinsdill Smedley, born September 29, 1893; 
and Myla Rosamond Smedley, born Septem- 
ber 6, 1897. 

Mr. and Mrs. Smedley have broad views as 
to matters of religion and attend the Univers- 



alist church. Mr. Smedley is a master Mason 
and a member of the Valley City lodge, No. 
86, and is a member of several fraternal so- 
cieties. 



EGRGE WESTVEER, M. D., with 
his office in the Lovett building, and 
residence at No. 49 Taylor street, 
Grand Rapids, is a native of Holland, 
Mich., was born Eebruary 10, 1867, and is a 
son of John and Nellie (Dewinten Westveer, 
both natives of the Netherlands, who, after 
their marriage, came to America, about forty- 
five years ago and located near Holland, 
Mich., where they resided until 1871, when 
they came to live in Grand Rapids. To the 
marriage of John and Nellie Westveer were 
born four children besides the doctor, viz: 
Adrian, a minister of the Reformed church, 
and stationed at \\'yckoff, near Paterson, 
N. J. ; Christian, a machine hand at Berkey 
& Gay's furniture factory, Grand Rapids; 
Nellie, who was married to Peter Bradford, 
and died in 1893, and Martin, who died 
at the age of twenty-two years. The father 
of this family died when forty-one years old, 
and the mother married, some years after, 
Isaac Schowenaar. She is now over seventy- 
live years of age. 

Dr. George Westveer, who was about four 
years of age when his parents came to Grand 
Rapids, received his elementary education in 
the public schools of this city, and this was 
supplemented by a two-year course of study 
in Hope college, Holland, Mich. Being thus 
prepared he entered the Indiana Physio-Med- 
ico college, where he took a three-year course, 
and graduated therefrom March 23, 1898. In 
the meantime he had had one year's practice 
in his profession as an under-graduate, and 



4G8 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



after graduating he entered at once upon full 
practice at his present location in Grand Rapids, 
and although not one year there the indica- 
tions are that there is a bright career before 
him in the near future, as the practice already 
secured is far in excess of that which ordina- 
rily falls to the lot of the young practitioner. 
Dr. Westveer was united in marriage, in 
Grand Rapids, November 4, 18S8, to Miss 
Minnie Douw, a native of the Netherlands, who 
was brought to Grand Rapids in her childhood 
by her parents. The only child resulting from 
this union was born November 4, 1889, was 
nairied Johnny, but was called away at the age 
of seven months. The doctor and his wife 
are members of the Fourth Reformed church 
and are very sincere in the observance of its 
teachings. In politics the doctor is a repub- 
lican. While the doctor is daily rising pro- 
fessionally in the esteem of the public, he and 
wife daily advance in that of the social circles, 
in which they held a permanent footing before 
and have held since their marriage. 




EN. WILLIAM L. WHITE.— Distin- 
guished as a civilian and soldier, and 
standing in the front rank of Michi- 
gan's representative men, is Gen. 
William L. White, who for a number of years 
has stamped his vigorous personality on the 
city of Grand Rapids and Kent county and 
made for himself a state-wide reputation. 
The general is a New Yorker, born on the 31st 
of March, 1861, in the county of Erie, and be- 
cause of the stirring events of the month and 
year, was named William Lincoln, the middle 
name being given him in honor of the presi- 
dent just taking his seat. He is descended from 
notable ancestry and traces the family history 
back to a period antedating the war of inde- 



pendence, in which struggle a number of his 
antecedents bore gallant and distinguished 
parts. Others figured in the service of the 
country in different capacities, the most illus- 
trious of whom Stephen Hopkins, from whom 
the general is directly descended, was one of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, 
and his brother was the first adiniral of the 
American navy. 

The Whites moved to Michigan when the 
subject was quite young and settled in Grand 
Rapids, where he attended the public schools 
and later became one of the most successful 
and thorough pharmacists in the state. For a 
number of years he was employed in the old 
pioneer drug store of E. R. Wilson, and on 
the first day of April, 1888, entered into part- 
nership with William E. White, since which 
time their Morton House pharmacy, the most 
prominent of the kind in the citj', has been 
doing a thriving and successful business. 

In a public way. Gen. White has been 
little before the people. About eighteen years 
ago he enlisted in company B, Second regi- 
ment, of the Michigan state troops, as they 
were then called, and after serving through 
various grades was appointed regimental 
quartermaster, which position he held for eight 
years to the satisfaction of every man in the 
command. He was recognized as one of the 
best regimental quartermasters the state ever 
had, and it was the experience gained in this 
position which enabled him to make such a 
signal success in the higher position to which 
he was appointed by Gov. Pingree. His suc- 
cess in the latter position, too, is another and 
unanswerable argument in favor of the pro- 
motion of men from the ranks instead of re- 
cognition of men for the higher offices who 
have never seen service. 

Twice before, Quartermaster White was a 
candidate for the higher position — a candidate 
in the sense that his friends worked hard to 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



469 



land the place for him — but although he was 
the senior regimental quartermaster of the 
brigade he was turned down in favor of politi- 
cal preferment. There was much feeling in 
the state troops in those days over the manner 
in which certain governors had ignored the 
men in the ranks and appointed to the high 
positions and on the staff men with little or no 
experience whatever, and this feeling led to 
the organization of the Officers' association. 
This organization did little, however, beyond 
the giving of expression to the sentiment in 
favor of recognition of men who had earned 
promotion, and no formal action was ever 
taken. Gov. Pingree, himself an old soldier, 
saw at once where the trouble was, the injus- 
tice of the system, and his promise to remedy 
it made him hundreds of friends among the 
soldiery. When he was elected he kept his 
word, and not only appointed Gen. White, but 
named a staff, every man of which had been a 
member of the brigade, or had seen service of 
some sort. The result of this was first wit- 
nessed at Island Lake in the summer of 1897. 
when there was the greatest harmony and 
sympathy between the line, field and staff offi 
cers. They all pulled together, and the result 
was the most successful camp the state ever 
experienced, the reports of the United States 
inspecting officer to the government proving 
this. The part played by Gen. White was a 
prominent one. He was even a greater suc- 
cess as quartermaster-general than as regi- 
mental, and the more duties he had the bettt-r 
they were done. And in the emergency en- 
campment of 1898 he made a record which 
has been the pride of the state, in that he got 
the troops thoroug ily equipped and awav in 
such a short time that it attracted attention 
and unstinted praise from all sides. Gen. 
White was reappointed qiiartermaster-Kenernl 
•of Michigan, January i, 1S99; in addition to 
this, on Ju y 25. 189S, the general was made 



lieutenant-colonel of the Thirty fifth Michigan 
volunteer infantry, with which he bore a gal- 
lant part in the Spanish-American war until 
his discharge at Detroit on April i, 1899. 

In the spring of 1899. Gen. White disposed 
of his drug business, and July, following, en- 
gaged in manufacturing, being at this time 
president of the White & White Co., manu- 
facturing chemists, and also holding the posi- 
tions of secretary and treasurer of the Sim- 
mons Knitting company, an establishment for 
the manufacture of all kinds of underwear. 

At home Gen. White was very prominently 
mentioned for the republican nomination for 
mayor of Grand Rapids in the spring of 1898, 
and he could have had the nomination by ac- 
clamation had he not refused to allow his 
name to go before the convention. All fac- 
tions in the party were united upon him, but 
as he pulled out and another was named, the 
solid party vote could not be controlled, and 
under the circumstances existing a democrat 
was elected. Politically Gen. White has been 
a zealous supporter of the republican party 
evt-r since attaining his majority, and he figures 
prominently in all campaigns, contributing 
much to the success of that ticket. With the 
exception of the single instance referred to, he 
has never been mentioned as an aspirant for 
political honors, and he is also free from the 
practices ot the partisan and has little use for 
the professional politician. 

Frnternally, Gen. White belongs to Valley 
City lodge. No. 34, F. and A. M.; Grand Rap- 
ids, N ). 7, R. A. M. ; DeMolai commandery; 
DeWiit Clinton consistory, Scottish rite, 
thirty-second degree, Saladin temple. Mystic 
s iriiie He is also identified with the Pythian 
frat. rnity and is an active member ol the B. 
P. O. E. 

■ As a business man. Gen. White's career 
has been marked by the exhibition of those 
qualities which make success almost a cer- 



470 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



taint}', possessing the rare executive ability in- 
dispensable in the management of large and 
responsible concerns. Like all men of energy. 
he is imbued with the spirit of self-reliance; 
every interest intrusted to his care is managed 
with judgment and tact, and in all relations of 
life his deportment has been that of the broad- 
minded and courteous gentleman. 

The general is in the prime of vigorous 
manhood and has a dignified and pleasing 
presence, impressing all with whom he is 
brought into contact as a man of strong per- 
sonality and well calculated for leadership 
where great interests are involved. His man- 
ner is affable and pleasant, and it is needless 
to add, in view of all that has been said, that 
he has many friends and commands the re- 
spect of the best classes, wherever he goes. 




HARLES EDWARD TEMPLE, at- 
torney at law and dealer in municipal 
bonds, at Grand Rapids, was born in 
\\hite Pigeon, Mich., July 13, 1858, 
a son of Rev. Charles M. and Harriet F. 
(Waite) Temple. He attended school in his 
native town until 1869, when the family re- 
moved to Sturgis, where he further attended 
school until 1872, then came to Grand Rapids, 
and here graduated from the high school in 
1878. He next passed two years in the class- 
ical department of the Michigan university at 
Ann Arbor, preparatorj' to his entering the 
law department in 1880. and from the latter 
he graduated in 18S2 with the degree of LL. B. 
He then went to Toledo, Ohio, and for three 
years was in the employ of Lenderson & Lang, 
lawyers and abstract men, and director in the 
Dow street railroad, and was next engaged in 
the development of the gas and oil district of 



the Buckeye state until 1888, when he was ad- 
mitted to the Ohio bar. In the spring of ..,e 
same year he disposed of his gas and oil inter- 
ests, returned to Grand Rapids, and entered 
the law office of Edwin F. Sweet and remained 
with him two years, since which time he has 
been in the municipal bond business and gen- 
eral law practice alone, making an admirable 
success of his undertaking. 

Mr. Temple was united in marriage in 
Grand Rapids, June 20, 1888, with Miss Belle 
Scribner, a native of this city and a daughter 
of James and Eliza (Slocum) Scribner, old 
and prominent residents. This union has 
been blessed with a daughter and a son — 
Frances Scribner and William Howard. Mr. 
and Mrs. Temple are members of St. Mark's 
Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Temple was 
one of the earliest communicants, and in poli- 
tics Mr. Temple is a stanch republican, 
although he has never frittered away his time 
in seeking public oiSce. He is a member of 
the Phi Delta Phi society, a law fraternity, 
and as a citizen stands high in the regard of 
the public, by whom he is recognized as a 
gentleman of advanced thought and unusual 
legal and business abilities. 




HEODORE OSBORN WILLIAMS, 
county surveyor of Kent county, 
Mich., and civil engineer at Grand 
Rapids, was born in Allegan, May 27, 
1 86 1, a son of Hon. William B. and Marietta 
O. lOsborn) Williams, both natives of 
Rochester, N. Y. , where they grew to maturity 
and were married. 

Hon. William B. Williams was reared to 
the legal profession and was quite a \oung. 
man when admitted to the bar of Rochester, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



473 



where he was actively employed in his pro- 
fession until 1856, when he brought his wife 
to Michigan and settled in Allegan, where he 
now holds a prominent place among the mem- 
bers of the bar. He has twice been elected 
probate judge of Allegan county, served in this 
capacity eight years in all, and has also served 
two terms (1 867-1 870* as a member of the 
state senate of Michigan, of which body he 
was president in 1869 and 1870. From 1S73 
to 1876 he represented the Fifth Michigan 
district in congress. He also served as a 
member of the constitutional convention of 
1867, and commissioner of railroads from 
1877 to 1883. To the marriage of Mr. and 
Mrs. Williams have been born five children, 
namely: Marion, wife of F. R. Rudd, a dry- 
goods merchant of Detroit; William B., Jr., 
a life insurance agent of Manitoba; Ella, mar- 
ried to T. S. Updyke, a real-estate and insur- 
ance agent at Allegan; Theodore O., the sub- 
ject of this biography, and I'rank H., at pres- 
ent probate judge of Allegan county. 

Theodore Osborn W'illiams, with whose 
life this article has most to deal, graduated 
from the high school at Allegan in 1879, and 
then for two years was employed on a farm 
owned by his father; from 1881 to iS83he 
attended the Agricultural college at Lansing, 
then for a year or more was re- employed on 
the farm, after w hich he went to southwestern 
Kansas, where he was employed in clerking 
and surveying until 1887, when he returned to 
Allegan. Here, he was at once appointed 
county surveyor to fill a vacancy for one year, 
and so abl\- did he perform the duties of the 
position that he was elected to fill the office 
for two years, and at the close of his term 
was re-elected — thus serving in all five years. 
In 1 891 Mr. Williams came to Grand 
Rapids and was here employed by the city 
engineer in field work, surveying the new city 
limits, which duty filled up the time until the 

24 



fall of 1892, when he was elected .county 
surveyor, and re-elected in 1894 1897 '" he was 
re- appointed, to fill the vacancy occasioned 
by the resignation of F. E. Skeels, and 
while still in office was re-elected in the fall 
of 1898, the people of Grand Rapids feeling 
well satisfied that they could never secure a 
more competent man for the office. 

The marriage of Mr, Williams took place 
at Plainwell, Allegan county. May 12, 1892, 
to Miss Ida Whitcomb, who was born in that 
village December (3, 1869, a daughter of Alfred 
N. and Nellie (Chandler) Whitcomb, natives 
of Michigan, and of colonial descent, and this 
union is now brightened b^ the presence of 
one little child — Willfred, born October 27, 
1895. Mr. and Mrs. \\'illiams are members of 
the Episcopal church, and in politics Mr. 
Williams is a republican. Beside performing 
his duties as county surveyor, he does survey- 
ing and engineering for the Holland & Lake 
Michigan railroad and the Saugatuck, Douglas 
& Lake Shore railroad, both electric lines, and 
also does work for the county drain com- 
missioner. Fraternally, he is a member of 
the Modern Woodmen of America, and socially 
he and wife enjoy the warm friendship and 
esteem of all who know them. 



HARLES MOSEMAN WILSON, who 
was born in Ionia, Mich., October 
10, 1858, is an elder brother of 
Hugh E. Wilson, whose sketch is 
given in full below. He attended the Ionia 
public schools until seventeen years old, en- 
tered the literary department of the university 
at Ann .\rbor in 1876, and graduated, with 
the degree of Ph. D., in 1880. He next 
studied law in the office of Blanchard, l>ell & 
Cagwin, at Ionia, for two years, and in fall of 
1882 v;as admitted to the bar, immediately 



474 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



after which important event he returned to 
the Ann Arbor university, entered the law de- 
partment, and graduated therefrom with the 
degree of LL. B., in 1883. He then at once 
located in Grand Rapids and was engaged as 
assistant with Champlin & More until January, 
1886, when the law firm of More & Wilson 
came into existence, Champlin being elected 
to the supreme bench, and still continues, 
their practice being general in its character 
as well as extensive in its scope. 

Mr. Wilson was married at Auburn, N. Y., 
June 3, 1 891, to Miss Jane Wadsworth Dun- 
ning, who was born March 13, 1861, a daugh- 
ter of Henry S. and Jane (Wadsworth) Dun- 
ning, and this union resulted in the birth of 
two children — Henry Dunning and Helen Mose- 
man. Mrs. Jane W. Wilson was called away 
October 22, 1897, and the mother of Mr. Wil- 
son now superintends his household affairs. 
In politics, Mr. Wilson is a gold democrat, and 
fraternally is a Mason. 




UGH E. \^'ILSON, a well-known mem- 
ber of the Grand Rapids bar, was born 
in Ionia county, Mich., October 17, 
1867, a son of Henry J. and Helen 
(Moseman) Wilson, parents of seven children, 
five of whom attained the years of maturity, 
viz: Alice, wife of Lee M. Hutchins, secre- 
tary and treasurer of the Hazeltine & Perkins 
Drug company; Charles M., of the law firm of 
More & Wilson; William K., a grocer of Ionia; 
Hugh E., the subject of this biographical 
notice, and Gilbert W., a railroad employee. 
Henry J. \\'ilson, the father of this family, 
was a member of the firm of Page & Wilson, 
prominent bankers and merchants (handling 
chiefly grain in their mercantile transactions), 
and in politics Mr. Wilson was a democrat. 
He was untimely called away April 22, 1S79, 



and his widow is now a resident of Grand Rap- 
ids, a most highly respected lady. 

Hugh E.. Wilson graduated from the Ionia 
high school in 1885, after which he took a 
two-year literary course at Wooster university, 
Ohio. He then came to Grand Rapids, passed 
two and a half years in the law office of Tag- 
gart & Denison, and in the fall of 1890 was 
admitted to the bar at Ionia. He further ad- 
\anced his legal studies by attending the uni- 
versity at Ann Arbor for one year, and was 
graduated there in 1891 with the degree of 
LL. B. He then entered the office of Judge 
Champlin, in Grand Rapids, and there con- 
tinued adding to his legal lore until December, 
1892, when he formed a partnership with 
Judge Reuben Hatch, now so well known in 
the legal circles of the city. Mr. Wilson is 
secretary and treasurer of the Mueller & Slack 
Manufacturing company, and has held this 
double office ever since the organization of 
this well-known furniture company. He is a 
democrat in politics, and fraternally is a 
Knight of Pythias. Socially he is quite a fa- 
vorite, but his attention is almost wholly ab- 
sorbed in his professional duties. 




.FRED WOLCOTT, one of the prom- 
inent members of the bar at Grand 
Rapids, Mich., was born in Summit 
county, Ohio, March 17, 1858, ason 
of Alfred and Mary Ann (Scoville) Wolcott, 
who were the parents of eleven children, of 
whom six reached the years of maturity, viz: 
Simon P., ex-state senator, and a lawyer of 
Kent, Ohio; Andrew A., who died in the Civil 
war; John M.,in the post-office at Washington, 
D. C; Anna A., wife of Rev. L. B. Bissell, a 
Presbyterian minister at Lansing, Mich. ; Al- 
fred, the subject of this sketch, and Fremont 
C, who was a manufacturer at Canton, Ohio, 
but is now deceased. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



475 



Alfred Wolcott, Sr. , father of the above- 
named children, was also a native of Summit 
county, Ohio, was born January 28, 1812, and 
married April 18, 1836. His father was an 
early settler in Summit county, having located 
there as a government surve3'or, and the son 
Alfred, although he began life a poor young 
man, rose to prominence in his district. 

He was temperate, hard working, and 
strictly honest, represented his district in the 
state legislature, acquired, a competenc}', and 
died an honored man in 1SS9. He had lost 
his wife in 1881, and both died in the faith 
of the Disciples' church. 

Alfred Wolcott, the subject of this review, 
was educated in a country school in his native 
county, and at the age of fifteen years taught 
one term in the district school. When sixteen 
years old he entered the preparatory depart- 
ment of the Western Reserve college at Hud- 
son, Ohio; at the age of eighteen he was ma- 
triculated in the college proper, and at twenty- 
two graduated in June. 1880, with the degree 
of B. A., taking honors and giving the philo- 
sophical oration. He then went to Cincinnati, 
Ohio, and studied law in the office of E. P. 
Bradstreet for one year, when he was called 
home to the deathbed of his mother. In the 
fall of 1882 he came to Grand Rapids, com- 
pleted his law studies in the office of Stuart & 
Sweet, and in May, 1883, was admitted to the 
Michigan bar. 

Mr. Wolcott practiced alone, or clerked in 
a law office, until 1S85, when he formed a 
partnership with H. H. Drury. In 1888 he 
was elected circuit court commissioner and 
served two years; in 1S92 he was elected prose- 
cuting attorney, and the same year the part- 
nership between Mr. \\'olcott and Mr. Drury 
was dissolved and Mr. Wolcott joined Charles 
E. Ward, under the style of Wolcott & Ward, 
the partnership continuing until Mr. Wolcott's 
election to the bench. 



In 1894 Mr. Wolcott was re-elected prose- 
cuting attorney. Since the e>cpiration of this 
term in 1896, Mr. Wolcott has devoted himself 
e.xclusively to the extensive general practice of 
his firm, which is admittedly one of the leading 
law firms of the city. 

Mr. Wolcott was united in marriage at 
Akron, Ohio, October 21, 1885, with Miss 
Carrie B. Hawk, who was born in the Buckeye 
state June 17, 1858, a daughter of Daniel and 
Louise (Kau) Hawk, natives of Germany. Mr. 
Hawk was an early settler in the state, was a 
tailor by trade, later became a farmer, and 
finally a merchant, but has retired from busi- 
ness and now makes his home with Mr. Wol- 
cott and wife. 

To the marriage of Mr. Wolcott have been 
born two, children — Mabel L. , now aged thir- 
teen years, and Hazel K., aged ten years. 

Mr. Wolcott is a Knight of Pythias, and 
past chancellor of Eureka lodge. He has 
been very successful in the practice of his pro- 
fession, stands high as a politician, and pos- 
.sesses remarkable oratorical powers, which 
have been used effectively on the stump as 
well as on the forum. 

\\'hen the republican judicial convention 
was held in the spring of 1899, Mr. Wolcott 
received a nomination by acclamation for judge 
of the circuit court, and was elected by a major- 
ity of about 2,400; the term of office began 
January i, 1900. 

The genealogy of the Wolcott family has 
been preserved as far back as the fourteenth 
century. The founder of the family in this coun- 
try was Henry Wolcott, who was born in 1578, 
and came to America in 1629. One of his sons, 
Simon, married, in 1661, Martha Pitkin and 
lived in Windsor, Conn. His youngest son was 
Roger, who was born in 1679 and married in 
1702. Roger's eldest son was named Roger, 
and his youngest son Oliver. The latter was 
born in 1726 and was one of the signers of the 



476 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Declaration of Independence. The elder Roger 
was a representative in the general assembly in 
1709. The next year was put on the bench 
of justice and later on was deputy governor of 
the colony and chief judge of the superior 
court. In 1745 was appointed major-general 
of the army and led the Connecticut troops 
against Cape Breton, and at the taking of 
Louisburg. In 1750 was governor of Connecti; 
cut. His son Roger was judge of the superior 
court and one of the revisers o{ the law of the 
state. Parmenio, a son of the younger Roger, 
lived in Rome, N. Y., and died in 1812. His 
eldest son was Alfred, who was born in 1769, 
removed to Boston, Ohio, and was one of the 
pioneers of the Western Reserve. His son 
Alfred was the father of the subject of this 
sketch. 

When Henry Wolcott came to this country 
he brought many interesting historical records 
of the family in England which have been de- 
posited with the New England Historic Gene- 
alogical society, of Boston. 




APT. JOHN A. S. VERDIER, cashier 
of the Kent County Savings bank 
and ex-treasurer of Kent county, 
Mich., was born at Oostburg, prov- 
ince of Zeeland, kingdom of the Netherlands, 
December 17, 1838. His parents were Abram 
J. and Marie S. (Brill) Verdier, descendants of 
the Huguenots, the former of whom died 
when the subject of this sketch was six years 
old. A year later the widow, accompanied by 
her seven children — four daughters and three 
sons — came to the United States.. They lo- 
cated at Buffalo, N. Y., where they remained 
during the winter of 1847-48, removing the 
following spring to Sheboygan, Wis., where 
Mr. \'erdier grew to manhood, receiving a 
common-school education. His mother died 
in 1865. 



When ten years of age, he entered the 
office of the Sheboygan Nieuvvsbode, the first 
paper printed in the Holland language in the 
United States. He remained in the office 
three years, learning the trade. When fifteen 
years old, he entered the hardware store of F. 
Lawrence, remaining with him eight years. 
In 1862 he enlisted for the Union, and was 
commissioned 'first lieutenant of company E, 
Twenty-seventh regiment, Wisconsin volun- 
teer infantry; was promoted, in 1864, to the 
captaincy of company H, same regiment, and 
served in that position until the close of the 
war. He is a member of the Loyal legion, 
department of Michigan, and past post-com- 
mander of Custer post, No. 5, G. A. K., of 
Grand Rapids. 

Immediately after the war, Capt. \'erdier 
came to Grand Rapids and formed a co-part- 
nership with W. P. Kutsche, in the hardware 
business, and the firm remained as such for 
five and one-half years. Mr. \'erdier then 
sold out his interest and purchased the stock 
owned by John McConnell, in the same line of 
trade. In May, 1874, William A. Brown was 
admitted as a partner, and gas-fitting and 
plumbing were added to the business. The 
June following, the store and contents were 
burned, and that summer Mr. X'erdier closed 
up the business altogether. In the fall of the 
same year he started a wood yard and hay 
market, and continued in that business until 
the fall of 1876. He then changed this busi- 
ness to the purchasing and sorting of rags, and 
the manufacture of tinware, which line of 
trade he carried on several years. He has 
served four years as trustee of the board of ed- 
ucation for. the Fourth ward, and was re- 
elected for two years last September (1899), 
and at the annual elections for officers of the 
board he was elected as president, in which 
capacity he is now serving. He is also presi- 
dent of the Grand Rapids Carved Moulding 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



479 



Co. ; also president of the Knickerbocker so- 
ciely of Grand Rapids, a society composed of 
Holland-Americans; also vice-president of the 
Grand Rapids Clearing House association. 

Capt. Verdier has been a republican since 
the organization of the party, in 1854. In the 
spring of 1871 he was elected alderman of the 
Fourth ward for two years, and re-elected in 
1S73 for a like term; in the spring of 1875 he 
was elected comptroller of Grand Rapids; in 
the fall of 1876 he was elected treasurer of 
Kent county on the republican ticket, re-elect- 
ed in 1878, and also in 1880 by increased ma- 
jorities, showing his undoubted popularity. In 
iSSohe ran against John Walker, who was the 
candidate of the democratic and greenback 
party for treasurer, and led by 1,200 majority. 

Mr. Verdier is a masterMason, and a mem- 
ber of Valley City lodge. No. 34; is also a 
member of the First Reformed church (Eng- 
lish), in which body, for about thirty years, he 
officiated as deacon; was also a superintendent 
of the Sunday-school sixteen years. 

Mr. \'erdier was married October 5, 
1S70, to Maria J. D'Ooge, a sister of Prof. 
Martin L. D'Ooge, of the university of Mich- 
igan, at Ann Arbor, and Prof. Benj.L. D'Ooge, 
at Ypsilanti. They have four suns — John 
Walter, Leonard D'Ooge, Frank Lawrence 
and Martin D'Ooge. J. \\'alter is a graduate 
of the university of Michigan in the literary 
department, and will graduate from the de- 
partment of medicine in 1900; Leonard D'Ooge 
graduated from the literary department of the 
same uni\ersity in June, 1899, being president 
of his class, has taken up the study of law, 
and will graduate in 1901 from that depart- 
ment; the other sons are students at the high 
school in Grand Rapids. 

When the Kent County Savings bank was 
organized in January, 1885, Mr. Verdier was 
elected cashier and has since held that position ; 
he is also a member of the e.xecutive commit- 



tee of the State Bankers' association, and sec- 
retary of group No. 2. As a banker, Mr. Ver- 
dier has, by careful attention to business, 
proved himself one of the strong and able 
financiers of the city and state. 



R\T\G WOODWORTH, sheriff of Kent 
county, and who is a native of Seneca 
county, N. Y., was born September 15, 
1855, and is a son of Nestor and 
Phebe (Wing) Woodworth, natives, respect- 
ively, of New York and New England. ' The 
father was a farmer, who came to Michigan 
in 1879, and resided with his son Irving, in 
Grand Rapids, until his death, in 1891, in 
the faith of the Baptist church. The mother 
had passed away, in the same faith, when 
Irving was but a boy, and of the seven chil- 
dren born to these parents six still survive. 
The father was a republican in his politics, 
held several township offices, and locally had 
been quite a prominent man. Irving Wood- 
worth received his primary education in the 
common school of his native township, later 
attended the academy at Trumansburg, Tomp- 
kins county, N. Y., and finished his education 
when twenty years old. He remained with 
his father on the home farm until he had at- 
tained the age of twenty-three years, and then 
came to Grand Rapids, Mich., and engaged in 
dairying. He first rented 400 acres five miles 
north of the city, and next purchased 240 acres, 
to which he later added eighty acres, all of 
which land he still owns. He was very suc- 
cessful in his business, and resided on his farm 
until 1893, when he was appointed under 
sheriff to Nathaniel Rice, who died two months 
later, and Mr. Woodworth then assumed the 
office of acting sheriff, and filled out the unex- 
pired term of Mr. Rice. In 1S96 Mr. Wood- 
worth was elected sheriff by a large majority. 



480 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



for which office he had been fully qualified by 
his prior experience, and the duties of which 
he so ably administered that he was re-elected 
in 1S98, and is the present incumbent. 

Mr. Woodworth was joined in marriage in 
Grand Rapids, May 6, 1S96, with Miss Nellie 
Cutler, a native of Gaines township, Kent 
county, and a daughter of J. I. and Harriet 
(Church) Cutler, and to this congenial union 
has been born one child — Irving, Jr. Mr. and 
Mrs. Woodworth attend the Methodist Episco- 
pal church, and in his fraternal relations is a 
blue lodge Mason and a member of lodge No. 
48, B. P. O. E., while in politics he is a 
stanch republican. He still continues his 
dairy business on his 320-acre farm, which is 
situated in Plainfield township, and he is 
classed among the go-ahead, enterprising citi- 
zens of Kent county, by whom he is univers- 
ally respected. 




ON. WILLIAM F. McKNIGHT, one 
of the ablest, most energetic and most 
indefatigable, as well as successful, 
members of the bar of Grand Rapids, 
and still in the vigor of his early manhood, 
was born in Cascade, Kent county, Mich., 
July 23, 1863, and is a son of Thomas and 
Mary (Fitzpatrick) McKnight. 

Thomas McKnight is a native of Dublin, 
Ireland, came to America while still a single 
man, and was first married in Kalamazoo, 
Mich. At his marriage he settled on a farm 
on which his wife passed away, in 1875, but 
on which he still resides and is remarried. 
There have been born to him ten children — 
but of these the sons alone survive and are 
named as follows: John, who is farming on 
the old homestead; Joseph, also a farmer; 
William F. , the subject of this biography; L. 
Frank, who is associated with his brother, 
William F., and is also superintendent of the 



money-order department of the post-office; 
Edward E., M. D., of Alpena, Mich., and 
Charlie A., an attorney in Chicago, 111. 

The McKnight family are all devoted 
Catholics in their religious faith, and all are 
possessed of that indomitable spirit which char- 
acterizes the Irish-American race, and which 
chiefly manifests itself in a determination not 
to be conquered by adverse circumstances, and 
by a steady adherence to honest toil as the 
means of material progress. Thomas Mc- 
Knight, inheriting these sterling qualities, 
made them manifest on his arrival in America. 
He had received a good education, his wife 
had been a physician in Dublin and later in 
this country, and he himself was a pioneer, but 
had niade three trips to Michigan before set- 
tling in the vicinity of Grand Rapids about fift}'- 
five years ago. 

Hon. William F. McKnight attended the 
common schools of Cascade until sixteen years 
of age and then taught district school, a voca- 
tion he followed, in conjunction with further 
study, for two years. By this time (18S1), 
having saved his money, he was prepared to 
entir the Normal college at Valparaiso, Ind., 
from which he graduated, with the degree of 
A. B., in 1884. He then became superin- 
tendent of a school at Kankakee, 111., a posi- 
tion he held two years, when he entered the 
law department of the Michigan university at 
Ann Arbor; this institution he graduated from 
with the class of 1887, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1888, at Grand Rapids, by Judge R. 
M. Montgomery, now chief justice of the 
supreme court. 

For one year immediately following his ad- 
mission to the bar, Mr. McKnight practiced 
alone, more or less, and then formed a part- 
nership with G. Charles Godwin and Allen C. 
Adsit, under the firm style of Godwin, Ad- 
sit & McKnight, which firm maintained a fore- 
most rank among the legal fraternity of Grand 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



481 



Rapids until Mr. McKnight was elected prose- 
cuting attorney in 1890, and Mr. Adsit elected 
to the bench. The same year, Mr. Godwin 
died, and thus the firm passed into dissolu- 
tion. 

Mr. McKnight served one term as prosecu- 
ting attorney after the dissolution of the firm, 
but in the meantime formed a partnership 
with T. H. McGarry and Melburn H. Ford, 
and this firm, under the style of McGarry, 
Ford & McKnight, existed until 1895, al- 
though during the interval Mr. Ford was 
called away by death. Since 1898, Mr. 
McKnight has been associated in practice with 
his two brothers. 

A solid democrat in politics, Mr. Mc- 
Knight has acted as chairman of the demo- 
cratic county committee and as a member of 
the democratic state central committee four 
years, and was a member of the democratic 
conference committee preceding the national 
convention held at Chicago in i S96, to which 
he was also elected a delegate and in which he 
made a fight against Don Dickinson as a con- 
testant for his seat. He was appointed, at 
this convention, with Senator White, of Cali- 
fornia, and Senator Blackburn, of Kentucky, 
to wait on William J. Bryan and arrange for a 
time and place to announce officially to him 
his nomination as a candidate for the presiden- 
cy, and was also a member of the ratification 
committee which met at Madison square. New 
York cit}'. Mr. McKnight is a close personal 
friend of Mr. Bryan, and ably assisted him in 
his campaign through Michigan, Indiana and 
other states. 

Fraternally, Mr. McKnight is a member of 
the Knights of Columbia, is a Knight of Pyth- 
ias, Ancient Order of Hibernians, Modern 
Woodmen of America, lodge No. 48, B. P. 
O. E., the Peninsula, County, Lakeside and 
Hesperus clubs, and the Grand Rapids bat- 
tery. He is deeply interested in the financial 



affairs and manufacturing industries of Grand 
Rapids, and is owner of considerable real es- 
tate in the city and in the county, and his pro- 
fessional practice extends through all parts of 
the state. Personally he is of fine appear- 
ance, and is always gentlemanly in deport- 
ment, and his eloquence is irresistible. Still 
a bachelor, he is a prime favorite in social cir- 
cles, and his standing before the public mdi- 
cates that position of permanent importance 
are vet to be his. 




OSEPHUS CLARK SPROAT was born 
on a farm in Dorr township, Allegan 
county, Mich., in 1863, during the 
dark days of the great conflict that 
threatened the life of the nation. His parents 
were hardy pioneer settlers who reared a family 
of twelve — eight sons and four daughters. 
(The father Robert Sproat, now seventy-nine 
years old, resides with the subject of this 
sketch and is as young as most men at fifty.) 
Josephus Clark Sproat's youth was spent 
working on the farm in summer and attending 
district school in winter. He appreciated the 
advantages of education and made the most of 
his opportunities, but it was not until the age 
of nineteen that he had the benefit of the city 
schools. He came to the city in iSSo and 
managed by strict economy to take a course in 
the late Prof. Swensberg's Grand Rapids Busi- 
ness college, after which he secured a position 
as office boy and assistant bookkeeper for the 
Grand Rapids Democrat, and with the excep- 
tion of two short intervals, has been actively 
connected with the management of the paper 
for the past nineteen years. His success and 
advancement from the position of bookkeeper 
to that of one which gives him the general 
inanagement and control of the paper is due to 
his positive nature and persistent energy, his 
loyalty to friends and aggressive methods en- 



482 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



abling him to advance under adverse circum- 
stances, in the face of strong conipetition. 
Taking the Democrat when its affairs were in a 
deplorably complicated condition he has more 
than doubled its circulation and given it a bet- 
ter standing and reputation in the city and 
state than it ever before enjoyed. 




ILLIAM WINEGAR, senior member 
I if the Winegar pLirniture company, 
of Grand Rapids, Mich., was born 
on the first day of January, 1826, 
in the town of Gaines, county of Orleans, and 
state of New York. He was the son of John 
and Susan (Perry) Winegar, and was one of 
twelve children, four boys and eight girls, ten 
of whom lived to be men and women, two 
dying in infancy. The names of his brothers 
and sisters who lived to be men and women 
were: John M., Louisa, Catherine. Emeline, 
Julia, Henry, Samuel, Jeanette and Harriet. 
They have all passed away with the exception 
of Julia and Henry. 

His earliest remembrance of home is at the 
age of five years, when he was living in Clark-- 
son, Monroe count}', N. Y. He lived there 
until the year 1835, when his mother died at 
the age of forty-four years; then they moved 
to the town of Farmington, Oakland county, 
Mich. His fatJier had no brothers, and was a 
wool carder and clothier in his early days. 
He died at the age of sixty-eight years in the 
year 1852, in the town of Fovvlerville. Liv- 
ingston county, Mich. His mother was one of 
twelve children, all of whom li\ed in western 
New York. The Perry familj; were agricult- 
ural people. 

He lived in the town of Farmington, Oak- 
land county, Mich., until the year 1840, when 
he went to Detroit, Mich., and attended 
school, working his way through in winter, 
and farming in summer, continuing in that 



way until he was about seventeen years of age. 
He returned to the state of New "\'ork in the 
year 1844, and went to school a part of the 
summer and taught school the following win- 
ter in the log school house where he had 
learned his "A, B, C's." 

In the latter part of 1844 he went to Roch- 
ester, N. Y. , with a capital of $3, and started 
in business, selling Yankee notions, etc., a 
business that he followed for about five years, 
when he went to Elkhart, Ind.. where his sis- 
ters lived. He remained there until July, 
1 85 I, when he married Miss Emma E. Smith 
at Grass Lake, Jackson county, Mich. Of 
that marriage two children were born: Mary 
S., who died in 1873, and William S. On the 
iith day of November, 1856, his wife died. 
On the 23rd day of March, 1859, he married 
Miss Mary Emma Bingham, daughter of Dr. 
David and Mary H. (Smith) Bingham,' of 
Grass Lake, who was born on June 17, 1838, 
at Whitesboro, N. Y. To this, his second mar- 
riage, were born four children: Harriet (de- 
ceased), Frank Bingham, Alice Frances 
(widow of Edward W. Tinkhami, and Louis 
Howard, the two latter now living with their 
parents. The family are members of the 
Park Congregational church; their politics is 
republican. 

He continued farming and merchandizing 
in Grass Lake Mich., until the year 1862, 
when he enlisted in the Seventeenth Michigan 
infantrv and went to the war. He was ap- 
pointed second lieutenant, then first lieuten- 
ant, then captain, after which he resigned 
because of physical disability, in the year 1S63. 
at the close of the siege of Knoxville. His 
commission was dated June 17, 1862. 

He then returned to Grass Lake, Mich., 
where he engaged in the real estate, lumber- 
ing and building business, making sash, doors, 
blinds, etc.. a business that he followed until 
the year 1871, when he came to Grand Rap- 




WINEGAR GROUP. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



485 



ids, bringing with him his machinery, and con- 
tinued in the same business until 1873, when 
he sold out his manufacturing business, but 
continued in lumbering and real estate until 
thejear 1882, when he went to manufacturing 
furniture, and started in the retail business on 
Canal street, in 1885. In 1887 he built his store 
on the corner of South Division and Cherry 
streets, where his business is now located. In 
1887 he took his second son, Frank Bingham, 
into the business. 

Frank Bingham Winegar was born in 
Grass Lake, May 8, 1861. He finished his 
education in the high school at Grand Rapids. 
When he was eighteen years of age he engaged 
in the book business, and continued in same 
until 1887, when he went into business with 
his father, as buyer and salesman. In 1893 
he was married to Miss Aurilla Pearl. Of 
this marriage three children have been born: 
Frances Pearl (deceased), Mary Bingham and 
Frederick Perry. 

In 1 89 1 William S. Winegar, eldest son, 
joined the firm of Winegar Furniture com- 
pany. William S. was born in Grass Lake, 
Jackson county, Mich., July 27, 1854, where 
he lived and attended school until nineteen 
years of age, when he engaged in the lumber 
business at Chelsea, Washtenaw county, Mich. 
On account of his health he had to close up 
his business and go to Colorado, where he was 
engaged in mining and lumber. In 1874 he 
married Miss Margaret G. Swift of Grass Lake. 
He then engaged in the lumbering and shingle 
business, which he followed until 1891, when 
he went into business with his father and 
brother Frank B. , where he now is, and has 
been the financial and general manager of the 
Winegar Furniture company. William S. and 
Margaret G. had si.\ children, two of whom are 
living: Swift Wells, born in 1882 and now 
with the Winegar Furniture company, and 
.William Edward, born in 1889. 



Louis Howard Winegar was born August 
8, 1868, in Grass Lake, Jackson county, Mich. 
When three years of age he came to Grand 
Rapids where he attended school. When he 
was seventeen years of age he was engaged in 
the furniture business, a part of the time with 
his father, and a part of the time in Chicago 
and Rockford, 111., and is now with the Wine- 
gar Furniture company as F. B. Winegar's 
assistant. 

The business of the Winegar Furniture 
company has grown from a small beginning to 
an immense business, occupying a building 
eighty-two feet front, and 135 feet deep, a por- 
' tion of which is six stories, besides several large 
warehouses for storing their immense stock of 
furniture, carpets, stoves, crockery and all 
kinds of house-furnishing goods, giving employ- 
ment to twenty-five people. 

The success of the business of the Winegar 
Furniture company is largely due to the en- 
terprise and thrift of William S. and Frank B. 
Winegar. 




[^.\ND RAPIDS MORNING DEMO- 
CRAT. — The first newspaper pub- 
lished in Grand Rapids, Mich., was 
issued April 18, 1837. It was the 
Grand River Times, printed and published 
every Saturday morning at the rapids of Grand 
river by George W. Pattison, editor and pro- 
prietor. The outfit cost $4,100, and was 
wrecked three or four times on its way from the 
office of the Niagara Falls Journal, where it 
was purchased. Louis Campau and the Kent 
company bought 500 subscriptions each, pay- 
ing $1,000 for a year's delivery of same in ad- 
vance. So the Times started with a decided 
boom. It was, however, only published inter- 
mittently until 1841, when J. H. Morse & Co. 
assumed control of the property and began 
publishing under the title of the Grand Rapids 



486 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Enquirer. Among the editors and regular con- 
tributors to the Enquirer were Simeon M. John- 
son, E. D. Burr, Jacob Barns, C. H. Taylor, 
T. B. Church, E. E. Sargeant, Solomon L. 
Withey, C. I. Walkerand A. D. Rathbone. E. 
A. Gordon established a weekly called the Her- 
ald, March 19, 1855, and in November, 1855, 
Jacob Barns & Co. began publishing a daily 
issue of the Enquirer. Under the manage- 
ment of Mr. Gordon the two papers were 
consolidated in May, 1857. The business did 
not thrive financially during the war and the 
property was transferred to Merrills H. Clark, 
in 1865, who changed the name to the Grand 
Rapids Democrat. C. C. Sexton. J, W. Davis, 
C. B. Smith and A. A. Stevens were Mr. 
Clark's most effective co-workers. In 1877 
Mr. Clark sold to Messmore & Stevens (Col. 
I. E. Messmore and Gen. A. A. Stevens), who 
in turn sold to Frank W. Ball, in August, 
1882. Under Mr. Ball's management the 
property increased in patronage and influence, 
was enlarged to an eight-page paper, and be- 
came recognized as the leading newspaper of 
western Michigan, a position it has continued 
to hold. In i8gt Mr. Ball sold the property 
to ex-Mayor Isaac M. Weston. Under Mr. 
Weston's management the telegraph service 
was placed practically on an equal footing 
with the Detroit papers, and the Democrat be- 
came, in the opinion of many, the best news- 
paper in the state. Hard times and Mr. 
Weston's ill-health necessitated some changes 
after a few years, and in March, 1897, the 
property was purchased by the Grand Rapids 
Publishing company, in which J. Clark Sproat, 
who had been connected with the paper in 
various capacities for the previous seventeen 
years, acquired a controlling interest, and as 
secretary, treasurer and general manager has 
directed the paper's business and policy to the 
present time. 

In March, 1899, the price was reduced 



from two cents to one cent, and the form 
changed to an eight-column, four-page. It has 
made rapid progress in public esteem and sub- 
scription patronage since that date and is 
recognized as the best morning penny paper 
published in a city the size of Grand Rapids in 
the entire northwest. 

The Democrat at the date of this publica- 
tion enjoys an average daily circulation of 17,- 
000 copies. It is printed every day in the 
year. 




AURENS WRIGHT WOLCOTT, an 
experienced and consequently promi- 
nent attorney at Grand Rapids, Mich,. 
-was born in Warsaw, Wyoming 
county, N. Y., February 8. 1843, a^d is a 
son of Nelson and Alvina (Wright) Wolcott, 
who were married in Middlebury, Genesee 
county, that state. 

Nelson Wolcott was born January 2, 1806, 
and his wife March 28, 1809; the latter died 
in January, 1894, but the former still sur- 
vives at the advanced age of ninety-three 
years. There were born to these parents 
eight children, named in order of birth as fol- 
lows: Ellen H., wife of R. C. Baker, of 
Batavia, 111.; Robert N., secretary and treas- 
urer of the Kent Furniture company, of Grand 
Rapids; Henry R. , president of a wagon man- 
ufacturing company, of Batavia, 111. ; Laurens 
W'., whose name stands at the head of this 
biograph\-; Mary L. D., wife of Prof. T. R. 
Willard, of Knox college, Galesbuvg, 111. ; Sey- 
mour A., business manager of the Belleville 
hospital for insane females at Batavia, 111. ; 
William A., druggist of the same city, and 
Frank N., a merchant of Tombstone, Ariz. 
Nelson Wolcott, the father of this family, was 
in his active days a merchant, and realized a 
moderate competency. He has been a repub- 
lican in politics ever since this partj- was 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



487 



organized and was the first county clerk of 
Wyoming county, N. Y. 

Laurens Wright Wolcott was educated 
primarily in the common school in his native 
district; then attended the seminary at Alex- 
andria, Genesee county, N. Y., and next 
attended the Batavia (111.) institute until i860. 
Civil war about this time was threatening 
devastation to the land, and he was one of 
the first to offer his services, and, if need be, 
his life, in the cause of universal liberty. He 
enlisted September 10, 1861, in company D, 
Fifty-second Illinois volunteer infantry, served 
gallantly his full term of three years, and re- 
enlisted, as a veteran, December 25, 1863, at 
Pulaski, Tenn. He was a member of the Six- 
teenth army corps, under Gen. Dodge, and 
among his many important engagements may 
be mentioned those at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, 
Corinth, the campaign with Sherman to the 
sea, including the capture of Atlanta, Ga., was 
through the Carolinas, and in all the historic 
battles of his corps, now familiar as a matter 
of history to every American school-boy and 
intelligent adult reader. He was present at 
the grand review at Washington, D. C, in 
May, 1865, was sent home via Louisville, Ky., 
to Chicago, 111., and received, in that city, an 
honorable discharge July 12, 1865, with the 
rank of first lieutenant, having entered the 
army as a private, as all enlisted men are re- 
quired to do, and receiving their promotion for 
meritorious conduct and bravery on the field 
of battle. 

On his return to Batavia, 111., Mr. Wol- 
cott began reading law, which study he con- 
tinued, under proper tuition, until the fall of 
1868, when he entered the law department of 
the university of Michigan at Ann Arbor, 
studied there one year, and in April, 1869, 
came to Grand Rapids. Here, for a year, he 
was a clerk and student in the office of Byron 
D. Ball, then became a partner, and together 



they did a lucrative business until the fall of 
1873; Mr. Wolcott was then in practice alone 
until 1875, when he formed a partnership with 
Moses Taggart, under the firm-style of Taggart 
& Wolcott, and until January i, 1898, this 
firm stood at the "head and front" of the 
legal profession of Grand Rapids. At the date 
last mentioned, Mr. Wolcott united with Judge 
Cyrus E. Perkins. 

Besides his extensive law practice, Mr. 
Wolcott has many other interests to handle. 
He is a stockholder in and vice-president of 
the Kent Furniture company; has interests in 
a lumbering firm operating at Duluth, Minn., 
and is secretary and treasurer of the Usal Red- 
wood company, of Kent county, Mich., but 
operating in California. It is left to surmise 
whether h,e is enterprising or not, or whether 
his hands are full, or whether he is doing any- 
thing to advance or promote the progress of 
the Valley city. Among the positions of honor 
and trust that Mr. Wolcott has filled are those 
of circuit court commissioner, to which he was 
twice elected by the republican party, and 
which office he filled from January i, 1873, to 
January i, 1877, and that of a member of the 
board of education from 1877 to 1878, and of 
which he was the president during his term. 

Mr. Wolcott was united in marriage, at 
Grand Rapids, March 5, 1875, to Miss Lucy 
Gallup, who was born in Palmyra, N. Y., Oc- 
tober 20, 1848, a daughter of Dr. James and 
Hannah (Capron) Gallup, and this union has 
been blessed with two children — Ellen Capron, 
wife of William D. Cheney, a wholesale fruit 
merchant, of Columbus, Ohio, and Kate 
Wright, at home with her parents. Mr. and 
Mrs. Wolcott are members of the Congrega- 
tional church, and fraternally Mr. Wolcott is a 
Knight Templar Mason, a member of DeMolai 
commandery. No. 5, Grand Rapids, and like- 
wise a member of the Loyal Legion. It is un- 
necessary here to make any comments on the 



488 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



standing or career of this enterprising man. 
In his profession he stands in the front rank of 
Michigan lawyers. 



11 



IMAN WISSE, M. D., of No. i8 West 
Bridge street, Grand Rapids, Mich., 
was born in the province of Zeeland, 
Holland, March 7, 1854. He was 
educated at the academy in Middleburg, in the 
classics, higher mathematics, languages, etc., 
and in the same city took a course in theology, 
but later changed his views with reference to 
a life-profession, and entered upon the study 
of medicine. April 18, 1875, he married Miss 
Maria Barbara \'an Page, to which marriage 
two sons were born in the mother country, 
one of whom. Andrew, the younger of the 
two, died at the age of three years. In 1879 
Mr. and Mrs. Wisse, with their remaining 
child, came to America, and on reaching 
Grand Rapids had in their possession a capital 
of eleven dollars. 

Although well versed in his native language 
and in German and French, this knowledge 
was of little avail where English was the pre- 
dominating tongue. His professional educa- 
tion had not been completed, yet the laxity of 
the laws of Michigan justified him in entering 
upon the practice of medicine, but he did not 
at first confine himself to this alone. He 
taught music, did clerical work, or any other 
that was honorable, chiefly for those who 
spoke his native tongue, and while his medical 
practice was his mainstay, it was three years 
before he felt able to enter a meilical college. 
In 18S4 he matriculated at the college of Phy- 
sicians & Surgeons at Chicago, 111., graduated 
with honors in 1886, and returned to his prac- 
tice, which had been irregularly maintained 
during his college vacations. Promptness be- 
came his watchword, and no day was too in- 



clement or night too dark to preclude his 
instantly answering a call to the bedside of a 
sufferer, regardless of the question, " who is 
to pay.'" But this assiduity met with its re- 
ward, and now, instead of "eleven," he 
counts his dollars by multiples of thousands. 

Dr. Wisse's profound knowledge of gyne- 
cology has given him a wide reputation, and 
he has frequently been called to treat chronic 
female troubles to the states of Iowa, Illinois 
and Indiana. But the doctor has a hope of 
soon retiring from active practice, and has 
recently engaged in a semi-professional busi- 
ness, ha<ing established a plant for the manu- 
facture of two of his own specifics — " Ange- 
line " and " Iman's Compound," which have 
been already generally introduced into the 
drug trade, and have met with uncjualified 
popularitv. 

Iman's Compound is now known as one of 
the leading medicines of the age and is found 
in all of the leading drug stores of Michigan. 
IlUinois, Indiana and Ohio. This prescription 
is the result of wide experience and careful 
research, and is now making his name famous 
from its good results. Angeline, a toilet prep- 
aration in a beautifully decorated bottle, is 
now known as one of the most desirable arti- 
cles in that line, and is used by thousands who 
herald its praises. 

Of the doctor's four children, three still 
survive, viz: Cornelius, Diana Johanna and 
Johanna Phebe. The son, Cornelius, com- 
pleted a thoroughly elementary course of 
study in the Grand Rapids high school, later 
graduated from the Illinois Medical college, 
and IS now one of the leading young phy- 
sicians of South Chicago;- the two daughters, 
both born in Grand Rapids, are accomplished 
young ladies, and materially aid their father 
in the detail work connected with the sale of 
his specifics. The family are all members of 
the First Presbvterian church of Grand Rap- 






-^:.^f^^^ 



I 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



491 



ids, and their social standing is with the elite 
of the city. 

Dr. Wisse is an active member of the Mich- 
igan State Medical society, has been one of 
the most successful physicians and surgeons of 
the state, and justly deserves the high esteem 
in which he is held by the profession and the 
public at large, and future generatious will 
bless the day that brought him to America. 




U STAVE ADOLPH WOLF, a lawyer 
of acknowledged merit and great ex- 
perience, and a well-known citizen of 
Grand Rapids, Mich., was born in 
Ogdensburg, N. Y., February i, 1858, and is 
a son of Jacob and Clara (Newborg) Wolf — 
the former a native of Bavaria and the latter 
of \\'urtemberg, Germany, but married in New 
York. 

Jacob Wolf came to the United States in 
1852 and located, at first, in Elmira, N. Y., 
where for a short time he was engaged in mer- 
chandizing; he next moved to Ogdensburg, 
where he followed the same business until 
1869, when he came to Grand Rapids, and 
here continued in trade until within the past 
few years, when he retired. Mr. and Mrs. 
Wolf have had born to them seven children, 
in the following order: Benjamin, of Evart, 
Mich.; David, of Grand Rapids; Gustave A., 
the subject of this sketch; Joseph, deceased; 
Esther, married to A. M. Amberg, a merchant 
of Grand Rapids; Ida, wife of M. A. Heyman, 
of the Heyman Furniture company, also of 
this city, and Bertha, wife of Prof. M. Levi, 
of the university of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 
The family worship at the Temple Emanuel. 
Jacob Wolf is a Mason, and politically he is a 
republican. He is a gentleman of means, and 
is greatly respected for his many personal 
merits. 

Gustave A. Wolf was a lad of eleven years 



when brought to Grand Rapids by his parents. 
He here attended public school until seven- 
teen years of age, and then entered the law 
office of Taggart, Simonds & Fletcher, with 
whom he read law for a year, and then entered 
the law department of the Michigan university 
at Ann Arbor, from which he graduated in 
1878 with the degree of bachelor of laws. He 
then contracted with his former preceptors as 
clerk, and worked and studied with them as 
such until 1881, when the firm became Si- 
monds, Fletcher & Wolf, and so continued 
until 1883, when Mr. Wolf embarked in busi- 
ness on his sole account, since when he has 
been actively engaged in general practice, al- 
though for a time he made a specialty of com- 
mercial law. 

Mr. Wolf was joined in wedlock at Rock 
Island, 111., November 30, 1887, with Miss 
Amanda Rosenfield, who was born October 23, 
1864, a daughter of Meyer and Caroline Rosen- 
field. In politics, Mr. Wolf is a republican, 
and fraternally he is a member of Doric lodge, 
F. & A. M. 




HUBERT WOOD, a rising native- 
born lawyer of Grand Rapids, 
Mich., is a son of Isaac W. and 
Mary R. (Russell) Wood, who 
came from Massachusetts to this cit}' in 1868. 
Isaac W. Wood was a well-educated gen- 
tleman and was bred a lawyer, but ill-health 
precluded the practice of his profession, two 
years' work at the bar sufficing to convince him 
that his constitution was not sufficiently robust 
to justify his continuance in that field of labor. 
Consequently, he came west and engaged in 
merchandizing and milling, being occupied in 
the latter vocation at the time of his most la- 
mented death, which occurred May 24, 1889, 
at Grand Rapids, where his widow still resides. 
In politics Mr. \\'ood was a republican, and 



492 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



in religion a Congregationalist. To Isaac W. 
and Mary R. Wood were' born two children, 
viz: Mary E., attending Smith college, in 
Massachusetts, and Willard Hubert, whose 
name opens this biographical sketch. 

W. Hubert Wood was born August 7, 
1869, and received his elementary education 
in the city schools of Grand Rapids. At the 
age of eighteen j-ears he entered Williston 
seminary. East Hampton, Mass., studied one 
year, and then matriculated at Amherst col- 
lege, took the full course of four years, and 
was graduated with the degree of A. B. in 
1893. On his return to Grand Rapids he was 
employed one 3ear as a reporter on the Dem- 
ocrat; he passed the following year in study in 
the law office of \^'. |. Stuart, was then ex- 
amined before the court, and was admitted to 
the bar by Judge Adsit May 20, 1895. Until 
1897 he practiced alone, but in February of 
that year became associated with Railroad 
Commissioner S. ^^'esselius, an arrangement 
which continued with a satisfactory general 
law practice, until September i, 1899, since 
when Mr. W'ood has been alone. 

Mr. Wood is a republican in politics and 
is very active in his efforts to promote his par- 
ty's interests. He was president of the 
Young Men's Republican club at Grand Rap- 
ids during the McKinley campaign of 1896, 
and in that position displayed a consummate 
executive ability that stamped him as an avail- 
able man for future emergencies. He is a 
member of the Knights of Pythias lodge at 
Grand Rapids and of the high school Gamma 
Delta Psi society; was a charter member of 
the High School association, and for two years 
was president of the Alumni association; he 
is also a member of the Chi Phi fraternity of 
Amherst college, and is altogether an active 
and energetic gentleman who well deserves 
the high esteem in which he is held by the 
profession, in societ\', and by the public in 



general. He makes his home with his mother, 
who owns her residence in Grand Rapids, and 
who is one of the most respected residents of 
the \'alle3' city. 




OHX MILL WRIGHT, M. D., of No. 

979 Griggs avenue. Grand Rapids, is 
a native of this city, was born Au- 
gust 31, 1S73, and is a son of Dr. P. 
P. and \'ictoria (Peck) Wright, the former 
from Wisconsin and the latter from Pennsyl- 
vania, and the parents of five children be- 
sides the doctor, viz: Paul E., an instructor 
in gymnastics, in Indianapolis; Lawrence O., 
a dentist in Grand Rapids; Max G., a pro- 
fessor of the French and German languages 
in Stanford university; Henry P., a mechanic 
in Indianapolis, and Lillian (Wright) Dean, 
wife of John C. Dean, of the Dean Brothers 
steam pump works, also of Indianapolis. 

Dr. John Mill Wright graduated from the 
Grand Rapids high school in 1892, and from 
the Detroit college of Medicine in 1895, hav- 
ing taken a three-years course at the latter, 
and at once began practice in the same office 
he now occupies. He at present is serving his 
second term as lecturer on materia medica and 
therapeutics in the Grand Rapids Medical 
college; is also a member of the board of 
education, in which he is a member of the 
committee on special training, and the com- 
mittees on school library and apparatus and 
grounds. He is also a member of the I. O. 
O. F., the Golden Cross, the International 
Congress, and the Royal Templars, for all of 
which he is medical examiner, as well as 
for the Fraternal Alliance, and court physi- 
cian for the Foresters. In politics he is a re- 
publican. 

Dr. Wright was joined in matrimony in 
Grand Rapids, in 1892, with Miss Frances 
Dreggs, a native of the city, a daughter of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



493 



John Dreggs, the well-known lumberman, and 
a graduate from the cit\' high school. This 
union has been graced with- one bright little 
daughter, Lillian \'ictoria, now five years of 
age. 

Dr. Wright is a young professional gentle- 
man of extraordinary prospects, as his train- 
ing under the tutorship of the most eminent 
physicians of the city, together with his 
adaptability for the profession and his personal 
proficiency and affability, fully indicate. 




fLTE ZAAGMAX, undertaker and em- 
balmer, at No. 269 Central avenue, 
Grand Rapids, was born in Holland, 
June I, 1861, and is a son of William 
and jacomina Zaagman, who had born to them 
four children, viz: John, Jilte, Lizzie and 
Aggie, all residents of Grand Rapids. The 
father was a farmer in the old country and 
brought his wife and John to Grand I^apids in 
the year 1889, engaged here in the milk trade, 
and passed from earth in 1895; his widow is 
still a resident of this city. Aggie came to 
America in 18S7, and Lizzie in 1888. 

Jilte Zaagman, who had been reared a 
farmer, came to America in 1882, having 
preceded his parents and brother John, seven 
jears. As he has had to work from childhood, 
his early education was but meager, and after 
coming to the United States he improved it 
somewhat by attending night school, but it is 
chiefly derived from self-instruction, observa- 
tion and business experience, and is of the 
most practical character. He was industrious 
and thrifty when young, and in 1889 had saved 
sufficient cash to purchase the small stock still 
left in the hands of a retiring undertaker, and 
by persistent attention to his affairs has since 
built up a business that compares favorably 
with any of the same character in the city. 
September 9, 1883, Jilte Zaagman was 



united in marriage, in Grand Rapids, with 
Miss Jennie Kregel, who was born here Febru- 
ary 7, 1857. • To the happy marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. Zaagman have been born eight chil- 
dren, viz: Willie, who died in infancy; Willie 
(2), who died at the age of two months and 
two days; Willie (3), who died when four 
months and five days old; Jennie, who died at 
the age of two years and twenty-two davs; 
Jennie f2), Wilhelmina, Willie (4) and John, 
all at home and still small. Mr. and Mrs. 
Zaagman are members of the Holland Re- 
formed church, and are greatly respected'by 
all their neighbors and their many warm 
friends. Afr. Zaagman thoroughly understands 
the art of embalming and is master of all the 
details of the undertaking business, the conse- 
quence being that his services are almost in 
constant demand. 





BS1 




1 



ILLL\M G. YOUNG, M. D., the 
popular and successful physician 
and surgeon at Nos. 514-515 Wid- 
dicomb building. Grand Rapids, 
Mich., is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, was 
born February 23, 1861, a son of Andrew and 
Katherine (Himler) Young. 

Andrew Young was left an orphan in child- 
hood and knows but little of his family, but is 
now a capitalist, and is living at Mancelona, 
Mich., with his wife and two sons. His wife 
was a native of Germany, but they were mar- 
ried in Cincinnati. The family consists of 
three sons and one daughter, of whom the 
subject of this sketch is the eldest. Adolph 
F. is in the insurance business at Mancelona; 
Carrie, wife of William Ivling, resides in 
Grand Rapids; Adalbert B. is the youngest of 
the famil}' and is now in school. 

Dr. Young received his elementary educa- 
tion in his native city, and graduated from the 
high school. He took up the study of medi- 



494 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



cine at the age of twenty years, the first course 
being at the Michigan college of Medicwie & 
Surgery at Detroit, and then traveled a year 
or two, after which he returned to college, com- 
pleting a four years' course in 1892. He then 
took three post-graduate courses in New York 
city — first at the New York Post-Graduate 
Medical school on surgery; the second at the 
New York Polyclinic, also on surgery, and the 
third course, on the same subject, at the New 
York school of Clinical Medicine. The doctor 
had begun general practice at St. Ignatz, 
Mich., in 1892, and while there he attended 
the post-graduate schools, as before stated. 

Dr. Young located in Grand Rapids in 
December, 1896, and entered upon general 
practice, which he continued until he was 
commissioned assistant surgeon in the United 
States army. This honor was the result of a 
competitive e.xamination, as he was assigned 
to duty at Porto Rico, where he landed early in 
September, 1898, where he was on duty until 
June, 1899, when he was transferred and came 
home, and was discharged in the fall of 1899. 
His rank entitled him to the pay and emolu- 
ment of a captain in the regular army. 



On a second competive examination Dr. 
Young was appointed special operator in her- 
nia cases for the department of Porto Rico. 
This selection was made on the evidence of 
efficiency in practical surgery. He performed 
the first hernia operation ever performed on 
the island of Porto Rico — :the local surgeons 
being very illiterate on the subject of surgery. 

Dr. Young is a member of the American 
Medical association, Michigan State Medical 
society, Medical and Surgical society of Grand 
Rapids, and the Grand Rapids academy of 
Medicine, is visiting surgeon to Hutterworth 
hospital, and is a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, M. M. ; R. A., K. T. , thirty-second 
degree, and Shriner. 

Dr. Young was married at Ionia, Mich., 
July 5. 1885, to Miss Jessie C. Brainard, a na- 
tive of Cleveland, Ohio, and a daughter of 
Jephtha and Mary Brainard, the father being 
deceased, and the mother residing at Cleve- 
land, where Mrs. Young was educated and al- 
ways resided until married. Two children 
were born to this union, viz: Jessie C, who 
died at the age of eight years, and Rose V., a 
little miss of four years. 



'i^2r=. 




'^ a-n^\_j)^ -<), ^^(l c< <.-a--v^ 



KENT COUNTY, MICHIGAN, 

"UP TO DATE." 




AURA SMITH HAVILAND, who pub- 
lished her autobiography entitled "A 
Woman's Life Work," depicting thir- 
ty years' labor in the cause of human- 
ity, was born in Kitley, Leeds "county, Onta- 
rio, December 20, 1808. At the age of seven 
years she was taken to Niagara countv, N. Y. , 
by her parents. Rev. Daniel and Sene 
(Blancher) Smith, who located at Cambria, 
now Lockport. 

When a mere child, Laura was of an in- 
quiring disposition and inclined to skepticism, 
but at the age of thirteen experienced religion. 
She nevertheless kept on the even tenor of 
her life in deference to her parents, who were 
members of the society of F"riends, and at the 
age of si.Nteen was married, in Friends' meet- 
ing, to Charles Haviland. In 1S29, they set- 
tled at Raisin, Lenawee county, Mich., near 
her parents, and she still continued her asso- 
ciation with the Friends, although severely- 
troubled in mind. She felt con\'inced that her 
soul was lost, and was in despair, but she later 
discovered that she had misinterpreted Paul's 
letter and that she could still hope for salva- 
tion, and after earnest effort felt that she had 
found it. On account of the position assumed 
by the society of Friends on the slavery ques- 
tion, she, with several others, withdrew from 

25 



that society and united with the Wesleyan 
Methodists, and in 1837 established the Raisin 

! institute, the first school in Michigan to open 
its doors to colored youth. But tjie institu- 
tion lost some of its white pupils in conse- 
quence of this step. The Raisin institute was 
later connected with the Michigan orphan 

i asylum and finally it was made a state institu- 
tion and became the state public school, locat- 
ed at Coldwater. Fugitive slaves, however, 
always found succor and help at the home 
of the Havilands, and the house was stig- 

I matized as "the nigger den." 

Laura S. Haviland had always been im- 
pressed with the significance of dreams in fore- 
shadowing the events that were to happen 
in her family. In some of her visions were 
depicted the loss of her husband and infant; 
but it was not until after twenty years of mar- 
ried life that her husband passed to the great 
beyond, a.nd she was called upon to mourn 
the loss of five of her family, including her 
parents, within si.x weeks; she was herself 
stricken, but happily recovered, to thoroughly 
identify herself with the "underground rail- 
road," and in a hundred ways assist unfortu- 
nate fugitive slaves. 

Laura S. Haviland, in 1S63. went to the 
hospitals of Cairo, 111., and Memphis, Tenn., 



498 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



carrying supplies for our soldiers of the Civil 
war, as well as for freedmen in camp on Isl- 
and No. lO, and alleviating much suffering. 
Returning to Michigan, she assisted in organ- 
izing the Freedman's Relief association, and 
soon returned south to the succor of 4,000 
freedmen, who were concentrated at Natchez, 
Miss., in condemned army tents, and also ex- 
tended her work to various other places, in- 
cluding Baton Rouge and New Orleans, La. 

In April, 1864, she went to Ship Island in 
the gulf of Mexico, then occupied as a prison 
for about 3,000 Federal soldiers, who had been^ 
convicted of trivial offenses by the infamous 
Judge Attocha, a former Rebel captain who, 
on taking the oath of allegiance to the United 
States government, was appointed judge-ad- 
vocate by Gen. Butler. The records showed 
that, for the petty ofTense of intoxication, he 
had sentenced hundreds of men to fifteen years 
of i Tiprisonment, with ball and chain attached 
to the person, and the additional penalty of a 
forfeiture of part of their pay, and he also per- 
petrated many other similar atrocities. She 
was determined to right the wrong done these 
men. She secured a petition to Gen. Weit- 
zel, signed by seventy ex-soldiers, appealing 
for the deliverance of these unfortunates, but, 
owing to red tape, little or nothing was ac- 
complished. She therefore wrote out a full 
report of the case, accompanied it with a copy 
of'the records and forwarded it to the mem- 
ber of congress from her home district, who 
placed the documents before the secretary of 
war. and she soon had the satisfaction of 
learning that the infamous judge had been re- 
moved and a commission sent to invest ijate 
the case, which resulted in the liberation of 
the 3,000 prisoners. Most of these were re- 
turnei to their regiments, and thus one of the 
mo3t disgraceful episodes of the war was par- 
tially righted. 

In June, 1864, she was made agent of the 



Freedman's Aid society and at once repaired to 
Kansas to assist refugees, both white and black, 
who had fled to that state from Missouri to 
escape the raids of Gen. Price. 

The last six years of Laura S. Haviland's 
life were spent with her brother. Rev. S. B. 
Smith, at Grand Rapids, where she passed 
away April 20, 1898, but was active in the 
cause of humanity to the last, and when un- 
able to make addresses, continued to write 
messages to various societies. Her remains 
were interred in the old churchyard in Lena- 
wee county, besides those of her husband and 
parents. Her portrait still depends from the 
walls of the State public school at Coldwater, 
and the Industrial Home at Adrian, which she, 
associated with Mrs. Mary T. Lathrop, repre- 
senting the W. C. T. U., secured, and which 
she named, and the teachers and pupils of 
Raisin institute still hold anniversaries in 
memory of one of the noblest philanthropists 
that ever lived in Michigan. 




ARON ABER.— Paris township, Kent 
county, Mich., has been the home 
and scene of labor of many men 
who have not only led lives that 
serve as examples for others, but have also 
been of important service to the common- 
wealth through various avenues of usefulness. 
Among these the name of the late Aaron Aber 
is certainly entitled to conspicuous mention, 
by reason of the fact, that, for a number of 
years, he was a prominent factor in the prog- 
ress and development which have character- 
ized the growth of this section of the county. 
Mr. Aber was a native of New York, was 
born in what is now Schuyler county, that 
state, September 20, 1828, and was a son of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



499 



Philip and Eleanor (Cox) Aber. He was reared 
and educated in the place of his nativity and 
there remained until 1853, at which time he 
came to Michigan, and located in Kent county, 
whither many of his former neighbors and 
friends had preceded him. On the 9th day of 
May, 1859, he married, in Oakfield, Kent 
county. Miss Catherine E. Horton, daughter 
of Warren and Harriet (Darby) Horton, who 
was born in Orange count}-, N. Y., June 7, 
1830. During the six years succeeding his 
marriage, Ntr. Aber lived in Montcalm county, 
and in April, 1 865, purchased the present farm, 
consisting of 160 acres in Paris township. 
Here he spent the remaining years of his life 
in the peaceful pursuit of agriculture. Mr. 
Aber was an ad\anced farmer, as the well kept 
appearance of his place fully attests, and took 
great pride in his home, being rarely found 
absent therefrom unless urgent business called 
him elsewhere. Indeed, he was what may be 
termed a " home body," domestic in his tastes, 
believmg in making his dwelling the most de- 
sirable spot on earth, so far as he and his fam- 
ily were concerned. By diligent attention to 
his business he prospered, and by embodying 
in his life the principles of the Golden Rule, 
won many warm friends, and stood deservedly 
high in the estimation of his fellow-citizens. 

An unswerving democrat in politics, his 
modesty forbade him asking honor or emolu- 
ments of office; and for partisan methods he 
had no sympathy and but little respect. Fra- 
ternally he belonged to the Masonic order, be- 
ing for many years an active worker in lodge 
No. 24, at Grand Rapids. The broad principles 
of justice and equity exemplified in the teach- 
ings of Christ, represented his religious creed; 
and to deal justice tempered with mercy was 
his rule of conduct throughout life. He never 
saw fit to indentify himself with any religious 
body, nevertheless was a firm believer in a 
broad religion, and was a friend of churches of 



whatsoever name or creed. His life work is 
his own best monument, and his death, which 
occurred on the 17th day of February, 1899, 
was an irreparable loss, not only to the im- 
mediate family but to the entire community. 

Mrs. Aber was brought by her parents to 
Michigan in 1849 and until her marriage lived 
in Oakfield, where both her father and mother 
are buried. Her family at this time consists 
of two daughters, the elder of whom is Mrs. 
Hattie Bostwick Bowen, and has four children, 
namely: Jessie, Ethel, Cora and Burr Aber 
Bowen. The second daughter is the wife of 
Edward Reed, who operates the home farm. 
Mrs. Aber is a lady of intelligence and mature 
judgment, highly esteemed by her neighbors 
and always interested in every good work. 
She has acted well her part in life and the 
future avvaits her with bounteous rewards. 




AMES J. ABRAHAM, highway commis- 
sioner of Grattan township and a pros- 
perous farmer, was born in Ada, Ivent 
county, Mich., July i, 1858, and is 
the second of seven children — two sons and 
five daughters — born to Patrick and Johanna 
(Doyle) Abraham, of which children six are 
living and residents of Ivent count}-, and one 
daughter, Ann, formerly a teacher in the 
county, is now the wife of John Byrne, a 
member of the police force of Grand Rapids. 
These children have all been confirmed in the 
faith of the Catholic church, of which the par- 
ents are devout members. 

James J. Abraham was meagerly educated 
in the district schools of Ada township, later 
attended the Jesuit college at St. Mary's, Kan., 
and was fifteen years of age when he was con- 
firmed by Bishop Borgess, of Detroit. He 
was reared to farming and acquired a practical 
knowledge of that vocation. 



500 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



September 26, 1893, he was united in the 
holy bonds of matrimony with Miss Winnie C. 
Troy, by her brother, Rev. Father John E. 
Troy, of St. Andrew's cathedral. Grand Rap- 
ids, and four children have blessed this union, 
viz: Gertrude Lucille, Patrick Joseph, John 
Aloysius and James. Mrs. Abraham was born 
in Caledonia township, Kent county, Septem- 
ber 3, 1868, and is a daughter of John C. and 
Bridget (Malloy) Troy, parents of four sons 
and four daughters, of whom seven are still 
living, viz: Mary, now known as Mother 
Catherine, of the Sisters of Mercy, in Okla- 
homa; Dr. E. H., a graduate of Ann Arbor 
university, and now practicing medicine and 
surgery in Detroit; David W. , formerly a 
teacher in Bowne township, and now farming 
in Caledonia township; Maggie, of Oklahoma, 
and known as Sister Mary Frances, of the Sis- 
ters of Mercy; John E. , now a resident priest 
of Hemlock City, Mich., having graduated 
from St. Francis Xavier college at Milwaukee, 
Wis., and having been ordained by Bishop 
Richter at Grand Rapids, Mich. ; Mrs. Abra- 
ham is ne.xt in order; Patrick J. ; Joseph, 
who graduated from Sandwich Catholic col- j 
lege at Sandwich, Ontario, then studied the- 
ology at Innspruck, Germany, and is now in 
the community of the Jesuits at St. Louis, 
Mo. Mrs. Abraham was graduated in the 
class of 1892 from the academy of the Sisters 
(Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary) 
at Monroe, Mich. She was confirmed by 
Bishop Borgess, at Grand Rapids, at the age 
of twelve years, and is a model wife and 
mother. 

Mr. and Mrs. Abraham began their mar- 
ried life in section No. 29, Grattan township, 
on 1 20 acres, for which they went considerably 
in debt, but they have prospered, and have 
now a most excellently cultivated farm. 

Mr. Abraham is a free-silver man, a non- 
expansionist, and an admirer of William Jen- 



nings Bryan. He was elected commissioner 
of highways of Grattan township in 189S, and 
in 1899 was re-elected, an indication of his 
popularity with his fellow-citizens. Mr. Abra- 
ham is a member of the A. O. of H., of Grand 
Rapids, and he and wife are members of St. 
Patrick's congregation, of Parnell, and con- 
tribute freely to the support of the church and 
its sodalities. 

Mr. Abraham deserves much credit for the 
industry and frugality he has displayed and 
exercised through life, and the energy through 
which he has lifted himself from comparative 
poverty to a position of comfort and even com- 
petency, and recognition by the best classes of 
his township, with whom he now stands, and 
by whom he and his wife and children are re- 
spected for their many personal merits. 




EORGE ALBERT.— Promment 
among the well-known and prosper- 
ous agriculturists of Alpine township, 
Kent county, Mich., is George Al- 
bert, a native of Otisco, Ionia count}', Mich., 
born September 15, 1852 and was the fourth 
child of John and Marguerite (Krupp) Albert. 
His father was born in Baden, Germany, June 
16, 1 8 10. He came to America in the year 
1829, when nineteen years of age, having 
made the voyage alone. His first permanent 
residence was made at Thomson, Ohio, where 
he remained for a period of about ten years, 
traveling much of the time as salesman for the 
old-fashioned clock, his trade being that of a 
clock-maker. After leaving Ohio he located 
at Otisco, Ionia county, Mich., where he lived 
for about thirty-five years and thence removed 
to Kent county, locating at Grand Rapids. 
There he lived but a few months, at the end 
of which time he purchased a farm in section 
i8,Plainf]eld township, where he resided eight- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



501 



een years, thence returning to Grand Rapids 
to live until his death, which occurred August 
24, 1S94. His remains are laid to rest in the 
Alpine cemetery. The mother of George 
Albert was a native of Germany, also, born in 
the year 1823. She came to America with her 
parents and met her husband at Thomson, 
Ohio. She is still living and makes her home 
with her daughter, Mrs. Joseph Platte. 

George Albert, of this biography, began life 
for himself when forty years of age, heretofore 
having conducted the business of his father. 
At the above age he purchased his present 
120-acre farm in section No. 15, Alpine, and 
immediately removed upon it, and now has 
seventeen acres devoted to fruit. On January 
S, 1S77, he vvas united in marriage to Miss 
Marguerite Schiltz, a native of Otisco, Ionia 
county, Mich., born May 30, 1855, being the 
fourth child- of Christian and Mary Schiltz. 
Her parents are both natives of Germany, and, 
having come to America at an early age, are 
now residents of Otisco. 

Mr. arid Mrs. Albert are the parents of two 
children: Ernest C, and Anna, both living at 
home with their parents. He stands on the 
Chicago platform, and as an official he is serv- 
ing the people of Alpine as justice of the 
peace for the third year. Both he and his 
wife are active members of the Alpine Catholic 
church and highly esteemed by a large circle 
of friends, and are ever ready to contribute to 
a worthy cause. 




LBERT ADDISON, one of the more 
progressive and successful agricultur- 
ists of Courtland township, Kent 
county, was born in the county June 
I, 1S47. He is a son of Thomas and Emeline 
(Johnson) Addison, who had born to them a 
family of four sons and three daughters, six of 



whom are still living, viz: Mary, wife of Dan- 
iel Moore, of Rockford, Mich. ; Lydia, married 
to Frank Woodruff, of Ypsilanti, Mich. ; 
George, a resident of Berkley, Cal., and fore- 
man of a packing house in San Francisco; Rob- 
ert, a mechanic of Pasadena, Cal. ; Albert, and 
Thomas, manager of the general electric com- 
pany of San Francisco, but residing in Berkley. 
These children were all educated in common 
schools, and Thomas also graduated from the 
Bellevue Hospital college of New York. 

Thomas Addison, the father of the family, 
was born in North Duffield, England, in 1807, 
and died in Courtland, Mich., June 12, 1875. 
He came to America in a sailing vessel about 
1825, landing in New York city. He was mar- 
ried in the Empire state, and later, while it 
vvas still a territory, came to Michigan, reach- 
ing Plainfield on a flat-boat, having come some 
distance down Grand river>. From Plainfiled 
he came to Counrtland township, having but 
one dollar remaining. But, by dint of industry 
and the e.xercise through many years of the 
native ability characteristic of the family, at- 
tained to affluence. Mr. Addison was at once 
brought into prominence in local affairs. He 
was an ardent democrat of the Jeffersonian 
school, and was the first clerk of Courtland, 
being present at the organization of the town. 
He was subsequently elected a justice of the 
peace, a position he filled with credit and hon- 
or. Fraternally, he was a member of Rock- 
ford lodge. No. 246, F. & A. M., and in relig- 
ion he and wife were strict adherents of the 
Episcopalian faith. 

Albert Addison received a good common- 
school education which so aroused a desire for 
further culture that he has aimed to improve 
his leisure hours with profitable reading. He 
was reared a farmer and stockraiser; but, 
when he embarked in farming on his own ac- 
count, had no capital save an earnest disposi- 
tion to accomplish what was set before him to 



50i 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



do. April 4, 187 1, he was united in marriafije 
with Miss Josephine Stoner, a native of Kent 
count}', and a daughter of John and Mary Jane 
Stoner; they have two children — Raymond V. 
and Christina. 

Mrs. Josephine Addison was born January 
3, 1853, received her preparatory education 
in the common schools, and then passed five 
years in the Rockford high school. John 
Stoner, father of Mrs. Addison, was born in 
Schoharie county, N. Y., July 23, 181S, and 
Mrs. Mary Jane Stoner, a native of St. 
Joseph, Mich., was born January 6, 1825. 
To them were born three sons and five daugh- 
ters, of whom the following survive: Joseph- 
ine; Mary, wife of J. D. Clark, a hardware 
merchant at Grand Rapids; Jennie, married 
to S. P. De\'ries, also of Grand Rapids; John, 
blacksmith of Kalispell, Mont., and Charles 
D., a railroad employee in Illinois. John 
Stoner, the father, was a man of much in- 
fluence, and one vv'hose life was passed in 
endeavor to do his whole duty nobly. He was 
a democrat, and when a resident of Rockford 
served as treasurer of Algoma township. His 
lamented death took place October 2, 1876, 
in the faith of the Baptist church, to which 
his widow, now residing in Rockford, still 
belongs. 

Raymond V. Addison, the elder of the two 
children born to Albert and Josephine (Stoner) 
Addison, has received a common-school edu- 
cation and has. excepting some months in 
1S96, passed his life on his father's estate. 
He has a fine taste for music and is quite pro- 
ficient as a performer on the mandolin; his 
sister, Christina, is also of a musical turn and 
has received special instruction on the organ. 
Both these young people are members of the 
Epworth league, of which Raymond is the 
librarian and Christina the organist. 

The Addison homestead consists of 160 
acres of section No. 23, Courtland township. 



and this farm Albert Addison purchased from 
the other heirs after the death of his father. 
He has been very successful in the manage- 
ment of his business, and is classed among the 
progressive and representative men of the 
township. He and family enjoy the unfeigned 
respect of the community. He is an ardent 
friend of the public schools, and has been 
treasurer of the school board for many 3'ears. 
He is also a member of Rockford lodge. No. 
246, F. & A. M. 




ELSON F. ALBEE, D. V. S., an 
agriculturist of Wyoming township, 
Kent county, Mich., where he has re- 
sided for the past thirty jears, was 
born in Danby, Rutland county, Vt., June 28,, 
1822. His father, Zattue Albee, was a na-A^ 
tive of Massachusetts, was a millwright by 
trade and a Methodist preacher by calling, 
found his wife in Vermont and died in Cleve- 
land, Ohio, at the age of seventy-six years. His 
wife, who bore the maiden name of Mary Chap- 
man, was a native of the Green Mountain state, 
and died in Cleveland, Ohio, when fifty-six 
years old. To this venerable couple were born 
fourteen children, of whom two only are now 
living — the subject of this sketch and Adeline, 
wife of Edward Gillette, and now residing in 
Lockwood, Monterey county, Cal., at the age 
of sixty-six years. 

Nelson F. Albee was a child of four years 
when taken from \'ermontto Ohio by his par- 
ents, who settled near Cleveland, and there 
he was educated to a limited degree in a log 
house, the onlj' kind in existence in the pio- 
neer dajs of the Buckeye state. But he was 
an apt scholar and fond of reading, and had a 
natural affection for dumb animals, taking 
much delight in relieving their suffering when 
in pain. Living on a farm, he had man\' op- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



503 



portunities for observing the habits of animals, 
for studying their ailments and ministering to 
their cure. This led to his systematic reading 
of works devoted to this branch of surgery 
and medicine, in which he is now an expert, 
having had a practice of fifty years' duration. 
But it is necessary to revert to the earlier 
days of his life. 

While yet a boy, the doctor left the home 
farm and went to Nottingham, near Cleveland, 
and entered a dry- goods store as a clerk, -and 
learned something of the business; he then 
went to Haysville, Ashland county, where for 
two years he carried on the dry-goods business 
on his own account. About 1845 he married, 
about ten miles from Dayton, Miss Ann Marie 
Shunk, and in 1851 he and wife and their two 
children went overland by ox-team to Cali- 
fornia, being somewhat afflicted with the gold- 
fever, and were five months in makinjg the 
trip. But they discovered that wealth could 
be more easily gained by other processes than 
mining, and they took in washing at the rate 
of $7 per dozen. They passed three and a 
half years in the Golden state, and then re- 
turned, via Nicaraugua, and in eighteen days 
reached Cleveland, Ohio, and lived in the vi- 
cinity of that city until 1866, when they canie 
to Kent City, Mich. Fcr some time the doc- 
tor did considerable lumbering, both in his 
own forest and for W. T. Powers, attending 
meanwhile to his practice as a veterinary sur- 
geon. The doctor came to Wyoming township 
about the year 18S4, making the change prin- 
cipally on account of his health, and purchased 
a tract of twenty-five acre?, which he haS 
greatly improved, and has chiefly devoted to 
the cultivation of fruit, but, as a rule, rents it 
out, as his practice requires the greater part 
of his attention. 

To the doctor and Mis. Albee have been 
born eight children, seven of whom are still 
living, viz: Almira, wife of Charles Goodsvin, 



of Chicago, 111., and the mother of two chil- 
dren, A.lmira and Kitty; of these Almira is 
married to Frederick Hayden, of Chicago, and 
Kitty is the wife of Charles Cole, of the same 
city, and has one child, Helen. Victoria is 
the wife of John Thomas, of LaFayette, Ind., 
and has four children — Minnie, married to Dr. 
Doyle, of Logansport, Ind., and the mother 
of two boys; Nelson F. , married and the father 
of one son; Lettie and Maud. Ann is the 
wife of John Tozer, of Grand Rapids, and has 
four children — Sadie, Frank, Ella and Myra. 
Arthur N., of Grand Rapids, married Belle 
Clark and has one son — LeGrande. Kittie, 
wife of D. Thompson, of Kent City, has five 
children — Eddie, Freddie, Otis, John and a 
babe. Hattie is the wife of William Bowen, 
of Newaygo, and Nelson T. , Jr., the youngest 
of the doctor's children, married a Miss Work- 
man and lives in Grand Rapids. 

Fraternally, the doctor is an Odd Fellow, 
but has not affiliated for years; politically, he 
is a republican, taking much interest in the 
success of his party. Personally, the doctor 
is highly respected by the entire community, 
and professionally he has made a grand success 
— a success so great, indeed, that he now re- 
fuses calls away from home, but attends to all 
cases at his office on his premises, where he 
keeps on hand constantly a stock of medicines 
and all the modern and latest improved im- 
plements and appliances requisite in the prac- 
tice of his profession. 




ETER ANDERSON, the well-known 
blacksmith of Kent City, Mich., has 
been identified with the town since 
1886, and has earned for himself the 
reputation of being a most excellent mechanic 
as well as a model citizen. He was born in 
Columbus, Bartholomew county, Ind., April 



504 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



19, I 85 I, and is the third in a family of two sons 
and two daughters born to William H. and 
Mary E. (Geesee) Anderson, of which children 
only he and his sister, Harriet E. (wife of C. 
R. Palmer, of Maple Grove, Barry county), 
are still living. 

William H. Anderson, father of Peter, was 
born in the Netherlands, but died in Indiana 
when the latter was still in his infancy. The 
mother remarried, and, her second husband 
being a blacksmith, the subject of this sketch 
was early inducted into the business, or, as he 
remarks, " He went to work in the shop as 
soon as he was tall enough to stand in front of 
an anvil." When he had attained his major- 
ity he left his step-father and began the battle 
of life on his own account, but did not have 
$5 in his possession, although he had be- 
come a perfect master of his trade. Since 
then his life has been spent in Michigan. 

March 16, 1876, Mr. Anderson married 
Miss Sibyl L. Palmer, a native of Barry coun- 
ty, Mich., and to this union have been born 
two sons and three daughters, of whom the 
following named four still survive: Maudie 
Belle, wife of Harry S. Powers, general agent 
for the Osborne Reaper company at Ivent 
City; Fannie E., who completed the seventh 
grade in school and received instruction in 
music, and in May, 1 899, was married to Ray 
Dunning, a farmer of Tyrone township, but 
now city drayman of Sparta, and a son of C. 
R. Dunning, whose sketch appears on another 
page; Lester O., who has also passed through 
the seventh grade, and is now assisting his 
father, and Tina, at home. Mrs. Sibyl I^. An- 
derson was born June 19, 1858, and received a 
sound couimon-school education. 

When Peter Anderson settled in Kent City 
he began business in a rented shop, as he had 
had the misfortune of losing, while a resident of 
McBride's, Montcalm county, his shop, tools 
and stock, involving a loss of $1,200, by a con- 



flagration. Besides this, he had been too 
kind to his friends by going security, paying 
losses to the amount of $400. But he was 
not discouraged, and began again at the foot 
of the hill to climb to his present enviable po- 
sition. On starling in Kent City he had a 
few tools and about $30 worth of stock, and 
after purchasing some provisions and other 
requisites for his family had $1.50 left in cash. 
He has been energetic and thrifty, however, 
and to-day owns one of the best equipped and 
neatest blacksmith shops in the county of 
Ivent. The workshop is 36x24 feet in di- 
mensions and contains two excellent brick 
forges, and his storehouse or stock-room is 
20x20 feet and is packed with first-class ma- 
terial. Besides, his residence is his own, and 
not a dollar of indebt-^dness stands against his 
dwelling, his shop, or his stock and tools. 

Mr. Anderson is a republican in politics 
and cast his first presidential vote for U. S. 
Grant. He is an ardent friend of the free 
schools and has served as a member of the 
Kent City school board seven years, and is 
still serving as such. As an Odd Fellow he 
has passed all the chairs arid is now a member 
of lodge No. 380, at Kent City. Socially he 
is respected and honored, a distinction which 
every self-made man assuredly deserves. 




ARVIN M. ATHERTON, a distin- 
guished attorney at law of Sparta, 
Kent county, Mich., was born in 
Lisbon, Ottawa county, of the 
same state, September 23, 1869, and is a son 
of Sylvanusand Malinda (Williams) Atherton, 
parents of four children. 

Sylvanus Atherton, the father, who traced 
his ancestry to the English, was born in 
Pennsylvania, where he was reared to farm- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



507 



ing and whence he removed to Ohio, and from 
there, several years later, came to Michigan 
and continued to follow farming in Kent coun- 
ty, and also engaged in mercantile trade in the 
village of Lisbon. In 1881 he settled in Spar- 
ta, Kent county, and here died November 25, 
1892, a highly respected citizen; his widow 
now resides in Sparta, at the home of her son, 
Marvin M., whose name stands at the open- 
ing of this biographical notice. 

Marvin M. Atherton was primarily educated 
in the common schools, and after having passed 
through all the required grades was thoroughly 
prepared for college, entered the Michigan 
State Normal school in 188S, and graduated 
in 1892. In 1893 he entered the university of 
Michigan, from the law department of which 
famous institution he graduated in 1S95. He 
began practice in Detroit, Mich., the same 
year, gained considerable practice, and in Sep- 
tember, 1898, located in Sparta, where he 
has met with flattering success as a lawyer, 
and where, also, he e.\ercised the functions of 
a notary public. Although still in the pro- 
fession, he is rapidly approaching a foremost 
place in its ranks, and if the present buds of 
promise fully fructify, he will stand in the 
fore-front in the near future. 

i\Ir. Atherton is a member of Unity lodge, 
No. 174, Knights of Pythias; is in politics a 
republican and cast his first presidential vote 
for Ben. Harrison. Socially he maintains an 
excellent standing with the best people of 
Sparta, and is greatly esteemed on account of 
his many personal merits. 

.Arty Atherton married Miss Susan R. 
Webb, October 31, 1899. This lady was born 
in Cass couuty, Mich, June 8, 1869, and is a 
daughter of H. J. and Frances (Woods) Webb. 
She was primarily educated at Cassopolis, and 
finished her education at the State Normal 
school of Ypsilanti, graduating with the class of 
1 89 1. 




RIGHT C. ALLEN, the subject of 
this sketch, is a worthy descendant 
of one of the early pioneers of Mich- 
igan and belongs to a family re- 
nowned in the annals of early American histo- 
ry. His father, Hiram H. Allen, was in many 
respects a remarkable man, and left the im- 
press of his individuality indelibly stamped 
upon various localities of Kent county. Hiram 
H. Allen was a native of Chittenden county, 
Vt., born May 14, 1804, and a near relative 
of Col. Ethan Allen, who gained signal fame 
by the capture of Fort Ticonderoga at the 
breaking out of the war of American independ- 
ence. He came to Michigan in 1830, served 
as a volunteer in the Black Hawk war, and 
became a resident of I\ent county in 1838, 
though he had come here for a limited period 
two years prior to that date. His first resi- 
dence was constructed of sawed planks, an 
indifferent affair, one of the fir.^t dwellings in 
this section of the country. This house, which 
was occupied by the family many years, stood 
on the main thoroughfare leading to Kalama- 
zoo and was frequently used as a stopping 
place by the traveling public during the early 
days of the county. A part of the original 
structure is still standing, and incorporated 
into the dwelling where the immedate subject 
of this review now resides. 

Of Hiram Allen, and the part he took in 
developing Kent county, much might be writ- 
ten. By trade a tanner, he abandoned that 
vocation upon settling in Michigan, and turned 
his attention to farming and lumbering, in both 
of which he met with gratifying success. He 
was a true type of the rugged pioneer of sev- 
enty 3ears ago, strong, industrious and fear- 
less, and possessed unusual powers of mind 
which made him a valuable man in the com- 
munity, as he was frequently consulted by the 
early settlers in matters of law and business, 
and for many years held important official po- 



508 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



sitions. For thirty years he was a justice of 
the peace in Paris township, being chosen to 
that office at the first election, which was held 
under his own roof. It is also a fact worthy 
of note that he officiated at the first wedding 
ceremony ever held in the township, the cori- 
tracting parties being Charles Kelly and Em- 
eline Clark, the latter of whom is still living 
where their marriage was celebrated, in the 
township of Gaines, at that time included in 
Paris. During his long incumbency, Mr. Allen 
became wid-ely and favorably known, and the 
justice and impartiality of his decisions at- 
tracted numerous litigants to his court. He 
was a leading politician in that early day; a 
stanch old-line whig and equally zealous as a 
republican after that party came into existence. 
Firm in his convictions, and a fluent talker, he 
was ever ready for g.rgument, being no mean 
antagonist in many wordy encounters which 
characterized neighborhood assemblages, in 
those times, when everybody was a politician, 
and all took part in such discussions. His 
mind once formed concerning any matter sel- 
dom changed, and he defended his views with 
a tenacity and logic which easily made him the 
leader of his party, and one of its most trusted 
advisers. 

He alwajs aimed to do the right, and, 
though firm and antagonistic, no one ever 
accused him of a dishonorable motive or at- 
tributed to him aught inconsistent with the 
strictest integrity. He enjoyed political con- 
claves, and seldom, if ever, failed to attend 
the conventions of his party. Always a great 
pedestrian, he frequently walked many miles, 
either day or night, to be present at such meet- 
ings, and once there was one of the leading 
spirits, his good natured personality lending 
enthusiasm to the occasion. During the war 
no man in Kent county proved a warmer friend 
of the Union, and he contributed liberally of 
his means, besides e.xercising strong influence 



in inducing 3oung men to enlist in the service 
of their country and in caring for the families 
of those who went to the front. 

In his religious opinions, Mr. Allen was 
also firmly established, and his church, the 
Episcopal, had no more enthusiastic supporter 
or liber'al patron than he. In social circles he 
was ever a popular idol — full of life, and 
repartee — and nothing pleased him better than 
the annual gatherings of the Old Settlers asso- 
ciation, where he was always called upon to 
give graphic accounts of manners, customs, 
and life in the backwoods during the days 
when the country was passing through the 
pioneer period. In early life he was active in 
Masonic circles, but did not affiliate with the 
lodge much during the latter years of his life. 
He was a stockholder in the old plank road, 
and always seconded any enterprise looking to 
the internal improvement of the county and 
state. Sufficient has already been said to 
give the reader an intelligent understanding 
of the characteristics of this representative 
pioneer, and the part he took in the growth 
and development of the country. Personally 
he was always popular, and possessed a rest- 
less energy truly remarkable, the word "fail" 
not bering in his vocabulary, and the e.xpres- 
sion, "It must go" being his favorite ma.xim. 
After a long and useful life fraught with 
great good to the communit}', and possessing 
the esteem of all who knew him, on the 2nd 
of January, iSgo, this e.xcellent citizen and 
old-time gentleman " Passed to that undiscov- 
ered countr}', from whose bourne no traveler 
ever returns. " His wife was born in Willis- 
ton county, \'ermont, April 20, 1804, and died 
January 10, 1878. She was of quiet and retiring 
disposition, a suitable balance to her husband's 
restless temperament, and is held in loving 
remembrance by her children, whom she 
j trained in high and noble ways of living. Mr. 
and Mrs. Allen were the parents of three chil- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



500- 



dren; Wright C, whose name introduces this 
biography; Lucy C, wife of James VanAuken 
and Mar}' A., wife of Jerome E. Philhps, of 
Grand Rapids. 

Wright C. Allen was born in the town of 
Tecumseh, Lenawee county, Mich., July 22, 
I S3 I, and has spent his entire life within the 
boundaries of his native state. Reared on 
the farm he early became acquainted with hard 
work, and while still quite young made a full 
hand in the " pineries," besides doing his share 
on the home place, attending in the mean- 
time such schools as the country at that time 
afforded. He and his father worked together, 
their interests being mutual, and from the first 
success attended his efforts. His first real- 
estate transaction consisted of eighty acres 
about one mile from the home farm, to which 
he has since added from time to time until he is 
now the possessor of quite a large tract, own- 
ing over 435 acres, including the original 
homestead of i So acres. His valuable farm 
lies two miles south of the city limits and with 
its improvements makes one of the most de- 
sirable country homes. Beside this he has 
valuable property elsewhere, among which are 
five acres within the corporate limits of Grand 
Rapids. 

Mr. Allen possesses business abilities of a 
high order and every enterprise with which he 
has been identified has resulted in encourag- 
ing financial profit. He has faith in the 
dignity of his calling, and manifests an in- 
telligent interest in everthing pertaining to 
agriculture. 

Mr. Allen succeeded his father as justice of 
the peace, discharging the duties of that of- 
fice with satisfaction to all concerned for a 
number of years. He has also been called to 
other positrons, including those of township 
treasurer and constable, in each of which his 
aptitude for the successful conduct of public 
affairs has been exemplified. A republican in 



his political belief, Mr. Allen is no partisan. 
He always supports his party's ticket in na- 
tional and state contests, but in local elec- 
tions gives his vote to the candidate best fitted 
for the office sought. 

Mr. Allen was married February 18, 1869, 
to Miss Sarah J. Watson, daughter of Joseph 
J. and Catherine (Thomas) Watson, who came 
to Grand Rapids with her parents in 1852, 
her native place being Dansville, N. Y. The 
father of Mrs. Allen was for a number of years 
a contractor and builder, and had an enviable 
reputation as an architect, having taught arch- 
itecture both in New York and in Michigan. 
In i860 he settled in Paris township, and fol- 
lowed agriculture until his death, which 
occurred on the iSth of May, 1899, at the ad- 
vanced age" of eighty-seven. His wife was 
born in Livingston county, N. Y., June 12, 
1819, and departed this life March 13, 1891. 

To Wright C. and Sarah J. Allen have- 
been born two children, the younger of whom 
Auril, died at the age of eight years. Flor- 
ence E., the survivor, was born August 11, 
1 871, married Charles S. Smith, and has the 
following children: Auril, Amy, \\'right Allen 
and Wallace Marion Smith. 

It is well that a work like this be carried 
to completion in this year, that closes the 
nineteenth century. But a few more years 
and all those honorable and respected pioneers 
will have passed from these scenes to the 
more beautiful "Land of the Leal." Their 
labor done, the tide comes in for the last 
time, and midst the falling of tears, they em- 
bark upon the " waveless sea." 



RS. SARAH E. ATHERTON, of 
Sparta township, Kent county, 
Mich., with her post-office at Lis- 
bon, across the line in Ottawa, 
county, has been a resident of Sparta township- 




510 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



since 1854, and is well known for her great 
kindness and amiabilitj' of disposition, and has 
played quite a conspicuous part in the history 
and development of the county. She is a 
native of Orange county, N. Y., was born 
September 2, 1831, and is a daughter of Will- 
iam H. and Elizabeth (Smith) Hoyt, well- 
known residents of the Empire state in their 
early days, and the parents of four children — 
one son and three daughters — of whom Mrs. 
Atherton and her sister Caroline, widow of 
John Bare, and now residing in Antelope 
county, Nebr. , are the only two survivors. 
Mrs. Bare, however, has seven children and 
forty grandchildren, and her post-office address 
is Neligh, Nebr. 

William H. Hoyt, father of Mrs. Atherton, 
was also a native of Orange county, N. Y. , 
was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and 
died at the early age of twenty-six years, 
six months and nineteen dayS, in Sep- 
tember, 1835. He was highly intelligent 
and chiefly self-taught; he had solved all 
the problen s in DaboU's arithmetic and com- 
piled them in a volume in his own handwrit- 
ing, and was well read in history. He was a 
resident of Henry (now Defiance) county, Ohio, 
at the time of his death, his daughter (Mrs. 
Atherton) being then four years of age. 

Mrs. Elizabeth (Smith) Hoyt, also a na- 
tive of New York, was born in 1813, and died 
in the state of Ohio in 1S93, a devout member 
of the U. B. church, and a lady of good edu- 
cation and of many christian and womanly 
graces. Her father, Timothy Smith, was a 
pioneer of the Mohawk valley, N. Y., and was 
a man of the strictest integrity. The step-grand- 
father of Mrs. Atherton, Richard Van Skiver, 
was a hero of the war of 18 12, and her grand- 
mother's father. Hall, a patriot of the Revolu- 
tion, was taken prisoner at one time, and was 
nearly murdered by the enemy's putting 
powdered glass in bread. Her grandmother's 



aunt's father and mother were killed by the 
Indians in the early pioneer days of New York; 
the savages had attacked their cabin, bent on 
massacre, and the aunt ran outside the door 
to seek a means of escape, but surely would 
have been slain, had not an Indian, who had 
been lurking behind a tree, recognized her as 
one he was indebted to for past kind acts, and 
so saved her life. She was made a captive, 
however, and held for three months in a wig- 
wam, and while thus imprisoned gave birth to 
a daughter. 

Mrs. Sarah E. Atherton, the subject of 
this biography, passed her childhood and 
youthful 3'ears in the state of Ohio, was 
educated in the common schools, and sup- 
plemented this instruction by self-applica- 
tion to the study of standard literature, 
for which she had a natural taste and inherent 
love, and, as Miss Sarah E. Hoyt, became 
one of the most accomplished \'oung ladies of 
her neighborhood. At the age of twenty- 
three years she was led to the marriage altar, 
September 16, 1854, by George Atherton, who 
was born in Steuben county, N. Y., October 
25, 1826, was educated in the common schools 
and early learned the carpenter's trade. The 
same year of their marriage (1854), Mr. 
Atherton brought his bride to Michigan, pur- 
chased 160 acres of timbered land in Sparta 
township, Kent county, and began the arduous 
but not altogether unpleasant life of genuine 
pioneers. The township was new, with only 
one blazed road, and that led to Grand Rap- 
ids, and nowhere else, and many a time did 
Mrs. Atherton ride behind an ox-team. Their 
first habitation was a log cabin, the main part 
of which is still standing and is now a half 
century old. All the improvements that now 
adorn this farm, including the beautiful as well 
as the useful, had been made by Mr. and Mrs. 
Atherton prior to the death of the former, 
about ten years ago, and what was once a 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



511 



dense wilderness is now one of the finest farms 
in the township. In the early days, Mr. 
Atherton was offered forty acres on Stocking 
street, Grand Rapids, for a span of horses. 

George Atherton was an able financier as 
well as a laudably ambitious citizen and 
farmer; yet, though an active republican, he 
never aspired to public office. He was es- 
teemed by all who knew him for his honorable 
life, his intelligence, his industrious habits and 
his e.xcellent executive ability. He was a kind 
husband, a true friend and a useful member of 
society, and was called to his final rest Sep- 
tember 2 1, 1888. His remains were followed 
to the grave by a large train of unaffected 
friends and interred in the Lisbon cemetery, 
where his widow has erected an elegant gray 
granite monument, sacred to his memory. 
The month of September, it may here be inci- 
dentally mentioned, has proven a fortuitous 
one to Mrs. Atherton, inasmuch that she and 
her sisters were born in September, her father 
died in September, she was married in Sep- 
tember, and in September her husband was 
taken away. 

Arthur W. Letson, a young man of excel- 
lent character, now finds a home on the beau- 
tiful estate owned by Mrs. Atherton, who, in 
the kindness of her heart, shares with the 
otherwise homeless lad her bounteous hospi- 
tality, and has been so doing since the fall of 
iSgi, adopting him when he was aged about 
fourteen years. He graduated from the Lis- 
bon graded schools in 1 897, passed his teacher's 
examination and secured his teacher's certifi- 
cate, and in every way has shown himself 
worthy of the kindness of his benefactress. He 
exhibits marked evidence of talent in art, and 
the kindly advice and admonitions of Mrs. 
Atherton have not been bestowed upon him in 
vain. Young Mr. Letson was born in Cold- 
water, Branch county, Mich., June 7, 1877, 
and is a son of Lorenzo and Marion (Donnelly) 



Letson; he passed seven years of his life in' 
Newaygo county, several years in Muskegon 
county, and the last eight and happy years 
have been passed with Mrs. Atherton. 

For forty-five years Mrs. Atherton has been 
a resident of Kent county, and her daily walk 
through life has commanded the respect of all 
who know her. In religion she is a Universal- 
ist, but she (as did her deceased husband) has 
ever contributed most liberally toward all the 
churches of Sparta, and her contributions 
have not yet come to an end. It may truth- 
fully be said that no more benevolent lady ever 
lived in Sparta, nor one more deserving the 
respect which is so freely bestowed upon her. 




HOMAS ANDERSON.— This gentle- 
man affords in his life and success 
further evidence that industry, econ- 
omy and integrity constitute the key- 
note to honorable competency. The blood of 
the "canny Scot" flows in his veins aud his 
life exhibits the most worthy characteristics of 
that hardy race — industry, frugality and hon- 
esty. He is now in his prime. He has trusted 
to his own strong arm and healthy brain for 
success, nor has he been disappointed. Be- 
ginning business life with little capital and 
other privileges quite limited, but with a 
sturdy purpose to do, with all his might, what 
was required of him, he has conquered the im- 
pediments to progress, and stands to-day an 
illustrious character among the many success- 
ful men of Kent county. 

Mr. Anderson was born February 3, 1850, 
his natal place being Glasgow. His parents 
were Joseph and Elizabeth (Arbuckle) Ander- 
son, and he is one of four survivors of an 
original family of seven children. His father 
was born in the city of Edinburgh. A molder 
by trade, he became head of the firm that did 



:512 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



government work, one contract being the mak- 
ing of cannon balls that created such havoc 
by English artiller_v at the memorable siege of 
Sebastopol. In 1850. accompanied by his 
family, he set sail from Glasgow and landed 
in New York, where, until 1S67, he was en- 
gaged in farming. He thence came to Kent 
county, and now, at the advanced age of 
eighty-one years, lives, a remarkably w-ell- 
preserved old man, and one whom to know is 
to honor. His wife was also a native of Edin- 
burgh. She died in the year 1896, at the age 
of about seventy-seven. 

The greater part of the life of Thomas 
Anderson has been spent in the state of Mich- 
igan. He received a liberal education, and 
until twenty-four 3ears of age he remained 
■upon his father's farm. 

November 15, 1S74, he'was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Theresa ^^'ellman, a scion of 
•one of the old pioneer families of Michigan. 
To this union were born two daughters 
one, Erma Ray, is now living. She is the 
wife of Willis A. Davis, is a resident of 
Oakfieid township, and a refined and respect- 
ed lady. Mrs. Anderson was born m Kent 
county, November 15, 1850, and is a daughter 
of E. J. and Mary (White) Wellman, a suitable 
biography of whom is found in this volume. 

Mr. Anderson began married life by operating 
his father's farm for some time. He bought a 
place, and, after many trades and changes, he 
now owns a beautiful home in Oak field, one mile 
south of Harvard, the estate containing 157.5 
acres. He has found his farm suitable for the 
profitable cultivation of potatoes, and has ac- 
cordingly made that a staple crop. He has 
grown as high as 5,000 bushels in one season. 
His farm is not only in a high state of cultiva- 
tion, yielding handsome returns for the labor 
bestowed, but it is fully equipped with a fine, 
•commodious, well-arranged house, barns and 
all essential out-buildings, all making one of 



the rnost desirable farms in Oakfieid. In ad- 
dition to a successful business on his farm, 
for several years he had dealt in potatoes, 
shipping to various markets thirty to forty 
car-loads each season. 

Mr. Anderson makes no pretension to polit- 
ical aspiration and does not tie himself to either 
party, preferring to e.xercise the franchise to 
elect such men as he deems most worthy the 
distinction of office. Socially, he is a Macca- 
bee in Evans tent. No. 785, and with his es- 
timable wife fraternizes with Greenville grange, 
P. of H. 

He has visited many of the principal cities 
of the countr}' in connection with business, 
and, with observation and careful, thoughtful 
reading, has come to be one of the best in- 
formed men of Oakfieid. 




OSEPH R. AUSTIN, an old-time farmer 
and one of the highly-respected resi- 
dents of Sparta township, Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., was born in Oakland coun- 
ty, this state, July 8, 1845, and is the third in 
order of birth of the five children that consti- 
tute the family of John and Elizabeth (For- 
sythe) Austin, of which children three are still 
living, viz: Joseph R., the subject of this 
sketch; Henry J., a married farmer of Chester 
township, Ottawa county, and Nancy, wife of 
W. H. McCune, also of Ottawa county, Mich. 
John Austin, the father, was a native of 
Ireland, was reared a farmer and was there 
married. Soon after this last-mentioned 
event, he came to America, landed in New 
York, and came thence to Michigan, locating 
first in Oakland county and then coming to 
I\ent county, where he purcha.-^ed eighty acres 
across the boundary line in Chester township, 
Ottawa county, for which he paid the govern- 
ment $1.25 per acre, the original deed for this 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



513 



land, signed by Franklin Pierce, president of 
the United States, and Gov. Greenly, of Mich- 
igan, being now in the possession of Joseph R. 
Austin, the subject of this sketch. John Aus- 
tin's first habitation in this western wilderness 
was the inevitable log cabin, and wilderness it 
was of a verity, as not a tree had been cut 
when he settled here. Indians were numer- 
ous, and often called at his cabin door on their 
way to Grand Rapids, which, at that early 
date, was a mere "shanty town." Wild deer 
would venture upon the little clearings Mr. 
Austin had made on his farm and browse with 
the domestic cattle: bears were frequently seen 
in the neighborhood, and all these primitive 
scenes age still vi\id in the recollection of Jo- 
seph R. Austin, the subject of this sketch. 
O.^-teams were the means of conveyance, no 
highways were laid out, not a church-building 
nor school-house was known to the vicinit}', 
nor was there a building of any kind to be seen 
north of the'Grand river. Often it required 
two days and a half to make the trip to and 
from Grand Rapids, to attend church or for 
other purposes; and teams were frequently 
stalled in the mud at the corner of Canal and 
Monroe streets, that city. The mail from 
Grand Rapids to Newdygo was carried on 
foot once per week, and many times the sturdy 
old pioneers would go by ox-team five to seven 
miles to visit neighbors — quite a different state 
of affairs from that of the present. But John 
Austin was a man of tireless energy and fertile 
resources, .redeemed his land from the primi- 
tive forest, increased its dimensions to 240 
acres, and died one of the substantial pioneers 
of the state. In politics he was a republican, 
but cast his last vote as a prohibitionist, and 
in religion he was a Methodist. Mrs. Austin 
was called away May 7, 1873, and Mr. Austin, 
May 4, 1888, both devout members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church at Lisbon, and 
their mortal remains now rest side by side in 



the Lisbon (Kent county) cemetery, where 
beautiful monuments stand sacred to their 
memor}'. 

Joseph Austin was but three years of age 
when brought to Kent county, and he still re- 
tains in memory the condition of affairs as de- 
tailed above, and which still e.xisted during his 
boyhood years. His opportunity for an early 
education was very meager, as may well be 
inferred from reading the foregoing paragraphs, 
but he has witnessed the growth of the little 
trading-post of Grand Rapids into a great and 
booming city of 100,000 population, and the 
development of Sparta township from a dense 
wilderness into a rich agricultural district, im- 
proved with all the conveniences and appli- 
ances of modern civilization and progress. He 
was reared to farming, stock raising and fruit 
growing, and has passed all his life in Kent 
county. 

July 16, 1865, Mr. Austin married Miss 
Emma A. Converse, and three sons and two 
daughters have graced this union, namely: 
Ettie v., wife of William Vanderhoof, a farmer 
of Ottawa county, and to them has been born 
one little daughter — Hattie — now at school; 
Alice E., who was a student at the Sparta high 
school, was a music teacher for some years, 
is now the wife of William Humphreys, a 
prosperous farmer of Casnovia, Muskegon 
county, and is the mother of two children — 
Hazel and Joseph J.; Robert L., a very in- 
dustrious lad, is being reared to agriculture on 
the home place; Tracy N., a hustling, bustling 
boy, and of a very ingenious turn of mind; and 
Joseph v., the youngest of the five, is a 
natural- born stock raiser and farmer. 

Mrs. Emma A. (Converse) Austin was born 
in Potter county. Pa., April 13, 1S50, and is a 
daughter of Henry and Augusta C. (VVolbert) 
Converse. The father was a native of Ver- 
mont, was a farmer, and died in Indiana, in 
1880, at the age of seventy-nine years, a 



514 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Methodist in religion and in politics a demo- 
crat; the mother was a native of New York, of 
German parentage, and died March 21, 1863, 
also in the faith of the Methodist church, and 
in age fifty-four years. There are two brothers 
and five sisters still living of the Converse 
family, viz; One brother and one sister in 
Pennyslvania, one brother in New York, one 
sister in Oregon, and the remainder in Mich- 
igan. Mrs. Austin was educated in the com- 
mon schools and is a lady of most pleasing 
personality. 

Mr. and Mrs. Austin began their married 
life on their present farm of ninety acres, on 
which they have a beautiful residence, which 
is the abode of a good will that is extended 
to their numerous friends as well as to the 
passing strangers. They are the friends of 
public schools and members of the Free Will 
Baptist church, of the Sunday-school of which 
Mr. Austin has been the superintendent many- 
years, and his wife a teacher. They have 
aided financially in the erection of three differ- 
ent churches in their community, and Mr. 
Austin is a strong temperance man. He and 
wife are highly esteemed for their many per- 
sonal excellencies of character, and move in 
the best social circles of the township. 




OSEPH AVERILL, of Walker town- 
ship. — There is probably no name 
more familiar among the farmers of 
Kent county than that of Averill, a 
brief genealogy of which is here presented as 
furnished by Joseph Averill, a prominent young 
farmer of Walker township, who is ably sus- 
taining the good name established by his fore- 
fathers. Joseph Averill is a native of Polk- 
ton township, Ottawa county, Mich., and was 
born April 23, i860, being the eldest child of 
Levi and Artemisia (Denton) Averill. 



Levi Averill was a native of New York and 
was born in the year 1828. He came to Mich- 
igan when but a small boy with his father, 
John P. Averill, who located at Battle Creek, 
where they lived for about ten years, at the 
end of which time they removed to Polkton 
township, Ottawa county, and remained there 
until the year 1859. In i860 Levi and wife' 
came to Kent county, and purchased a farm 
in Walker township, but not being satisfied 
here they then removed to Alpine township, 
where they lived until their removal to Grand 
Rapids. After a short residence in Grand Rap- 
ids, tired of city life, they left for Ada village, 
where they now reside, and where he is en- 
gaged in farming and dairying. During his res- 
idence in Walker and Alpine townships, Mr. 
Averill witnessed many improvements in Kent 
county. Upon his arrival he found much of 
the land covered with timber and swamps, and 
the now thriving city of Grand Rapids was a 
mere village. Since the organization of the 
Kent County Agricultural society, Mr. Averill 
has served three or four years as president, 
and has filled the important position with hon- 
or, and remained director for several years. 
He was also superintendent of a department 
in the West Michigan Fair association. 

The date and place of Mrs. Averill's birth 
cannot be ascertained, as she died when her 
son, Joseph, was but five years old. The lat- 
ter's step-mother was Catherine Smith, a na- 
tive of Walker township, and a daughter of 
the pioneer, David Smith. 

Joseph A\erill began life for himself when 
twenty-one years of age, prior to this having 
attended the country school. At this age, 
having become sufficiently advanced in educa- 
tion, mainly in the Grange academy in Alpine, 
to be able to teach in the common schools, he 
according!}- engaged to teach and successfully 
followed the profession for about seven years, 
mainly in Kent county. He next purchased a 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



515 



farm in Walker township, which he rented out 
for two seasons, then moved upon it himself 
and made it serve as his home until the re- 
moval, in 1S98, to his present (arm in section 
No. 5, Walker township. This farm contains 
forty acres on Peach avenue, in the excellent 
fruit region. His other farm contains thirty 
acres, almost wholly devoted to peach trees. 
He also owns a first-class hog- pen of forty 
acres, adjacent to Kinney station. All these 
he operates himself. 

On January i, 1885, Mr. .Averill was united 
in marriage to Miss Eleanor M. Manley, a na- 
tive of Huron county, Ohio, born November 
22, 1856, and the third child of Skiff and Bet- 
sey Manley. The father of Mrs. Averill was a 
native of Vermont and her mother was born 
in England. They resided on the Manley 
homestead in Huron county until 1885, when 
they came to Walker, securing the present 
home of their daughter, Mrs. Averill. Both 
parents died here, and their remains are in- 
terred in Walker cemetery. Mr. Manley was 
a good carpenter and contractor, and reared 
nine children, all of whom still survive. 

Mr. and Mrs. Averill are the parents of but 
one child, Levi S., a lad of twelve summers, 
who is now attending school. He is also a 
member of the juvenile grange. Mr. Averill 
is an ardent republican and .cast his maiden 
vote for James G. Blaine. Officially, he has 
served as deputy Agricultural association clerk, 
also as deputy township clerk. Socially, he 
and wife are members of the Kinney grange. 
They are active members of the Alpine- 
Walker Congregational church, Mrs. Averill 
having been Sunday-school superintendent for 
the last two years. She has always been a 
worker in the Sunday-school and has about 
seventy-five Sunday-school scholars; also has 
been delegate to Sunday-school state conven- 
tions. He is a member of Centennial lodge, 
I. O. O. F. , No. 280, ever since his twenty- 

26 



first year. Mr. Averill continued to teach in 
connection with his farming. Mrs. Averill 
taught for twelve years, mainly in Huron 
county, Ohio. She received an excellent nor- 
mal training, and was one of the really success- 
ful teachers. He keeps well posted on general 
matters. 





DKSI 




J 



ILLIAM BAHRE, since 1S57, has 
been a citizen of the United States, 
and a resident of Kent county, 
Mich., since the spring of 1870, 
and is one of the most enterprising agricult- 
urists of Sparta township. He was born in 
the kingdom of Hanover, August 15, 1834, 
the fourth of the three sons and three daugh- 
ters born to William and Elizabeth (Borchers) 
Bahre, of which children three are now de- 
ceased, the three survi\ors being Frederick, 
William and Christina. Of these, Frederick 
was a miller in Germany, but on coming to 
America became foreman of the large car 
shops in Buffalo, N. Y., but is now a land- 
scape gardener in that city and is a man of 
wealth; William is the next eldest, and Chris- 
tina is the wife of August Losien, a well-to-do 
farmer, of Ottawa county, Mich. 

William Bahre, the father, was also a na- 
tive of Hanover, was born in 1798, and died 
in Ottawa county, Mich., in 1866. He had 
served his full time in the German army, and 
by trade was a carpenter and joiner. In Sep- 
tember, 1857, he sailed with his family from 
Hamburg for New York, and after a voyage of 
two weeks landed in the Empire city, whence 
he started for Buffalo, and when eighteen 
miles from that city began life in America as a 
farmer, renting land for seven years ere he 
came to Michigan. 

In Grand Haven township, Ottawa county, 
Mich., William Bahre, the subject of this 



516 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



sketch, and his father purchased i6o acres of 
partially improved land, and on this land the 
father lived until his death in the faith of the 
Lutheran church, his wife, who was born in 
Hanover, in 1795, having departed this life in 
1857. 

William Bahre, the subject, was educated 
in the common schools of his native land and 
was reared to farming, fie was twenty-three 
years of age when he came to America with 
his parents, but was a young man of some 
little means. He has always been industrious 
and a shrewd manager, and manual labor 
has never been a dread, but he has always 
cheerfully and willingly "placed his shoulder 
to the wheel " and urged forward the car of 
progress toward the goal of prosperity. 

February 12, 1863, Mr. Bahre wedded 
Miss Anna Hubert, and of the six sons and 
six daughters that have come to bless this 
union nine are still living, viz: Otto, the eld- 
est who is married, is well educated in both 
German and English, and by vacation is a 
farmer; Anna is the wife of Henry Schafer, a 
thrifty young farmer of Chester township, Ot- 
tawa county; Henry, a resident of Lisbon and 
married, owns a farm in Kent county, and is 
a carpenter and joiner by trade; Louis, mar- 
ried and a farmer, has his residence in Ottawa 
county; Emma is married to Martin Krafts, a 
well-to-do farmer, also of Ottawa county; Ma- 
tilda is the wife of Paul Schmidt, a young and 
thriving fanner of Ottawa county, and a son 
of Rev. Schmidt, pastor of the German Lu- 
theran church at Lisbon, Chester township; 
Huldah has passed through the eighth grade 
in the public school, has also been educated 
in the German school and confirmed in the 
Lutheran church, and has her home with her 
parents; Reinhardt has also been educated in 
both German and English and is still under ths 
parental roof; Frederick is in the sixth grade 
at<school, and is the youngest in the family. 



Mrs. Bahre was born in Prussia, Germany, 
on September 21, 1846, and was a child of 
four years when brought to America by her 
parents, who are both now living in Grand 
Haven, Mich. Her father was a blacksmith by 
trade in his earlier manhood, but later became 
a farmer, and his wile is one of the best and 
noblest of helpmates. 

Mr. Bahre purchased his present partial!)' 
improved farm of eighty acres in Sparta town- 
ship in I S70 and made his home in a log cabin ; 
the C. & W. M. R. R. was in course of con- 
struction, the village of Sparta was known as 
Nashville, and Kent City was called Tyrone. 
All the changes which have since taken place 
Mr. Bahre has witnessed and taken part in, as 
far as the township is concerned, and has also 
been a factor in many others that have taken 
place in the county. He has made all the im- 
provements on his own farm, and erected 
his present comfortable dwelling in 18S2. He 
has aided financially in the erection of the Lu- 
theran church near Lisbon, and his son-in-law, 
Paul Schmidt, was secretary of the building 
committee, while Mr. Bahre himself has for 
six years been an official of standing in the 
congregation, and his children have all been 
confirmed in the same faith. In politics Mr. 
Bahre votes for the man best suited in his 
views for office and is not held down to the 
lines of any party. With the public at large 
he and family are held in the highest possible 
esteem. 



INSON BEARD, deceased, late of 
Cascade township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born in Monroe, Fairfield 
county, Conn., December 25, 1832, 
a son of Linson and Anna Beard, and died in 
Cascade township April 30, 1891. 

Linson Beard, the subject of this sketch, 
and an elder brother, Edgar, came to Kent 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



517 



county, Mich., about the year 1845, and 
bought a farm of more than 160 acres in the 
wilds of Cascade township, the greater part of 
which was cleared by Linson, as his brother 
Edgar was a very popular Methodist minister 
and but seldom lived on the place, his minis- 
terial duties necessitating his presence else- 
wljere, and his death occuring at Centerville, ! 
Mich., March 4, 1875. He had retained thirty 
acres of the farm, but this share was later 
sold to the father, who had come to Cascade 
after the two brothers had settled here, and 
opened a shoe shop in Cascade village, where 
his death took place November 14, 1883, at 
the age of eighty years, his wife having died 
January 24, 1877, both in the faith of the 
Methodist church. 

For years, while still a young man, Linson 
had clerked in Grand Rapids, and in that city 
first married, in 1856, Miss Mary A. Fisk, who 
died January 13, 1866, the mother of one 
child, Ella, now the wife of a Mr. Sutton, a 
traveling salesman of Grand Rapids. The 
second marriage of Mr. Beard took place No- 
vember 18, 1867, at Manlius, Onondaga 
county, N. Y. , to Sarah Jane Niles, a native of 
that town, and this union was crowned by the 
birth of two children, viz: Nettie B., who 
died in childhood, and Gertie May, who is now 
the wife of Cornelius Koetsier, and the mother 
of one child, Linson. 

After marriage, Mr. Beard settled per- 
manently on his farm and made extensive 
improvements, in accordance with his second 
wife's views, she being a lady of rare taste and 
judgment, and the farm being in an almost 
wild state when they came to make it their 
home, and lived some years thereafter in the old 
log house. The dwelling is a comfortable 
structure, surrounded by an expanded lawn, 
adorned with many handsome evergreens, 
which are kept neatly trimmed, and in this de- 
lightful abode his widow still makes her home. 



In politics Mr. Beard was a republican, 
and at the call to arms, at the outbreak ofthe 
war of the Rebellion, he enlisted in company 
C, First Michigan engineers, but after a few 
months' service, was honorably discharged on 
account of disability. His health remained 
impaired for many years, finally culminating 
in heart trouble, which was the cause of his 
untimely and lamented death. He was a de- 
vout Methodist, a class leader, and for four 
years superintendent of the Sunday-school at- 
tached to his church in Cascade. He was 
well read in the Bible and general literature, 
and, like his wife, was possessed of exquisite 
taste. Both were charter members of the 
Cascade grange, and both were a unit in their 
religious faith. Mrs. Beard still conducts the 
f^rm most successfully, aided by her son-in- 
law, and the family enjoy the unstinted 
esteem of all their neighbors. 



M 



HARLES W. BAKER.— Among the 
mostprominent and prosperous farm- 
ers and speculators of Algoma town- 
ship, Kent county, is Charles \V. 
Baker, whose face and name are familiar to 
all residents of the county, and in whose life 
these facts, it may be presumed, will be of 
interest to many, as they peruse the pages of 
the genealogical record of the representative 
citizens of Grand Rapids and Kent county. 

The subject of this sketch was born on the 
2Sthda3'of June, 1852, in Rent county, where 
he was reared, being the first child to grace 
the union of John ^^'. and Barbara Ann 
(Gross) Baker. His father was a native of 
Stark county, Ohio, and was born about 1812, 
and died in 1888. He first came to Kent 
county in 1847, and soon after located in the 
township of Plainfield, where he lived for 
about thirty years, at the end of which time 



518 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



he removed to the state of Texas and there 
resided until his death. 

The mother of Charles \\\ Baker was a 
native of Pennsylvania, and was also born in 
1812. She came to Kent county with her 
parents when btit a child and met her husband 
in Piainfield township, where they were joined 
in matrimony. She died in 1869 and her re- 
mains are interred in the Rockford cemetery, 
where a beautiful monument has been raised 
to mark her resting place. One brother, 
Frank, and a sister, Ida, live in Indian terri- 
tory, and one sister, Emma, is the wife of 
Lee Corbin, of Grand Rapids. 

Charles W. Baker began life for himself, 
when about twenty-five years of age, by leav- 
ing his father in Texas, having gone there 
with him two years before, and returning to 
Michigan, where he worked as a farm hand 
for a short time, and then for two years in the 
lumber woods at Sand Lake, hauling logs, etc. 
Subsequent to this he returned to Piainfield 
and rented the Samuel Gross farm in that 
township, remaining there for one year, and 
then renting the Smith farm in Alpine, where 
he resided about the same length of time. 
He then purchased sixty acres of land in 
Piainfield township and made this his home 
for about five years, at the end of which he 
traded it for his present home in section No. 
35, Algoma township. Mr. Baker now owns 
two farms of 200 acres of well improved land, 
located in Algoma and Cannon townships, 
forty acres of which he has set to apples and 
peaches. By hard labor and good judgment 
he has amassed enough property to make his 
life enjoyable. He is widely known as pro- 
prietor of threshing machines, having con- 
ducted one for nearly twenty years. He has 
probably threshed more grain than any other 
operator in Kent county. 

On July 4, 1879, he was married to Miss 
Bertha Ecklesdafor, a native of Stark county, 



Ohio, born in 1853. Her parents, Ernest and 
! Christina Ecklesdafor, came to Kent county, 
when the country was very new, and pur- 
chased the Baker homestead, where she made 
her home until her marriage. Her father's 
death occurred in 1891, at the age of eighty- 
three years. Her mother is still living and 
has attained the ripe old age of ninety-six 
years. She has three brothers — Ernest, 
Leonard and F"rederick, and two sisters, 
Christina and Lena. Mr. and Mrs. Baker are 
the parents of four children, viz: Arnold E., 
proprietor of a meat market at Rockford, 
Mich., and Volney, Christina and Milda, all 
residing at home. In his political faith Mr. 
Baker is a supporter of the republican party 
and cast his first vote for James A. Garfield. 
Fraternally he is a member of Edgerton tent, 
K. O. T. M. Mr. Baker does not belong to 
any church, while Mrs. Baker is an active 
member of the Presbyterian, at Grand Rapids, 
and attends the Congregational church at 
Rockford. Both of them are ever ready to 
assist in a good cause and worthy benevolence. 
Socially the family stand very high in the 
esteem of the residents of .Algoma township, 
as well as other townships in which they have 
lived, and none better deserve it. 




ESLEY J. BARNUM, an enterpris- 
ing and successful merchant of 
\'elzy, Solon township, Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., was born in Lenawee 
county, March 30, 1855, and is the eldest in 
the family of three sons and two daughters 
that graced the union of Oliver S. and Luana 
(Morse) Barnum. Of these five children, 
Amelia, the next in order of birth to Wesley 
J., is the wife of Adam McNabb. general 
bridge superintendent for the C. & W. M. 
Railroad company; Alfred, brother of subject, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



519 



is an engineer by profession, resides in Fre- 
mont, Mich., is married, and is one of the 
state deputies of the Modern Woodmen of 
America. 

Oliver S. Barnnm was born in the state of 
New Yorl<, but early came to Michigan, and 
at the breaking out of the Rebellion enlisted 
in the Twenty- first Michigan volunteers, and 
died in a military hospital at Nashville, Tenn. 
His wife, also a native of New York, died in 
Newaygo county, Mich., in 1891, a consistent 
.member of the Disciples' church. 

Wesley J. Barnum was but five years old 
when his parents settled in Newyago county, 
and at the early age of thirteen years he began 
the battle of life on his own account. He 
had received only a limited education at school, 
but was naturally a close observer of men and 
things, and a lover of books, and through his 
own efforts secured a sound knowledge of 
practical business affairs. His earlier labor- 
ing years were passed in the manufacture of 
shingles and lumber in the lower Michigan 
peninsula, and March 3, 1876, he married 
Miss Loisa Eakright, a native of DeKalb coun- 
ty, Ind. ' To this marriage ha\e been born 
two sons and one daughter, viz; Fred D., who 
has completed his eighth grade in the public 
schools; Grace D., who has also finished the 
eight grade and is unusually talented in vocal 
and instrumental music, and Alex. M., who is 
in the eighth grade at school, and, like his 
brother, Fred D., is inclined toward merchan- 
dizing. 

Mrs. Barnum was born January 29, 1855, 
•and is a daughter of Benjamin and Mary 
i(Shaw) Eakright, of English nativity. On the 
maternal side there still exists a large unparti- 
tioned estate in England, of which the Ameri- 
can members of the family will doubtless, in 
course of time, fall heirs to a liberal portion. 
Besides Mrs. Barnum there are four children 
of this family still living, viz: Frances, wife 



of George Woods, a farmer of Muskegon 
county, Mich. ; James, married, and living in 
the same county; William, an inventor and 
salesman, and now a resident of Butler, Ind. ; 
John is a policeman at Caspell, Mont. The 
father of this family, who was a farmer by oc- 
cupation, died at his home in Muskegon coun- 
ty in 1 89 1. 

February I, 1893, Wesley J. Barnum set- 
tled in \'elzy and opened a general store, with 
a stock that did not cost over $700, but his 
business tact, fair dealing and courteous treat- 
ment of his patrons soon placed him on the 
highway to prosperity, and now, within six 
years, he does a trade reaching $5,000 per 
annum, and carries a stock that is always 
fresh and sound. 

In politics Mr. Barnum is a republican, and 
about six years ago was appointed postmaster 
at \'elz3'. He has also served as a justice of 
the peace and as assessor of school district 
No. 2, at Velzy. Fraternally he is a member 
of lodge No. 131, F. & A. M., at Newaygo. 
He and wife are members of Harmony chapter. 
Order of the Eastern Star, at Cedar Springs. 
He is also clerk of Solon camp. No. 5671, 
Modern Woodmen of America. He is a gen- 
tleman of indisputable integrity and unblem- 
ished business reputation. He and wife are 
members of the Adventists' church of Grant, 
Newaygo county, and are strong advocates 
of temperance, and as residents of Velzy stand 
very high jn the esteem of everybody, great 
and small. 



S.-V.\C J. BEAR, who has been a citizen 
of Michigan since 1854, was born in 
Carroll county, Ohio, April 29, 1834. 
and is the third of a family of four 
sons and eight daughters born to John and 
Catherine (Hemery) Bear, of which children 



520 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



four are still living, viz: Isaac J., the subject 
of this sketch; AUie, a widow; Elizabeth, wife 
of Joseph Pettingall, of Salem township, 
Allegan county, and Sarah J., widow of Arthur 
Whitehead, of Pueblo, Colo. 

John Bear, the father, was born in Penn- 
sylvania and was reared a farmer in Ohio, as 
he was but a small boy when he reached that 
state. He received a common-school educa- 
tion, grew to manhood in the belief of the 
democratic part}', but voted for John C. Fre- 
mont, the first republican nominee for the 
presidency of the United States. He volun- 
teered as a soldier in the Civil war, and after 
its close came to Michigan, and died at the 
hojne of his son, in Allegan county, in 1S65, 
from the effects of exposure durmg his service. 
A son, Henry, also died from the same cause, 
and a brother, William S., was killed at the 
battle of Shiloh. His wife was possessed of 
those cardinal virtues which grace true woman- 
hood. 

Isaac J. Bear was reared and educated in 
Ohio, in which state he lived until about 
twenty-one years of age, when he came to 
Michigan. November 15, 1857, Mr. Bear 
married Miss Emily E. Brown, and to this 
union have been born ten children — three sons 
and seven daughters — but of these are now 
only four living, viz: Charles A., who was 
educated in the high school in Grand Rapids, 
and has been and is a successful teacher in 
Kent county; Emma is the wife of George E. 
Walker, of Grand Rapids, is a high-school 
graduate, and with her husband has visited 
Los Angeles, Cal, ; Abba is also a graduate of 
Grand Rapids high school, has been instructed 
in instrumental music, and resides with her 
parents, and Winnifred is in the si.xth grade of 
the district school. Mrs. Emily Bear was 
born in Racine county. Wis., and taught the 
first school in Salem, Allegan county, Mich. 
Her parents are now deceased. 



When Mr. and Mrs. Bear began their mar- 
ried life, Mr. Bear had no capital save an ax, 
having given his father his only cash, $20, 
just before his "time" was out. They began 
on forty acres, for which they went in debt. 
But Mr. Bear was one of the brave boj-s in 
blue to take up arms in defense of his country 
in its time of peril, and he enlisted, in 1864, 
in company F, Twelfth Michigan infantry, 
under Capt. William McLaughlin. The regi- 
ment rendezvoused at Grand Rapids and was 
assigned to the trans-Mississippi department, 
under Gen. Pope, reported at Cairo, 111., then 
went down the Mississippi and up the White 
river to Duvall's bluff, and were placed on 
scout duty on Cache river and Red river, and 
endured the greatest hardships of a soldier's 
life, being often without rations for days at a 
time. The service was not of long duration, 
however, as the glad tidings soon came to 
hand of the surrender of the Rebel army under 
Gen. Lee. Mr. Bear was for a time afflicted 
with inflammation of the eyes, for three 
months was in hospital, and was honorably 
discharged at Little Rock in June, 1S65, and 
returned to his wife and family. 

Mr. Bear now resumed his agricultural 
labors in earnest, and by his diligence and 
hard labor acquired 170 acres in Allegan and 
Ottawa counties. In 1889 he sold his farms, 
which he had cleared up, and spent about five 
years as a general merchant, and also dealt in 
real estate in Grand Rapids, where he owns 
some good property. In 1896 he purchased 
120 acres of good land in Byron township, 
with a soil of clay, sand and muck, well suited 
to the cultivation of cereals, vegetables and 
fruits of the latitude, and to-day has an elegant 
estate, on which not a dollar in the shape of a 
mortgage stands. 

Mr. Bear is a republican in his politics and 
is a warm friend of the public school system; 
he has been officially connected with the dis- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



521 



trict schools for several years, and the subject 
of education has claimed a great deal of his 
thoughts and attention. 

Keligiously, Mr. and Mrs. Bear are devoted 
members of the United Brethren church, and 
Mr. Bear was a member of the general con- 
ferences of this religious society at Dayton, 
Ohio, and Toledo, Ohio, in 1893 and 1897, 
respectively. He has aided liberally with his 
means in the erection of several church 
edifices, and has always given freely in assist- 
ing many other benevolences that have been 
worthy of his consideration. He stands prom- 
inently among the best agriculturists of Kent 
county, and his extensive and varied ex- 
perience in other walks of life has earned for 
him the unfeigned respect pf his fellow citi- 
zens throughout the county of Kent and the 
township of Byron, and his family enjoy with 
him in sharing the esteem which is always at- 
tached to an unsullied name. 



EONARD BEHLER, deceased, late 
of Lowell township, was born in 
Wurtemberg, Germany, May 10, 1S19, 
and died September 20, 1897. In 
1844 he -came to the United States, and for 
ten years resided in Crawford county, Ohio. 
He was united in marriage, in Germany, to 
Miss Margaret Mick, who bore him two chil- 
dren. On coming to Ohio, he rented land in 
that state, and in 1854 came to Kent county, 
Mich., where he took up eighty acres of land, 
under a soldier's claim. At that time he had 
a capital of some $300, $175 of which he paid 
for the land and was able to live on the re- 
mainder until he erected a house on his own 
farm. He then was compelled to work out 
for a livelihood and engaged in any kind of 
work he was able to obtain. His first house 
was a one-room los cabin, all made out of 



rough material and put up with ax and auger. 
The old structure still stands, unoccupied. 

Mr. Behler is now engaged in general farm- 
ing, having made an addition of forty acres to 
his farm and put about 100 acres in a good state 
of cultivation and improvement. He was a 
weaver by trade, having followed that in Ger- 
many, and upon coming to America was kept 
busy, especially during the war and in winter 
season, which employment was a great help to 
him in getting a start. 

In politics he was a republican, and took 
an active interest in political affairs. He 
nearly always used the German language, and 
the Methodist class was first held in his house, 
so he was one of the original class that grew 
into what is the German Methodist church in 
West Lowell. He always held church offices, 
such as steward, trustee, class leader, and Sun- 
day-school superintendent. He retained all 
his mental faculties and was active until the 
time he died, and settled his estate to suit 
himself. 

His wife still survives him, and is the 
mother of seven children, vii;: Christie, who 
served in the Second Michigan cavalry and 
died at twenty years of age on the march, of 
dysentary contracted in the service; John V., 
of St. Louis, Mich.; Jacob F. , of the same 
place; Adam F. ; Mary A., the wife of Leander 
Ciine, a resident of Lowell; Elizabeth, who 
died in childhood, and Lydia, who died in 
April 1899, at the age of thirty-five, and was 
the wife of Charles O'Harrow. 

Adam F. Behler was born in Crawford 
county, Ohio, August 7, 1853, and passed his 
boyhood days on the farm, which he rented 
for nine years, and then bought the homestead 
of 120 acres. In his political predilections, he 
is a republican, and has often been delegate to 
various conventions. He was united in mar- 
riage on March 24, 1S81. to Miss Sarah Hel- 
rigel, who was born in Ontario, and came to 



522 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



A 



Michigan when a child. His family consists 
of Minnie, Earl, Lloyd, Glen, Allen, John, 
Harold and Pauline, all of whom are living at 
home. They are members of the South Lowell 
Methodist Episcopal church, where Mr. Behler 
is superintendent of the Sunday-school, and 
has served as such for si.x years. 



M 



LUMAN S. BAILEY. — Such a man as 
Sluman S. Bailey is a valuable acqui- 
sition to any community, for in all 
the relations of life he is found true 
and faithful to the duties and obligations that 
have rested upon him, and his sterling worth 
and rectitude of character commend him to 
the confidence and high regard of all with 
whom he is brought in contact. An ex-sheriff 
and ex-collector of the internal revenue, he is 
now devoted to the more congenial and less 
perturbed occupation of a successful tiller of 
the soil in Paris township, where, as will be 
seen, he was a pioneer. 

Mr. Bailey was born on the 14th of De- 
cember, i82r, to ]o seph _S. and Sophia (Den- 
nison) Bailey — the latter the daughter of a 
Revolutionary soldier — who were natives of 
Ruthland, Vt., were married in 1819 and soon 
thereafter became pioneers of western New 
York. 

Sluman S. Bailey, the eldest in a family of 
three daughters and six sons, attended the old- 
style district school until nineteen years of 
age, then spent two years in Yates academy, 
when, health failing, he sought out-door em- 
ployment and worked two years on his father's 
farm. 

On October 30, 1844, he was united in 
marriage to Miss Delia G. Starbuck, a daugh- 
ter of Isaac and Rebecca Starbuck, who were 
prominent Quakers. In October, 1846, he 



came with a covered wagon to Detroit, thence 
to Paris, where he bought 120 acres of heavily- 
timbered land, and moved into his log house 
before the roof was finished. They experi- 
enced all the oft-told hardships of the earliest 
pioneers; yet with it all there was much that 
made life enjoyable. He cleared ninety acres 
within a few years and was the owner of a 
good farm. Here he lived for fourteen j-ears, 
when, upon his election to the office of sheriff 
of Kent county, in the fall of i S60, he removed 
to Grand Rapids. He was re-elected in 1862, 
and for two years was revenue inspector. He 
was again elected sheriff, and about the same 
time, without his knowledge, and though not 
a friend of the then national administration, 
and not an applicant for the position, Mr. 
Bailey was appointed collector of internal 
revenue for the Fourth district of Michigan by 
President Andrew Johnson. Aaron B. Turner, 
editor of the Eagle, was an applicant, but on 
account of an editorial reflecting upon the ad- 
ministration he was refused the honor. \\'hen 
President Johnson's term expired Mr. Bailey 
resigned, as he would not serve longer under 
that appointment. Grant at once accepted 
the resignation, but soon after re-apppointed 
him. He seived in this capacity for 
fifteen years, gaining the reputation of an 
efficient and faithful official. With one ex- 
ception his was the longest term of service as 
collector of any such official in the United 
States. He retired from the office during 
President Arthur's administration. 

As sheriff of the county, he attained dis- 
tinction for his success in catching and con- 
victing criminals, and seemed to possess 
special faculties in this line. Many interesting 
anecdotes are told of him both as sheriff and 
collector, which if collected and written would 
fill a volume. He was one of the most suc- 
cessful officials; nor did he sacrifice his own 
morality or self-respect. He has always been 





Cx^L^L^ 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



525 



active in party affairs, and, with other officials, 
has endeavored to conduct the county busi- 
ness as economically as possible. He was 
justice of the peace for four years, supervisor 
of Paris township for seven years, school in- 
spector several years artd was one of the 
founders of the Kent county Agricultural 
society, of which he was for one year president 
and for several years secretary, and a member 
of the State Agricultural society for si.x years. 

He took a prominent part in the fight for 
United States senator, which resulted in the 
election of Hon. T. W. Ferry. Mr. Ferry, 
knowing his ability, chose him to supervise 
the campaign; and the result but showed his 
capacity as manager of a contest where the 
most astute professional politicians were pitted 
against each other, and where disreputable 
rceans were resorted to by the opposition to 
carry their point. This battle, won with 
honor, was renewed with redoubled vigor at 
the end of that term, when sins of omission as 
well as commission were urged in vivid color- 
ing against the senator. Again was Mr. Bailey 
called upon to fix the fences, which was done 
with the skill and foresight of an old battle- 
scarred general. Great opposition had devel- 
oped throughout the state, but with personal 
visits to disaffected points, and suitable use of 
warm acquaintances he had made during his 
public career, the tactics of the opposition 
were overcome and again the battle was won. 

Though a generation has passed since the 
zenith of his fame and activity in political 
work, he is still sought in council by the 
leaders of to-day, who es'eem and venerate 
this man, whose honesty of purpose and fair- 
ness in battle are conceded by friend and foe. 

Hon. Wm. Alden Smith holds him in 
greatest esteem and consults him with almost 
the faith accorded to ancient oracles. It was 
at his advice that Mr. Smith declined the can- 
didacy for United States senator, when 



Burrows was re-elected, and by so doing 
prevented a division in the republican ranks. 
Mr. Bailey has been in close touch with many 
public men, having held intimate corre- 
spondence with Hon. Samuel J. Randall and 
others of equal repute. He has been a faithful 
and worthy official, a keen and successful busi- 
ness man; a far-sighted, clear-headed politician; 
a courteous, genial gentleman, and above all 
a sincere and conscientious Christian. 

The following anecdote may serve to por- 
tray him in the light of a temperance man. 
When but eight years old he had signed the 
temperance pledge, though in that day it 
was customar}' to drink at all gatherings, house- 
raisings, log-rollings, etc. When he was ready 
to build his own house, it was a question often 
discussed as to whether he would treat the 
men. He had brought two or three barrels 
of fine yellow pippin apples all the way from 
his father's orchard in New York. Not having 
whisky, it seemed at first that the men would 
be disappointed, and possibly refuse assistance, 
but the proffering of the apples had a far differ- 
ent result. They appreciated his temperance, 
and, recognizing the immorality of their own 
customs, became his warmest friends. Ever 
after he never lacked for friends at times of log- 
ging, or even at any time. He won the men, 
many of whom were Irish, and, though he did 
not conform to their customs, he lived to see 
most of them rather conform to his views. Not 
rabid or anyway antagonizing, but kind and 
genial by nature, he was able to secure the 
friendship of all. He is not a prohibitionist or 
even an advocate of local option; but obser- 
vation and experience have led him to favor 
high license and strict enforcement of the law. 

He returned to his farm in 1881, and some 
nine vears after he aided in starting the East 
Paris Congregational church, having the co- 
operation of many of those who in former 
years were liquor men, but who were induced 



526 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



somewhat by his example to feel the need of 
church influence. 

His fatnily comprised four children, two 
sons and two daughters, the youngest of whom, 
Charles W., died in August, 1867; Herman S., 
the eldest surviving son, married Delia Water- 
man, of Grand Rapids, and is a farmer in 
Plaintield, and served for three years as deputy 
collector of internal revenue under his father; 
Alice S. died, unmarried, October, 1897, and 
Clara B. is the wife of O. A. Ball, a wholesale 
grocer of Grand Rapids. 

Mr. Bailey for some years has been much 
interested in the movement for good roads, 
and is known more generally among .the 
younger generation as Good Roads Bailey. 
He is looked upon as authority upon the sub- 
ject of roads, and has delivered addresses be- 
fore large audiences upcjn his favorite theme. 
Among others was the supervisors' outing at 
Saginaw, where he was the guest of honor. 
He has written extensively upon the subject 
and his articles have been widely copied and 
read. Another subject upon which he grows 
eloquent is that of equal rights to women in 
matters of property, and he worked for laws 
that will give to the woman who has assisted 
in accumulating an equal right in the property 
with her husband. He advocates woman's 
rights in all things she asks for, belie\ing the 
world will be better when she has a larger 
share in its control. 

Mr. Bailey and wife are now passing their 
declining years upon the farm in Paris, after 
treading life's pathway together for more than 
iifty-five years, surrounded by hosts of warm- 
est friends and relatives. Among others is 
another venerable couple whom Mr. Bailey, in 
his capacity of justice, joined in life's strong- 
est bonds more than fifty years ago. It is 
doubtful if the records of the state can dupli- 
cate the circumstances connected therewith. 
But few of the friends of half a century past 



remain. They who have seen and taken part 
in all the growth and making of Kent county 
are fast passing to the spirit world. Yet many 
friends hold earnest prayer that the time will 
be long ere this venerated and respected couple 
shall hear the summons, that, answering, will 
take them to the sovereign, dim, illimitable 
ground beyond the vvaveless sea. 




OHN H. BAKER.— The name of Baker 
has for a number of years been con- 
nected with the development and prog- 
ress of Michigan, and the record of 
the family is one which reflects credit upon the 
county of Kent, especially the division known 
as Plainfield township. 

The father of the subject of the sketch was 
John W. Baker, a native of Lancaster, Ohio, 
where his birth occurred July i i, •1822. When 
twenty-three years of age he married Elizabeth 
J. Frakes, also a native of the Buckeye state, 
and shortly thereafter removed to Kalamazoo 
county, Mich., locating in the town of Vicks- 
burg, where he resided for a period of thirty 
years. He then became a resident of the 
county of Kent, and has ever since been num- 
bered among the representative men of this 
section of the state. His wife is also living 
and enjoying the best of health for a woman of 
her advanced years, and is the mother of eight 
children, John H., being youngest in order of 
birth. 

John H. Baker was born in Centerville, 
Mich., September 12, 1864. In his early 
years he attended the common schools, and at 
the age of nineteen began life for himself as a 
clerk in a grocery store in the town of Fre- 
mont, where he remained four years, obtaining 
a thorough knowledge of business during the 
period of his service. His next venture was 
the manufacture of flour at Bear Creek Mills, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



527 



in connection with which he also carried on 
the grocery trade, and a little later affected a 
copartnership with his nephew, Wesley Baker, 
in a grocery store at the town of Rockford. 
The latter he subsequently disposed of to E. 
E. Hewitt, who is still one of the leading 
business men of the town, but continued the 
former enterprise with encouraging success 
until his removal to Cannonsburg, where for 
five years he conducted a mercantile establish- 
ment, which yielded him a liberal income. 

In December, 1897, Mr. Baker located at 
Mill Creek and opened a general store, of 
which he is still the proprietor, and his busi- 
ness from that time to the present has been 
satisfactory in every particular. His stock is 
carefully selected with the object of meeting 
the demands of the public, and by fair and 
honorable dealing he has succeeded in building 
up a large and lucrative local trade besides 
selling a large amount of goods to customers 
living many miles in every direction from Mill 
Creek. Thus far Mr. Baker's mercantile en- 
terprises have proved uniformly successful, and 
his present store is easii}' the leading estab- 
lishment of the kind in the town. 

Mr. Baker was happily married October 7, 
1SS8, choosing for his wife Miss Lillian R. 
Frink, who was born in South Haven, Mich., 
M^y 9, 1S67, the sixth child of Walter and 
Hattie E. (Wilbur) Frink. The father of Mrs. 
Baker was born in the state of Massachusetts 
in the year 1832 and became a resident of 
Michigan sometime in the 'fifties. The moth- 
er, also a native of Massachusetts, was born 
the same year as her husband. Both now re- 
side at Fremont, Mich. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Baker have been born two 
children — Ethel and Walter J. — students of 
the Mill Creek school. 

Mr. Baker is serving the people of the vil- 
lage and vicinity as post-master and is proving 
a most efficient and obliging official. He be- 



longs to the K. O. T. M. and L O. O. F. 
lodges of Mill Creek, and politically affiliates 
with the republican party, being a great ad- 
mirer of President McKinley and the policy he 
is at present pursuing. Of Mr. Baker, both 
as a business man and citizen, much that is 
commendable might be said. He is a man of 
superior business capacity and resourceful 
ability, his resolute purpose and. keen discrim- 
ination enabling him to carry forward to suc- 
cessful completion whatever he sees fit to 
undertake. He has made for himself an hon- 
orable reputation, is popular in social, busi- 
ness and political circles, and well deserves 
this tribute to his worth in these pages, de- 
voted to a review of Ivent county's representa- 
tive men. 




OHN BEUCUS, the leading hardware 
dealer in Cedar Springs, Ivent county, 
Mich., is a native of Berlin, Green 
Lake county. Wis. , was born Febru- 
ary 18, 1859, and is a son of Thomas and 
Ann (Baa) Beucus, natives of the Netherlands 
and the parents of five children, of whom 
three were boys — John, Thomas and Henry. 
John is here spoken of in full; Thomas is a 
resident of Cedar Springs and is a commercial 
traveler; Henry is the manager of the Royal 
Tailors' establishment in Chicago. 

Thomas Beucus, father of this family, was 
born in 1825 and died October 17, 18S5. He 
was an artisan by occupation and abont 1S47 
came to America, landing in New York city, 
whence he went to Green Lake county. Wis., 
where he passed the remainder of his life; his 
widow is now a resident of Holland, Mich., 
and is, as was her husband, a Presbyterian in 
religious faith. 

John Beucus was educated in Berlin, Wis., 
and at Hope college, Holland, Mich., and 



5f>8 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



afterward became a salesman for leading firms 
in Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis. In 
1889 he opened a iiardware store in Cedar 
Springs, having purchased a mortgaged stock 
that could have been packed in a two-horse 
wagon. But his long e.xperience as a sales- 
man had prepared him thoroughly for the 
prosecution of this trade, and he now occupies 
a fine store, conveniently located at the cor- 
ner of Main and Ash streets, and carries a full 
and well-selected stock of shelf and heavy 
hardware. Majestic ranges and the standard 
makes of heating and cook-stoves, and also 
handles the celebrated Crescent bicycles^his 
sales reaching at least $25,000 annually. This 
magnificent result, in so short a time, is due to 
his fair and impartial treatment of his patrons, 
and his desire to please. In purchasing, he 
does not confine himself to one firm or one 
citj', but selects his stock from the best to be 
found anywhere or everywhere, and his stock 
on hand is never -reduced to a lower valuation 
than $8,000. In connection with his hard- 
ware store Mr. Beucus conducts a shop for all 
kinds of repairs and for the manufacturing of 
spouting and plumbing for residences, etc., 
which the public find to be a great con- 
venience. 

In his politices Mr. Beucus is a stanch re- 
publican. He cast his first presidential vote 
for James A. Garfield in 18S0, and was him- 
self elected, in 1892, an alderman of Cedar 
Springs and held the ofSce six years. He has 
ever been the friend of progress, and willingly 
contributes of his means toward the promo- 
tion of every project designed to advance the 
interests of his town and for the elevation of 
its inhabitants in the social and moral scales, 
and he is also a warm friend of public educa- 
tion. He is a gentleman of refinement, be- 
sides being a model business man, and well 
deserves the high respect in which he is uni- 
versally held. 




E\-. H. T. BARNABY, D. D.— One of 
the most eminent and noteworthy 
ecclesiastics of Michigan is he whose 
biography is presented ih the follow- 
ing paragraphs. As a man of parts he is known 
not alone to men of his calling but to men of 
other professions in all parts of the country. 
His fame, both professionally and personally, 
has preceded him almost everywhere, and to- 
day, in his seventy-seventh year, few ecclesi- 
astics are better or more favorably known in 
his surrounding country. He has been a power 
in the pulpit as an exponent of the faith of the 
members of his church, the history of its dog- 
mas, and a resume of church duties. In look- 
ing after the spiritual welfare of his fellow-cit- 
izens. Bishop Barnaby gets very near to his 
people, and has ever sought to develop the 
highest type of social life of the church. He 
has made himself a personal friend of each 
and every member of his flock, sympathizing 
with them in trouble and rejoicing with them 
in their gladness, and in his many capacities, 
both as pastor and bishop, has shown himself 
to be a well educated gentleman, possessing a 
fine and genial mind, in discourse fluent, elo- 
quent and forcible. 

Rev. Bishop Barnaby was born at Angelica, 
Allegany county. X. Y. , on the 26th of April, 
1823, being a son of Alvin P. and Amanda 
(Stutson) Barnaby, the parents of a son and 
daughter. He is of pure English extraction 
and his early progenitors came to America, num- 
bered among the pilgrim fathers. Rev. Barn- 
aby is the only survivor of the children. His 
father was a native of Belcher, Mass., born in 
the year 1796, and died in 1845. He was ed- 
ucated in his native state, which affords the 
greatest educational facilities and has a popu- 
lation of the finest and most cultured people. 
Here he lived until twenty-one years of age 
and accordingly his attainments were very high. 
He was much devoted to poe'try and fine liter- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



53t 



ature, and though he learned the trade'of a 
brick and stone mason, the major part of his 
life was spent at the profession of teaching in 
Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania. 
He was an indefatigable worker and student. 
His parents were stro'ng in the Presbyterian 
faith, and, coming from Puritan ajiceslry, were 
\'ery strict in the observance of their christian 
duties. He spent a small part of his life in 
western Ohio, but the greater part in New 
York state. His wife was a native of the 
Green Mountain state, born at Orwell, Ben- 
nington county, in March, iSoo, and died on 
the 4th of July, 1836. A lady of advanced 
attainment, she became a school-teacher. She 
was very dutiful in respect to her religion and 
was devout in her connection with the Baptist" 
society. Her death occurred in the state of 
Michigan. 

Rev. H. T. Barnaby, of this sketch, spent 
the first twenty years of his life in his native 
state. He arose from lowly circumstances. 
His education was self-acquired and he is a 
self-made man. At eighteen years of age he 
was so far advanced in education that he was 
enabled to teach school. It was through ex- 
treme diligence and the denial of many com- 
forts and conveniences that he arose to what 
he now is. Night after night by the cheerful 
but flickering fire-light, he, with concentra- 
tion and perseverance, studied out his lessons, 
formed the principles and laid the foundation 
upon which a successful life was erected. 

Rev. Baranby was four times united in mar- 
riage; first to Miss Lydia Wilson, who bore 
him four children, two of whom are now living, 
viz; Maria, the widow of Eli Bishop, who 
was an agriculturist of near Lansing, Mich. ; 
and Amelia Ann, the wife of Henry Beards- 
le}', a mason by trade, living at De Fnniak, 
Fla. By the union of Rev. Barnaby and his 
third wife. Miss Susan Franklin, one child was 
born, who is now deceased. On December 6, 



1864, Rev. Barnaby was united in the holy 
bonds of matrimony to Miss Sophia J. Abbey, 
who has become the mother of si.\ children, 
five of whom are living, viz: Alvin P., Horace 
T., Milton W., James L., and Addie B. The 
eldest is a resident of Huntington, Ind., and a 
professor in the United Brethren Central col- 
lege. He graduated with the class of 1888 at 
Hartsville, Ind., the former seat of the United 
Brethren college, and is now in the seventh 
year of his profession, being principal of the 
preparatory department. He is also an or- 
dained minister in the United Brethren church' 
and has been a very successful man in his 
life's calling. Horace T., the ne.xt in order of 
birth, has entered the profession of law with 
Hon. William Alden Smith, Michigan's illus- 
trious statesman. He was a student for three 
years at Hartsville college, and also for a short 
time at Kalamazoo college, Mich. For si.x 
years he successfully taught school in Barry 
and Kent counties. Milton W. Barnaby, the 
third son, is a student of the college at Hunt- 
ington, Ind., has been such for the last three 
years, and will graduate with a scientific 
course in the class of 1901. James L. is a 
practical and successful agriculturist and stock- 
man. He received his education in the public 
schools, and on May 18, 1896, was united in 
marriage to Miss Hattie Chappel. He is now 
operating and has entire charge of his father's 
estate. Addie B., the daughter and filth child, 
has completed the eigth years of the common 
schools and will graduate with the class of 
1900 from the United Brethren college at 
Huntington, Ind. She has been taking a 
scientific course and is a member of her college 
club, Zeta Lethean, of which society she was 
the third president. Her future career will be 
that of a teacher, for which she is now so ad- 
mirably fitting herself. 

Mrs. Barnaby was born in Eaton Rapids. 
Eaton county, Mich., June i, 1842. She was. 



582 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



■educated in the public schools and was for 
seven years a school-teacher, and is fitted 
educationally to be a valuable assistant to her 
husband. 

At the age of twenty-nine years Rev. Bar- 
naby concluded to take up the work of a cler- 
gyman. He was granted his first license as a 
minister in Hillsdale county, in 1852, and was 
connected with this society until 1858. At that 
date he became identified with the United 
Brethren church and was local minister in such 
until October, i860, when he became pastor 
of the Gratiot circuit. Following this he served 
in the capacities of pastor of Eaton circuit and 
Fair Plains, in Montcalm county; minister in 
Roxand township, Eaton county; presiding el- 
der of St. John's district in October, i 866, em- 
bracing about ten counties; minister of Bengal 
circuit, in Clinton county; presiding elder of 
the Grand Rapids district, elected in 1872 and 
serving one year, thence sent to St. John's 
district, where he remained for two years, and, 
being impaired in health, he declined an elec- 
tion of presiding elder, and was sent to Gaines 
township in 1875, where he remained for two 
years. Until 1889 he was engaged with the 
Grand Rapids district, Gaines circuit and St. 
John's district. 

In May, 1889, at the general conference of 
the United Brethren in Christ's church, Rev. 
Barnaby was elected bishop by the popular 
vote to take charge of the district, comprising 
the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Ne- 
braska and South Dakota. After two years 
he was given the southwest district, composed 
of part of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and 
Kansas; and a year later took charge of the 
east district, comprising part of Ohio, Pennsyl- 
vania, west New York, Maryland, West Vir- 
ginia, Virginia and Canada. 

At the next quadrennial session of the 
church held at Hudson, Ind , in May, 1893, 
he was re-elected to his impsrtant and re- 



sponsible position of bishop, and four years 
later was again elected to the same at Dublin, 
Ind., and assigned permanently to the north- 
west district. At the present time he has just 
returned from an extended trip in the west and 
south. 

Rev. Bishop Barnaby has been an ardent 
worker for three-quarters of a century; he is a 
man of untiring energy and unflagging perse- 
verance, with a sturdy and steady disposition, 
knowing no such phrase as ' ' give up, " or such 
award as "fail." Stormy weather and bad 
roads are not a hindrance to him, but with 
Napoleon's grit and energy he accomplishes 
what he sets out to accomplish. His life has 
not been given to his religious duties alone, 
but he has ever been prominently identified 
with the interests, welfare and advancement 
of his country. Politically he was former!}' a 
whig and was very ardent in the support of 
his party principles. His first presidential 
vote was cast for Henry Clay, the champion 
of the whig party. At the time of his vote he 
was a resident of Wright township, Hillsdale 
count}', and his was the only whig ballot cast 
in the township. Rev. Barnaby was an able 
exponent of the anti-slavery policy. The prin- 
ciple of slavery was obnoxious even unto his 
youth, and at the attainment of the youthful 
age of thirteen years his views were set as to 
the question. He was a supporter of John C. 
Fremont, and, with great pride of Abraham 
Lincoln, the emancipator of four million slaves. 
He has been very outspoken in his belief, and 
his friends always knew what stand he will 
take. 

During his residence in Gratiot county he 
acted various times as delegate to state and 
congressional conventions and was oft chair- 
man of local meetings and conventions in his 
immediate vicinity. For fifteen years he was 
supervisor of North Star, Gratiot county, dur- 
ing five years of which he acted as chairman. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



533 



For two years he held the office of county 
clerk", elected in iS6o, and represented his 
county in the state legislature at Lansing for 
four years, having been elected to that office 
in iS6S and re-elected in 1870. 

In his ecclesiastical station. Rev. Barnaby 
has been a beloved pastor, genial and cordial 
in his nature, with a happy faculty of placing 
the charges at ease in his home. He ever had 
the unbounded confidence of the members of 
his congregation, and by his generous im- 
pulses and eminent social qualities has made 
friends with all classes, irrespective of church 
or order. "His life has been fraught with 
good works, and the future awaits him with 
bounteous and abundant reward." 




OHN C. BEARDSLEE is one of the 
pioneers of Nelson township and the 
vicinity of Cedar Springs, and has 
witnessed the remarkable development 
of Kent county, as it was a wilderness when he 
first beheld its wooded plains. He was born 
in Sussex county, N. J., August 3, 1830, the 
eldest in a family of si.\ children — five sons and 
one daughter — born to Robinson and Barbara 
(Hubbard) Beardslee. There are three of these 
children yet living — besides our subject — viz: 
Morrison, a resident of Holly, Oakland county, 
Mich.; Mary, widow of Alonzo Godfrey, a 
resident of Solon township, and an agri- 
culturist; and Jeremy, of Bay City, Mich., 
engaged in the warehouse of the F. & P. M. 
R. R. The father of Mrs. Beardslee was also 
a native of Sussex county, N. J., born about 
1 8 16, and died in 1887. By calling he was a 
carpenter, and commenced his trade with the 
" old scribe rule," so well known by the early 
mechanics. He first emigrated from New 
Jersey to Ohio, and during the memorable 
presidential campaign of 1840 he came to 



Oakland count}', Mich., and to Kent county 
in 1882. He was a democrat in his political 
sentiments and he and wife were members of 
the Methodist episcopal church from early 
years. His father, Henry Hubbard, lived to 
the advanced age of lOi years. 

John C. Beardslee came to Ivent county in 
1853, when there was no township organiza- 
tion, no churches nor school-houses. Nelson 
township was then known as North Courtland 
township, and Cedar Springs and Sand Lake 
were not known at all. He purchased the 
northwest quarter of section No. 34, in town- 
ship 10 north of range 10 west, of James 
TenEyck, whose father was a lieutenant in 
Capt. White's company. New Jersey militia, 
in the war of 18 12, and was a resident of Oak- 
land county, Mich., at time of purchase, and 
had obtained this land on a war grant. Mr. 
Beardslee has in his possession the original 
deed, which has the signature of Franklin 
Pierce, the president. These were the days 
when wild-cat and red-dog currency were 
extant. This tract of land was purely virgin 
forest, with not a sign of an improvement, but 
one of the best pieces of timber in the town- 
ship. Mr. Beardslee was one of the first 
settlers in Nelson township, coming there be- 
fore the township was named, and the only one 
with the exception of one or two of the early 
pioneers who came here in the early 'fifties, 
now living here, and he is still living on the 
same land he purchased in 1853. He wedded 
Miss Ann Maria Cool, a native of Sussex 
county, N. J., Februar}' 17, 1857, and four- 
teen children — nine sons and five daughters — 
graced this union — ten yet living: Charles E., 
of Minden, St. Joseph county, and married; 
Melvin R.,-of Nelson township, married and a 
farmer; Walter B., with his parents; Jeruse 
and Ella are milliners and dressmakers, respect- 
ively. Miss Ella was a graduate in the Cedar 
Springs high school, and has taught success- 



534 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



fully several terms, and was the first student 
of the Cedar Springs high school who received 
a second grade certificate from the county 
superintendent, standing the highest in her 
class work. Ettie, the next child, is the wife 
of Fred Butler, of Linden, Genesee county, 
Mich.; George C, Jesse E. , Leroy J. and 
Edna A., are all at home. Mr. and Mrs. 
Beardslee have given their children good com- 
mon-school educations. 

When Mr. Beardslee brought his bride to 
Kent county they had no home to shelter 
them, so he erected a little shanty, 12x14 ieet, 
one story in height, the chinmey being a stove- 
pipe thrust through the roof. Not an acre of 
land was cleared, and their first potato patch, 
as Mrs. Beardslee says, was their present front 
yard. Mrs. Beardslee has shared with her 
husband all the privations and hardships of a 
pioneer's life and has nobly done her part. 
The ox-team was the means of conveyance 
and they were forced to cut their roads through 
the forests. The Indians were numerous, and 
at one time there were 300 camped on Pine 
lake, just one mile east of Mr. Beardslee's 
farm; Grand Rapids, the now beautiful, pop- 
ulous city, was but a trading post. Their 
nearest trading point at that time was Rock- 
ford, then known as Lappenville. Mr. Beards- 
lee well remembers the first store in Cedar 
Springs, which was kept by one Nicholas Shaw, 
who also kept a kind of inn, sold goods and 
bought shingles. Mr. Beardslee witnessed the 
laying of the first railroad through this part of 
the county. At that time the closest railroad 
was in Ionia. When they came to Kent coun- 
ty, or their western home, they drove through 
from Oakland county with an ox-team. The 
first school-house erected in this district was 
built of logs; church was held in the settlers' 
homes. The whole of Nelson township was 
covered with heavy timber and brush and no 
neighbors were close. At nightfall they might 



look in vain for a neighboring light, but none 
was visible, since the heavy timber and brush 
obscured it. Mr. and Mrs. Beardslee say in 
those good old days friendship was more gen- 
uine than in the modern times. Mr. and Mrs. 
Beardslee well know the privations and hard- 
ships of a pioneer's life. These sturdy pioneers 
left an eastern home of plenty and came to a 
wilderness, to carve out a home for their chil- 
dren from the primeval forests, and to blaze 
the way to civilivation. 

Politically, Mr. Beardslee is a stanch demo- 
crat. He can well remember the Tippecanoe 
campaign against his party — one of the most 
memorable in American history. He and wife 
are friends of the public-school system of our 
nation, and have endeavored to support those 
measures best adapted to the elevation of the 
moral and religious status of their community. 

Mr. Beardslee traces his ancestry to old 
England, since the earlv Beardslees came to 
the colonies in 1700. Mrs. Beardslee was 
born in Sussex county, N. J., February 17, 
1S37, a daughter of Charles P. and Susanna 
(Thatcher) Cool. She is the eldest of ten 
children — three sons and seven daughters — all 
living, which is quite remarkable, from the fact 
that they are all well along in years. Her 
father was an agriculturist by occupation and 
he and wife were members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, but are now deceased. The 
brothers and sisters of Mrs. Beardslee are 
Jeruse, married; Rebecca, married; Loueta, 
married, and all are residents of Oakland 
county; Peter Cool, resident of Minden, St. 
Joseph county; Eli, a resident of Oakland 
county; Mary, wife of William Smith, and 
resident of Plainfield township, Kent county; 
Ella, resident of Oakland county; David, also 
a resident of Oakland county, and Orilla, a 
resident of Ohio. 

Mr. Beardslee has officiated as director of 
his home schools for many years, and has en- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



535 



deavored to secure the best instructors possible. 
He has also been assessor for years. Fra- 
ternalK' he is a member of the F. & A. M. 
lodge, No. 213, at Cedar Springs. His sons, 
Walter, George and Jesse, are members of the 
Maccabees, at Evans, Mich. He and wife 
are adherents to the Methodistic faith and 
have done their part towards setting their chil- 
dren examples worthy of imitation. The 
Beardslee estate comprises 240 acres of good 
land, and the family is classed amongst the 
leading pioneers and agriculturists of the town- 
ship. 




HRISTOPHER BERGIN, a well- 
known grocer of Lowell, and direct- 
or in the Lowell State bank, is one 
of nine children, eight of whom 
survive, born to Patrick and Anna (Diamond) 
Bergin. 

His father was a native of Ireland and in 
1S37 came to the United States and located 
in Livingston county, Mich., where he followed 
farming for a vocation until his death, which 
occurred about the year 1896, at the above- 
named place. 

Christopher Bergin was born in Livingston 
county, Mich., on the 6th of December, 185 1. 
His education was such as he was able to se- 
cure from the common schools of his native 
county, where he was reared on the farm. He 
took farming as his work and devoted his time 
to that until thirty-three years of age, when 
he came to Kent county, and continued farm- 
ing for three years more, until the latter part 
of the year 1883. In the beginning of 18S4 
he settled down in the grocery business and 
has been engaged in that ever since. He 
now handles a full line of groceries, his stock 
being valued at some $2,000 or $3,000. 

He is a very popular and influential citizen 

27 



and has been supervisor of the township for 
four terms. He was president of Lowell for 
four years, and at present is village trustee as 
well as candidate for supervisor of the village 
on the democratic ticket, of which party he is 
a strong supporter. 

He was united in marriage on the loth 
day of January, 18S2, to Miss Rosan McGee, 
a daughter of Bernard McGee, a resident of 
Vergennes, Mich. To this union there have 
been born four children: Charles A., Clara, 
Bertha and Harold. Mr. Bergin is a member 
of the Maccabees. In politics he is one of the 
leading democrats of Lowell and one of the 
first politicians, as well as a very prominent 
merchant. He has made a success at his busi- 
ness and is a progressive and capable citizen, 
standing high in the estimation of his friends 
and neighbors. 




EWIS J. BLAIR, a respected young 
fruit grower and farmer of Walker 
township, Ivent county, Mich., was 
born September 23, 1867, and of 
this gentleman further mention will soon be 
tDade. 

. Jonathan Blair (deceased)' father of Lewis 
J. Blair, was born March 2, 182 r, in Wash- 
ington county, N. Y., on Blair's bay, lake 
George, where he lived till twenty-one years 
old, when he^came, via the canal and lakes, 
to Detroit, and by railroad to Jackson, Mich., 
and settled three miles from Lansing, where 
he lived two 3'ears. His father, Jonathan, and 
uncle, David' Blair, erected the first mill in 
Lansing; David, 3 millwright, died at Lansing 
quite young. The father came in 1S42 to 
Grand Rapids and located on Grand river, 
two miles below the city. They had to ford 
the river and had to live thereuntil 1S44, and 
then his father, 'Jonathan, bought the present 



§36 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



farm in 1846. There was but a half-acre 
cleared, and it had upon it an old log house. 
It had been squatted upon long before it catne 
into market, and so held until it was taken 
up by William Bemis. This was the home farm 
of Jonathan, Sr. , until he died in December, 
1S52, aged fifty-five years. His wife, Betsey, 
died in June, 1857, aged fifty-two years. She 
was the stepmother of Jonathan, Jr. His own 
mother, Elizabeth Ballard, died when she was 
forty-nine years old, and left seven sons, viz: 
John, near Martin, Allegan county, Mich. ; 
Jonathan; Nathan, retired farmer; Henry, who 
died in California, past fifty years of age; Milo, 
late of Sedalia, Mo., was prominent in Mis- 
souri politics and a well-known editor; James 
Blair, late of Grand Rapids, had served as 
postmaster; David Blair was last heard of 
while at Louisville, Ky. ; Jonathan remained 
at home and took care of the old folks, and 
after his father died, operated the farm, and 
later bought eighty acres more. 

Jonathan Blair married, Februarj- 2, 1S5!;, 
Betsey Beede, of Wyoming, N. Y., who died 
January 25, 1878. 

Jonathan was a republican and was highway 
commissioner eighteen years; was a justice of 
the peace for many years, and held other 
offices, and was quite active in all local 
matters. He was one of the three organizers 
of the school and was a member of the school 
board nearly all his life. He was a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, an organ- 
izer of the home class, and a deacon for many 
years. His family of six children were named 
Kate, who died in infancy; Frank Eldon, who 
died in Colorado, aged twenty-three years; 
Mary Eliza, wife of James A. Dwinell, a 
farmer near by; Charlotte Jennie, unmarried, 
and living with her sister; Lewis J., the sub- 
ject of this sketch, and Ethelyn, a teacher in 
Jefferson street school, Grand Rapids; she has 
taught ten years, but makes her home on the 



farm. Jonathan Blair, the father of this fam- 
ily, died April 6, 1899, sincerely mourned by 
the entire community. 

Lewis J. Blair, the subject proper of this 
sketch, attended the district school until four- 
teen years of age, took charge of the farm 
work, later purchased part of the farm, and 
now has forty acres set with 2,000 fruit trees, 
including apples, lOO pear trees, and 300 
plum trees, and has besides a fine vineyard. 
In politics Mr. Blair is a republican, and has 
served as township treasurer two years. Has 
also served as chairman of the township re- 
publican committee for years, and has been 
delegate for Walker township to several coun- 
ty and district conventions, acting as chair- 
man of the local delegations, and has made 
himself quite iniiuential and active in local 
politics. 

Mr. Blair was married September 30, 1898, 
to Miss Susan Peck, daughter of Philo Peck, 
of Walker township, and born in Berlin, Ot- 
tawa county, but reared on the farm ne.xt to 
her husband's. They have one child, Harold 
Jonathan, born October 17, 1899. She is a 
very intelligent lady, and was a teacher for five 
years in the county schools. He is connected 
with the Good Templars, is also a member of 
the Harmony grange, and is one of the promi- 
nent young men of his township. 



HOMAS J. BLANCHARD, who has 
been a leading furniture dealer and 
undertaker in Sand Lake, Nelson 
township, Kent county, Mich., since 
1886, is a native of New Hampshire and was 
born February. 2[, 1863, a son of Geprge S. 
and Lucy J. (Miller) Blanchard, parents of 
five children, viz : Frances, a resident of 
Maine; T. J., the subject of this sketch; 
Stephen D., a dairyman, near Sanford, Me.; 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



587 



Andrew, a farmer in New Hampshire, and 
Frank, also a dairyman, near Sanford, Me. 

Thomas J. Blanchard early began business 
on his own account by purchasing a farm, at 
the age of fifteen, in his native state, and he 
was later for some time in the hotel business. 
In 1882 he came to Michigan, and in 18S6 be- 
gan the furniture trade at Sand Lake with but 
a small capital, adding undertaking, and by 
close attention to the wants of his patrons 
and the e.xercise of the strictest integrit}', has 
reached a leading position among the business 
men of the community. In 1888, he formed 
a partnership with James H. Brayman in the 
handling of hardware, furniture, etc., and in 
1891 he purchased Mr. Drayman's interest 
and is now the only dealer in his line in Sand 
Lake. Besides furniture, etc., he carries a 
full line of buggies, phaetons, wagons, agri- 
cultural implements, and standard paints and 
oils, and the volume of his transactions 
reaches to about $8,000 per annum, his patron- 
age e.xtending to and including Spencer, Oak- 
field, Nelson and Solon townships, Kent 
county, and the county of Montcalm. 

December 4, 1883, Mr. Blanchard was 
united in marriage with Miss Mary Martin, a 
native of Howell, Mich., born in April, i860, 
a daughter of James and Mary (Jubb) Martin, 
of English extraction. The father of Mrs. 
Blanchard has passed away, but the mother 
still survives and makes her home with Mr. 
Blanchard and wife. The marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. Blanchard has been blessed with ten 
children, named as follows: Edith M., Etta 
B., G. Arthur, Glenn W. , Roy, Sylvia, Eva 
and Ernest, still living; Eva and Walter died 
in infancy. The eldest five of these are attend- 
ing school, and all will eventually be granted 
the best possible educational advantages. 

Mr. Blanchard is in politics a democrat, 
cast his first presidential vote for Grover 
■Cleveland, has served in the town council, and 



in 1893 was its president. He is an ardent 
friend of the public schools, and has served on 
the Sand Lake board of education. Fraternally 
he is a member of Sand Lake tent. No. 443, 
K. O. T. M., which has a membership of 
sixty-five, and he is chaplain of the tent. He 
carries a goodly share of insurance, and thus 
protects his farm and business property. He 
has had his share of misfortune, as in 1895 
his stores were burned to the ground, but he 
was not at all discouraged and immediately re- 
built, becoming more prosperous than ever. 
He owns a well cultivated farm of 120 acres 
in I\ent and Montcalm counties, and when it 
is taken into consideration that in 1886 he be- 
gan business with but a small capital, he may 
well be classed among the self-made men of 
Nelson township, as he certainly is, beside, 
one of the most highly respected of the 
residents of Sand Lake. 




HANCEY BLODGETT, deceased, was 
formerly one of the most thrifty and 
respected agriculturists of Paris town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich. He was 
born in Murray, Orleans county, N. Y. , Feb- 
ruary 10, 1830, and was a son of Norman and 
Eliza E. (Fox) Blodgett, the former of whom 
was born in Vermont in 1805, and died in 
Orleans, N. Y. , in 1S39; the latter was a na- 
tive of Connecticut, was born in 1812, and 
died at the age of eighty-four years. 

Chancey Blodgett came to Michigan in 
February, 1855, and purchased a farm of 140 
acres in Caledonia township, Kent count}". 
He had learned the painter's trade in his boy- 
hood, and followed this calling after coming to 
Michigan. After his marriage, in 1858, he 
located on this land, upon which he lived for 
four years; then moved to a sixty-acre tract in 
Walker township, on which he lived two years, 



538 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and then bought 120 acres on section No. 36, 
in Paris township, but a few months later pur- 
chased the present homestead of 100 acres, 
one mile south of Bowen station. 

The marriage alluded to abo\'e took place 
December 15, 1858, to Cornelia E., daughter 
of L. H. and Emily Stewart, and to this union 
were born five children, as follows: Eugene 
W., a traveling salesman, of Grand Rapids; 
William, on the home farm; Birt E., a farmer 
in Paris township; Jennie, wife of Henry 
Pierce, of Paris; and Fred, of whom further 
mention is made. 

Mrs. Cornelia A. Blodgett was born in 
Somerset, Niagara county, N. Y. , and was but 
four years of age when brought to Michigan by 
her parents, who settled in Cascade township, 
Kent county, in 1S43. There the father died 
at the age of fifty-seven years, and the mother 
at the age of fifty-eight. Of their five children 
but two survive — Mrs. Blodgett and John R. 
Stewart, of Cascade township. Mrs. Blodgett 
was but ten years of age when she lost her 
father, but sixteen when her mother died, and 
at nineteen years she was married to Mr. 
Blodgett. 

Of the present farm, on which Mr. Blod- 
gett settled about the close of the Civil war, 
about si.xty acres were cleared. The re- 
mainder he cleared himself, making extensive 
improvements, the farm standing to-day a 
suitable monument to his untiring industry. 
He was a first-class farmer and frequently 
placed his stock and grain on exhibition at the 
county fairs; and also sold a great deal of live 
stock at public vendue, realizing usually more 
than the market price. In politics he was a 
republican, and was serving as justice of the 
peace at the time of his death. He was well- 
read on political economy and enjoyed dis- 
cussion, being generally successful in argu- 
ment on points involving the principles of his 
party, or the administration's position on 



great questions of public policy. He man- 
aged his affairs so well, that he never had to 
pay a lawyer a single dollar, and advised his 
sons always to avoid litigation. Although not 
a member of any religious organization, he 
was quite liberal in his contributions toward 
church purposes, and was a regular attendant 
at the Baptist church of Paris, of which his 
widow is a devout member. Fraternally, he 
was an Odd Fellow in earlier life, and always 
kept in touch with the teachings of that benef- 
icent order. He also belonged to the Old 
Settlers' association of Kent county, whose 
reunions he invariably attended. He was 
particularlj' well read in history, and the rec- 
ognized authors on political economy, but had 
no taste for light literature that is so often 
found on the shelves of the trivial or super- 
ficial. Prior to his death he had settled his 
wordly affairs in accordance with his inflexible 
principles of right and justice. This sad 
event occurred, after five years of tedious sick- 
ness from consumption, August 26, 1889, and 
the loss of no citizen of Paris was more sin- 
cerely deplored. 

Fred Blodgett, the youngest child of Chan- 
cey and Cornelia A. Blodgett, was born 
March 19, 1870, on the homestead, and died 
April 26, 1899. He remained with his mother, 
after the death of his father, successfully 
managing the home farm in her interest. He, 
also, was seized by consumption, the result of 
grip, in October, 1898, and sought relief in a 
visit to California; but died, at the date men- 
tioned above, after a brief treatment in a hos- 
pital. He was an extremely popular 3'oung 
man in his native township, his ability being 
recognized by his being chosen township clerk. 
Somewhat like his father, he had always been 
much interested in local, state and national 
politics, and devoted much thought and study 
to those questions upon which no citizens can 
afford to remain in ignorance". He was a mem- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



539 



ber of the Modern Woodmen of America, and 
at his decease, Kent camp passed suitable re- 
solutions of condolence, touching upon his 
genial disposition and good-feliowship, the 
place he held in the hearts and memory of his 
brother-members, and further resolved that, 
"Asa token of respect and sympathy their 
charter be draped , in mourning; and the 
sympithy of the members be extended to the 
mother, brothers and sisters of the deceased; 
also that the resolutions be entered at large on 
the journal of the proceedings of the camp." 
These resolutions were signed by A. R. Rood, 
^\'. L. Gill and F. N. Worley, committee. 




[LBUR J. BICKNELL, a leading 
citizen of Spencer township, I'Cent 
count}', Mich., is a native of Jeffer- 
son county, N. Y., was born May 
25, I 85 I, and is the eldest of the five children 
born to John and Anna (Sawyer) Bicknell, the 
four others being Frank, who was formerly a 
teacher in Nebraska, and is now a dealer in 
musical instruments at St. Paul, Minn.; 
Charles, who is a farmer in Missouri; George, 
also farming in Missouri, and Frederick, prin- 
cipal of the high school of Verona, Nebr. ,and 
who has been a teacher and editor since si.\- 
teen years old. 

John Bicknell was born in Rensselaer 
count}-, N. Y., February 20, 1829, was of 
English e.xtraction, and his immediate ances- 
tors of Connecticut Puritan stock. He was a 
farm by vocation, came to Michigan in 1866, 
and located in Ionia county. He had served 
in the Civil war in company D, Twentieth 
New York volunteer cavalry, was in the army 
of the Potomac under Gen. B. F. Butler, and 
his was the first white regiment to enter Rich- 
mond after the evacuation by the Confeder- 



ates. Mr. Bicknell remained in Ionia county 
a short time only, and then removed to Pierson 
township, Montcalm county, where he entered 
an eighty-acre homestead of timber land, from 
which not a stick had been cut. There Wil- 
bur J., the subject, then but fifteen years 
of age encountered all the privations and 
hardships of a pioneer's life. Their first hab- 
itation was a little log cabin, with a one-sided 
"shake" roof, which leaked like a sieve, and 
their furniture was of the most primitive 
character. 

Mr. Bicknell held his farm in Montcalm 
county seven years, then sold it for $2,000, 
went to Clay county, Nebr., where his son 
Wilbur then was, and purchased 160 acres of 
prairie land, on which a little plowing had 
been done, and there remained six years; he 
then sold out and purchased another farm; 
sold this and went to the village of Fairfield, 
in the same county, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his life, dying in March, 1897, re- 
spected and well-to-do, having through his 
industry acquired a competence. Wilbur J. 
Bicknell has still in his possession the pocket 
wallet carried by his father through his war 
service, together with a picture of his wife, 
and other sovenirs, which he prizes highly. 

In his political affiliations John Bicknell 
was first a whig, but at the birth of the re- 
publican party espoused its principles; in re- 
ligion he was a Methodist, of which church his 
widow now living at \'erona, Nebr., is still a 
member. 

Mrs. Anna (Sawyer) Bicknell was born in 
Mannsville, Jefferson county, N. Y. , April 30, 
1830, and descends from a Puritan family of 
ante-Revolutionary distinction in New Eng- 
land, a brief allusion to which family is given 
below, as written for the Jefferson County 
Journal of May 30, 1899, on the mournful 
occasion of the death of Marilla Sawyer, a sis- 
ter of Mrs. John Bicknell: 



540 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Death and funeral of Marilla Sawyer. — 
This venerable and highly esteemed maiden 
lady died at her home here last Friday at the 
age of nearly eighty-three years. Deceased 
was the twin daughter of one of our very 
earliest settlers, Joseph Sawyer and grand- 
daughter of James Sawyer, of Keene, 
N. H., a Revolutionary hero. Her moth- 
er's maiden name was Polly Harper, daugh- 
ter of John Harper, a lieutenant in the Rev- 
olutionary war, who was buried in Water- 
town, Jefferson county, N. Y. Deceased was 
brought to Watertovvn, N. Y., when but a 
maiden of six years of age, and came to Manns- 
ville with the famih* a few years later, where 
she has since lived. For a quarter of a century 
or more, deceased lived with the late Newton 
iMann, founder of the village, as companion for 
his wife, who lived for over ninety years, and 
was enfeebled and nearlyhelpless for many years 
preceding her death. Since leaving that serv- 
ice, the deceased, being a seamstress by occu- 
pation, has spent much of her time in the 
families of the older inhabitants as companion 
and assistant, being appreciated by the friends 
and associates of her youth as a woman of 
e.xcellent ancestry, superior intelligence, and 
moral and religious traits of high order — 
qualities of birthright which entitled her to 
admission into the best circles of society, 
which the vicissitudes of fortune sometimes 
debar but never with the gentle folk of 
the olden time. The daughters of Deacon 
Sawyer kept free pace with the schools and 
education of their times. Several of them 
were teachers in the common schools, and all 
of them women of high ideals in all that con- 
stitutes the best type of citizenship. Dr. 
Sawyer, the scholar, and translator and com- 
mentator of the Bible, belongs to this family. 
Deceased was a member of the Congrega- 
tional church of the village of Mannsville for 
more than sixty years, living a consistent 
christian life. 

There were ten children in the family of 
Joseph Sawyer — five sons and five daughters. 
Two of the sons early settled on the Western 
Reserve of Ohio, twenty miles from the city 
of Cleveland, and became quite wealthy, and 



three of the family are still living. Joseph 
Saw3er, maternal grandfather of subject, was 
a hero of the war of 1812, and was present at 
I the battle of Sackett's Harbor. 

Wilbur J. Bicknell has always been a hard- 
working man, and wfien his father started for 
the front during the Civil war, the responsi- 
bility of caring for the mother and the younger 
children was placed on his young shoulders. 
He is almost entirely self-educated, and had 
to undergo many hardships in getting a start 

in life. He remained with his parents until he 
.... 
I had reached his majority, filially performing 

his duty on the wild farm, and carrying what 
little groceries they used on his back from 
Cedar Springs. Deer and bear were numer- 
ous on the farm, as many as nine deer ap- 
pearing atone time, and the streams abounded 
with fish. He was a genuine pioneer, and 
since his boyhood years has been a resident of 
Michigan, with the exception of a few months 
passed in Nebraska. 

September 11, 1873, ^^r. Bicknell mar- 
ried Miss Jennie Karr, a native of Wolcott 
township, Wayne county, N. Y. , and a daugh- 
ter of John and Polly (Brooks) Karr, who 
were the parents of four sons and one daughter, 
of which children three are still living, viz: 
Jennie (Mrs. Bicknell); Alfred, a general mer- 
chant at Williamston, Ingham county, and 
Frank, a farmer of Pierson, Montcalm county, 
Mich. 

John Ivarr, father of Mrs. Bicknell, was a 
native of New York, was a carpenter and 
joiner by trade and a farmer by calling, and 
died in Montcalm county, Mich., in 1871, in 
the faith of the Methodist Episcopal church; 
his widow, also a native of New York, died 
m 1873, in the same faith, at the age of forty- 
six years. 

Mr. Bicknell, ever ready to work at any- 
thing that would yield him an honest dollar, 
was employed, all told, about seventeen years 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



541 



at saw-milling in Grand Rapids, Big Rapids, 
Hersey, Evart, and in Montcalm county. 
When he and his bride commenced life 
together he did not own a $io bill, and he 
kept on working in the saw- mills about eight 
years after marriage. In i8So he purchased 
forty acres of unimproved land in section No. 
5, Spencer township, going in debt $300. He 
and wife settled on the place May i, 1881, 
and their first home was a little frame shanty, 
which served them as a residence, until the 
spring of 1898. At the start they had one 
ox, one cow, a stone-boat and very little fur- 
niture. Now the farm is in a high state of 
cultivation. He has a valuable orchard, con- 
sisting of apples, many varieties of peaches 
and plums, together with quinces, grapes, 
raspberries and strawberries. 

In the spring of 1897 Mr. and Mrs. Bick- 
nell decided to erect a substantial and com- 
fortable residence, and they now have a beauti- 
ful farm cottage, modern in style, finished in 
red, black and white oak, and containing ten 
rooms, closets, cupboards, a cellar perfect in 
its sanitary construction, and everything else 
designed as it should be, and all the result of 
Mrs. Bicknell's studious planning, her ideas 
being carried out in detail by Mr. Bicknell. 
Although they came here in 1881 poor and in 
debt, they to-day do not owe a dollar, and 
have as handsome a place as there is in the 
township. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bicknell have no children of 
their own, but in the kindness of their hearts 
took to their home Mertie Parker, when she 
was but three years of age, and have reared 
her to womanhood and educated her and cared 
for her as if she had been their own. She is 
now married to Henry Hatch, and is the mother 
of three children, one of whom, Fernie, Mr. 
and Mrs. Bicknell have also adopted as their 
own. 

Mr. Bicknell cast his first presidential vote 



for Ulysses S. Grant, but he now affiliates 
with the democrats, and has been a delegate 
to the county conventions of this party. Offi- 
cially he is a justice of the peace, has held 
this position eleven years, and has been a 
notary public five years, and that he has per- 
formed his duty well as a justice is evidenced 
by his long tenure of office. He is a member 
of Harvard tent. No. 890, K. O. T. M., and 
Mrs. Bicknell is a member of Trufant hive, 
No. 756, L. O. T. M. They are devout mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church at 
Marbles, Montcalm county, and their home is 
located three-quarters of a mile south of the 
county line union Sunday-school, of which Mr. 
Bicknell is the superintendent and his wife a 
teacher. Mr. Bicknell has been interested in 
Sunday-school work for nine years, either as 
teacher or superintendent, and both he and 
Mrs. Bicknell have been very liberal in their 
contributions to both the school and the 
church. They are classed among the kindest- 
hearted and most progressive residents of 
Spencer township, and certainly none are more 
deserving of the high respect in which they 
are universally held. 




imLBERT BIRCH, a prosperous 
farmer of Solon township, Kent 
county, Mich., is a native of Sterling, 
Cayuga county, N. Y. , was born 
December 27, 1863, and is the seventh child 
in the family of David and Margaret (Green) 
Birch, parents of four sons and six daughters, 
of whom six are still living, viz: Betsey H., 
wife of G. R. Smith a farmer of Solon town- 
ship; William, of Howard City ; Alida, married 
to Alfred Powell, of Morley, Mich. ; .Adelia, 
wife of A. H. Moore, of W'hite Cloud, Mich.; 
Aldelbert, the subject, and Sarah, now Mrs. 
Harvey Towne, also of White Cloud. 

David Birch, the father, was born in Os- 



542 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



wego county, N. Y. , November 29, 1820, and 
was reared a millwright. He married Miss 
Green April i, 1849, and in October, 1865, 
came to Solon township and purchased eighty 
acres of slightly improved land in section No. 
16, and the house he first erected here is still 
standing. Indians were still numerous in the 
neighborhood, but were not very vicious, and 
Mr. Birch was permitted to clear up his land 
without molestation. He was a hard-working 
man, was strong in his convictions, and a warm 
friend of public education. In politics he was 
a stanch republican, passed an upright life, 
and when he passed away, July 8, 1895, the 
township lost a useful citizen, and the family 
a tender and devoted husband and kind and 
loving father. 

Mrs. Margaret Birch is a daughter of Will- 
iam and Eliza (Pendle) Green, natives of the 
state of New York, and parents of twelve chil- 
dren. In 1 85 I, Mr. Green settled in Michigan 
— first in Hillsdale county, where he lived 
about si.\ years, and then in Kent county, 
where he passed the remainder of his life. 
Politically he was a republican, in religion his 
wife was a Methodist, and both were among 
the most respected of Michigan's pioneers. 
Of their twelve children si.x are still living, 
and all reside in Michigan — Mrs. Margaret 
Birch with her son Adelbert, on the old home- 
stead; she is a devout member of the United 
Brethren church, is of a very kind disposition 
and is still in comparatively robust health. 

Adelbert Birch was an infant when brought 
to Michigan by his parents, and the major part 
of his life has consequently been passed in 
Solon township. He has received a good 
common school education, and has been reared 
to farming. For eleven years he was identi- 
tified with lumbering operations when the pine 
timber was being cleared from this section of 
Kent county, running logs down the river in 
the spring season. 



October 21, 1891, Mr. Birch married Miss 
Josephine Maude Perrin, and three children 
have come to bless this union, viz: Frank R. , 
Margaret \'. and Mary E. Mrs. Josephine M. 
Birch was born in London, England, April 20, 
1874, a daughter of Richard Golden and Anna 
V. (Ray) Perrin, who were the parents of five 
sons and seven daughters, of whom nine are 
still living. She was but two years of age 
when her parents, with their children, sailed 
from Liverpool for Philadelphia; from the 
Quaker city they went to Windsor, Canada, 
and shortly afterward crossed the river to De- 
troit, Mich., where they resided until 1887, 
when they settled in Solon township, Kent 
county. 

In politics Mr. Birch is a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for Benjamin 
Harrison. Fraternally, he is a member of 
lodge No. 213, F. & A. M., at Cedar Springs. 
He is a christian gentleman, a strong advocate 
of temperance, and a warm friend of free edu- 
cation. Mrs. Birch is a member of the Es- 
tablished church of England, is a lady of re- 
fined manners and pleasing address, and no 
family in Solon township is held in higher re- 
gard than that of Adelbert Birch. 



HARLES L. BECKER.— From such 
gentlemen as the one whose name 
heads this record an authentic his- 
tory of the township of Courtland, 
Kent county, Mich., may be gleaned, Mr. 
Becker being the leading agriculturist and 
stockraiser in this part of the county. He was 
born in Kent county, July 15, 185 i, being the 
third child in a family of four sons, born to 
Philip and Margaret (Snyder) Becker. Only 
two of these are now living — Charles L. , of 
this sketch, and Theodore, who is a resident 
of Grand Rapids. 




C. L. BECKER GROUP. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



545 



Philip Becker, father of Charles L. , was 
born in Schoharie county, N. Y., about 1824, 
and died January 19, 1881. He came to 
Michif^an when nine years of age with his par- 
ents, who were among the pioneers of Wash- 
tenaw county. Like many other pioneers, 
Mr. liecker left his beautiful home in the east, 
forsaking friends and relatives, to carve out a 
home in the wilderness and to make the far 
west to "blossom and bloom like the rose." 
Philip Becker was a man of that Teutonic 
mold who knew no such word as fail, and that 
German attribute of .character he tried to 
imbue in the minds of his children. When he 
came to ICent county, the red men of the for- 
est roamed at will, hunting the deer, bear and 
pheasant through a country yet in its virginity. 
Though but twenty years of age, he brought 
a 3'oung wife to this new county. He traded 
a span of colts for 160 acres of land in section 
No. 36, Courtland township. Their first hab- 
itation was a "shanty," whose only window 
was a hole in the wall, with a white cloth 
thrown over it; the bedsteads were con- 
-structed of poles driven in the walls, with 
boards upon them. 'Indians ofttiines passed 
by, on their way to northern wilds, after visit- 
ing the village of Grand Rapids, where they 
filled up on fire water, and so loud were their 
whoops as to often frighten the settlers. 
Many times they lay upon the kitchen Hoor of 
the Becker home. Wild game, such as deer, 
bear, geese, ducks, pheasants, etc., abounded, 
and even within the memory of Charles the 
deer gamboled upon the meadow near the 
house. The nearest market in those days 
was Grand I-iapids, to which Mr. Becker often 
walked, carrying home his purchase in a ban- 
danna handkerchief. Grain was cut with the 
old-fashioned cradle, and threshed with the 
flail. The first school-house was of logs; this 
was the first church, as well. Conveyance to 
or from church was by an ox-team. It was a 



common sight to see six or seven yoke of oxen 
hitched to a plow, breaking the virgin soil; 
kindness and hospitality reigned supreme. 
Mr. and Mrs. Becker were true respecters of 
all good, moral and religious teachings, and 
gave liberally of their abundance for the sup- 
port of the gospel. 

Philip worked in a saw-mill for a Mr. Lap- 
pen in the village of Lappenville, now Rock- 
ford. He was economical and thrifty, pur- 
chasing in 1 863 an additional unimproved tract 
of 256 acres in section 27. The deed of Mr. 
Becker's land, dated 1844, in the old-fash- 
ioned style of chirography, is now in posses- 
sion of Charles Becker. Philip Becker cared 
little for politics. He was never sued, nor 
sued another in his life. In 1875 his health 
failing, he visited the Pacific slope. The fol- 
lowing year he erected a home in Rockford in 
which to pass his remaining days, leaving his 
son in charge of the homestead. At his death 
the Masonic lodge at Rockford expressed their 
estimate of him as follows: 

Masonic Hall, January 23, A. L., 5881. 
Rockford Lodge No. 246, F. & A. M. 

To Mrs. Philip Becker: — At a special com- 
munication of Rockford lodge. No. 246. F. & 
A. Masons, the following preamble and reso- 
lutions were unanimously adopted: 

Whereas, Death is amongst us — our lodge 
is in mourning. A great calamity has befallen 
us. Our beloved brother, Philip Becker, is no 
more. His sun has set, and the evening 
shades of existence have closed around him 
forever. 

Sadly and tearfully are we called upon to 
mourn the loss of a good citizen, a kind neigh- 
bor and an endearing friend, our lodge of a 
faithful brother, his wife of a devoted husband 
and his family of a kind and loving father. 
And why we deeply mourn ourselves is be- 
cause our lodge is bereft of a useful member, 
his widow of an affectionate husband and his 
family of a kind and indulgent parent, but we 
feel to console ourselves that he has been 
called from labor to rest and repose in the 



546 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



presence of the Grand Master on high. There- 
fore, 

Rtsolrcd, That we, the officers and mem- 
bers of Rockford lodge. No. 246, F. & A. 
Masons, expre.is our deep and heartfelt sym- 
pathy with the widow and orphans of our de- 
ceased brother. 

Rcsoli'cd, That the preamble and resolu- 
tions be entered upon the records of the lodge, 
a copy furnished the Rockford Register for 
publication, and a copy under seal of the lodge 
sent to the widow of our deceased brother. 

H. \\'. Stimson, 

Secretary. 

His funeral took place at Courtland Cen- 
ter, largely attended by his many personal 
friends. 

Philip Becker came to I\ent county poor, 
but by tact, economy and industry accumu- 
lated great wealth, and ever preserved an un- 
sullied name. His wife, Margaret Snyder, was 
born in Steuben county, N. Y. , in January, 
1823, and died at Greenville, Mich., May 5, 
1898. She possessed those virtues and 
womanly graces which adorn the life of a 
grand and noble woman. Her funeral was 
said to be the largest ever held in Courtland 
township, there being 153 carriages in the 
cortege. Above this lamented couple stands 
sacred to their memory a beautiful and costly 
marble and Scotch granite monument. The 
following, from the- Rockford Register of May 
18, 189S, is a memoriam presented by Miss 
Eva Peterson. 

Bravely struggling through all the discour- 
aging duties of life, they won a home of much 
more than ordinary joy and comfort. By 
thrift and industry the wild forest was changed 
into broad acres of mellow soil, green mead- 
ows and ripening fields of grain, e\'ery deed a 
mute but potent expression of grand success. 

Her husband, Philip Becker, died Janu- 
ary 19, 1S81, after years of pleasant compan- 
ionship. Mrs. Becker was one who lived the 
philosophy she taught, a firm believer in the 
broad developments of higher life and pro- 



gression after death. A faithful, devoted wife 
and mother, possessing the tender sympathy 
and wide charity that endeared her to all who 
came within the charm of her. motherly per- 
sonality. The far-reaching influence of the 
gentle sweetness of her daily life attests the 
nearness of Christ. The light within insures 
for her the nameless joys of that fuller life 
beyond the portal death. Why should we 
grieve when time is ripe for those who, pass- 
ing on, receive the merit of their well spent life. 

April 6, 1876, at Sharon, Mich., Charles 
L. Becker wedded Miss Martha Sloat, a native 
of Washtenaw county, and to this marriage 
there were born two sons and two daughters — 
twins at each birth. The elder two, Claude 
G. and Maude D., graduated in the eighth 
grade in the district school in 1893, and from 
the Rockford high school in the class of 1895. 
Claude taught successfully two years in Kent 
county, and has recentl}- graduated in phar- 
macy from the Detroit college of Medicine, 
standing for two j'ears highest in his class. 
Maude also taught for three years in the home 
district, and is now a student in Parish's Busi- 
ness college at Grand Rapids. Lloyd and 
Lois — the younger twins, are attendmg the 
common school. 

Mrs. Martha Becker was born February 
10, 1847, 3. daughter of Josiah R. and Mary J. 
(Faulkner) Sloat. She was educated in the 
common schools and at the Manchester high 
school. She is genial and courteous in manner 
and her tasteful home indicates the careful 
housewife. Her father was a native of Mont- 
gomery, Orange county, N. Y. , was a son of 
David and Charity (Alsduff) Sloat, and died 
in Michigan, March 8, 1862, aged fifty-six 
years, eleven months and eleven days. He 
was a pioneer in Michigan, settling in Wash- 
tenaw county, in 1831, where he purchased a 
farm of 256 acres near Manchester. He was 
noted for his integrity, his word being consid- 
ered as good as his bond. Politically he was 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



547 



a democrat; fraternally an Odd Fellow. His 
wife, who was born in Orange county, N. Y., 
in 1813, is still living. They had five chil- 
dren; Emeline, wife of Abel Howe, a farmer 
of Horton, Mich. ; Fannie, wife of Milo T. 
Carpenter, also a farmer of Horton, Mich.; 
Martha; Josiah R., who resides on part of the 
old homestead and whose wife is Harriet 
Smith ; De Ette, who died at the age of twenty- 
eight years; Charles A., a half-brother, resides 
in Manchester and is married to Hester A. 
Sherwood. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Becker were married 
he owned eighty acres of land; but taking 
charge of his father's homestead soon added 
to his possessions until he now owns 556 acres 
in Coiirtland, Grattan and Oakfield town- 
ships. He has made sheep-raising a signal 
success, keeping the profitable Shropshire and 
fine wool breeds. His clip and lambs for 
189S realized $1,500. He also grows wheat, 
potatoes, beans and apples. His shipment of 
beans alone one season amounted to goo 
bushels. 

He has taken no active part in politics, 
having too extensive a private business to de- 
sire to do that of the public. Fraternally, he 
and Claude-are members of the Masonic lodge 
at Rockford, and he is a member of Lovell 
Moore chapter, No. 88, R. A. M. He is also 
a Knight Templar in DeMolai commandery, 
No. 5, at Grand Rapids. Both are also mem- 
bers of DeWitt Clinton consistory of the Val- 
ley of Grand Rapids in the Ancient Scottish 
rite. Mr. Becker, wife and daughter, Maude, 
are active in \'enus chapter, Order of the 
Eastern Star, at Grattan, said to be the most 
flourishing chapter in that popular order in the 
state. Miss Maude sits upon one of the points 
of the star as " Ada " representing that most 
unfortunate maiden, Jephtha's daughter. Be- 
side his great interest in Masonry, Mr. Becker 
has passed the chairs-in a lodge of Odd Fellows. 



No more highly esteemed family is known 
in Courtland than this. Not only the youth 
of to-day may profit by their example, but it 
is hoped the influence to succeeding genera- 
ations may prove highly beneficial. 



FHLO BORST, one of the gallant de- 
fenders of his country's flag during 
the late Civil war and well known as 
a prosperous farmer of Nelson town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., was born in Steuben 
county, N. Y., November 18, 1841, a son of 
Henry J. and Anna (Vanderbogart) Borst, par- 
ents of six sons and five daughters, of which 
family Philo is the sevenuh, and of which 
five, beside himself, still survive, viz: Lydia, 
wife of Henry Smith; Ezer and Jabez, all of 
Weston's Mills, N. Y. ; Julius R., of Lake 
George, Mich., and Edward, of Corning, N. Y. 
— all the sons having been reared as mill men. 
The father, also a native of New York, was lib- 
erally educated and was a schocil-teacher. In 
politics he was a democrat and in religion 
a Presbyterian, and the mother, a natixe of 
Schoharie county, N. Y., was of old Mohawk- 
Dutch descent. Both parents are now de- 
ceased. 

Philo Borst was educated in the common 
schools of his native state, and July 9, 1S62, 
enlisted in company C, One Hundred and Sev- 
enth New York volunteer infantry, which was 
assigned to the army of the Potomac, but later, 
was transferred to Sherman's command about 
the time Mr. Borst was transferred to another 
regiment. Mr. Borst's leading engagement 
was at Antietam, September 17, 1862, and 
December 19, 1863, he was transferred to 
company A, Fiftieth New York engineers, 
of the same army corps, and fought with 
General Grant until honorably discharged 
June 13, 1865, greatly injured in health. 



548 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



On his return home he resumed work at his 
trade, that of manufacturer of lumber, etc., 
in Steuben county, N. Y. , and March 21, 
1-866, married Miss Maggie A. Kelley, 
which union resulted in the birth of six sens 
and two daughters, of whom the following are 
still living: William Lawrence, a shingle man- 
ufacturer; Henry J., also operating a shingle 
mill; Anna, wife of Henry Sipple, a farmer of 
Courtland township; Charles Edward, a grad- 
uate of Ferrislndustrial college, of Big Rapids, 
and a school-teacher; Francis H., a fanner, 
with his father; and Custer, who enlisted in 
company L, Thirty-third Michigan volunteer 
infantry, for the war in Cuba, and passed 
through the entire Santiago campaign, being 
on July I and 2 in the battle at Aguadores, 
and on his return homeward was seized with 
fever in New York and lay filty-one days in 
Bellevue hospital. He received an honorable 
discharge December 31, 1898. Mrs. Maggie 
" Borst, the beloved mother of this respected 
family, passed away January 27, 1892, and 
her loss is still deeply mourned by the bereaved 
husband and children. 

When Mr. Borst settled in Kent county 
in February, 1877, Nelson township was al- 
most covered by a dense forest; but he has 
succeeded in hewing out a profitable and com- 
fortable farm and is now classed among the 
most respected and prosperous agriculturists in 
the community. In politics he is a democrat 
and a great admirer of William J. Bryan's free- 
silver policy, and is also a strong advocate of 
public-school instruction. Fraternally he is a 
member of Jewell post. No. 62, G. A. R. , at 
Cedar Springs; Evans tent. No. 785, Knights 
of the Maccabees, and is overseer of grange 
No. 734, P. of H., also at Evans, which is his 
post-office. All his sons are members of the 
Maccabees. Frank is assistant steward of the 
grange, and those who have reached their ma- 
jority are free-silver democrats. All are rec- 



ognized as useful and enterprising citizens and 
well deserve the high esteem in which they are 
universally held. 




ICHAEL BODELL, for over a quar- 
ter of a century a respected resi- 
dent of Tyrone township, Kent 
county, Mich., is a native of Hol- 
derman county. Canada, and was born about 
fifteen miles from Niagara Falls, May 31, 
1S45, the second of the nine sons and three 
daughters that constituted the family of Henry 
and Barbara (Stultz) Bodell, ten of whom are 
still living, viz: Jonas, the eldest, who is mar- 
ried and is a farmer of Macomb county, 
Mich., with his post-office at Romeo; Michael, 
the subject of this sketch; Benjamin, married, 
and a farmer of Tyrone township, Kent coun- 
ty; Susan, wife of L. Hagle, of Huron county; 
Henry, also a married farmer of Tyrone town- 
ship; Jacob, a farmer of Alpine township and 
also married; William, a farmer of Newaygo 
county and the head of a family; Ale.xander, 
married, and farming in Ottawa county ; Lorenzo, 
a farmer of Tjrone township, and Caroline, 
the wife of C. C. Caanen, also of Tyrone 
township. 

Henry Bodell, the father, was born in 
Baden, Germany, August 2, 1822, and was a 
child of five years when brought to America 
by his parents. The family were ninety days 
crossing the ocean in a sailing vessel, the cap- 
tain of which lost his reckoning, causing much 
distress to passengers and crew from hunger, 
and eventually landed in the city of New- 
York, whence the Bodell family made their 
way direct to Holderman county. Adam Bo- 
dell, father of Henry, was a soldier under Na- 
poleon I, and was a participant in the disas- 
trous campaign against Russia, which resulted 
in the destruction of and disastrous retreat 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



5i9 



from Moscow. Henry Bedell was reared in 
Canada, where he learned the trade of car- 
penter and joiner, and in 1865 came to Kent 
count}-, Mich., purchased eighty acres of forest 
land and erected a little shanty, in which to 
live until a log cabin could be built, a few 
days later. This cabin was about 16x24 feet 
in dimensions, ground plan, was six feet high 
and had a shed roof, with a stove-pipe thrust 
through it for chimney. Indians were nu- 
merous and frequently passed through the lit- 
tle clearing, peddling their baskets and other 
wares, and even our subject has seen deer 
in numbers on the littl'e farm. Kent City was 
not then known, and at Casnovia there were 
only two little stores, a small blacksmith 
shop and a frame hotel. Not a railroad ex- 
isted in this part of the county, ox-teams be- 
ing the only means of transportation, and the 
farming implements were of simple construc- 
tion, Michael Bodell still retaining, as a 
souvenir, an old four-fingered cradle as a 
specimen. Here Henry Bodell passed the 
remainder of his life, but lived to see the 
wilderness swept, away and fertile fields and 
comfortable dwellings take its place, and died 
an honored citizen October 9, 1894. His 
widow, who was born in Germany, May 18, 
1823, now resides in Ottawa county, still does 
her sewing without the aid of a machine, and 
is still in the full possession of her mental 
faculties. 

Michael Bodell was reared in Canada 
until twenty years of age, was there educated in 
main and learned the carpenter and joiner's 
trade, but since his marriage has devoted him- 
self to agricultural pursuits. July 4, 1870, he 
wedded Miss Orpha A. Place, and this union 
has been blessed with nine children, viz: 
William H. , who was educated in the common 
schools and is by calling a farmer; Carrie V., 
still at home; Cora M., now in Grand Rapids; 
Charlie E. , at home; John M., at home; 



Leonard L., who aids his father on the farm; 
George W. , who is the youngest son; Mabel 
I., now in the fourth grade at scnool; Mary 
A., the youngest of the family, is in the third 
grade, and all the elder children received a 
solid public-school education. 

Mrs. Orpha Bodell was born in Huron 
county, Ohio, June 13, 1847, whence her par- 
ents emigrated to Illinois when she was a lit- 
tle girl, and later came to Michigan and pur- 
chased an eighty-acre farm in Sparta township. 
Both parents are now, however, deceased. Of 
their children, one daughter, beside Mrs. Bo- 
dell, and one son still survive, viz; Rosa, 
wife of Rev. Horace Place, a well-known 
Methodist divine of Toledo, Ohio, and Edward 
Place, a resident of Grand Rapids. Mrs. Bo- 
dell received a solid common-school education 
and is in £very respect an accomplished lady. 

Michael Bodell began his agricultural life 
by purchasing forty acres of his father's farm, 
and for this he went in debt for the greater 
part of the cost. He then worked out by the 
month until he had earned the means with 
which to cancel the debt. He then sold the 
west half, or twenty acres of his farm of forty, 
and purchased forty acres on the east side of 
his remaining twenty, and these sixty acres 
now constitute his present farm. He has 
made all the improvements on his place, has 
labored hard, and has succeeded in placing his 
family in comfortable circumstances. In pol- 
itics, Mr. Bodell strongly leaned toward the 
principles of the republican party, and cast his 
first presidential vote for U. S. Grant, but in 
local affairs he votes for the man best suited, 
in his opinion, for public office, and he is b}^ 
no means an expansionist. He and wife are 
firm friends of public education and believe 
in employing the best teachers the school fund 
can hire. They live strictly up to the golden 
rule, and are classed with the best citizens of 
Tyrone township. 



550 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 




OSEPH L. BODEX.— Sixty-four years 
ago, when the only way to reach the 
present site of Grand Rapids was to 
follow an Indian trail, two young men, 
Anthony Boden and William Moorman, having 
heard of the Grand river country, decided to 
investigate for themselves, and, with what few 
personal goods they possessed slung over their 
shoulders, left Detroit and struck the trail 
into the wilderness. Several days were con- 
sumed in making the journey, until they 
reached their destination, it being no more 
than a frontier trading post, where Indians 
swarmed at the times their annuities were 
paid. It was even then felt by the inhabitants 
that a city must arise upon the river at the 
Grand rapids. 

Anthony Boden found employment as a 
carpenter for ten years, assisting in the build- 
ing of nearly all the more important edifices 
of that time. In 1846 he located on a tract of 
240 acres in a dense forest, on which, the pre- 
ceding year, he had erected a small house of 
hewed planks and sawed lumber. He hired 
the land cleared, working at his trade mean- 
while in the city, and lived on it until about 
twenty years ago. December 20, 1837, he 
was united in marriage to Hanora McMahon, 
who was born in county Cork, Ireland, but 
who, when but a young girl, accompanied a 
sister and brother to Michigan. Mr. and Mrs. 
Boden lived on their farm altogether about 
thirty years, clearing a considerable part of it, 
and finally retiring to Grand Rapids, where 
Mrs. Boden died July 23, 1881, and where his 
own death occurred November 5, 1891, both 
being devoted members of St. Andrew's Catho- 
lic church. He was born in 18 14, in Derby- 
shire, England, and in 1830 came, with the 
family, to Wayne county, Mich., where his 
father, who was a miner, died in 1831. He 
was an original character and possessed many 
admirable personal traits. He was esteemed 



by many who learned to know him in those 
earlier years. He knew personally every resi- 
dent m Kent county for many years; though 
never ambitious himself for public approba- 
tion or distinction, he was a firm adherent to 
those he deemed worth}-. 

Joseph L. Boden was born in Grand Rap- 
ids February 9, 1842, and has passed his life 
on the old farm almost entirely. As he grew 
in years and strength, he grew in usefulness 
in clearing up the place, much of which de- 
volved upon him, his father working constantly 
at his trade in the cit}-. In 186S he was 
placed in full charge, and eventually became 
owner of the orignal tract, but has since set 
apart 100 acres for the use of his son, Anthony 
J., while the remaining part he has devoted 
to general farming, having cleared up and im- 
proved it all. His is now one of the most 
desirable tracts of land in Paris, being in an 
advanced state of cultivation and improved 
with commodious residence and barns. The 
house, a large, roomy one, stands on an emi- 
nence that commands a beautiful view of the 
attractive country surrounding. 

October 28. 1867, Joseph L. Boden mar- 
ried Miss Anna S. Lee, of Paris township, but 
who was born in Wayne county, JiJich., and 
brought to Paris in 1854, when five years of 
age, by her parents, Charles H. and Sarah F. 
(Chase) Lee, who settled on section No. 36, 
in the southeast corner of the township. On 
the farm then purchased Mr. Lee passed away 
at the age of fifty-eight years, and his widow, 
at the age of sixty-eight, now resides with her 
daughter, Mrs. Eva \^'oodward, in Caledonia. 
The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Boden has re- 
suited in the birth of the following children: 
Mary A., wite of Timothy Kelly, a thriving 
liveryman of Grand Rapids, whose two chil- 
dren are named Eileen and Louise; Sarah 
H., still under the parental roof, and Anthony 
J., who married Miss Maggie Burns, of Paris, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



551 



and who is now living on the home farm al- 
loted to him by his father. The family adhere 
to the Catholic faith and belong to St. Mary's 
congregation in Cascade. They are faithful 
in their duty as members of the congregation, 
and are ever free in their contributions to its 
support. 

In politics Mr. Boden is an unerring dem- 
ocrat, and has acted as delegate to conventions 
of his party, including those of the county, 
district and state. He has served on the 
democratic county committee, working hard 
for the success of the party at the polls. As 
a citizen, he is considered to be one of the 
most useful and public-spirited in the townshi'p, 
as he stands ever ready to give of his means 
or influence most freely to the support and pro- 
motion of any project designed for the public 
good; and as a farmer he is recognized as one 
of the most progressive in the county. 



W. BOWMAN for nearly thirty years 
has been a citizen of Kent county 
and is a man of sterling integrity, 
enjoying the highest esteem and re- 
spect of all his acquaintances in TjTone town- 
ship. 

He is a native of Lucas county, Ohio, and 
was born on the 31st of January, 1857, an 
eighth child in a family of four sons and live 
daughters born to Lambert and Mary N. 
(Stinson) Bowman, of whom the following 
still survive, viz: Mima, wife of E. F. Smith, 
an agriculturist residing at Casnovia, Mich.; 
Jennie, wife of L. B. Schram, a veteran of the 
Civil war and a resident of Grand Rapids; 
Mary G., wife of J. O. Files, attorney at law 
living at Wauseon, Ohio; Mr. Bowman of this 
sketch and W. L., an agriculturist, married 
and residing in Bridgetown, Newaygo county, 
Mich. 



The father of E. W. Bowman was born 
in the state of New Jersey in 1814 and is still 
living. He emigrated from his native state to 
Columbiana county, Ohio, thence to Crawford 
county, from there to Lucas county and finally 
settled in Kent county. Mich. He spent his life 
as an agriculturist. In politics he is a repub- 
lican, but formerly was a follower of the whig 
party. Religiously he has alwaj-s favored the 
Methodist society. 

The mother was born on the Emerald isle 
and died in Kent county, Mich., July 7, 1887, 
at the age of sixty-five years, ten months and 
twenty-three days. 

E. W. Bowman remained at home until 
he arrived at the age of twenty-two and was 
reared and educated in his native state. In 
his youthful days he gave his services to his 
parents and has cared for them in their de- 
clining years. His life has been spent as a 
tiller of the soil. At the age of twenty-two he 
came with his parents to Kent county, the 
first purchase of land being their present 
homestead, which, at first only little improved, 
has been since "stumped " and prepared for the 
plow by Mr. Bowman. 

On January 30, 1886, he was married to 
Miss Fannie Guernsey, and one little daugh- 
ter, Lettie, has graced this union. She is a 
student in the Casnovia public schools, in the 
fourth grade, and is diligent and bright in 
her school work. Mrs. Bowman was born in 
New York, April 5, 1868, and was a daughter 
of Ira and Antoinette iKnapp) Guernsey. Her 
education was of such a character as might be 
secured in the city schools of Elmira, N. Y. 
She was a lady of_ many graces, filling the 
home circle with good cheer and with her 
wifely and motherly traits was loved and 
revered by all her friends. Her many womanly 
qualities and virtues made her character su- 
perlative in the love of her husband. She 
died October 19, 1895, and the beautiful and 



552 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



cheerful countenance of wife and mother is in 
sadness missed by the family circle. The fol- 
lowing memorial of the death of Mrs. E. W. 
Bowman is taken from the Casnovia Herald 
of October 25, 1895: 

Mrs. Bowman was a woman capable of 
the strongest and deepest affections and had 
the power of making and keeping friends. 
She was an earnest and confiding woman and 
a devoted wife and mother. Her nature was 
grand and ennobling, perfectl}' devoid of sus- 
picion. Condemnation of others was foreign 
to her. She was keenly sensitive and intelli- 
gent. In a word she was born to love and 
be loved. Tuesday p. m. the M. E. church at 
Casnovia, Mich., was filled with friends who 
had gathered to pay their last respects to her 
whom they had loved in life. The casket was 
beautifully decorated with flowers, among 
which were a large floral pillow bearing the 
word, " sister," from the husband, sister and 
Mrs. Jennie Schram of Grand Rapids. Mrs. 
Schram also furnished a floral piece of cut 
roses and carnations; another beautiful pillow 
was presented bj- her friends in town. The 
Ladies" Aid Society, of which she was a mem- 
ber, gave a cluster of carnations; Mrs. E. F. 
Smith furnished the flowers which decorated 
the inside of the casket. The church was 
beautifully decorated and Rev. H. C. Cham- 
berlin gave an excellent address to the large 
circle of friends gathered there. 

In his political affiliations Mr. Bowman is 
a stanch republican, and cast his first presi- 
dential vote for the lamented Garfield, and 
has ever strongly supported this party. 

The public schools find in him an ardent 
and enthusiastic supporter and one who 
strongly advocates procuring the best instruct- 
ors. He is at present the school inspector of 
Tyrone township. He is a citizen whom the 
people revere as a gentleman of integrity and 
worth. He lives the life of a devout Chris- 
tian and thoroughly believes that the motto — 
" Do unto others as you would have others do 
unto you " is a principle worth sustaining. 



His aged father, a sole care, resides with 
him, and is to him a sun of life fast sinking 
beneath the horizon. 

Mr. Bowman's farm of fifty-live acres lies 
three-fourths of a mile from Casnovia and two 
miles from Kent City. The owner justly mer- 
its the success and enjo3^ment he has achieved, 
in that he has been a worker and a Christian. 




\SlIIXGTON B. BOWMAN, the 
popular and efficient supervisor of 
Oakfield township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born near Berlin, On- 
tario, Canada, February 2, 1S50, and is the 
youngest of the family of three sons and three 
daughters born to Jacob W. and Mary A. 
(Bowers') Bowman, but of these si.\ children 
there are now only three living, viz: Lydia, 
widow of Hon. I. E. Bowman and still living 
near the old homestead in Canada; her hus- 
band was a member of the Canadian house of 
commons, and in his day was very prominent 
as a politician; Louisa is the wife of I. L. 
Tower, who is in the government employ at 
Greenville, Mich., and Washington B., the 
subject of this sketch. 

Jacob W. Bowman, the father, was born 
in Waterloo county, Ontario, February 13, 
181 1, of Swiss extraction, was educated in a 
public log school-house and by vocation was a 
mechanic. In 1864 he came to Kent county, 
Mich., with his family, and entered :6o acres 
in section No. 30, Oakfield township, which 
land is still in possession of the Bowman fam- 
ily. His death took place in Greenville, March 
6, 1 89 1, in the faith of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church. His wife was born in Lancaster, 
Pa., October 14, 18 17, and her death occurred 
in Greenville, in the same faith, April 25, 
1898. 

Washington B. Bowman was fourteen years 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



553 



of age when he came to Oakfield township 
with his parents, and with them he remained 
until his eighteenth year, and then be}<an to 
wori< out by the month. April 30, 1873. he 
married Miss Lydia A. Clemens in Gaines 
township, and to this union have been born 
three children, viz: D. O. , who has completed 
the full course of eight grades in the public 
schools and has a leaning toward a commercial 
life; he is a member of F. & A. M. lodge, No. 
196, at Grattan Center, also of the Eastern 
Star lodge, and oi the Maccabees tent at Har- 
vard. Kay, the second born, has also com- 
pleted the eight grades; is associated with his 
father in the cultivation of the home farm and 
is a member of Grattan grange. No. 170. Anna 
.Nf., the youngest of the family, has passed 
through the eight grades, had her examination 
in 1897 with an average of eighty-five per cent, 
and has also taken special lessons in instru- 
mental music. 

Mrs. Lydia A. l>owman was born in Wat- 
erloo, Ontario, Canada, December 31, 1854, 
is a daughter of Amos M. and Mary (Wismer) 
Clemens, and was educated in the common 
schools, being but nine years of age when 
brought to Kent county by her parents, who 
settled in Gaines township in 1863. There 
were seven children in the Clemens family — 
three sons and four daughters — of whom two 
are deceased; of the surviving five, two beside 
Mrs. Bowman are residents of Kent county: 
Henry W. is a farmer of Manistee, Mich., and 
Mary is the wife of Edward Williams, a farmer 
of Petoskey, Mich. The mother died on the 
Gaines township homestead, and the father in 
Caledonia, where a daughter resided. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bowman began their married 
life, in 1873, as renters of the Bowman home- 
stead, and so continued until 1880, when they 
purchased the place, it then containing 184 
acres, but went largely in debt for it, but this 
debt has been paid, the greater part of the im- 

28 



provements have been made by them, and they 
now own 224 acres, on which there is not a 
dollar's mortgage — and all this is the result of 
their diligence, good management and econ- 
omy, intelligently exercised. 

In politics Mr. Bowman is a republican 
and cast his first presidential vote for U. S. 
Grant. He has served as delegate to various 
county and other conventions of his parly, and 
in 1885 was elected township treasurer. His 
services in this office were so satisfactory, that 
he has since been twice re-elected, and in 1895 
he ^as elected supervisor of his township; in 
this office, also, his ability has been made so 
manifest, that he has since been three times 
re-elected, and is the present incumbent of the 
ofifice. It is quite evident, in view (A these 
facts, that Mr. Bowman has the entire confi- 
dence of his fellow-citizens in his integrity, 
capacity, and devotion to their interests. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bowman are among the 
most worthy residents of Oakfield township, 
have been most liberal in their contributions to 
the support of churches and every project de- 
signed for the elevation of the moral condition 
as well as the material progress of the town- 
ship, and the high esteem in which they are 
held is an indication that their good acts are 
appreciated by their neighbors. 




l^AXCIS BOYLAND, late of Wyoming 
township, and one of Kent county's 
representative Irish-American citi- 
zens, was a native of county Mona- 
ghan, Ireland, where his birth occurred in the 
year 1846. When but four years of age, just 
after the great famine, he was brought by his 
parents, Edward and Ann (Fay) Boyland, to 
America, and until he reached maturity the 
j family resided in the state of New York. Be- 
side Francis there were in the family two 



554 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



sons, James and Edward, both of whom were 
respected citizens, the latter now deceased, 
and one daughter, Margaret, who married Den- 
nis Murphy, of Grand Rapids, where she died 
a few years since. Ail became residents of 
Michigan in 1S70, locating on the present 
home farm in the township of Wyoming, near 
the village of Grandville. 

Previous to coming west, Francis had spent 
some years as a clerk in Buffalo, N. Y. , but 
after settling in Michigan turned his whole at- 
tention to the pursuit of agriculture, which he 
carried on quite extensively for a number of 
years. In connection with his farm he en- 
gaged in the dairying business, which proved 
more than ordinarily remunerative. The 
several members of the family owned, in com- 
mon, a valuable tract of land consisting of 200 
acres; but after a division was made Francis 
obtained possession of the home place of iio 
acres, upon which he established the dairy 
above mentioned. He expended considerable 
capital in dwellings and appliances necessary 
to the successful prosecution of that feature of 
his business, and also greatly improved the 
farm in various ways, making it one of the 
handsomest, most convenient and valuable 
estates in this section of Kent county. This 
beautiful home is situated one mile east of 
Grandville, skirting the Grand river, and its 
well kept condition, superior improvements 
and general appearance of thrift, never fail to 
attract the passersby, and elicit from them 
remarks complimentary to the owner of such 
a place. Mr. Boyland carried on dairying 
quite successfully for a period of ten years, 
and was thus engaged when death called l.im 
from the scenes of his earthly labors. He 
served as deputy sheriff of Kent county for 
four years, and also filled the office of town- 
ship treasurer, in both of which capacities he 
proved an obliging and efficient public servant. 
In politics he was a supporter of the demo- 



cratic party, and held no minor place in the 
estimate of its leaders. 

On the 22nd of February, 1871, Mr. Boy- 
land and Miss Mary Barry were united in the 
holy bonds of wedlock — a union blessed with 
the following children: Mary E., an accom- 
plished musician and teacher, popular with her 
many friends and influential in the community; 
Margaret, a refined lady of many social quali- 
ties; John, who has charge of the farm; Charles, 
Robert, Florence and Lyman, all of whom are 
still with their inother under the parental roof. 
Mrs. Boyland is a native of Erie county, N. 
Y. , and a lady of culture and refinement, 
greatl}' beloved by her family, universally re- 
spected in the community for her genial dis- 
position and many acts of charity, both in and 
outside of the church of which she is an active 
and devoted member. The children are 
worthy the pardonable pride in which they 
have ever been held by the parents, being ex- 
ceptionally intelligent young ladies and gentle- 
men, possessing the confidence and esteem of 
the entire community. The family are mem- 
bers of the Catholic church, belonging to St. 
Andrew congregation, in which they are active 
workers. 

Sufficient has already been said to indicate 
Mr. Boyland's standing in the community, 
where for over a quarter of a century he was' 
such a potent factor in fashioning and promot- 
ing the general welfare. He was widely recog- 
nized as one of the substantial Irish-Americans, 
who by many excellent qualities of head and 
heart drew to himself hosts of friends who 
mourned his taking o-fT as a great personal 
loss. Of kindly nature and generous impulse, 
his hand was ever helpfully extended to the 
needy, and his warm sympathy will always be 
cherished by many unfortunates who never ap- 
pealed in vain to his generosity. He died as 
he lived, an upright man of God, exemplyfing 
in his life the maxim of our Saviour " whatso- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



555 



ever ye would that men should do unto you, 
do ye even so to them;" and left to his family 
a reputation unspotted by the slightest tinge 
of unworthy act or motive. He departed this 
life on the i6th day of August, 1896, in the 
fifty-first year of his age. 



HOMAS BOYLON.— No one unfamil- 
iar with pioneer life can fully appre- 
ciate what it means to bring a wil- 
derness, such as the Grand river valley 
was a half century ago, to the present highly 
improved condition, with its myriads of finely 
cultivated farms, each having comfortable, 
and, in many instances, elaborate residences, 
supplemented by commodious barns, erected 
on modern ideas of architecture, that embody 
beauty with utility and great storage capacity. 

Probably no man living has contributed 
more labor, energy and intelligence to the 
growth and improvement of Kent county 
than he whose biography is here briefly con- 
sidered. 

Thomas Boylon, one of the oldest and most 
substantial farmers of Ada township, Kent 
county, Mich., as well as one of the most re- 
spected of citizens, was born in county Lowth, 
Ireland, April 15, 1827, a son of Cornelius 
and Mary Boylon. 

Cornelius and Mary (McCabe) Boylon 
came to America when Thomas was a lad of 
seven years, and until 1844 lived at Seneca 
Falls, N. Y. They then came to Michigan, 
and August 15th of the same year located at 
Green Oak, Livingston county, where they 
remained until 1852, when they came to Kent 
county and settled in Vergennes township, 
where they hewed a farm from the wilderness, 
on which they passed the remainder of their 
lives, Mrs. Mary Boylon dying at the advanced 



age of eighty years, and Cornelius Boylon at 
the patriarchal age of ninety-five. They were 
of a hardy and vigorous race and imparted 
much of these essential qualities to their chil- 
dren. 

Thomas Boylon knew what hard work 
meant from his earliest years; and after devot- 
ing his minority to that incident to clearing 
new farms with his father, set himself about 
the hardest work that was to be done, and 
that which most men dreaded, the breaking of 
the \irgin soil. The great number of stumps 
rendered it necessary to have the power of 
several yoke of heavy oxen to pull the im- 
mense plow. No man was so widely known 
as a breaker thirty-five years ago as Thomas 
Boylon, his services for this work being sought 
over an area pi many miles. He can truly say 
that his efforts have turned more soil to light 
of day for the first time than any other half- 
dozen men. If not the first, he was among 
the pioneers in threshing, grain by power. He 
introduced the earlier thresher, which con- 
sisted simply of a cylinder run by tread 
power. It was necessary to separate the 
grain and straw with forks, after which the 
grain was run through a hand fanning-mill. 
He was the first to bring in and operate a 
more modern machine, and attained as much 
of a reputation as a thresher as he had as a 
land breaker. 

In 1 861 Mr. Boylon settled on his present 
farm of 160 acres in Ada to^fnship. This 
tract, e.xtending along Grand river, had been 
held by the Indians long after all their other land 
had been disposed of and was in a wild state 
when Mr. Boylon purchased it, but most of it 
has been cleared off by himself, and converted 
into one of the best farms of the valley. 
After settling on this place he continued his 
work as a breaker and thresher, also working 
in the forests as a lumberman, and for a time 
held the position of foreman in grading four 



^! 



556 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



miles of the D. & M. railroad. At another 
time he was foreman for his brother in build- 
ing a stretch of five miles of road near Beld- 
ing. In fact, the county never had within 
its limits a more industrious and hard-working 
man, and though he has met loss by fire of 
both house and barn as well as other discour- 
agements, he has ever pressed on, disaster 
only adding to determination to win. 

Mr. Boylon was united in the bonds of 
matrimony, February 5, i860, with Miss 
Susan Murray, a native of Troy, N. Y. , who 
came to Michigan at the age of seven years 
with her parents, John and Mary (Brady) 
Murray, who settled where the city of Belding 
now stands, and where they passed the re- 
mainder of their dajs. Mrs. Boylon, a most 
accomplished lady, engaged in the work of 
teaching at the age of seventeen years, and 
taught in the old log school-house in Grattan 
seven terms, at Orleans, in Ionia county, and 
elsewhere, until her marriage. To this mar- 
riage thirteen children have been born, of 
whom two died in infancy, and four — Kate, 
aged eleven 3 ears, Cornelius, aged nme, Alice, 
aged five, and Frank, aged fifteen — died of 
diphtheria, within a few weeks, in 1880. The 
survivors are Winnie, wife of Charles Huyge. 
a grocer at the corner of Fifth avenue and 
South Ionia street, Grand Rapids; James, a 
liveryman in the same city; Fred, a street rail- 
road employee, who served in the army at Porto 
Rico; Lillian, a stenographer in the employ of 
Dr. Johnson, in Grand Rapids; Anna, who 
graduated from the city high school and is 
now a teacher, and Kate and Thomas at 
home. The family are communicants of St. 
Alphonsus Catholic church in Grand Rapids, 
and to the support of which they are among 
the most liberal contributors. 

In politics Mr. Boylon is a stanch demo- 
crat, is frequently a delegate to conventions, 
and is active in securing party success at the 



polls. He has filled various township offices, 
including that of justice of the peace two 
terms, school commissioner, etc. 

Thomas Boylon is as solid in character as 
a rock. There is no equivocation or beating 
about the bush in his makeup. Hewing close 
to the line himself, he expects equal rectitude 
from others, and has no sympathy with those 
whose lives are on less substantial lines. His 
sturdy character has made him enemies — but 
those who have known him for nearly half a 
century feel for him only the highest respect, 
and no greater honor could be paid a young 
man in their estimation than to say he resem- 
bled Tom Boylon. 

As a teacher Mrs. Susan (Murray) Boylon 
is remembered by the writer, who learned his 
letters at her knee, as a lady of rare intellect- 
ual attainments and ability to impress upon 
her pupils not only the lessons in hand, but 
also those precepts that grew into their inner 
consciousness and made them better men and 
women in after life. All who knew her were 
her friends, and her charming manner, coupled 
with handsome features and womanly grace, 
made her one of the most popular of women. 
She still retains much of her grace and win- 
someness of youth, and many of the traits 
that made her so popular among the last gen- 
eration have been transmitted to her daugh- 
ters, who possess much of the charm of their 
mother's youth. Mrs. Boylon has proved a 
most worth helpmate in all life's trials and 
struggles encountered by her husband, and 
now, when these have been overcome, she has 
the satisfaction of looking back with a con- 
sciousness of a well-spent life, and the gratifi- 
cation of feeling that she holds a sacred place 
in the memory of those who knew her in the 
early days, and have been influenced for the 
good and right through contact with her. To 
such women, Kent county owes much of its 
greatness. 1 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



557 




BENEZER BOYNTON, of Spencer 
township. Kent county, Mich., is a 
veteran of the Civil war and a well- 
known citizen and prosperous agricult- 
urist, having been a resident of this county 
for over a quarter of a century. 

A native of Schuyler county, N. Y., he was 
born December 12, 1842, and was the third in 
a family of seven children born to E. L. and 
Amanda M. (Miller) Boynton. Of this fam- 
ily there are five survivors, viz: Charles, who 
is a stock dealer at Elmira, N. Y. ; Ebenezer; 
Alice, the wife of Irvin Stevens, a carpenter 
of Lake City, Mich. ; Roy, a lumber dealer at 
the same place, and Ida, wife of Lacy Over- 
peck, a resident of Schuyler county, N. Y., 
where he was a school-teacher and at present 
a music-instructor. 

E. L. Boynton, a native of Chenango, 
county, \. Y., was reared to agricultural pur- 
suits, but later became a hotel proprietor. 
He passed his youthful days in New York 
state and was a man of natural ability, but 
his education was largely self-acquired. In 
1862 he removed to Millerton, Pa., and there 
resided until his "death. In politics he was a 
democrat and a strong adherent to his party 
principles. 

The mother was a native also of Schuyler 
county, N. Y. , and died when Mr. Boynton, 
of this sketch, was a lad of seventeen years. 
During the next three years, Ebenezer re- 
mained at home, his time and wages going to 
the family needs. He was one of the brave 
New York lads who presented themselves at 
the call and peril of their country. Offering 
his services and life, he enlisted in company 
B, One Hundred and Sixty-first New York vol- 
unteer infantry, at \\"atkins, N. Y. , August 14, 
1862, under Capt. Brown and Col. Harro- 
way. The regiment was assigned to the army 
of the gulf, under command of Gen. B. F. 
Butler. Mr. Boynton joined his regiment at 



Baton Rouge, La., as soon as he was able 
after an attack of fever. The first battle was 
at Stone Plains, La. Mr. Boynton gives the 
following description of the battle: "The 
siege of the battle lasted some forty-three days, 
including the action at Port Hudson. Here 
we first met Rebels eager for engagement, and 
underwent a rain of shot and shell that was 
terrible, prostrating hundreds of the poor 
soldiers, and mutilating their limbs and bodies. 
At the siege of Port Hudson, we were not able 
to change clothes once in the entire forty- 
three days, and had no shelter from the torrid 
sun and heavy rain. Next action was Cox's 
plantation. La., July 13, 1863, which lasted 
from morn until dark, the regiment sustaining 
a hea\y loss. Commander Dudley, whose bri- 
gade took a'prominent part in the action, thus 
spoke to his men: ' Boys, we have had a 
hard time at Port Hudson; now we have come 
down here to reconnoiter and will have a fine 
time, living on the fat of the land.'" But as 
was able to be seen from historical accounts, 
the commander's prophecy did not turn out 
true. At this battle, Mr. Boynton, though he 
participated, was not in a fit condition for 
action of a soldier, having received a sunstroke 
at Port Hudson, while assisting on a battery. 
At Cox's plantation they bivouaced, stacked 
arms, and went on a foraging expedition; upon 
returning the road was full of provisions, pre- 
senting the aspect of a Broadway market, as 
Mr. Boynton says, but when they were pre- 
paring to enjoy an excellent meal the Rebels 
made such a sudden charge that they were 
compelled to dee, leaving everything, even 
clothing, behind in the enemy's hands. The 
gunboats, soon aware of the attack, began 
firing on the Confederates, allowing the Union 
soldiers to retreat, and thereby be safe from 
capture. After this attack they were forced to 
live on green corn for almost a week, until they 
procured more rations. Manj' other anecdotes 



558 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



and stories of Mr. Boynton's arm\' career 
might be related, but, requiring a larger vol- 
ume than this, the remaining battles must be 
spoken of in brief. Mr. Boynton took part in 
the battle of Carion Crow Bayou, La., and 
Sabine Cross Roads. At the last-named 
battle he received a severe wound in the right 
shoulder from a rifle ball, causing h's confine- 
ment ten weeks in the hospital. He was fur- 
loughed home at New Orleans, La., for forty 
days, and, returning to his regiment July 4, 
1864, engaged in the two weeks' siege of 
Mobile and aided in the assault of Spanish 
Fort and Fort Blakejy. His regiment was 
finally ordered to the Dry Tortugas islands, 
and there was mustered out of service, Sep- 
tember 20, 1S65. 

Mr. Boynton has been twice married; first 
at Watkins, March 9, 1862, to Miss Emily 
Griswold, sister of the register of deeds of 
Kent county, Hon. Scott Griswold. Five 
children have blessed this union, three of 
whom are living, viz: Lida, the wife of John 
Call, a resident of Lake City, Mich. ; Roy, 
who was educated in the city schools and is at 
present on a trip to California, and Carrie, the 
youngest, a student in the class of 1901, in 
the high school of Lake City. 

Mrs. Boynton was born in Schuyler county, 
N. Y. , November 17, 1846, and died in Spen- 
cer township, Kent county, Mich., March 9, 
1 891. Mr. Boynton took for his second help- 
mate Miss Kate Young, to whom he was mar- 
ried on September 16, 1891. She is a native 
of Kent county, born in Cannon township No- 
vember 2, 1863, and a daughter of John and 
Dorothy (Casner) Young. Her parents came 
to Cannon township at an early date. Her 
father, John Young, was a native of New 
York and a carpenter by trade, and died at the 
age of si.xty-three. Her mother was born in 
Canada, and was fifty-nine years of age when 
called away by death. Mrs. Boynton has 



three brothers and two sisters yet living who 
are residents of Kent county. She is an ac- 
tive lady, possesses strong mental powers and 
has proven herself a loving and helpful wife. 

It was in 1S73 when Mr. Boynton pur- 
chased twenty acres of land in Spencer town- 
ship, entirely unimproved, and the entire coun- 
try in this vicinity was a perfect wilderness. 
His wife's father, J . W. Griswold, then operated 
a mill here. In January, 1874, Mr. Boynton 
went into general merchandizing at Griswold 
and continued for twenty-four years, and did 
an extensive and profitable business, paying 
out thousands of dollars. His farm of seventy 
acres, though not large, is valuable and well 
improved. 

Politically Mr. Boynton is a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for Abraham 
Lincoln. He has served as township treas- 
urer and director of the public schools. In his 
social relations he is a member of the L. C, 
Hart post. No. 247, G. A. R. , at Harvard, and 
has been honored as its commander. He is 
also a member of the Cedar Springs lodge. No. 
213, F. lS: A. M. Mr. Boynton has likewise 
been delegate from his township to county 
and other conventions. Mrs. Boynton is a 
member of St. Margaret hive. No. 462, L. O. 
T. M., at Harvard. Mr. Boynton enjoys the 
sports afforded in the woods of Michigan, and 
frequently takes trips into the north. He has 
several handsome trophies of the chase, con- 
sisting of antlers. 



R.\NK S. BOWMAN.— "The purest 
treasure mortal times afford is spot- 
less reputation; that away, men are 
but gilded loam or painted clay." 
! Thus said Shakespeare, and this all may truly 
say. Reputation is indeed the greatest treas- 
I ure one can have in this world. The life and 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



559 



career of the gentleman whose name opens 
this paragraph constitute a practical illustra- 
tion of this maxim, but back of all this is the 
native carefulness which leads to self-discipline 
and good reputation. 

Frank S. Bowman, the prosperous agri- 
culturist and prominent official of Oakfield 
township, Kent county, Mich., has been a 
resident here for over thirty years. He comes 
of German ancestry and was born in Waterloo 
county, Ontario, Canada, on the 9th of Octo- 
ber, 1850. He is the fourth in order of birth 
in a family of seven children, born to Gabriel 
W. and Louisa (Bowers) Bowman, five of whom 
are living, viz: Albert B., the eldest, who is 
employed as a salesman at St. Louis, Mo. ; 
Harriet, wife of John Peterson, an agriculturist 
'of Oakfield township, Kent county, Mich.; 
Lydia, the widow of Champie Satterlee, of 
Belding, Mich., and Louisa, wife of J. Cooley, 
a farmer living at Otisco, Ionia county, Mich. 

Gabriel W., the father of Frank S. Bow- 
man, was born in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 
March i, 181 7. The educational advantages 
he possessed in his youth were meager, and he 
was obliged to toil diligently for all he obtained 
in life. He learned the trade of a carpenter, 
and in the year 1866 brought his family to 
Oakfield township, Kent county, Mich., and 
here for some years he plied his trade and pur- 
chased forty acres of improved farm land, 
which he subsequently sold and bought i 10 
acres, which is the present home of Frank S. 
Bowman. In politics he was known as a 
stanch adherer to republican principles, and 
both he and his wife were greatly esteemed 
members of the White Swan Methodist church. 

Louisa (Bowers) Bowman, the mother, 
was born in Lancaster, Pa., on the 7th of 
December, 1822. She is known for her devout 
religious views and is still living at Belding, 
Mich., remarkably preserved both mentally 
and physically. 



Frank S. Bowman was a lad of sixteen 
years when he came to Michigan. He received 
his education in his native country, continued 
to live with his parents until twenty-six years 
of age, and, although by nature an excellent 
mechanic, has devoted the greater part of his 
attention to the pursuit of agriculture. 

March 16, 1876, his marriage was cele- 
brated with Miss Ada F. Green, who has borne 
him three children, viz: Miles Henry, Matie 
and Albert B. The first resides at Towner, 
N. Dak. He was educated in the common 
schools and also took a business course in the 
Ferris institute at Big Rapids, Mich; Matie 
L. has just completed the eighth grade at 
school and has received instruction in instru- 
mental music. Socially, she is identified with 
the Eastern Star lodge. No. 108, at Grattan, 
Mich. Mrs. Bowman was born in Grattan 
township, Kent count}', Mich., April 12, 1852, 
a daughter of Henry and Mary A. (Demorest) 
Green. Of a family of six children, four are 
living, viz: Henry W., who was educated in 
the Greenville graded schools, resides in the 
city of Grand Rapids, and is agent for the 
Monumental Bronze Co., of Bridgeport, 
Conn. ; Mrs. Bowman; Clinton, an agriculturist 
residing on the old homestead in Grattan town- 
ship, and Gertie, the wife of George Stevens, a 
ranchman of Towner, N. Dak. 

Henry Green was a native of Massachusetts 
and was born at Wiiliamsport, March i, 1820. 
He departed the life of this earth October 4, 
1897, and a magnificent bronze monument has 
been erected to his memory in the Ashley 
cemetery. He had received a good education 
and by trade and occupation was a miller. In 
religious connections he and his wife were 
members of the Baptist church. Mary A. 
Green, his wife, was a native of New York, 
born February 28, 1828, and is now living on 
the old homestead in Grattan at seventy-one 
years of age and is a member of the Baptist 



560 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



church. Her father, Samuel Deniorest, was a 
soldier in the war of 1812. 

Mr. and Mrs. Bowman began life with little 
or no capital, and for ten or twelve 3'ears 
were renters. They then went in debt $2,- 
500 to purchase the old homestead of iio 
acres. This transaction was made in 1887, 
and since that time they have, by industry, 
prerseverance and economy, made themselves 
free from all debt and owners of valuable 
property. 

As to politics Mr. Bowman is a true repub- 
lican, and cast his first vote for U. S. Grant. 
For many years he has been director of the 
public schools of his district, and is at present 
the school inspector of Oakfield. In 1895 he 
was elected treasurer of his township and re- 
elected in 1896 and i S99, which facts show 
that he has the utmost confidence of the 
people. He is a member of the Methodist 
church, while his wife prefers the Baptist. His 
wife has been a Sunday-school teacher for three 
years, and both contribute liberally to the 
support of their church and to all worth benev- 
olences. 

It might be added or concluded from the 
above facts that Mr. Bowman is a man true to 
every principle in which he believes, earnest in 
support of his honest convictions, industrious 
and energetic in the practical affairs of life, 
cordial and genial among his many friends, and 
at all times a gentleman whom to know is to 
respect. 




\MES H. BRAYMAN, of the firm 
of Goul & Brayman, grain and feed 
merchants of Sand Lake, Nelson 
township, Kent county, Mich., was 
born here July 3, 1S58, the only child of James 
H. Brayman, a pioneer from Cattaraugus 
county, N. Y. , where he was born in 1819. 



James H. Brayman, Sr. , had been a tailor 
in early life, but on coming to Michigan, in 
1852, became an agriculturist. He purchased 
eighty acres of wooded land in Nelson town- 
ship, for $100 and spent his first night here at 
the home of William H. Bailey, the first white 
settler here. On taking possession of his land 
he found shelter under a tent of blankets, 
which sufficed until he had erected a log cabin 
for more permanent use. He passed through 
all the hardships and rough experiences of a 
pioneer, and for a long time the red men were 
the most frequent among his visitors, as not 
a stick of timber had yet been removed from 
the present site of the town of Sand Lake. 
White neighbors lived at a distance of ten 
miles from his farm, o.\-teams were the only 
means of transportation through the pathless 
wilderness, and the implements used in farm- 
ing would now be considered to be of the most 
primitive character. But he was persevering 
and industrious, and moreover public spirited, 
and was largely instrumental in having erected J 
the first school-house in his district, and this " 
school-house was of course built of logs. He 
became not only a farmer, but an expert woods- 
man, and cleared off with his single ax over i. 
200 acres of woodland. f 

Mr. Brayman, Sr. , was likewise a genuine 
patriot, and enlisted, in 1861, in company K, 
First Michigan engineers, for three years, or 
during the war, but veteranized in 1863, and 
served until the close of the struggle for the 
suppression of the Rebellion, receiving an 
honorable discharge in 1865. He was with 
the army of the Cumberland through all its 
campaigns and engagements, going with Gen. I 
Sherman on his famous march to the sea, and 
made a clear and glorious record for himself 
and a name that has become a proud inherit- 
ance to his descendants. On his return to 
Kent county he resumed his farming, and died 
an honored man on April 14, 1S85. His wife, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



oGl 



who bore the maiden name of Mary R. Brad- 
ley, was born in Delaware county, N. Y. , in 
1819, was the first teacher in district No. i. 
Nelson township, Kent county, Mich., and 
passed away November 20, 1889, her remains 
being interred, besides those of her husband in 
Sand Lake cemetery. 

James H. Brayman, the subject proper of 
this memoir, received a fair common-school 
education and was a tiller of the soil until 
1SS8, when he engaged in dealing in hardware 
and agricultural implements for two years, 
and then entered into a partnership with T. 
J. lilanchard, these two constituting the pio- 
neer firm, in Nelson township, in the hard- 
ware, furniture and undertaking line. They 
erected a handsome store in Sand Lake at a 
cost of $2,000, but this store was consumed in 
the general conflagration which destroyed the 
greater part of the town in 1895. In the mean- 
time, however, Mr. Brayman had formed a 
partnership, in 1S91. with J. E. Goul, in the 
grain, feed and elevator business, an 'account 
of which may be found in the sketch of Mr. 
Goul on another page of this volume. 

Mr. Brayman has been twice married. His 
first wife, Minnie Pierson, was called from his 
side within two months after the wedding, and 
for his second companion he chose Miss Ada 
Wilson, a native of Kent county, whom he 
married September 10. i8go, the result of this 
union being two sons and two daughters, 
named Halla, Ford, Margie and Gale. Mrs. 
Brayman was educated in the schools of Sand 
Lake, and before her marriage had been for 
some years a teacher. 

In his political principles Mr. Brayman is 
a stanch democrat and cast his first presidential 
vote for Gen. Winfield S. Hancock in 1880. 
Officially he has served as a member of the 
village council and is the present secretary of 
the school, taking great interest in public edu- 
cation and insisting on the employment of the 



best teachers, as far as the funds in the treas- 
ury will permit. He and his amiable wife are 
greatly respected by the residents of Sand 
Lake and Nelson township, and their children 
are being reared with the view of making 
them also good and useful citizens. 



RANK J. BRAFORD, now of Solon 
township, Kent county, Mich., was 
born in Plainfield township, Septem- 
ber 22, 1859, and is the eldest living 
child of Abner S. and Martha (Jubb) Braford, 
who were the parents of five sons and two 
daughters, of whom but two, beside the sub- 
ject, are now living, viz: Emma, with her 
mother in Solon township, and Elbie, wife of 
N. N. Pringle, the well-known hardware mer- 
chant of Sand Lake. 

Abner S. Braford was of English descent, 
was born in Cayuga county, N. Y. , March 6, 
1 83 1, was educated in the common schools, 
and at the age of fourteen years came to Mich- 
igan with his father, Hosea Braford, and here 
learned the cooper's trade. He first lived in 
Genesee county, where in early manhood he 
made his first purchase of land, and later re- 
moved to Livingston count}', where he mar- 
ried Miss Jubb, also a native of New York and 
a daughter of William Jubb, who was born in 
England, and came to America when a young 
man. 

Mr. and Mrs. Braford came to Kent county 
early in 1859, and purchased eighty acres of 
partly improved land in Plainfield on which they 
lived two years, then moved to Cannon town- 
ship, where they lived fifteen years, and finally, 
in 1876, settled in Solon township, where they 
purchased 122 acres. In politics Abner S. 
Braford was a strong republican, and died, a 
member of the Wesleyan Methodist church. 



562 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



December 30, 188S. His wife still survives 
him and resides on the homestead, four miles 
west of Sand Lake, and is also a devout mem- 
ber of the Weslejan Methodist church. 

Frank J. Braford has passed all his life in 
Kent county as an agriculturist. He was edu- 
cated in the public schools, completed his 
studies with the eighth grade, and remained 
with his parents until twenty-nine years of age, 
when he married, January 15, 1889, Miss Hat- 
tie Freeman, a native of Kent county, and to 
this marriage have been born three sons and 
two daughters, of whom, however, only one 
daughter, Lila M., and two sons, Frank O. 
and Archibalds., are living. Hazel B. died 
in infancy, and Dale J. died at five years. 

Mrs. Hattie (Freeman) Braford, was born 
in Wyoming township, Kent county, Mich., 
July 26, 1870, and is a daughter of Otis and 
Anna Josephine (Salmon) Freeman, of whose 
family of two sons and three daughters the 
following-named still survive: Clara A., who 
is the wife of James Carmichael, of Alpena, 
Mich. ; Archibald V., who is a resident of Me- 
nominee, Mich., and is superintendent of the 
cedar lumber company known as the Watson 
& Taber company, of Chicago; Hattie, now 
Mrs. Braford, and Blanche, the youngest, who, 
for a number of years, has been a school- 
teacher — for three years in Alpena, and now 
at Sand Lake. 

Otis Freeman, father of Mrs. Braford and 
now residing in Sand Lake, was for several 
years a lumberman, and also lived many years 
in Grand Kapids. His wife's father, Archi- 
bald Salmon, was the first cabinetmaker of 
the Valley city, and made many coffins for 
the early settlers. He acquired considerable 
wealth in his day, and at one time owned the 
land on which the Grand Rapids court house 
now stands. Although Mrs. Braford was born 
in Kent county, she has passed the greater 
part of her life in Newaygo county, where she 



received her education and w-as for several 
years an acceptable teacher. 

Mr. Braford has always been a republican 
in politics, and cast his first presidential vote 
for James A. Garfield. He is an ardent advo- 
cate of free education, and for a number of 
years was a school director. Fraternally, he 
is a member of the Modern Woodmen of Amer- 
ica, and religiously is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church. His farm of sixty 
acres lies four and one-half miles west of Sand 
Lake, is in a high state of cultivation, and he 
and wife are classed among the most respect- 
able residents of Solon township, and number 
their friends by the score. 




ATRICK BRESNEHAN, the popular 
general merchant at Parnell, Grat- 
tan township, Kent county, Mich., 
was born on a farm in this township, 
March 17, 1851, and is the eighth of the eleven 
children — four sons and seven daughters — 
that blessed the marriage of Patrick and Mary 
(King) Bresnehan, of whom seven children 
still survive. Six of these live in Michigan — 
four in Kent county. They were born in the 
following order: John, a farmer of Grattan 
township; Mary in Grand Rapids; Johanna, 
wife of William Coach, a lumberman at York, 
Washtenaw county; Nora, wife of J. C. Carr, 
and residing in Grand Rapids; Eliza, married 
to William Gambol, a landlord in Chicago, 
111. ; Patrick, the subject of this sketch, and 
Martin, a lumberman of Roscommon county, 
Mich. Those dead are Terrence, Kate, Nellie, 
and an infant unnamed. 

Patrick Bresnehan, Sr., was born in coun- 
ty Kerry, Ireland, in 1800, and died in Kent 
county, Mich., about 1872. He came in a 
sailing vessel to America in 1835, landed in 
New York, married Miss King in that city, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



56S 



and the same 3'ear came to the then territory of 
Michigan, and entered 120 acres, of gov- 
ernment land in the wilderness of Jackson 
county. In i 849 he came to Grattan township, 
Kent county, and again took 120 acres, lived, 
as was usual, in a log cabin, and underwent all 
the hardships of backwoods life; but he pros- 
pered, and was one of the leaders in the work 
of establishing St. Patrick's parish, and aided 
in building four different churches therein. 
The first of these church-buildings is now the 
property of Mr. Bresnehan, of this sketch, it 
having been converted into a storehouse and 
blacksmith shop. Patrick, the father, was 
strictly a temperance man and devout in re- 
ligious observance; in politics he was a demo- 
crat. His wife was also a native of county 
Kerry, Ireland, was born about 1S15 and died 
in March, 1897, beloved by all who knew her. 

Patrick Bresnehan, the subject proper of 
this sketch, was reared on the home farm, 
was educated in the common schools, and im- 
proved all his spare hours in self-instruction. 
At his majority he had not a dollar he could 
call his own, but he remained on the home 
place until he was twenty-si.x years old, and 
then engaged in the produce trade as buyer 
and shipper. For three years he resided in 
Cadillac, We.xford county, Mich. ; later he 
engaged in the real-estate business in Ashland, 
Wis., and was quite successful. 

Mr. Bresnehan married, June 3, 1889, 
Miss Mary Cuddihy, and this union has been 
blessed with five children — three sons and two 
daughters — of whom, however, only two are 
now living, Marie and Margie. 

Mrs. Mary Bresnehan was born in Bowne 
township, Kent county, August 29, 1S60, and 
is a daughter of Thomas and Bridget (Mc- 
Cormick) Cuddihy, who were the parents of 
ten children — six sons and four daughters — 
of whom five are still living — three in Kent 
countv. Mrs. Bresnehan was educated in the 



common schools, and at the age of fifteen 
years was confirmed by Bishop Richter. The 
father of Mrs. Bresnehan was born in Ireland 
July 12, 1819, and her mother in 1826. The 
father came to Kent county in 1850, and pur- 
chased 1 20 acres of governinent land in Bowne 
township, and two years later was joined by 
his wife. To the original 120 acres, Mr. Cud- 
dihy later added forty acres, and on this farm 
Mrs. Cuddihy, who was born in county Tippe- 
rary, Ireland, about 1S26, died January 15, 
1876, and Mr. Cuddihy February 9, 1898, both 
in the Catholic faith, and highly respected as 
pioneers and useful residents of their township, 
having greatly aided, financially, in the erec- 
tion of the Catholic church in their parish. 

In November, 1889, Mr. and Mrs. Bresne- 
han opened their general store in Parnell, and 
here they carry a complete stock of such 
articles as are usually found in first-class stores 
of its kind. B)- their courtesy and earnest en- 
deavors to please their patrons they have won 
the confidence of the trading public and have 
made a complete success of their undertaking. 
The Parnell post-office is located in this store, 
Mr. Bresnehan being deputy postmaster, and 
in consequence there is always a busy time 
about the premises. 

In politics Mr. Bresnehan is a democrat, 
cast his first presidential vote for Horace 
Greeley, and still clings to his political faith, 
but will often step out of the party ranks to 
vote for a candidate for a. local office when he 
feels convinced the nominee of the opposition 
is best fitted for the office to be" tilled, but per- 
sonally he has never sought office. 

Mr. Bresnehan has ever been a temperate, 
honest and industrious citizen, and is what is 
usually termed a self-made man. He now 
owns 120 acres in Grattan township, including 
the original Bresnehan homestead, also the 
large buildings attached to his store in Par- 
nell, besides which he has interests in timber 



564 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



lands in Wisconsin, where he was engaged in 
lumbering for some years. Great credit is 
due him for the enterprise he has displayed, 
for at his majority he had absolutely nothing. 
His wife is entitled to a large share of this 
credit, as she has been a willing and valuable 
helpmate, and the standing of both, within 
and without their church circles, is one that 
any family might well feel proud of. 



R.\NK BROMAN, for almost half a 
century an honored citizen of Sparta 
township, Kent county, Mich., is a 
native of Jonkoping, in the province 
of Smoland, Sweden, and was born October 3, 
1845, the third of five sons and two daughters 
that comprised the family of Peter and Mary 
(Peterson) Broman, but of which seven chil- 
dren there are now only two living, Mr. Bro- 
man and his sister Minnie, the latter the wife 
of James Balfour, who resides near Berlin, Ot- 
tawa county, Mich. All the Balfour famil}' 
are well educated, and Minnie, the daughter 
of James and Minnie (Broman) Balfour was a 
school-teacher. 

Peter Broman, father of Frank, was born 
in Jonkoping, Sweden, in 18 16. He was edu- 
cated in a public-school, was reared a carpenter 
and joiner, and was possessed of great me- 
chanical ingenuity. In the spring of 1852, 
with his family, he embarked at Gottenburg, 
in a sailing vessel bound for Boston, Mass., 
his objective point being Plymouth, Wayne 
county, Mich. The vessel was ten weeks in 
crossing the Atlantic, and on the voyage chol- 
era broke out among the passengers, creating 
a panic of fear, from which two died and were 
buried at sea. On reaching their destination 
Mr. Broman, who was expert at his trade, 
spon secured employment and remained in 
Plymouth about four years, and then came to 
Sparta township, Kent count}-. At that early 



date the township was covered with vast for- 
ests, and the village of Sparta was then known 
as Nashville, and was a very small village in- 
deed. There was not a railroad in Kent coun- 
ty, and the presentgreat city of Grand Rapids, 
noted as a railroad center and for its immense 
factories, was merely an Indian trading post. 
The first land Mr. Broman purchased was a 
tract of eight)' acres in section No. 5, deep in a 
dense forest, and his first dwelling was a little 
log cabin, 18x20 feet, and for this tract he 
went in debt. But as the years rolled on, Mr. 
Broman cleared awa}' this debt and added 
twenty acres to his possessions, developed 
from the wilderness a teeming farm, rich in all 
the comforts and luxuries with which modern 
country life abounds, and died an honored 
man and devout member of the Swedish 
Evangelical Lutheran church, October 19, 
1897. In politics he was a republican. His 
widow, who was born in the same province as 
himself, August 20, 18 15, is also an Evangel- 
ical Lutheran, and willingly aided her husband 
in contributing financially to the erection of 
the present church-edifice, as well as in devel- 
oping the home farm, and now, at the ad- 
vanced age of eight\-four years, and still in 
full possession of her mental attributes, awaits 
the final call with christian-like meekness. 

Frank Broman, the subject of this sketch, 
was but seven years of age when brought to 
America., and here he received a limited 
education in the common schools. He assisted 
his parents until he had attained his eighteenth 
year, and began life on his own account by 
working in the pine and hard-wood " slash- 
ings," and in clearing land. November 28, 
1868, he wedded Miss Ebba C. S. Brevitz, and 
five children have been the fruit of this mar- 
riage, of whom there are four still li\'ing, viz: 
Luther M., who was born January 13, 1872, 
in Kent county, and has completed eight grades 
in the common school; he is possessed of a 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



56& 



mechanical turn of mind, is a practical jeweler, 
was a salesman in the general store of A. H. 
Saur & Co., at Kent Cit}', for three and one- 
third years, and has recently purchased forty- 
six and three-quarters acres of land near his 
father's farm, with his own earnings; he was 
with the engineers; in laying the cables for the 
street-railway in Grand Rapids, and was the 
representative of the Kent City Times on the 
press excursion to New Orleans and other 
southern cities in 1899; in politics he is a re- 
publican and cast his first vote for McKinley. 
Luther M. Browman married Miss Emma O. 
Carlson May 21, 1899, at the church in Sparta 
township, the Rev. John A. Norton officiating. 
Mrs. Broman was born in Smolen, Sweden, 
August 31, 1872, is a daughter of C. F. and 
Anna (Peterson) Carlson. She was a little 
girl of two years when she landed in America 
from a sailing vessel which had been wrecked 
off the coast of Nova Scotia, all the passengers 
however being rescued. Oscar F., the next 
child, was born October 10, 1874; he graduated 
from the common 'schools in 1889; he next 
entered the well-known Augustans college at 
Rock Island, 111., took a select course is the 
literary department, and', as he was imbued 
with great musical talent and had commenced 
the study of music at the age of thirteen years, 
he took an advanced course in musical instruc- 
tion in the same institution on the piano and 
organ; he had entered the institution for a 
three-year course, but completed the full 
course in two years, and if he could have re- 
mained until the close of the year, would have 
secured the degree of bachelor in music; like 
the other children of the family, he has been 
educated in Swedish and English, has taught 
the Swedish school in his community, and has 
taught music in Grand Rapids, Sparta and 
Newaygo; and is, besides, a composer of con- 
siderable fame. He is a member of the Michi- 
gan State teachers' association, in politics is a 



republican and cast his first vote for McKinley. 
Arthur S., the next eldest living child of the 
family, was born June 21, 1877, was educated 
in the common schools, has a strong inclina- 
tion for agriculture, and already owns 160 
acres of land in Lake county, Mich. Issidore 
J., the youngest of the family, has completed 
the ninth grade in the Kent City public school,, 
will graduate in the class of 1900, and still re- 
mains under the parental roof. 

Mrs. Ebba C. S. Broman was born March 
12, 1844, in Smolen, Sweden, is excellently 
v\'ell educated, and for a number of years was 
a teacher in her native land. She is a daughter 
of Johannes and Ulrica (Berg) Brevitz, both 
of whom are now deceased — the father having 
died at the age of about fifty-seven years, and 
the mother at about seventy-seven. They were 
the parents of four sons and two daughters, of 
whom five are still living — four in the United 
States. One brother resides in Tyrone town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Broman began their 
married life their possessions were not very 
valuable and their dwelling was an upright 
board frame; but through industry and good 
management they have secured to themselves 
one the most pleasant homes in the township, 
have reared their children in respectability, 
and have attained a well-deserved social stand- 
ing in the community in which the)' live. 
They are devout members of the Swedish- 
Evangelical Lutheran church, and no family in 
the county is more highly esteemed than that 
of Mr. and Mrs. Broman. 



im 



ORACE J. BRIGGS, of Solon town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., is one of 
the few survivors of those hardy 
and courageous men who, in com- 
pany with women no less brave and willing to 
undergo the known hardships of pioneer life, 



566 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



cast their lot with those who in all ages have 
lived, as it were, on the skirmish line of civili- 
zation. It was due to their intrepid character 
and fearless spirits that the wilderness was 
made to blossom as the rose and cities to stand 
where for centuries only the wild beast or still 
wilder man roamed in utter ignorance of what 
was soon to supplant them. This old pioneer, 
now bent with the weight of years, made more 
heavy by the hard labor done, is one of the 
most interesting characters to be met in this 
part of the state. Bowed with bodily infirmi- 
ties, but with intellect unclouded, he enter- 
tains his visitors with incident and anecdote 
illustrative of those strictly pioneer days when 
neighbors were three miles apart and the bear 
or Indian was a common sight. 

Horace J. Briggs was born in Potter, Yates 
county, N. Y., November i8, 1823, a son of 
Vaughn and Eliza Ann (Andrews) Briggs. The 
Briggs ancestry is traced to two brothers, 
John and James, who came from Scotland and 
probably settled in Rhode Island. 

In 1788 Peleg Briggs, the father of Francis, 
-who was the grandfather of the subject of this 
sketch, settled in Yates county, N. Y., where 
they were among the first. Francis secured 
the farm where Horace, as well as his father, 
Vaughn Briggs, was born. He was in many 
respects a remarkable man, weighing, it is 
said, 440 pounds, and lived to the age of 104, 
while Vaughn died at thirty. 

Benoni B. and Charles M. Briggs, brothers 
of Horace J., reside at Cedar Springs, while 
another brother, Spencer B. , lives at St. 
Louis, Mich. After his father's death, when 
Horace was ten years of age, his mother mar- 
ried Hiram Briggs, a cousin of her former hus- 
band. Of this marriage, two children were 
born, one of whom, Josie, is now the wife of 
Charles Ford, of Cedar Springs. Horace re- 
mained with his stepfather until seventeen 
years of age, becoming quite handy in the use 



of tools, having worked a while at the cooper's 
trade. 

In 1842 Horace J. Briggs came to this state, 
and until his marriage, on the 5th of July, 
1848, he worked at clearing land, cutting cord 
wood, and at such other labor as he could se- 
cure, having meantime returned to New York, 
but only for a few months. He was married 
in Jackson county, to Miss Roda M. Downing, 
whom he had known as a child in his native 
state. The eight years following his labor was 
of a similar character. Being determined to 
secure a home of his own he, in 1856, entered 
land in Newaygo county, not far from his 
present home. It was in a dense pine forest, 
the nearest road being four miles away, and 
the nearest house three miles distant. It was 
a bold move for a j'oung man and wife to take, 
but he acted upon Greeley's advice to young 
men: to secure homes in the new country 
north of Grand Rapids and quit drinking 
whisky and loafing around the eastern villages. 
He paid seventy-five cents per acre for 1 60 acres 
of wild, wetland, and had but five dollars left to 
live on. It is a great satisfaction now, nearly 
fifty years later, to be able to show his grand- 
children one of those gold dollars that made 
up his then cash capital. His wife was as 
brave as himself, as it required the stuff that 
true pioneers are made of for her to take two 
children into so dense a forest, away from 
friends. The only evidence of animal life 
heard for weeks was the howl of wolves, the 
screech of the wild cat, or the more dreaded 
whoop of still wilder men. He blazed trees 
to indicate the road to his clearing, and even 
then it was doubtful if he found his way, 
when caught at a distance if night came on. 

Their wants were somewhat supplied by 
the abundant game, which his trusty rifle sel- 
dom failed to reach. No better shot roamed 
the north woods, and the old friend that never 
failed him is still prized above all the memen- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



561 



toes of those years. Many interesting relics 
adorn his home, to remind him and show other 
generations something of what pioneer life 
really was. What the forest did not sup- 
ply in one way, it did in another. He felled 
the monarchs of the wood and cut and shaved 
them into shingles, which, by the assistance of 
a neighbor some miles distant, he hauled six- 
teen miles to Plainfield, where they were sold 
for seventy-five cents per thousand. This was 
a slow and laborious work, but by it he secured 
such necessities as the outside world supplied. 
A favorable opportunity came to sell his farm, 
which had grown to considerable proportions, 
and in 1868 he purchased his present location, 
paying $900 for 160 acres, heavily timbered 
with oak and pine. About this time the lum- 
ber industry became important and in a few 
years many millions of feet of valuable lumber 
were cut from the surrounding country. He 
was identified for some time with this industry 
but held his own timber until its value was en- 
hanced by. the depletion of the surrounding 
forests. He then made an advantageous sale, 
receiving $5,000 for the pine, and $3,000 for 
the hardwood on about 100 acres of land. He 
has added until he now owns 400 acres, about 
160 being under cultivation. In those lumber- 
ing days excellent home markets existed for 
everything grown on the farm, hay often sell- 
ing from $15 to $25 per ton. He thus reached 
such affluence, that the hardships and priva- 
tions of earlier years are in strong contra'^t to 
the ease and comfort in which his declining 
years are passing. 

In early life a whig, he became a repub- 
lican on the organization of this party. Few 
men can now say they were present at the 
birth of the republican party, yet Mr. Briggs 
is one of those who can claim that honor. He 
attended the meeting at Jackson in 1854, when 
that name was first applied to the party; it 
was not only a birth, but a christening. How- 



ever, his views were modified in later years, 
and since i 884 he has been connected with the 
democratic party, seeing in that a greater safe- 
guard to the rights of the common people and 
a firmer adherence to the foundation principles 
of our free government. 

After forty-five years together, in adversity 
and in affluence, his wife was called to the great 
beyond July 17, 1893; and he, having felt also 
the chill of the icy hand in a protracted sick- 
ness, and arranging for the disposal of his 
earthly accumulations in accordance with his 
own ideas, now lives largely in the memory of 
other days, and enjoys recounting to his audit- 
ors the thrilling incidents that were so impor- 
tant a part of that pioneer life which is not be- 
ing repeated in any part of our country. 

The children born to this venerable pair 
were named Ichabod, who died at two years, 
soon followed by Amanda, who married Jacob 
Eyer and died in 1 870, leaving two children, the 
elder of whom is Malcom Eyer, who, since his 
mother's death, has lived with his grandfather. 
The second child. R. K., died in infancy. 
Her death was followed by that of her little 
brother Ichabod, aged two years. Cashmere A. 
is connected with the New York city street 
railway system He has one son, Vernon, aged 
seventeen. Roby Selmer Briggs also died 
at the age of seventeen years. Atlanta E. 
Briggs, the youngest, is now operating the 
farm. He went west, harned the printer's 
trade, and also worked three years as a ma- 
chinist in Grand Rapids. His wi.'^e is Eva M. 
FuUington, and they have one son, Leland A., 
aged seven, and have lost two sons, Lloyd and 
Leon. 

Now that most of those grand men and 
women of a- former generation, whose bravery 
and courage did so much to pave the way for 
the present civilization, are passed to the great 
beyond, or live but in the memory of noble 
deeds done, it behooves their descendants to 



568 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



honor them with word and pen. It has been a 
pleasure to review even thus briefly the inter- 
esting career of one of them, and it is hoped a 
valuable lesson will be conveyed to young 
men, and faint hearts be buoyed up by the 
story. 

Mr. Briggs is a man of strong personality, 
and though deprived of advantages for an ed- 
ucation, his close observation and reading 
have with the study of nature, in its various 
forms, well stored his inind with valuable in- 
formation. Now, as the forest turns to gold 
and yellow, his mind is turned towards the 
contemplation of that which is beyond; and 
realizing the approach of the dread master of 
all, he awaits the dire summons with fortitude, 
yearning to be again with her whose youthful 
years were so tenderly interwoven with his 
own. 



EORGE HENRY BROWN.— Promi- 
nent among the enterprising farmers 
of Alpine township is George Henry 
Brown, born February 20, 1858, on 
the home where he now lives. He is the 
third child of Elisha and Laura (Bradish) 
Brown, the others being Julia M., wife of An- 
drew Welton, of Grand Rapids, and MattieM., 
a teacher for ten j'ears in the Grandville ave- 
nue school, and James Warren Brown, of 
Grand Rapids, a traveling salesman. His fa- 
ther was a native of Geneseo, N. Y. , and 
dated his nativity June 24, 1S28. Hecameto 
Michigan in 1848, with his parents, Avery and 
Martha Brown. After marriage he located 
on section No. 29, Alpine township, where he 
made his home until a few years prior to his 
death. He sold agricultural implements and 
established his business in the city about 
twenty-four years since, in which he continued 
until his death, September 21, 1892. His 
son, Frank E. Brown, was associated with him, 



and the business is now conducted under the 
firm name of Brown & Schler, who are fa- 
miliar to all the farmers of Kent county. His 
wife was also born at Geneseo, N. Y. , Janu- 
ary 7, 1827. She came to Michigan with 
her husband, he having returned to New York 
for her, and has since made her home in this 
state, at present residing with her daughter at 
Grand Rapids. 

George Henry Brown began life for him- 
self when about twenty-four years of age, 
prior to this having lived with his parents, and 
from his fifteenth year in company with his 
brothers carried on the farm, his father then 
traveling in the interest of the implement 
trade. The most important step he took after 
attaining his majority was to secure a help- 
mate, and he continued farming on the old 
homestead. He has pursued the same voca- 
tion to the present, and now owns a fine farm 
of 2 10 acres, I 3 I of which he has added. By 
intelligent management and closely persistent 
attention to business he has made farming 
win, and stands to-day a representative of the 
better element of Kent county's many suc- 
cessful farmers. 

On April 4, 1882, he was married to Miss 
Elva Norton, a native of Alpine township, 
born in the year 1862, and the second child 
born to Nelson and Mary (Hiscock) Norton. 
Her father was a native of Lenawee county, 
Mich. When young he lived with his parents, 
John .and Harriet Norton, at Grand Rapids, 
and after considerable moving about finally 
located permanently in section No. 23, Alpine, 
where he still resides. Her mother was born 
near Battle Creek, Mich., in the year 1838, 
and still lives on the old Alpine home. Mr. 
and Mrs. Brown have three children — Jesse, a 
student in the Agricultural college at Lansing; 
Bertha, at home, and William Loomis. 

In politics Mr. Brown is a supporter of the 
McKinley doctrine. Both he and his amiable 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



569 



wife are members of the Alpine and Walker 
Congregational church, and are ever ready to 
assist in a good cause. 




OHN REUWEE BROWN, a late 
greatly respected farmer of Walker 
township, Kent county, Mich., was 
born near Verona, Oneida county, N. 
Y., May 14, 1S29, and his parents, Frederick 
and Betsey (Douglas) Brown, were respect- 
ively natives of Massachusetts and Connecti- 
cut. When John R. was three years of age 
they removed to Byron, Genesee county, N. 
Y., where he grew to manhood and worked at 
painting some years. He married, March 29, 
1854, in Byron, Miss Phebe M. Benton, who 
was born in England. 

In August, 1854, Mr. and Mrs. Brown 
came to Michigan and located on section No. 
18, in Walker township, on land he had 
already bought, as he had been here a couple 
of times before. His first house was a small 
cabin, and he had a small clearing already 
made with four or five acres, of wheat on the 
place. The tract was originally heavily tim- 
bered, but he improved it and lived on it ten 
years. He bought the first eighty acres of 
the present farm in 1S64. Later he added an 
adjoining forty acres, and built his late home 
in 1875. Starting on this farm with only fifty 
acres improved, he has made one of the most 
desirable farms devoted to general farming, an 
important adjunct being a nice orchard of sev- 
eral acres. He through life kept systematic 
accounts of his business, which show that for 
the first three years on this farm his profits 
were $5,000. He strictly followed that method 
of keeping memoranda touching various mat- 
ters, so that his diary is a record, not only 
touching his own family but those of all the 
neighborhood. Formerly Mr. Brown was for 

29 



some years school superintendent for the 
township when teachers were examined locally 
and was ever much interested in school work. 
He taught school in New York at nineteen 
years of age, although he had only a country- 
school education, supplemented by a short 
course in a high school. He also taught in 
Kent and Ottawa counties, Mich., for sixteen 
terms, hiring the farm improved bj' the wages 
thus earned, but kept up his interest as school 
director, etc. 

In politics Mr. Brown was a republican 
but was not often found in party councils. 

When spiritual manifestations began to 
attract the attention of thoughtful minds, in 
New York, half a century ago, both Mr. Brown 
and the lady who became his wife were drawn 
to its truths, and both espoused the belief. 
Later and "more mature investigations only 
tended to emphasize their interest and confirm 
their faith. They became earnest followers 
and experienced such personal communica- 
tions from the spirit world, that when his com- 
panion passed on, it became the theme most 
uppermost in his mind, and he longed, also, 
to go to take up that other existence and com- 
;r.une with her, with whom so many joyful 
years were passed. 

Realizing the importance in organization, 
he became a charter member of Harmony 
grange, P. of H., at its organization more 
than twenty-five years ago, and ever remained 
in close touch with the work of the order. He 
was twice master of that grange and at his 
death was its treasurer. He was sent as dele- 
gate to the state grange, and ever felt great 
confidence in the grange movement as tend- 
ing to invaluable benefit to every agricultural 
interest. He freely contributed to the build- 
ing of grange halls, and to whate\'er demands 
arose to advance the prosperity of the farmer, 
among whom he was ever held in loftiest es- 
teem. 



570 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



April 30, 1S98, after forty-four years of 
congenial life together his companion took her 
place in "the ghostly nation." 

She was a helpful woman, who was a suita- 
ble companion for a man of his temperament. 
She was ever ready to help the needy in sick- 
ness or distress, was a woman of many amia- 
ble qualities and beloved by a large circle of 
friends. Their family of three children were 
named, Douglas M., a fruit grower in Walker 
township, and proprietor of Maple Camp farm; 
Lillie, wife of George Thompson, who resides 
on the home farm, and Sarah Medora, who 
died at seven years of age. 

Douglas M. Brown, proprietor of the Maple 
Camp Fruit farm, lived at home until he mar- 
ried Dulcibel Woodward, daughter of Ephraim 
Woodward, of Walker township, and both 
born on adjoining farms and reared children 
together. He has a sixty-five-acre farm ad- 
joining the Woodward homestead and lying on 
the county line next to Ottawa county. He 
has it largely devoted to fruit growing — peach- 
es, plums, pears, quinces, etc. Three children 
grace this marriage: Myrtle, Bessie and Ben- 
ton Reuwee and all the family are held in the 
highest esteem. 

Lillie Brown was married to George 
Thompson October 15, 1890. He was in the 
employ of the G. R. & I. R. R. until the last 
three years, since when he has operated the 
old homestead. 

On the 17th of August, 1899, after a brief 
illness, low twelve was spunded for him, and 
at the last stroke he awoke in that land "be- 
yond the waveless sea." The beautiful and 
impressive services of those who hold that 
death is but passing into life, were conducted 
by Dr. Barthof, of Grand Rapids, as a few 
months before similar ceremonies were held 
over his wife by Mrs. R. \\'. Barton. 

Harmony grange, of which he had been an 
active and honored member for a quarter of a 



century, expressed the high sense of esteem 
borne for him by all — suitable resolutions say- 
ing among other things: " Drifting along 
without a fear of the change called death, he 
passed on to the beautiful progressive life be- 
yond to join the loved companion who preced- 
ed him a little over one year ago, and to- 
gether they will journey in that summer land 
where the roses never fade and pain and death 
are known no more. 

There is no death, the stars go down 

To rise on fairer shores 

And bright in heaven's jeweled crown 

They shine for evermore. 

There is no death; the dust we tread 

Shall change with summer showers 

To golden grain, to mellow fruit, 

To rainbow tinted flowers; 

And ever near us, though unseen, 

The dear immortals tread; 

For all the boundless universe 

Is life — there are no dead. 




OBERT BROWNELL, one of the 
best known and most respected agri- 
culturists of Plainfield township, Kent 
county, Mich., is native here and is 
the second son born to Philo and Sarah (Rood) 
Brownell, of whom more may be read in the 
biography of Thaddeus O. Brownell, to be 
found on another page of this volume. The 
birth of Robert Brownell took place on his 
present homestead June 18, 1850, and here he 
lived with his parents until about twenty-three 
years of age, receiving, in the meantime, a 
sound common-school education and also 
acquiring a comprehensive knowledge of farm- 
ing, which, with the exception of a short 
time passed in lumbering, has been his life- 
long occupation. 

March 30, 1873, Mr. Brownell was united 
in marriage with Miss Delphine A. Porter, a 
native of Alpine township, Kent county, born 
January 28, 1854, the seventh child of Henry 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



571 



B. and Malvina (Smith) Porter, highly re- 
spected pioneers. Henry B. Porter was a 
native of Hamilton, N. Y., was born Septem- 
ber 24, 1820, and came to Alpine township in 
the fall of 1843, bringing with him his wife 
and daughter Frances, and here the remainder 
of his life was passed. The marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. Robert Brownell has been blessed 
with three children, of whom Roy, the eldest, 
is employed as engineer by the Michigan 
Barrel company at Grand Rapids; Edwin R., 
the second born, assists his father at the 
home farm, and Lloyd, the \'oungest, is at- 
tending school. 

At the time of his marriage, Mr. Brownell 
purchased the old homestead of 100 acres 
on which he was born, and this farm he has 
placed in a condition of cultivation that rivals 
any place of its dimensions in the township of 
Plainfield, if not in the county of Kent, and 
his dwelling is a testimony to the skill of Mrs. 
Brownell as a housekeeper. 

In politics, Mr. Brownell is non-partisan, 
and his vote is cast as his judgment dictates; 
fraternally he is a member of the Court of 
Honor at Rockford. Socially, both Mr. and 
Mrs. Brownell are classed with the best citizens 
of the count)-, and their home is the abode of 
a genial hospitalit}- and social enjoj-ment. 



w 



EMUEL E. BROOKS, one of the rep- 
resentative and prosperous farmers of 
Oakfield township, and a valiant and 
honored soldier of the Civil war, was 
born in Independence township, Cuyahoga 
county, Ohio, ten miles south of Cleveland, 
on the 15th of December, 1840. He was the 
eighth in a family of fourteen children, born 
to Elisha and Maria (Cook) Brooks, and of 
whom six still survive, viz: Angeline, a resi- 
dent of Grand Rapids; Harriet, the widow of 



John Rich, a resident of Greenville, Mich. ; 
Amity, the wife of Henry Newton, of Breck- 
enridge, Colorado; Lemuel E. ; Samuel, a 
farmer of Insley, Newaygo county, Mich., and 
Phineas, an agriculturist living in Kansas. 

Elisha Brooks was a native of the " Green 
Mountain " ?tate, was reared in St. Lawrence 
county, N. Y., and died in Oakfield, Mich., at 
the age of eighty-four years. In 1855 became 
from Ohio to Michigan and bought eighty 
acres of land in Ionia county, which he soon 
traded for forty acres on the township line of 
Grattan and Oakfield, Kent county. At the 
date of his settlement in Michigan the country 
was in a wild state, and bears, deer, and 
wolves were frequently seen. Elisha Brooks 
was a pioneer of Ohio, having lived there 
about twenty years. His brother, David 
Brooks, served as a soldier in the war of 1812. 
In his politics the father of L. E. Brooks was 
at first a democrat, then a whig, and lastly a 
republican, having voted for the first candidate 
of the last named party. 

L. E. Brooks was thirteen years of age 
when he became a resident of Michigan. Here 
he was educated in the common schools, and 
enlisted, at the call to war, in company C, of 
the Second Michigan cavalry, at Grand Rap- 
ids, on the 14th of September, 1861. The regi- 
ment was soon ordered to St. Louis, thence 
to New Madrid, under Capt. R. A. Alger, the 
late secretary of war under the administration 
of President McKinley. Mr. Brooks partici- 
pated in each of the hundred battles in which 
his regiment was engaged. The first action 
occurred at New Madrid and the next at Perr\-- 
ville, Ky. , beginning at early morn and last- 
ing until nine o'clock at night. The regiment 
also took part in the battle of Chickamauga 
and in the Atlanta campaign, including Straw- 
berry Plains, New Hope church, Pumpkin 
\'ine creek, Kenesaw Mountain, Resaca, Dal- 
ton. Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, 



572 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and many other minor battles. At an engage- 
ment near Newnan, Ga., Mr. Brooks was shot 
through the right lung, taken prisoner by the 
rebels, and hurried off to Andersonville. Here 
he spent eight long months enduring the horri- 
ble treatment of that place, and finally was 
liberated through an exchange of prisoners 
and placed on board the vessel Sultana, whose 
boilers exploded, killing 1,500 out of about 
2,200 men on board, 1,966 of these being 
paroled prisoners. Out of the thirty-three on 
board from the Second Michigan regiment, 
twenty-seven were saved, one of whom was 
Mr. Brooks. He was rescued after floating 
down the Mississippi river eleven miles to 
about three miles below Memphis. Going to 
Memphis, he was thence sent to Camp Chase, 
Ohio, and from there to Detroit, Mich., where 
he received an honorable discharge on June 
30, 1865, after having served three years and 
nine months. 

Mr. Brooks was united in marriage to Miss 
Cornelia Putnam, and three children have 
been born to this union, viz: Edwin L. , who 
married Miss Nellie Randall, one of Kent 
county's school-teachers, and is now postmas- 
ter at Grattan; Clara L. , a bright young stu- 
dent, who has been educated in the Grattan 
graded schools; Johnnie, who died at three 
years of age. 

Mr. Brooks began life with small capital, 
having taken care of his father until the lat- 
ter's death. The forty acres which he had to 
start with were traded for eighty on section 
No. 33, of Oakfield, in 1877. These eighty 
acres he has changed from one of poor condi- 
tion to one of the most excellent farms in the 
township. The soil is a rich clay loam, 
adapted to the growth of all commodities 
cultivated in southern Michigan. He now, as 
a result of his arduous labors, lives at ease and 
ranks among the well-to-do men. 

Politically he has always been a supporter 



of the republican party. He voted first for 
"Honest Abe, "and has dropped his ballot for 
Grant, Garfield, Harrison and McKinle}'. He 
has represented his people in district, county 
and senatorial conventions, and has been a 
member of the schoel board for about five 
years. Classed high in his community, he is 
honored and esteemed as an industrious, pros- 
perous and worthy citizen. 



PHRAIM E. BROWN, one of the 
most prosperous and best-known 
farmers and fruit-growers of Plain- 
field township, Kent county, Mich., 
is a native of Otto, Cattaraugus county, N. Y. , 
and was born March loth, 1844, the eldest 
child of John and Lucinda (Morris) Brown; 
the second born was named Charles D., but 
is now deceased, and the third is Dora, who is 
married to W. W. Munger, a street raihva}' 
conductor in Grand Rapids 

John Brown, father of Ephraim E. , was 
born in 1S12, and was the first white child 
born at Otto, N. Y. The father of John, Ephra- 
im Brown, was the first settler in the town- 
ship, where he secured a tract of land that be- 
longed to the government, as did all other 
lands for miles around. He made a clearing 
and called it "home." He died when John 
was but thirteen years of age, and the young 
man continued to clear up the land and im- 
prove the homestead, married, and had born 
to him the small family spoken of above. His 
death took place in 1866. His wife was also 
a native of Otto, was born in 1824, and is still 
living. She is a lady of unusual literary tastes 
and takes an active interest in political move- 
ments. 

Ephraim E. Brown was educated at North 
East, Pa., and while still engaged at his 
studies the tocsin of war alarmed the nation. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



573 



He at once returned to Otto, N. Y. , enlisted 
December 7, 1861, in defense of his country's 
ffaj;, and was sent thence to Elinira, where 
he was mustered in as a member of company 
C, Sixty-fourth New Yorl'i volunteer infantry, 
and after four days' drill was sent with the 
regiment to Washington, D. C. For three 
weeks the regiment had quarters at Camp R. 
E. Fenton, near the capitol grounds, whence 
it was forwarded to Alexandria, Va. , where it 
remained until it was ordered into active serv- 
ice. Without attempting to mention all the 
marches, si<irmishes and battles in which Mr. 
Brown participated, it will suffice to say that 
in twenty-six of the most severe battles he 
manifested the most unflinching courage; at 
Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Antietam, Fred- 
ericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, in 
the Wilderness and at Spottsylvania he sus- 
tained several wounds, and for this gallant 
service his grateful country now allows him 
the paltry pension of $10 per month. 

After the war had closed, Mr. Brown re- 
turned to his home in New York and employed 
himself in farming until the fall of 1S67, when 
he came to Michigan and purchased his pres- 
ent farm in section No. 6, in Plainfield town- 
ship, Kent county. This farm, or tract of 
land, rather, was then nothing but a dense 
wilderness, upon which not a tree had yet been 
felled. But in this desolate region he set him- 
self manfully to work, made a clearing, erected 
a small shanty, and shortly afterward found 
that he was prepared to take unto himself a 
wife. Accordingly, March 10, 1869, Mr. 
Brown was united in marriage, at Centreville, 
Mich., with Miss Matilda Peterson. This lady 
was born in Sweden, and was brought to 
America by her parents in 1852. The family 
located in Buffalo, N. Y. , where the parents 
died during a cholera epidemic in the same 
year, and Matilda and her three sisters were 
icft unprotected among strangers. She, how- 



ever, found a good home with a family named 
Hoag, with which she remained until eighteen 
years of age. When fourteen she accompanied 
them to Michigan. They located in St. Joseph 
county, where she secured an education which 
qiialified her for teaching. It was just after 
having successfully taught one term in Branch 
county that she became Mrs. Brown. They 
have ever since resided on his present farm of 
163 acres, ninety-three of which are devoted 
to the raising of the finest varieties of fruit to 
be found in I\.ent county. This orchard con- 
tains about 15,000 trees, of which 5,000 are 
peach, 4.000 plum, 1.500 pear, 500 cherry, 
100 quince, twenty-five apricot, and the re- 
mainder apple. The farm is intersected with 
gravel drix'ewaj's, and in the center stands a 
tower, or~balcony, thirty-five feet high, from 
which a birdseye view ijiay be had of the sur- 
rounding country. Contrast this pleasant state 
of affairs with the condition of things when 
Mr. Brown took possession of his land in the 
winter of 1867, and some idea may be formed 
of his indefatigable industry and his superior 
skill as a farmer and horticulturist. 

In politics Mr. Brown's predilections are 
toward republicanism. He cast his first presi- 
dential vote for Abraham Lincoln, but he has 
not been in any sense a partisan, nor has he 
sought public office, preferring to devote his 
attention to his farm. He and wife stand de- 
servedly hig-h in the esteem of the people of 
Plainfield, who have every reason to con- 
gratulate themselves on having so worthy a 
couple in their midst. 



\RRY H. BURLESON, one of the 
leading young farmers of Plainfield 
township, is a native of Kent county, 
Mich., was born June 25, 1868, the 
youngest of the family of six children born to 




574 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Stephen and Minerva (Billings) Burleson, in 
the following order: Jane, the wife of Frank 
Sprague, a farmer of Iowa; Tina, married to 
Dell Brayford, a farmer of Grand Rapids town- 
ship, Mich.; May, now Mrs. Frank Wilson, of 
Hjntspur, Mich.; Pearl, wife of Dan Angel, a 
farmer of Plainfield township; Stephen, a resi- 
dent of San Jose. Gal., and Harry H., the 
subject of this memoir. 

Stephen Burleson, the father of this family, 
is a native of Canada, was born September 15, 
I S3 I, and was brought to Michigan about the 
}-ear 1837 by his parents, who settled in Gene- 
see county, where Stephen was reared to man- 
hood and where he lived about seventeen 
years. He then purchased a tract of eighty 
acres in a dense forest in Plainfield township, 
Kent county, on which there was not a clear 
space large enough to erect a respectable 
shanty, but this forest he succeeded in clear- 
ing off, and converted the tract into a profit- 
able and luxuriant farm, on which he made 
his home until November i, 1898, when he 
went to Iowa, and later to California, where 
he expects to remain. Mrs. Minerva Burleson 
was born in Pittsburg, Pa., about the year 
1827, and died in Plainfield township, Kent 
county, Mich., February 19, 1891, her mortal 
remains now resting in Livingston cemetery. 

Harry H. Burleson, at the age of twenty- 
one years, fell heir to the old homestead in 
Plainfield township, and this farm" he has since 
improved and cultivated to its fullest capacity. 
February 22, 1895, he married Mrs. Agnes 
Bridges, a native of Wabash county, Ind., 
born March 27, 1863, and the eldest child of 
John and Julia (Holland) Egan, both natives 
of the Hoosier state. John Egan was born in 
1841, came to Michigan about 1871, and died 
in Grand Rapids in October, 1881; Mrs. Julia 
Egan was born in 1845, and is still a resident 
of Grand Rapids. 

Mrs. Burleson was first married, at twenty- 



one years of age, to Daniel Bridges, at Minne- 
apolis, Minn.; he died March 15, 1893. She 
has one child, Walter Bridges, a lad of twelve 
years. 

Politically, Mr. Burleson is non-partisan, 
and votes as best suits his judgment. Fra- 
ternally, he is a member of the Court of Honor 
at Rockford, and while in religion he is as in- 
dependent as in politics, his wife is a devout 
member of St. James' Catholic church. Grand 
Rapids. Socially, Mr. and Mrs. Burleson 
stand high, and enjoy the unfeigned respect of 
all their neighbors. 




HADDEUS O. BROWNELL, the 
present efficient supervisor of his na- 
tive township of Plainfield, Kent 
county, Mich., was born July 6, 1852, 
and is the third son in the. family of eight chil- 
dren born to Philo and Sarah (Rood) Brownell, 
the other seven being as follows: James, who 
is a farmer of Ada township; Robert is a fruit 
grower of Plainfield township; Samuel, who 
is a farmer of Courtland township; Myrtie is the 
wife of W. W. Forrest, druggist of Rockford; 
Harry and Frank reside on a. id operate the 
old homestead and are interested in fruit grow- 
ing; Minnie, the youngest of the family, is the 
wife of Willis Hutchings, of Marinette, Wis. 
Philo Brownell, father of the above family, 
was born in Genesee county, N. Y., Septein- 
ber 21, 1 81 8, and was one of the early pio- 
neers of Plainfield township, as he came here 
in 1847, and he and one of his neighbors were 
compelled to cut their way through the forest 
from where Belmont now stands to his eighty- 
acre tract on section No. 3. Not a stick of 
the natural growth of the timber on the place 
had ever been cut until he began the work. 
His firs habitation here was of course a cabin 
of logs, and in this structure his son, Thad- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



575 



deus O., was born and distincth' still remem- 
bers. Indians were by no means curiosities, 
although somewhat curious themselves, for 
they would sometimes walk into the cabin 
without invitation, pick up the babe from its 
cradle, and fondle it in a manner of their own. 
Agricultural implements were comparatively 
crude, churches and school-houses were un- 
known in the neighborhood, and Grand Rap- 
ids, with a present population of 100,000, 
was then little more than a trading post. 
Wild-cat bank notes constituted the currency 
of those early days, but Mr. Brownell and his 
worthy wife endured all the inconveniences of 
pioneer life for the sake of the ample reward 
which afterward became theirs. Mrs. Sarah 
(Rood) Brownell was born in Trumbull county, 
Ohio, in 1825, and still survives her husband, 
who passed away April 20, 1895. She is 
highly respected and her life has been devoted 
to the interest of her family. 

Thaddeus O. Brownell has been reared an 
agriculturist and fruit grower; and these in- 
dustries still claim his attention. He was ed- 
ucated in the common school of his township, 
and also attended one short term the school 
at the corner of Broadway and Turner street. 
Grand Rapids, but never desired a better oc- ; 
cuDation than that of farmer and fruit grower. 
May 19, 1875, he married Miss Frances, daugh- 
ter of William and Emily (Dole) Chase, an 
amiable young lady of English extraction, but a 
native of Kent county, born December 31, 1852. 
Five children have blessed the union of Mr. 
and Mrs. Brownell, four of whom are still liv- 
ing, viz: Gertrude, Luella, Ozella and Ora, 
all endowed with excellent traits of character 
and improved with sound common- school edu- 
cations. i\lrs. Brownell has two brothers liv- 
ing — one, Corydon N. Chase, in Montcalm 
county, Mich., and one, Erwin E., in Washing- 
ton. 

In politics, Mr. Brownell has been a repub- 



lican from early manhood and cast his first 
presidential vote for Rutherford B. Hayes. 
He is very popular with his party, has served 
as tax-collector four years, and in 1S95 was 
elected supervisor. He has frequently served 
as the party's delegate from Plainfield to the 
county conventions. Fraternally, he is a 
member of the Court of Honor of Rockford; 
also of Rockford lodge. No. 247, I. O. O. F. 
Mr. Brownell's farm comprises too acres 
of good land, all well improved, but peaches 
and apples claim his chief attention — among 
the former being found the favorite Albertas, 
Barnards, Smocks and Reed's Early Golden, 
and among the latter, chiefly, Baldwins and 
Greenings. Mr. and Mrs. Brownell stand very 
high socially, and Mrs. Brownell is renowned 
as being one of the best houskeepers of the 
neighborhood. 




\COB BURSMA, M. D., who has se- 
cured a fine reputation and attained 
high rank among the physicians and 
surgeons of Kent county, Mich., and 
more particularly at Sand Lake, his place of 
residence, was born in Chicago, 111., Septem- 
ber 15, 1872, the third of the family of four 
sons and three daughters born to Rev. Ale 
and Elizabeth (DeHaan) Bursma, all of which 
family are still living with the exception of 
one daughter. 

Rev. A. Bursma was born in Holland in 
1841, and his wife in the same country in 
1847, and both came to America while still 
quite young. The father graduated from 
Hope college, Holland, Mich., in the classical 
course, ind also from the theological depart- 
ment of the same college, and now resides in 
Grand Rapids, where he has been pastor of 
the Fifth Reformed church since 18S9. 



576 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Dr. J. Bursma was primarily educated in 
the public schools of Orange City, Iowa, and 
in 1884 became a student in the Northwestern 
Classical academy in the same cit\', where he 
finished the junior year. He then entered the 
Western college at Grand Rapids and gradu- 
ated in the business course with the class of 
1890; finished the freshman year at the West 
Michigan college and the sophomore and jun- 
ior courses at Hope college. Mich., and then 
entered the State university of Iowa, from 
which he graduated in the classical course in 
1897 and finished the junior year in the med- 
ical course; he then entered the college of 
Physicians & Surgeons at Chicago, 111., and 
April 19, 189S, received his diploma with a 
class of 104 students. June i, 1898, he began 
the active practice of his profession at Sand 
Lake, and so gained upon the esteem and con- 
fidence of his patrons that his residence there 
has secured for him a remunerative practice. 
In his demeanor he is modest and unassuming, 
as becomes all well-educated individuals and 
ripe scholars such as he. His practice e.x- 
tends to the vicinity of Howard City in Mont- 
calm county, and throughout Nelson, Solon 
and Spencer townships in Kent county, and is 
constantly increasing. He has his own labora- 
tory and keeps on hand a stock of fresh drugs, 
so that he is prepared at any moment to an- 
swer a call, whether it be to the bedside of 
the poor and needy, or to that of the wealthy 
and opulent. He is of a genial and sympa- 
thetic disposition, such as inspires confidence 
and hope in the patient, and carries into the 
sick chamber the sunshine that revives the in- 
valid as effectually as do drugs themselves. 

Fraternally, the doctor is a member of M. 
W. of A., camp No. 5681, at Sand Lake, 
also of K. O. T. M., tent No. 442, and is ex- 
amining surgeon of both organizations. He is 
a true Christian, is benevolent, and is ready at 
all times to assist the indigent or the afflicted, 



while his professional reputation is enhanced 
with the passing of each day of his profes- 
sional capacity. 




G. BURWELL, M. D., of Byron 
Center, Kent count}', Mich., so well 
and favorably known in the ranks of 
the medical profession of Grand Rap- 
ids and the county of Kent, as well as to the 
public at large, as an experienced and skillful 
practitioner of his profession, was born in the 
province of Ontario, dominion of Canada, near 
Port Talbot, November 12, 1859, and is the 
eldest of eight children — two sons and six 
daughters — that were born to Edward and Ma- 
tilda (Walter) Burwell, of which children six 
are yet living. 

Edward Burwell, the father of Dr. Bur- 
well, was also born in the same part of Can- 
ada in which the doctor was born, is a son of 
Col. Mahlon Burwell, received a liberal educa- 
tion, was reared to agriculture, and is now liv- 
ing in retirement in the city of London, Can- 
ada. Col. Burwell was a Canadian officer in 
the British army, traced his descent to Sir 
Jeffrey Burwell, did much of the engineering 
in the western part of Canada and the streets 
of London, and was quite prominent in mili- 
tary and social circles. Mrs. Matilda Burwell, 
the mother of the doctor, was born about 
1834, in Somersetshire, England, and now re- 
sides with her husband in Ontario, Canada. 

Dr. A. G. Burwell was reared in his native 
province until maturity, receiving his early 
education in the common schools, following 
which he took a classical course in the Heil- 
muth college, from which he graduated with 
the class of 1878 in the literary course purely. 
He then assumed the responsible position of 
cashier and bookkeeper of the Shedden com- 
pany at London, held the position about eight- 





t^ 




^Z<^/S^'^-'-^'^^^^^ z^.-®. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



579 



een months, and then, with his brother, went 
on a prospecting tour through the west part of 
the United States, taking in Illinois, Missouri 
and Iowa, after which trip the two returned 
to Canada. He there began the study of medi- 
cine, attended lectures at London in the fall of 
1 886, ne.\t entered the Detroit (Mich.) college 
of medicine, studied two j'ears, and graduated 
with the class of- i88g. He began the active 
practice of his profession in Byron Center im- 
mediately afterward, and with a success that 
has proven to be as remunerative to himself as 
it has been satisfactory to his patients. The 
medical fraternity, so essential as a factor in 
the well being and happiness of every commu- 
nity, has no more able a member in Kent 
county, outside of the city of Grand Rapids, 
than Dr. Burwell, and his affable and cordial 
disposition aids materially the curative prop- 
erty of his prescribed medical preparation when 
he makes his appearance in the chamber of 
the afflicted, and this amiable quality is no 
doubt an element of his success. 

The doctor keeps well posted in the ad- 
vances made in the science of medicine and 
well abreast of its progress, being a member 
of the Grand River Valley Medical association, 
the Michigan State Medical society and the 
American Medical association — all designed 
for the diffusion of medical knowledge and the 
protection of their members in actual practice. 
He is also a member of the International con- 
gress, which assembles in Kent county, and 
of Halcyon lodge. No. 244, I. O. O. F., at 
Byron Center. Dr. Burwell is also medical 
examiner for the Union Mutual Insurance com- 
pany, of Portland, Me.; the New York Life In- 
surance company, of New York city ; the yEtna, 
and for the L. O. T. M., and for the Interna- 
tional congress and the Home Forum. 

The doctor has a well-filled library of 
standard medical works, subscribes to the 
best and most reliable of medical journals. 



and is thus enabled to fully keep up with 
the medical and surgical advances. 

Dr. Burwell was joined in marriage Au- 
gust 22, 1893, with Miss Middie Towner, and 
this happy marriage has been blessed with 
three children, viz: Alice Gertrude, Mahlon 
Cassius and James Augustus. Mrs. Middle 
Burwell was born in Byron township, Kent 
county, Mich., Jime 15, 1S68, and is a daugh- 
ter of S. S. and Cerelia L. (Blakeslee) Tow- 
ner, of whom mention is made in the sketch of 
S. S. Towner, on another page. She was a 
student of the Grand Rapids high school, has 
taken special lessons in music, is a lady of 
most serene and amiable disposition, and is 
i well fitted for a life-companion and helpmate 
to her accomplished husband. Her parents, 
pioneers of~ the township, still live in Byron 
Center. 

In politics Dr. Burwell . is a republican, 
and cast his first presidential vote for Benja- 
min Harrison. He is very popular with the 
party as well as with the public. In 1S95 
he was elected to the responsible position of 
township treasurer, and so weil and accu- 
rately did he fill the office the people found 
new reasons to place their confidence in his 
integrity and ability and re-elected him in 1 896. 

Mrs. Dr. Burwell is a member of the Daugh- 
ters of Rebekah branch of the I. O. O. F., of 
which she has been treasurer and is now vice- 
grand, and she is also a member of the Inter- 
national congress and of the W. C. T. U., at 
Byron Center. The social position of the doc- 
tor and wife is with the best people of the vil- 
lage and township, and is all that could be 
desired. 



ALLIS BUCK, an honored resident 
of Tyrone township, and a gentle- 
man of acknowledged integrity, is 
a native of Alpine township, Kent 
county, Mich., was born June 4, 1859, and is 



urns 



580 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the third in a family of four sons and one 
daughter born to James Judson and Amelia 
(Wheeler) Buck, but of which family Wallis 
and his twin brother, Willis, are the only sur- 
vivors, the latter being a prosperous mechanic 
of Coopersville, Ottawa county. The family 
is of English origin, and the present is the 
third generation in America. 

James Judson Buck was born in Genesee 
county, N. Y. , .April 3, 1S22, and was reared 
to agricultural pursuits. He received an e.\- 
cellent education for those early days, and in 
his young manhood taught school. In 1S44 
he walked the entire distance from Genesee 
county, N. Y., to Kent county, Mich., pur- 
chased 160 acres of forest land in Alpine 
township, and paid for it in gold. Grand 
Rapids, now a city with a population of 100,- 
000. was then a mere trading post for Indians, 
and there was not a railroad in the whole 
county of Kent, nor a factory of any kind, but 
to-day the city has a world-wide fame as a 
trunk-line railroad center and as the leading 
manufacturing city of the great northwest. 

The first dwelling occupied by Mr. Buck 
in the boundless forest was a shanty of logs, 
with a stick-and-uiud chinmey, and with but 
one aperture lor light, ventilation, ingress and 
egress. His only companion in this wilderness 
was Hiram Myers, and his only table-ware 
were pieces of bark. Indian were frequent 
visitors to his cabin door and deer abounded 
in the forest, but Mr. Buck never shot one of 
the latter, as he never owned a rifle. At 
times, as many as 700 Indians would camp at 
the little hamlet of Grand Rapids, and fre- 
quentl}' the water was so shallow over the 
rapids as to entrap fish. But Mr. Buck was 
a gentleman of great energy and strength of 
character; was a true pioneer and knew well 
what he was about. He never ran in debt, 
never drank an intoxicant and never lost an 
opportunity of doing good. He prospered in 



his forest home, cleared up a fine farm, and at 
his death, which occurred November 9, 18S2, 
was the owner of 500 acres of land in Tyrone, 
: Sparta and Alpine townships. In politics he 
I was first a whig, but united with the republic- 
j ans on the formation of the latter party, and, 
although not a member of any religious so- 
ciety was a constant church-goer and freely 
contributed his means toward the support and 
the advancement of every worthy cause, 
whether religious or secular. He was strictly 
moral, and the death of no man in the neigh- 
borhood was more deeply mourned than that 
of James Judson Buck. 

Mrs. Amelia Buck was also a native of 
Genesee county, N. Y. , and was born in 1S2S. 
She died in the faith of the Baptist church in 
1863, honored and beloved by all who knew 
her, and her remains now rest in Kent county, 
those of her husband being deposited at her 
side. 

Wallis Buck received his education in the 
common schools of Kent county and passed 
through the entire course of study. He early 
became a lumberman, but the major part of 
his life has been passed as an agriculturist. 
; May 18, 1879, he married .Miss Effie M. Purdy, 
and of their two children their son has been 
called away. Their daughter, Ola M., is 
a member of the class of 1899 of the Kent 
City public school, has passed her final exam- 
ination, and has the following record: Rhetor- 
ic, lOO; algebra, 93; botany, 97; physics, 86; 
history, 99; arithmetic, 95 — a general average 
of 95 percent, and an excellent one. She is 
an adept in instrumental music, and her trend 
of thought is toward linguistic attainments. 

Mrs. Effie M. Buck was born in Huron 
county, Ohio. September 23, i86[, and is a 
daughter of Daniel M. and Rachel (Daven- 
port) Purdy. She was but ten years of age 
when brought to Kent county, Mich., by her 
parents, who settled in Sparta township. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



581 



where the father purchased 120 acres of im- 
proved land. Her father was also a native of 
Huron county, Ohio, was born February 11, 
1827, and died in the village of Sparta, Mich., 
November 2,1890. He had visited Kent coun- 
ty several times before permanently settling 
here, and when he first saw Grand Rapids, 
Canal street was a swamp. Mrs. Buck's ma- 
ternal great-grandfather was a soldier in the 
Revolutionary war, and her mother, who was 
born near Ithaca, N. Y. , February 11, 1829, 
is yet living. Of the six children born to the 
parents of Mrs. Buck two are deceased, and 
the four survivors are Charles B., the eldest, 
who is married and is a farmer, residing in 
Sparta; Frank \V., also of Sparta, is married 
and is a mechanic; Effie M., now Mrs. Buck; 
Minnie, wife of Orson Bradford, of Sparta 
township. 

In 1886 Mr. and Mrs. Buck located at their 
present home of forty acres, one- half mile north 
of Kent City, have ever since been honored 
residents of Tyrone township, and both stand 
as firm friends of the public schools, favoring 
the employment of the best instructors. In 
politics Mr. Buck is a republican, cast his first 
presidential vote for the lamented Garfield, 
and has been active in local party affairs, 
serving at various times as a delegate to the 
county conventions. Fraternally, he is a 
member of Lisbon lodge. No. 224, F. & A. 
M., and Mrs. Buck is an attendant at the Bap- 
tist church. Socially Mr. and Mrs. Buck 
stand very high in the esteem of the residents 
of Tyrone township, and well deserve their e.x- 
alted standing in the community. 



ANIEL T. BUSH, of the firm of Bush 
& Taylor, bakers and confectioners, 
is a representative business man of 
Lowell and one of its most respected 
citizens. He is a native of Kent county, 



Mich., born on the 25th of May, 1873, and is 
one of the three living children of Horatio and 
Rachel P. (Chapminj Bush. 

Horatio Bush is a native of New York, 
where he learned the carpenter's trade, but a 
number of years ago left that state and came 
to Michigan, locating in the county of Kent. 
At the breaking out of the late Civil war, he 
responded to the country's call for volunteers, 
enlisting in company C, Thirteenth Michigan 
infantry, with which he served until the end of 
the struggle, participating in numerous battles 
and minor engagements, and acquitting him- 
self as a brave and gallant soldier. He noiV 
lives in Montcalm county, Mich., engaged in 
the pursuit of agriculture, and his good wife, 
who has shared his fortunes for so many years, 
is also living. 

Daniel T. Bush is indebted to the common 
schools for his education, and to a fixed de- 
termination to succeed, early formed, for his 
present enviable position in the social and 
business world. When sixteen years of age 
he began learning the baker's trade, and after 
becoming skilled therein worked for a limited 
period in Lowell before engaging in business 
upon his. own responsibility. In October, 
1898, he invested what capital he had at com- 
mand in the general bakery and confectionery 
trade, and since that date, by close attention 
and superior management, has succeeded in 
greatly enlarging his business and winning for 
himself an en\'iable standing among the suc- 
cessful men of Lowell. A close student of 
current events, Mr. Bush earh' manifested 
great interest in matters political, and ever 
since attaining his majority has been an ardent 
and active supporter of the republican party. 
In April, 1899, he received the nomination for 
the offici; of town treasurer, and after an in- 
teresting contest against a very popular com- 
petitor, Rudolph Van Dyke, was elected by a 
handsome majority. 



5S-2 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Mr. Bash entered into the marriage relation 
June 17, 189S, with Miss Cora M. Lee, the 
accomphshed daughter of Leveret J. Lee, 
of Vergennes township, and one of the popular 
young ladies of ihe communitj- where she was 
reared. In every relation of life Mr. Bush 
has proved himself an exemplary man, worthy 
the confidence and esteem in which he is now 
held by the citizens of the town irrespective of 
part} af^liations. He is a member of the I. 
O. O. F. and Masonic fraternities, and his 
wife is an active worker in the M. E. church, 
with which she has been identified since child- 
hood. 

The firm of which Mr. Bush is the head 
was formed in April, 1899, the business hav- 
ing increased to such an extent previous to 
that date as to render the addition of an as- 
sociate necessary. Will Taylor, the partner, 
is also well and favorably known in Lowell, 
and the business under the joint management 
is constantly increasing and bids fair to be- 
come still more e.xtensive as the years pass by. 

[Since the above was written Messrs. 
Bush cS: Taylor have disposed of their business, 
and Mr. Bush is salesman in the large grocery 
house of McMahon Bros., of Lowell, Mich., 
where his former patrons will find him the 
same affable and genial gentleman as when 
he was a merchant.! 




EV. JAMES J. BYRNE.— The story 
of the life of this worthy, model citi- 
zen should be given to the public. 
It should be read by all our people, 
that they may profit by the example. Its 
lessons should be studied, and the good they 
inculcate be impressed upon the minds of the 
youth of our land. All may glean from them 
kernels of wisdom for present use and store up 
knowledge and information which will be of 



benefit in after life, for although he has but 
attained his prime, his life has been a useful 
one and well spent. 

Rev. James J. Byrne, pastor of St. Patrick's 
church at Parnell, parish of Grattan, was born 
in Kilcoo, county Down, Ireland, on the 19th 
of January, 1850. The family consisted of 
eleven children born to John and Rose (Nulty) 
Byrne, of which James J. was the j'oungest. 
'From early boyhood he aspired to become an 
educated classical gentleman and devotee of 
the priesthood. His education was begun in 
the parochial and national schools of his na- 
tive land. At the age of seventeen he took 
up the study of the classics, Latin and Greek, 
under the direction of an old schoolmaster 
who had been trained for the priesthood, and 
proving his great determination to secure a 
classical education, he walked fourteen miles 
each day to the home of his tutor. After re- 
maining under the instruction of this master 
for one year he entered St. Malachy's college 
at Belfast, Ireland, and remained there for 
four years .as a student in mathematics and the 
classics. His coufse of education was com- 
pleted when he was twenty-two years of age, 
having at that age graduated with the class of 
1S72. Rev. Byrne was confirmed at the age 
of eleven years by Rev. Dr. Danever, bishop 
of the diocese of Down and Connor. 

Subsequent to the completion of his col- 
legiate course a desire developed in him to 
become a missionary in the United States of 
America, and he accordingly bade farewell to 
his native and loved land, sailed from Belfast 
to Liverpool, thence across the Atlantic to_ 
New York city, lauding at that place in March 
of 1872. Until the fall of the same year he 
remained in New York and thence went to St. 
Michael's seminary at Pittsburg, Pa., where 

1 he was a student in philosophy for two j'ears. 1 
He then took a three and a half years' course 

■ in theology at St. \'incent's college, LaTrobe, 





^ (y^:^«i->^z/i^^ 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



585 



Pa. Here he received, in 1875, the first 
minor orders of this college from Bishop Dom- 
inic, of Allegheny, Pa., and three years later 
received the major order of deacon and the 
subdeaconship from Bishop Tuigg of the Alle- 
gheny diocese. 

At Detroit, Mich., on June 29, 1878, Rev. 
Byrne, together with Rev. Peter Slane and 
two other classmates, Frs. Dempsey and Do- 
man of the Detroit diocese, was ordained 
priest at the bishop's chapel by Bishop Bor- 
gess. His first clergical work was in the ca- 
pacity of assistant priest at the Holy Trinity 
church of Detroit, with Fr. Blindburgh, and 
he remained such for three years. Rev. 
Byrne was then given charge of St. Mary's 
parish at Williamston, Mich., and had two 
mission churches at Bunkerhill and Woodhill, 
which he left in a greatly improved state. In 
1882 he was assigned to St. Mary's church at 
Midland, and there remained for a year and a 
half. To him is due much credit for the altera- 
tion and improvement of this church. He re- 
placed the old pews with new ones, put in a 
new altar, and made a general overhauling 
and renewal at an expense of $1,000. At this 
time he had three churches over which to pre- 
side, keeping him very busy and necessitating 
a thirty miles' drive every Sunday. On account 
of the overta.xation of his strength he was next 
assigned as assistant to Rev. Fr. Rafter at 
Bay City, Mich., where he was located for six 
years. His career here as a priest was a la- 
borious one. He accomplished the mammoth 
undertaking of collecting funds for the erection 
of a $65,000 church, and in addition to his 
work in the building of the church he was 
ever present with the sick and suffering. In 
accordance with the high regard and esteem 
the parish had for their priest, they presented 
him with a fine horse, buggy, sleigh, robes, 
etc., and the horse Rev. Byrne has in his pos- 
session this dav. 



From Bay City Rev. Byrne was transferred 
to the cathedral of St. Andrew's at Grand 
Rapids in the year 1890, and at this place be- 
came assistant pastor to Bishop Richter for a 
year and a half. At the same time he had 
charge of two missions — at Cascade and 
Bowne-T-and he erected the priest's residence, 
barn, etc., of St. Mary's church in Cascade, 
at a cost of $3,000. He also frescoed the 
church, purchased three new altars, new pews, 
furnace, etc. At Bowne St. Patrick's church, 
he also made valuable improvements, and on 
February 12, 1896, was made pastor of St. 
Patrick's church in Grattan township. He 
has here been the instrumental one in the 
furnishing and improvement. The school has 
an average attendance of eighty-five, the 
young ladies' sodality numbers eighty-five, the 
Sacred Heart 350 and the Altar society 120. 
The parish now contains about 140 families. 

St. Patrick's parish was organized in 1844 
by thirty members, and the first church build- 
ing erected at Parnell is now utilized as a 
blacksmith shop. The second edifice stood on 
land donated by Mr. Sullivan, was a large, 
handsome structure, but was destroyed by fire 
August 16, 1868, during the pastorate of Fa- 
ther McManus. The next church was erected 
on the site of the present, on land also donat- 
ed by Mr. Sullivan, and this was likewise de- 
stroyed by fire September 20, 1876, when 
Father Quinn was pastor. The fourth, and 
present church edifice, was erected by the citi- 
zens on nearly the same plan as its predeces- 
sor, and has a seating capacity for 800 persons. 
The pastors of St. Patrick's have succeeded 
each other in the following order: Father Vi- 
zoskey, who was also the first priest of St. An- 
drew's; Frs. Van Erb, De Cunick, Kilroy, 
Ouigley, Staley, Rivers; Frs. McManus, six 
years; Lynch, one year; Tierney, three 
years; Ouinn, three years; Savage, three 
years; Flannery, three years; Crumley, thir- 



686 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



teen years, and Byrne, the present incum- 
bent. The career of Rev. Byrne in Grat- 
tan has been a delightful one. He holds 
the esteem and love of all because of his affa- 
bility, genial nature and cordiality. 

John Byrne, was born in ^^'ashtenaw 
county, Mich., April i, 1839, and died on the 
31st day of August, 1896, in Grattan town- 
ship, Kent county. He learned the vocation 
of an agriculturist in early life, was for some 
time in association with his brother, Thomas 
Byrne, late of Grand Rapids, and also spent 
five or six years at lumbering in Roscommon 
county. Persistent and industrious, he be- 
came very popular and well thought of, though 
the emoluments of public office were never at- 
tractive to him. Throughout his years he was 
a devout Catholic and gave liberally and aided 
very materially in the erection of the St. Pat- 
rick churches, especially the last beautiful edi- 
fice erected in 1877 at a cost of $20,000. At 
his death he was mourned by many, for he was 
an esteemed and honored man. 

William Byrne, father of John Byrne, was 
born in county Carlow, or Kildare, Ireland. 
He married Ann Moran, later came to America, 
and for some years lived in Canada. He came 
to Grattan township, Kent county, Mich., in 
1845 or 1S46, to work on the Michigan Cen- 
tral railroad. In course of time, through in- 
dustry and frugality, he secured a large farm 
east of Round lake, where he made some 
changes on the farm, that had first been im- 
proved by his son Michael. He was one of 
the thirty persons to organize St. Patrick's 
church, and retained his membership of the 
congregation throughout life, and was always 
a liberal contributor to the church. 

To the marriage of A\'illiam Byrne were 
born si.\ sons and seven daughters, in the fol- 
lowing order: Mary, who was married to 
John Kenna, but is now deceased; Thomas; 
John; Michael, of Grattan; \\'illiam, who lives 



near the old homestead; Kate, married to 
Michael Bo3len, but died at twenty-three 
years of age; Ann, now Mrs. Cornelius Boy- 
Ion, of Grand Rapids; Ellen, who was married 
to William Jones, died when thirty-seven years 
old; Margaret is the wife of William Heffron, 
of Grattan; Theresa was married to Ambrose 
Weeks and died at the age of forty-three; 
Lizzie is the wife of R. A. Weeks, of Grattan, 
and George died at the age of thirty-seven 
years. William Byrne, the father of the 
above-named family, died November 22, 1882, 
aged seventy-two years, and his wife expired 
May 5, 1 89 1, at the age of eighty. 

Mrs. Mary A. Byrne, widow of John Byrne, 
was born in Sylvan township, Washtenaw 
county, Mich., December 25, 1845, and is one 
of eleven children born to John P. and Phcebe 
(Beakes) Weeks, seven of which family are 
now living, viz: Margaret, the widow of 
Henry Lessiter, and a .resident of Grattan; 
Mrs. Byrne; Henrietta, the wife of Peter Mc- 
Cauley, a farmer of Oakfield; Ambrose, a 
traveling salesman, resident of Grand Rapids; 
Romanzo A., a mechanic by trade now in the 
southern states, though his home is in Grat- 
tan; John I., one of the prosperous farmers of 
Grattan; and Celestia, the wife of Horace 
Jakeway, a resident of Montcalm county, 
Mich. 

John P. Weeks was born on Long Island, 
N. Y. His record is fully presented as de- 
ceased father of Mrs. Margaret A. Lessiter in 
the latter's biograph}-. 

Mrs. Byrne was but a small child when she 
was removed to Kent county, Mich., and lo- 
cated in Grattan. There her father took up 
240 acres of land, almost all forest, wherein 
were deer and bears, and upon which was 
built their first home, a little log cabin, 16. \ 
20 feet. There was neither a school-house 
nor a church in the vicinity where he settled, 
and St. Patrick's church, although long-stand- 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



58? 



ing, was not then built. Mrs. Weeks was a 
native of New York state and both her parents 
died in Kent county. Mrs. Byrne spent her 
youthful days in Grattan township, where she 
attended and for some time taught school. 
On September 20, 1866, she married John 
Byrne and the union was blessed with the 
birth of ten children, eight of whom now live, 
viz: Mattia A., a highly educated lady, who 
passed through the common school and spent 
some time as a student of St. Mary's Catholic 
academy at W'indsor, Canada, taking at that 
inititution a course in literature and music, 
and of late married to Daniel Howard, a resi- 
dent of Grattan; Edgar, who was educated at 
Notre Dame, and the business college at 
Grand Rapids, and is now a resident of Chi- 
cago in the employ of the Chicago & North- 
western Railroad company; Irma E., the wife 
of James Doran, advertising manager of the 
Grand Rapids Democrat; Phcebe M., wife of 
Thomas Malone, an agriculturist of Cannon; 
J. Percy, educated in the common schools and 
at Clarkesville academy, of Ionia county, and 
now residing with his mother; Melvin, of late 
a student of a St. Louis business college; 
Frank, and DeLos, who are attending the 
public schools. 

The success of Mr. and Mrs. Bjxne — for 
they were truly successful in life — was due 
only to their industry and economy. The\- 
began life on a farm of 160 acres', and at the 
time of Mr. Byrne's death the estate comprised 
460 acres of finely cultivated and improved 
land. 



ILLIAM BUSH, now living retired 
in Rockford, is one of the most 
thrifty young farmers of Plainfield 
township, Kent county. Mich., was 
born in Grattan township, same county, F"eb- 
ruary 17, 1S59. and is the second son in a 




family of children of whom James and Eliza- 
beth (Abeel) Bush are the parents, the others 
being Clara; Charles, of Grattan; Ralph, on 
the old Bush homestead in Grattan, and Mrs. 
Justus Berry, of Read City. William was 
reared to agriculture, although he for a short 
time followed the trade of a carpenter. 
May 22, 1882, he married Miss Myrtie Elkins, 
and a year later settled on his present farm in 
section No. 12, Plainfield township. 

Mrs. M3Ttie (Elkins) Bush was born in 
Cannon township,- Kent county, March 28, 
1863, a daughter of William and Martha 
(Black) Elkins, and is the second eldest in a 
family of si.\ children, the remaining five be- 
ing Joseph, the first born, and Frank, the 
third born, who are married and live in Can- 
non township; Belle, is a teacher and a resi- 
dent of Grattan township, on the old home- 
stead; Fred is married, resides in Courtland 
township, and Blanche, the youngest, lives in 
Grattan on the old home. Mr. and Mrs. Bush 
have no children, but have adopted a three- 
year-old girl, Maisy. 

Mr. Bush has always been a republican in 
political affiliations and cast his first presi- 
dental vote for James A. Garfield. He has 
served his fellow-townsmen as highway com- 
missioner for several \'ears, but has never 
been a partisan in the office-seeking sense of 
this word, being a republican through principle 
only. Fraternally he is a member of Rockford 
lodge, F. & A. M., and Lovell Moore chapter, 
R. A. M., and he and his wife are members of 
Rockford chapter, order of the Eastern Star. 
Mr. Bush is also a member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. He is not, however, 
connected in membership with any religious 
denomination, although Mrs. Bush is an active 
member of the Congregational church, to the 
support of which Mr. Bush frequently contrib- 
utes with a liberal hand. The upright and in- 
dustrious life led by Mr. Bush has gained for 



588 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



him the approbation and esteem ot all his 
neighbors, and Mrs, Bush shares with him the 
respect of all who know them. Mr. Bush's 
farm of i6o, acres with excellent barns and out- 
buildinf;s, and all in a high state of cultiva- 
tion, lies on the state road two and a half 
miles south of Rockford. Devoting his atten- 
tion to the farm, it yields a golden tribute 
to the labor bestowed upon it. 




AMES M. BUTTOLPH, a young and 
progressive agriculturist and a resi- 
dent of Spencer township, Kent coun- 
ty, for some twelve years, is a native 
of Ionia county, Mich. , and was born March 28, 
1 861, He is the fifth in a family of three 
sons and four daughters, the children of Jud- 
son and Lydia (Alger) Buttolph, of whom 
four are living, viz : Sarah, wife of James 
Earle, a farmer of Ionia county; Jennie, 
wife of James Noble, of the same county; 
James M., and Henry, a dairyman of Ionia. 
The father is a native of Dutchess county, 
N. Y., and now lives at Otisco, Mich., aged 
seventy-three years, well preserved and with 
keen perception and memory. He was reared' 
to the life of a farmer and was but a child 
when he accompanied his parents to Oakland 
county, Mich., which was at that time a ter- 
ritory. From Oakland county, he came to 
Ionia, where his present estate is located. In 
his political predilections he is a republican 
and first voted for Gen. Harrison, the hero of 
Tippecanoe. 

Mr. Buttolph, whose name heads this arti- 
cle, was reared for the greater part in Ionia 
county, where he secured a common-school 
education. Afterward he took a business 
course at Poncher's Business college and spent 
two years as a salesman in a general store at 



Otisco. He has devoted the remainder of his 
life to agricultural pursuits. 

On the iSth of September, 1889, he wed- 
ded Miss Emma McClure, who has borne two 
children, Leroy and Lydia. Mrs. Buttolph 
wat born February 24, 1868, a daughter of 
Oliver Perry and Mary (Thomas) McClure. 
She was educated in the common schools of 
Kent county, where she served as a teacher 
for one year. Her father was born in Catta- 
raugus county, N. Y., November 17, 1S13, 
and died in Spencer, Mich., January 5, 1898. 
He was a miller by trade, and came to Spen- 
cer township in 1867, where his life was 
passed as a farmer. For ten years he had a 
store and post-ofifice on his farm. He was a 
self-made man and one of great energy and 
activity. He educated himself largely, and 
succeeded in working his way from lowly sur- 
roundings (k) a comfortable position in life. 
The exercise of his energy and industry brought 
to him a large and valuable farm of 200 acres. 
He took great interest in education and served 
for many years on the school board. 

The mother of Mrs. Buttolph is still living 
at the age of seventy-three years. She was 
reared and educated in the Keystone state, 
where she w^as born on the 3d of November, 
1826. Her grandfather, Ezekiel Thomas, 
served during the entire Revolutionar\' war, 
and in one 'engagement his clothes were rid- 
dled by British bullets, yet his life was spared. 
He died at the ripe old age of eighty-four and 
possessed an active mind and body even to his 
death. Mrs. McClure had two sisters and three 1 
brothers, but the only living beside herself is L 
Ezekiel Thomas, a resident of Tioga county, I 
Penn. She still retains her old homestead in j 
Spencer township; where she lives with her 
children. 

In 1887, Mr. Buttolph and his wife made 
their home on a farm of 160 acres in section 
No. 29, the best quarter of Spencer township. 



« 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



589 



He has made many improvements on the 
estate, and now has an excellent and enjoya- 
ble home. In his political affiliation he is at 
present a republican, bat has been strongly 
attached to the temperance party, having cast 
his first presidential vote for St. John, the cel- 
ebrated apostle of temperance. Officially he 
is a member of the school board, and both he 
and his wife are respected members of the 
Baptist church. Genial and sympathetic in 
nature, upright and honorable in all his deal- 
ings, small wonder is it that his friends are 
numerous. 




L:\-. LEVI W. CALKINS, pastor in 
charge of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, at Sparta, Kent county, was 
born in Ingham county, Mich., Sep- 
tember I, 1839, and is a son of Wentworth 
and Lucy (Rogers) Calkins, who had a family 
of si.x children. The father was a native of 
New York state, but early located in Michigan, 
and here followed his calling as farmer until 
his removal to California in 1851, where he 
continued farming until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1S94. 

Rev. Levi \\'. Calkins received his element- 
ary education in the common schools of his 
native county, and began his preparation for 
the ministry at Mason City, Ingham county, 
in 1863, and being exceeding studious and apt, 
completed his theological course in 1865. His 
first appointment was to Antrim county, Mich., 
where he remained one year only, when he 
was transferred to Old Mission, where he offi- 
ciated three years; his next charge was at 
Northport, Leelanau county, for a year; thence 
to Casnovia, Mich., for three years, and 
then to Sparta in 1873, and here for three 
years most acceptably filled the pastorate. 
His post of duty was at Berlin, but at the ex- 

30 



piration of one year was transferred to Prairie- 
ville, Barry county, for three years; then to 
Parksville, St. Joseph county, for two years; 
then to Douglas, Allegan county, for two 
years; thence to Martin, Allegan county, for 
three years; then was appointed to Kalamazoo 
county, where he officiated three years each at 
Climax and Fulton, and one year at School- 
craft, and then one year at Grand Haven, 
Ottawa county. In 1892 to returned to and 
was warmly welcomed by his old flock at 
Sparta, who have sat under his benignant 
administration ever since. 

Reverend Calkins was joined in the holy 
bonds of matrimony, March 3, 1861, with Miss 
Mary E. Cushney, daughter of John Cushney, 
and to this union have been born four children, 
but all of whom have been called to the bet- 
ter land. One only, a daughter, lived to years 
of maturity, and she met her death by an ac- 
cidental fall from a hammock. 

Fraternally Rev. Mr. Calkins is a charter 
member of Sparta lodge, F. & A. M., No. 334, 
and a member of the A. O. U. W. Politically 
he has never taken any great interest in 
party affairs, but was early a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for A. Lincoln; 
now he is strongly attached to the principles of 
the prohibition party. 

Pious and profound, eloquent and logical, 
Reverend Calkins is beloved by his congrega- 
tion, and his long labors in the vineyard of the 
Master have been rewarded with an abundant 
yield in the conversion of sinners and the sal- 
vation, it is firmly believed, of many souls. 



LBERT E. CAMBELL, D.D.S.— Dr. 

Cambell is a native son of Michigan 
and a worthy representative of an old 
New York family, members of which 
have been living in various parts of the former 
state a number of years. The subject's father 




590 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



is Eugene H. Cambell, one of Lowell's well- 
known citizens, who married, in Michigan, 
Alice Goodsell, and by her had two cTiildren. 
In his native New York, Eugene Cambell 
learned the machinist's trade; which he fol- 
lowed for a number of jears, the greater part 
of the time in Michigan, to which state he re- 
moved when a young man. At this time he is 
engaged in real-estate, loan and insurance in 
Lowell, where he has a large and lucrative 
business, being well known throughout Kent 
and neighboring counties. 

Albert E. Cambell was born on the 2nd of 
February, 1874, in Marshall, Mich., and re- 
ceived a good English education in the schools 
of his native city. Having selected the pro- 
fession of dentistry for his life work, young 
Cambell addressed himself manfully to the 
task of preparing therefor, by taking two 
courses in a dental college at Chicago. Sub- 
sequently he entered the Kansas Dental col- 
lege, Kansas City, Mo., from which he was 
in due time graduated, receiving his diploma 
in April, 1896. Immediately thereafter he 
began the practice of his chosen calling in 
the town of Lowell, where he has since re- 
mained, building up meanwhile a successful 
business and earnins' the reputation of a very 
skillful and painstaking operator in every de- 
partment of the profession. The doctor has 
a commodious parlor, well supplied with all 
the latest appliances essential to the successful 
prosecution of the profession, and keeps him- 
self fully abreast of the times by an intelligent 
acquaintance with the leading literature bear- 
ing upon dentistry. He numbers among his 
patrons many of the best families of the 
town, and the high order of professional 
service already rendered bespeaks for him a 
large measure of success in years yet to 
come. He is happily married to Miss Bertha 
Hornig, daughter of Charles Hornig, of Ionia 
county, Mich. 



Dr. Cambell, politically, is non-partisan on 
local questions, and will support the man best 
fitted for the office, and does not comply with 
the straight party lines. He is a member of 
lodge No. 90, F. & A. M., and Hooker chap- 
ter, No. 73, R. A. M., and of lodge No. 115, 
I. O. O. F., at Lowell. 




[iARLES H. CARLYLE was born in 
Kalamazoo county, Mich., February 
22, 1 84 1, the third in a family of eight 
— four boys and four girls — born to 
John and Lillius (Howatt) Carlyle, of which 
family five are still living, viz: Charles H., 
whose name opens. this paragraph; John, whose 
biography appears in full on another page; 
Mary, wife of Jacob Byers, a farmer of Court- 
land township; George, a harnessmaker of 
Detroit: and Fred, engaged in farming in 
Courtland township. 

John Carlyle, the father of this family, was 
born in Echlefechen, Dumfrieshire, Scotland, 
about 1814 or 1815, and was a brother of the 
justly renowned Thomas Carlyle, the essayist 
and critic. He married in his native land, but 
his children were all American born. He was 
a cabinetmaker b}- trade, and his son, Charles 
H., has in his possession the original chest of 
tools with which the father worked in his earlier 
life. John Carlyle and wife came to America 
in a sailing vessel in 1840, landing in New 
York. They came via Kalamazoo to Kent 
county, where he entered 160 acres of land 
from the government, paying $1.25 per acre 
for it in state scrip. Wild animals and In- 
dians roamed the forest, and a wonderful con- 
trast was seen compared with bonnie Scotland. 
Still the prospects for the future were flatter- 
ing, provided a sufficient amount of energy 
were exercised in clearing up the land; and 
this energy Mr. Carlyle possessed in no small 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



oJl 



degree 



His first habitation here was a small 
log hut on section No. 32, but he afterward 
erected a more comfortable log house on sec- 
tion No. 28, in which he passed the remainder 
of his life. His farm implements were, of 
course, old fashioned. His nearest market 
was Grand Rapids, to which he frequently 
traveled on foot, bringing purchases home on 
his back. The only roads were Indian trails 
and the only conveyances were ox-carts. The 
first threshing-machine introduced was a 
simple bo.x, inclosing a cylinder. The grain 
after passing the cylinder fell with the straw, 
which was shaken and thrown aside. The 
grain was then run through an old-style fan- 
ning-mill. But Mr. Carlyle, e.xercising the 
Scotch grit and common sense that has made 
his name so illustrious, overcame all obstacles 
and succeeded in securing a competenc}'. 

Mr. Carlyle was well educated, was a 
friend of public instruction, and was instru- 
mental in securing the erection of the first 
school house in the district, which was erected 
in 1844, on the spot, on section No. 21, where 
the grange hall now stands. In politics he was 
an ardent democrat, and took an active part 
in ihe campaign of 1840, in which his party 
met with an overwhelming defeat by the whigs, 
headed by William H. Harrison. He and 
wife were in sympathy with the Episcopal 
church, and like all of the Scotch of that gen- 
eration was quite familiar vvith the Bible. He 
died August 10, 1873, his remains being in- 
terred beside those of his wife in Courtland 
cemetery, where his sons, Charles and John, 
have erected a beautiful monument to their 
memory. 

Charles H. Carlyle received a fair com- 
mon-school education, to which he added by 
careful reading and home study. While yet 
in his 'teens he taught the Stinson school, 
where he had an enrollment of sixty-two 
pupils. 



January 5, i86t, the steamer "Star of thj 
West " had been fired upon and driven fro n 
Charleston (S. C.) harbor, whither she ha J 
gone with supplies for the relief of Fort Sumter, 
and civil war was imminent. In March of that 
year, Mr. Carlyle borrowed sufficient money to 
pay his way, accompanied with Daniel R. 
Slocum, to Will county, 111., where he en- 
deavored to enlist in the United States cavalry, 
but was rejected on account of his size, Slocum 
refusing to go on that account. He found 
employment as a farm hand, however, at $11 
per month, and in the following fall returned 
to Michigan. He had no capital, but a de- 
termined will, and set himself to work to gain 
a place in the world. He husbanded his earn- 
ings, and in 1865 made his first purchase of 
land, which, consisted of forty acres in Court- 
land township. This he sold later and en- 
gaged as collector for the Harrison Wagon- 
works, of Grand Rapids, with which he re- 
mained seven years. He was then employed 
as superintendent by Austin Richardson, a 
lumberman of Osceola county, but residing in 
Grand Rapids, who placed him in charge of all 
his mills and their output, and intrusted him 
with paying the employees. This position he 
filled twelve years — in itself a tribute to his at- 
tentiveness and integrity. 

May 15, 1872, Mr. Carlyle was united in 
marriage with Miss Rosalie A. Hewitt, the 
union resulting in the birth of five children — 
two sons and three daughters — of whom four 
still survive, viz: Nellie and Iva, students of 
the Rockford high school; Myrtle, attending 
the district school, and Kenneth, the youngest, 
at home. Mrs. Carlyle was born in Jackson 
county, Mich, November 2r, 1850, and is 
a daughter of ^^^ L. and Rosanna (Parks) 
Hewitt. She graduated from the Rockford 
high school at the age of fifteen }ears, and was 
a teacher in Kent county until her marriage. 
Her father died in December, 1862, but her 



592 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



mother still survives, at the age of seventy- 
two years. 

The second purchase of land made by Mr. 
Carlyle was in 1875, mostly on credit. This 
tract consists of eighty acres, in section No. 
32, Courtland township. This tract he has 
cleared and improved and has paid for in full 
from the proceeds of his industry and frugality. 
In 1894, he purchased sixty-five additional 
acres in section No. 22, which had been en- 
tered from the government by Barton John- 
son. Mr. Carlyle has met with the success 
which invariably accompanies well-directed 
industry and intelligent endeavor; and is 
classed among the more progressive and en- 
terprising agriculturists of the township. 

In politics Mr.' Carlyle is a free-silver 
democrat. In 1879 he was elected township 
treasurer and has served as supervisor of his 
township three different times — 1889, 1890 
and 1897. So great is the confidence of the 
people in his integrity, that he has been five 
times selected as administrator of estates. He 
is a member of Rockford lodge. No. 246, F. 
& A. M., having been made a Mason in 1863, 
and he and wife are members of the Patrons 
of Husbandry. Mrs. Carlyle is a communi- 
cant of the Methodist Episcopal church, to the 
support of which Mr. Carlyle has always been 
a liberal contributor. The family are highly 
respected social!}', and none deserve better 
the esteem in which they are universally held. 




OHN CARLYLE, ex-soldier, farmer and 
stockraiser of Courtland, Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., was here born October 29, 
1S46, and is the fifth of eight children 
— four sons and four daughters — born to John 
and Lillius (Howatt) Carlyle, further mention 
of whom is found in the biography of Charles 
H. Carlyle. 



John Carlyle was educated in the common 
schools and assisted on the home farm until 
January 21, 1864, when he enlisted, at Grand 
Rapids, in company G, Fifth Michigan cav- 
alry, under Col. Russell A. Alger, afterward 
secretary of war. The regiment was attached 
to the army of the Potomac, and Mr. Carlyle's 
first active duty was on Kilpatrick's raid and 
Grant's campaign through the Wilderness. He 
was also with Gen. Phil. Sheridan on his fa- 
mous raid through the Shenandoah \'alley. 
Among the many battles in which he partici- 
pated, beside the raids alluded to, may be 
mentioned Todd's Tavern, Beaver Dam Sta- 
tion, Yellow Tavern (where the Confederate 
general, |. E. B. Stuart, was killed by a 
private of Mr. Carlyle's regiment); Hawe's 
Shop, cavalry skirmish at Malvern Hill, Tre- 
villian Station, Cold Harbor, and Gordons- 
ville, as well as at Cedar Creek, in the Shen- 
andoah Valley. He was on the field when 
Sheridan joined his troops after his famous 
twenty miles' ride from Winchester. For a 
time, also, Mr. Carlyle's regiment served un- 
der the gallant Gen. George Armstrong Cus- 
ter, who with many brave followers, was massa- 
cred at the Big Horn, in the Black Hills, in 
1876. The Fifth Michigan cavalry also took 
part in the grand military review at Washing- 
ton, D. C. , in May, 1865 — the grandest the 
world had ever witnessed. Instead of being 
sent home after this review, as had been ex- 
pected, the regiment was ordered to Fort 
Leavenworth, Kans. , and later to Forts 
Kearney and Bridger, to act as scouts and to 
guard supplies, horses, etc. They had almost 
daily skirmishes with the redskins during their 
memorable march. Eventually, Mr. Carlyle 
received an honorable discharge at Fort Bridg- 
er, March 25, 1866. He was a brave and 
faithful soldier who won the esteem of his 
comrades and the respect of his superiors. He 
never took life wantonly nor ever maliciously 

i 



M 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



o93 



fired a piece of property. He was never sick, 
was never j^ranted a furlough, nor was he ever 
in the s;uardhouse. 

Mr. Carlyle was united in marriage, March 
I/. 1^77. with Miss Sarah Whittall, a native 
of Kent county. They are the parents of five 
children, viz; Ada G., at home; Bernice, at 
school, and Clayton L. , Oliver W. and Lloyd 
H. Mrs. Carlyle is a daughter of Thomas 
and .Ann (Teague) Whittall, natives of England 
and still residents of this county. She grad- 
uated from the high school at Rockford and 
for «ix terms before her marriage was a suc- 
cessful teacher. 

Mr. Carlyle is a successful breeder of 
shorthorn cattle and Poland- China hogs, hav- 
ing begun the raising of the hogs in i88S, and 
cattle in 1890. Piis farm is beautifully located 
and improved with a neat and tidy residence, 
suitable outbuildings and barn. The latter, 
erected in 1S97, is one of the best in the town- 
ship. One of the main features is fruit grow- 
ing, and he has about 2,500 peach and 900 
plum bearing trees. 

Politically Mr. Carlyle is independent, vot- 
ing for the candidate best suited, in his opin- 
ion, for the office. He is a member of the 
Peter A. Webber post.G. A. R. , at Rockford, 
and he and his wife are members of Courtland 
grange, Patrons of Husbandry. 




\MES J. CARPENTER, a gentleman 
of high standing as an agriculturist and 
a citizen of Byron township, Kent 
county, Mich., is a native of Ontario 
county, N. Y., was born June 5, 1844, and is 
the fourth of a family of five children — four 
sons and one daughter — that graced the mar- 
riage of James and Polly (Bigelow) Carpenter, 
of which children four stillsurvive, viz; Jerome, 
a mechanic at Elyria, Ohio, and married; 



Sanford, who was a soldier in the Civil war, 
is married, and is farming at Canton, Ohio; 
James J., the subject of thissketch; and Darius 
W., a farmer in Eaton township, Lorain coun- 
ty, Ohio, and married. 

The father of these was also a native of 
New York, was a farmer, and resided in his 
native state until 1844, when lie became a 
resident of Ohio. His cousin, John, was a 
soldier of the war of 1812. On settling in 
Ohio, James Carpenter continued his agricult- 
ural pursuits until 1896, when he went to Kan- 
sas City, Mo., lived there a short time, and 
then returned to the Buckeye state. He was 
first a whig and later a republican, but pre- 
ferred to devote his time to agriculture rather 
than to politics. He and wife were members 
of the Disciples' church, and in this faith the 
wife, who was also a native of the Empire 
state, was called away in 1850. dying on the 
homestead in Ohio. 

James J. Carpenter was but four months 
old when his parents settled in Ohio, where he 
received a common-school educatio'n and was 
reared a stock-raiser and agriculturist. He 
commenced life on his own account at the age 
of eighteen years, but with no capital save his 
industrious hands, and his first wages were $16 
per month. He first married Miss Martha 
Bennington, who died without issue, and Mr. 
Carpenter ne.xt married his present wife, Mary 
M. Goddard, October 5, 1871, and this union 
has been blessed with five children, viz; Arthur 
J., a farmer of Byron township, who married 
Miss Mary Wildmanand has one son. Arthur 
J. was educated in the B\Ton Center public 
schools and also took a course in the city 
schools of Grand Rapids. Elmer G., the sec- 
ond eldest child of James J. and Mary M. Car- 
penter, graduated in the class of 1894 at By- 
ron Center, and married Miss Laura Soden. 
Earnest A., the third child, is in his third year 
at Albion college and intends to prepare him- 



594 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



self for the higher walks of life. Vernon J., 
the fourth child, is in the eighth grade of the 
Byron Center public schools, is progressing 
well in his studies, and his taste tends toward 
agriculture. Ora, the j'oungest child, is in the 
fifth grade, and he, also, is bright in study. 

Mrs. Mary M. Carpenter was born in 
Cleveland, Ohio, April 17, 1843, and is a 
daughter of John and Ann (Wilson) Goddard, 
who were natives of England, and were the 
parents of two sons and si.\ daughters, but of 
whom four only are now living, viz: John H., 
who served in the Civil war and is now a mer- 
chant at Ravenna, Ohio; Joseph A., who was 
a veteran of the Civil war, is married, and is a 
wholesale merchant at Muncie, Ind.; Mrs. 
Carpenter, of this sketch, and Julia E., widow 
of Frederick Hall and residing in Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich. 

John H. Goddard, the father of Mrs. Car- 
penter, was born June 13, 1S08, near Lon- 
don England, and when si.xteen years old 
landed in New York from a sailing vessel. He 
was a poor but honest lad, and made for him- 
self a name and a comfortable home. He 
married Miss Wilson in Ohio, but she, as al- 
ready mentioned, was born in England. Her 
birth took place November 5, 18 10, and her 
death occurred July 8, 1847, in the faith of 
the Baptist church. Mr. Goddard was a mem- 
ber of the same church, in politics was a re- 
publican, and his death occurred August 24, 
1883. 

Mrs. Carpenter was reared in Ohio, was edu- 
cated in the common schools, and has been a 
kind and loving wife and mother, and has ever 
been her husband's faithful counselor and 
guide. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter began life 
together in 1871 on eighty acres of partially 
improved land in Byron township, and their 
first home was a humble log cabin in the for- 
est. They had no barn, but had a board 
stable, and they were beside in debt. To-day, 



however, they own a model farm, with a 
beautiful modern country residence, with sub- 
stantial out-buildings and barns, and other 
improvements that indicate thrift and indus- 
try. The farm contains 130 acres and is 
located a mile and a half from the village limits, 
with not a dollar of mortgage resting upon it — 
thus affording a worthy example to the young of 
what industry and frugality can do. The soil 
is of clay loam, and well adapted to the culti- 
vation of fruits and grains, and Mr. Carpenter 
has used it to the best possible advantage. 

Mr. Carpenter was one of the brave Ohio 
boys who served his country in the suppres- 
sion of the war of the Rebellion. In July, 
1S64, he enlisted in company H, One Hun- 
dred and Seventy-eighth Ohio volunteer in- 
fantry, under Capt. Edward Rickey, and was 
assigned to the army of the Tennessee, under 
Gen. Thomas. He took part in some five or 
six skirmishes near Murphreesboro and Tulla- 
homa, Tenn., and in North Carolina; in the 
first named battle a comrade, Roos, was hit in 
the head, and Mr. Carpenter assisted in carry- 
ing him off the field, soon after which he died. 
The boys suffered great hardships from hunger, 
oft-times eating the corn that the mules left, 
and frequently the crackers left by the suttlers. 
Mr. Carpenter was near Raleigh, N. C. , when 
the news came to hand of the surrender of the 
rebel chieftain Lee, and this intelligence was 
received with joy and exultation by the poor 
soldiers, for to them it meant home and loved 
ones again; but immediately afterward came 
the sad intelligence of the assassination of 
President Lincoln, and gloom pervaded the 
entire army once again. Mr. Carpenter was 
mustered out at Columbus, Ohio, in 1S65, and 
at once resumed his peaceful calling, which he 
has since so successfully followed. 

Mr. Carpenter has always been a republic- 
an in politics and cast his first presidential 
vote for Abraham Lincoln. He and wife are 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



595 



friends of public education and of securing the 
best teachers possible, which is a worthy sen- 
timent, as Mr. Carpenter is a heavy tax-payer 
and is willing to bear his share in the educa- 
tion of the masses. Fraternally he is a mem- 
ber of Orrin Whitcomb post, No. 303, G. A. 
I\., at B\Ton, and he and wife are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church at Byron 
Center; they liberally aided in building the 
edifice in 1875, and of this Mr. Carpenter is 
one of the trustees. They are prominent in 
social circles, and are among the most respect- 
ed residents of Byron township. 



ORENZO A. CARPENTER, one of 
the oldest and most prominent farm- 
ers of Plainfield township, Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., is a native of Chautauqua 
county, N. Y., and was born July 19, 1837, the 
si.xth of twelve children who constituted the 
family of Timothy and Malinda (Miller) Car- 
penter, the remaining eleven having been 
named as, follows: Exina, deceased wife of 
Harvej' Butler; Margaret, who vvas married to 
William Thompson, and is also deceased; 
Louisa Jane, wife of George Butler; William 
Franklin, of Ensley, Newaygo county, Mich.; 
Benjamin T., of Lockwood, Kent county; 
David G. , a resident of Cedar Springs, same 
county; Nancy M., wife of Charles Hunter, of 
Ottawa county; Dennis, deceased; Amanda W., 
wife of Dennis Lewis, of Cedar Springs; Will- 
iam, deceased, and Reliance, married to Henry 
Butler, of Big Rapids, Mecosta county, Mich. 
Timothy Carpenter, father of this family, 
was a native of Cayuga county, N. Y., was 
born July 25, 1796, was reared a farmer, and 
after one or more migrations came to Ivent 
county, Mich., purchased a wild tract in sec- 
tion No. 12, Plainfield, and here passed his re- 
maining years, dying at the age of seventy-two. 



On this farm L. A. Carpenter now makes his 
home. Mrs. Malinda Carpenter was also a 
native of the Empire state, was born August 
5, 1S05, and died in Kent county, Mich., 
August II, 1888, her remains being laid to 
rest beside those of her husband in Hall cem- 
etery, Plainfield township. 

Lorenzo A. Carpenter was reared to agri- 
culture on the present farm, received a fair com- 
mon-school education, and at the age of eight- 
een years began the battle of business life by 
laboring for about six months in a saw-mill as 
a hired hand, and next, for a short time, 
labored as a farm hand. His next enterprise 
was the building of a scow, with which for two 
years he carried lumber and wood down the 
river, and then traded the scow for 120 acres 
of wild land in Ottawa county. But he did 
not retain this property long, as he exchanged 
it for a hotel in Lyons, Ionia county, and for 
a short time played the role of landlord, then 
sold his hostlery and purchased a farm in sec- 
tion No. 13, Plainfield township, Kent county. 
Soon after this his mother passed from earth, 
and he fell heir to the homestead, still owning 
and operating the farm that he had himself im- 
proved, and this has since been his permanent 
home. Both farms are devoted largely to 
fruit growing. 

The marriage of Mr. Carpenter took place 
September 18, 1859. to Miss Elizabeth Mc- 
Lean, who was born in Cayuga county, N. Y. , 
January 10, 1841, a daughter of Abner and 
Loanda (BrayfordJ McLean, and this marriage 
has been graced with eight children, viz: Nora, 
wife of George Baker, a farmer of Pierson 
township, Montcalm county ; Wdlie E., farmer 
of Osceola county; Lillie, married to W. W. 
Simpson, a farmer of Ensley township, Ne- 
waygo county; Hosea, a farmer; Mila L. , wife 
C. A. Twitchell, farmer in Ensley township, 
Newaygo couuty; Eugene E. and Lorenzo D. , 
at home, and Orpha E. , who died in infancy. 



596 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



In his politics Mr. Carpenter is a sound re- 
publican, and although he and wife are not 
members of any religious denomination, they 
lead a true christian life and willingly con- 
tribute to the aid of all churches in the neigh- 
borhood and to all movements of a moral 
character. They enjoy the respect of the en- 
tire community, to which their long residence 
in the township well entitles them, and the 
name of Mr. Carpenter stands without a spot 
or blemish. 




\MPBELL C.ARR, who for over 
twenty jears has been a citizen of 
Tyrone township, is a native of the 
Buckeye state, and was born in Gal- 
lia county on the iith of April, 1854. He is 
the third in the family of three sons and two 
daughters, born to Hiram and Catherine 
(Chamberlin) Carr, of whom four are yet liv- 
ing, viz: Frank R. , married and an agricultur- 
ist of Tyrone township; Campbell ; Alice, wife of 
Harmon Cobeern, who is a resident of Tyrone 
township, is an agriculturist and e.x-supervisor ' 
of his township, and Ellen, the youngest liv- 
ing, and wife of Asher Post, a lumberman and 
miller residing in Tyrone. 

Hiram Carr is a native of Columbiana, 
Ohio, and was born in 1825. He was reared 
in his native state, where he learned and 
practiced the trade of a carpenter along with 
agriculture. He now resides in Tyrone town- 
ship, having emigrated to Michigan in the year 
1877. Politically he is a republican and of- 
ficially was supervisor of his township in Gal- 
lia county, Ohio. When the Civil war broke 
out he enlisted in company K. of the Seventh 
Ohio cavalry, and was assigned to the army 
of the Tennessee. He was in service during a 
number of the prominent engagements and re- 
ceived an honorable discharge. His wife was 



a native of Maysville, Ky. , where she re- 
ceived her education in the public schools and 
later became a resident of Ohio. 

Mr. Carr of this biography received a com- 
mon-school education and spent his minor 
days with his parents, to whom he gave his 
entire service. When of age, he came direct 
to Tyrone, Kent county, Mich. At that time 
the north part of the township was covered 
with forests and there were very few inhabit- 
ants. Mr. Carr is among the enterprising 
farmers who have changed the forests of the 
township into the beautiful, rich farming lands 
that it now contains. 

On September 15, 1878, he wedded Miss 
Caroline M. Hampton, a native of Ohio, and 
two children ha\-e been born to this union, 
namely: Myrtie A., and Guy H. The former 
died at ihe age of si.x months and the latter is 
at present attending school in the sixth grade. 
He exhibits some talent in drawing and takes 
a great interest in literary work. The parents 
take an exceptionally great interest in the 
boy, and will do all in their power to further 
his education and make him a refined and cult- 
ured gentleman. 

Mrs. Carr was born on the ist of Febru- 
ary, 1857, and is the sixth in a family of six 
sons and two daughters, born to Bradford and 
Harriet (Roup) Hampton. There are three 
sons and two daughters now living, all resi- 
dents of Meigs county, Ohio, where the sons 
are engaged as agriculturists. Iidward, the 
brother of Mrs. Carr, was educated in the 
common and high schools, and was a teacher. 

The father of Mrs. Carr was born in Penn- 
sylvania April 10, 1827, and died in October, 
18S9. He was a gentleman of liberal educa- 
tion and a very successful teacher, having 
taught for many years. When a youth of 
twelve years he removed to Ohio, there to re- 
side until he departed this life. In his politics 
he was a republican, and both he and his wife 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



597 



were consistent members of the Protestant 
Methodist church. The mother of Mrs. Carr 
is a native of Meigs county, Ohio, and was 
born December 15, 1831. She is still living 
at an old age, but her intellectual faculties and 
mental powers are in a good state of preserva- 
tion. Mrs. Carr was educated in the common 
schools and is quick and active in mind or 
intellect. 

It was in the fall of 1878 when Mr. Carr, 
accompained by his bride, drove to their little 
farm of thirty-five acres in Tyrone township. 
Their habitation at that time was a log cabin. 
They began life with scanty means, and were 
in debt for their little home, only ten acres of 
which were then cleared. They have done 
well and liave themselves improved the place. 
In 1S94 they erected their neat frame resi- 
dence of a modern style of architecture. Now, 
in 1900, he has fifty-eight acres and a beauti- 
ful home and improvements, with no indebted- 
ness, all the result of their economy and in- 
dustry. 

Mr. Carr is a stanch republican, having 
cast his first presidential vote for Rutherford 
B. Hayes. He is a supporter of that bulwark 
of the state and nation, the public schools, and 
even canvassed his township for funds in order 
to keep an excellent teacher, whom he knew 
to be first class. Socially he is a member of 
the I. O. O. F., lodge No. 380, at Kent City, 
and is the representative of a family of indus- 
trious christian people. 




HARLES B. CARTER is an old and 
honored resident of the township of 
Lowell, where he has lived since the 
spring of 1855. Mr. Carter was born 
in Lowville, Lewis county, N. Y. , September 
-I, 1S16, and is a son of Benjamin S. and 
Polly (Bennett) Carter. The paternal ances- 



try came to America in early colonial times 
and some of the family bore an active part in 
the struggle for independence, notable among 
wliom was Jabez Carter, one of the subject's 
antecedents, who distinguished himself during 
the seven years of that memorable confiict. 
Benjamin S. and Polly Carter lived to be very 
old people and died many years age at Seneca 
Falls, N. Y. 

Charles B. Carter assisted his father on 
the farm and worked at lumbering until twen- 
ty-one years of age, when he purchased a part 
of the paternal homestead near Savannah, N. 
Y. , and began life for himself as a tiller of the 
soil. Septembers, 1839, he entered into the 
marriage relation with Miss Calista Sheldon, 
who was born in the town of Brutus, Cayuga 
county, N. Y. , May 22, 18 18, a daughter of 
Silas and Betsey (Morley) Sheldon. 

Mr. Carter remained in his native state un- 
til 1853, when he came to Michigan and bought 
the farm, upon which he has since resided in 
Lowell township, Kent county. When he 
purchased the place, there were few improve- 
ments, including a small cleared field and the 
skeleton of a house, and the condition of his 
finances compelled Mr. Carter to go in debt 
for the greater part of the price of his home. 
To remove the forest growth and fit the soil 
for tillage was a task before which the major- 
ity of men of the present day would retire dis- 
couraged; not so with Mr. Carter, whose 
strong arms and determined will eventually 
overcame the many obstacles that bsset him, 
and in due time a beautiful home, free from 
debt, rewarded his labors. 

For some years Mr. Carter added to his 
income by taking contiacts to cut and deliver 
pine timber, and frequently employed from 
twenty to fort}' men to assist in floating the 
logs to their destination in the spring seasons. 
As a farmer, he has been careful and method- 
ical, and by energy and well-directed thrift 



598 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



during the years of his prime, is now enabled 
to pass his declining daj's in the enjoyment of 
the competence thus accumulated. By reason 
of advanced age and infirmities incident there- 
to, he has done no manual labor for several 
j'ears, nevertheless he oversees the farm and 
carefully directs and controls its operation. 

Mr. and Mrs. Carter have had children as 
follows: Theodore B. , of Lowell township; 
Zeno W., a farmer of Ionia count}', Mich.; 
Sophia Cynthia, wife of L. F. Savery, of 
Lansing; Ella Calista, wife of Leander J. Post, 
of Lowell, and Martha Louisa, the only one 
born in Michigan, now Mrs. Stevens, residing 
in Colorado. The descendants of this worthy 
old couple include, in addition to the children 
named, eighteen grandchildren and five great- 
grandchildren. The fiftieth anniversary of 
their marriage was appropriately celebrated, 
upon which occasion all but one of their 
children were present; nearly ten years have 
elapsed since that joyous event, and they are 
still spared to comfort each other, as hand 
in hand they travel onward toward the twi- 
light and the journey's end. 

.\t the celebration of the golden wedding an 
incident occurred which is worthy of mention 
— the presentation to Mrs. Carter, by her chil- 
dren, of a beautiful morocco-bound Bible. She 
atonce recited the following verse, which she 
had committed to memory when a little girl: 

And what have I? A book, a book! ■* 

It says. Is it not pretty? Only look. 

In red morocco bound, its leaves are gilt. 

What can it he? Undo the clasp and let me see. 

It must be something grand. 

A Bible! Yes, it is indeed; 

A Bible of our own to read, 

And teach me how to pray: 

And on the leaf is written, too, 

Father and mother, this book is given you, 

That you may read it every day. 

Mr. Carter has lived a quiet and uneventful 
life, contributing toward the material and 
moral upbuilding of the community and 



shaping his conduct so as to avoid giving 
offense to God or man. Formerly a whig, he 
now supports the republican part}', and, while 
not a member of any religious body, he con- 
tributes liberally to churches. 



FORGE L. CATHEY, a well-known 
citizen and prosperous farmer of 
Kent county since 1854, is a native 
of Simcoe county, Ontario, born 
February 23, 1844, the ninth of ten children 
born to George and Eustacia (Brown) Cathey. 
Six of the family are survivors, of whom Eliza 
is the wife of J. H. Milor, a merchant of Pe- 
toskey, Mich. ; James D. is a fruit grower in 
California; the remaining children are residing' 
in Canada. 

The father of George L. Cathey was born 
in Canada in 1798 and died there in November, 
1885. In 1854 he came to Kent county, 
Mich., and bought eighty acres of land in 
Cannon township, where he erected a rude log 
cabin which served as his first habitation. He 
soon afterward sold this and bought 11 1 acres 
in section No. 9, Oaktield township, which he 
sold twenty years later and returned to Cana- 
da, where he passed his later years. Religious- 
ly he and his wife, who was also a native of 
Canada and who died when the subject was 
an infant, were members of the Methodist 
church. 

George L. Cathey was a lad of ten summers 
when brought to the state of Michigan, where 
he was educated in the common schools. He 
remained on his father's farm until the call for 
troops, and he decided to be one of the brave 
Michigan lads who arrayed themselves in the 
blue blouse and shouldered a musket for the 
defense of their country and government. He 
enlisted November 11, 1861, in company C, 
Thirteenth Michigan volunteer infantrv, at 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



599 



Cannonsburg, and was assigned to the army of 
the Cumberland, and first ordered to Nashville, 
Tenn., there to be placed under command of 
Gen. Buell. 

The first battle he participated in was 
Shiloh and the next Corinth, where the first 
man of his coinpany was wounded. The regi- 
ment was next engaged at Stevenson, Ala.; 
here the Thirteenth Michigan and the Tenth 
Wisconsin were placed as guard and Gen. 
Buell asserted that these would be sacrificed 
in order to cover his retreat. There was no 
expectation to them of ever leaving this place 
alive, but with many hardships they made 
their way, on scanty rations, across the mount- 
ains to Tallahassee, Fla. , at the rate of 
thirty-five miles per day. After Chickamauga, 
he was placed in the engineers' corps, which 
laid the pontoon bridge across the Tennessee 
from Sherman's army to the rear of Gen. 
Bragg's lines. He spent the summer of 1864 
at Lookout ^[ountain and Missionary Ridge, 
where the corps was engaged in erecting hos- 
pitals. He afterward joined in Sherman's 
march, fought at the battle of Bentonville, and 
continued on to Washington, where he wit- 
nessed the grand review, He was honorably 
discharged at Jackson, Mich., July 25, 1865. 
His record as a soldier is an excellent one. 
Having entered as a private he was promoted 
after the battle of Stone river to the position 
of color-bearer, and on May 12, 1865, for his 
valor, patriotism, ability and fidelity, he was 
appointed second lieutenant. He faithfully 
served his country three years and eight 
months, being constantly on duty with his 
company- 
He embarked in farming, but for two years, 
I S70 and 1871, was engaged in cotton raising in 
Mississippi. However, this had some features 
that were not to his liking and he resumed 
farm life in Michigan. 

On September 4, 1S90, he wedded Miss 



Kate Sowffrouw, who has borne him one son, 
George A. 

Mr. Cathey, in his political predilection, is 
a republican, having cast his first presidential 
vote for Abraham Lincoln, while in the service. 
He has served as a delegate in county conven- 
tions from Courtland and Oakfield townships. 
In 1895 he was elected township treasurer of 
Courtland and re-elected in 1896. In iSgghe 
was made justice of the peace. Socially he is 
a member of the Peter H. Webster post, G. 
A. R. , at Rockford, Mich., and as a donor to 
benevolences is worthy of consideration. As 
a reward for his industry and economy, having 
begun life with nothing, he has made himself 
the possessor of 120 acres of the finest land in 
Oakfield township, nearly all in cultivation 
and improved with a high grade of build- 
ings and farm accessories. Being a man 
of a generous nature and especially considerate 
of those near and dear to him, he has gained 
many friends who respect him for his genuine 
worth and will be glad to. see his historj' in the 
record of his adopted county. 




ON. VOLNEY CAUKIN, deceased, a 
pioneer of Kent county, and for many 
years one of its most honored and 
widely known citizens, was born in 
New York in 1819, and was brought to Michi- 
gan about the year 1825, the family settling 
near Rochester, Oakland county. There he 
grew to manhood, but while yet in his minor- 
ity engaged with a party of surve3'ors em- 
ployed by the government to make surveys of 
the lands in the lake Superior region. Having a 
strong inclination to and love for mathematical 
studies, he soon became proficient in practical 
surveying, a work to which many subsequent 
years were devoted. After spending a few 
seasons in that life, living almost wholly 
in the open and experiencing many privations 



600 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



he, wishing; to secure a home, joined his 
brother-in-law and companion in the wilds, L. 
S. Scanton, and settled in Grattan township, 
where he partially improved a farm, but after 
five years returned to Oakland township and 
purchased another farm, where he lived fif- 
teen years. He then retired from farm life, liv- 
ing several years at Grattan. The ne.xt fifteen 
years were passed at Sparta, when he removed 
to Antrim county, where his death took place, 
May 1 6, 1888. 

For many years Mr. Caukin and his son 
Benton ware engaged in surveying both in 
a private capacity and as government em- 
ployees, in the northern part of the southern 
peninsulaof Michigan, especially. They were 
often employed b}' various railroad companies 
in examining lands in the wilderness, and 
■were for months at a time far from the abode 
of any white man. 

Mr.- Caukin, though a strong republican in 
politics, was not only popular with his own 
party but with the opposition as well. He 
was a broad-minded man, granting to others 
what he claimed for himself — honesty of opin- 
ions. In 1856 he was chosen to represent the 
district in the state legislature, where he was 
recognized as an able man, who filled the po- 
sition with honor to himself and credit to his 
constituency. He was almost constantly 
placed in some responsible position by his 
townsmen, his integrity being beyond cavil. 
He was a gentleman of sound judgment and 
great representative ability, his official acts 
always meeting with full approbatfon of his 
constituents. 

Mr. Caukin had a strong and pleasing per- 
sonality, being quite tall and straight, with a 
head that not only indicated strength but 
originality. In his latter years his venerable 
appearance and gentlemanly bearing reminded 
one of the courtly grace and dignity of a past 
generation. 



He was married to Francis Marvin, at De- 
Witt, Clinton county, October 31, 1S44. Her 
parents were pioneers of Michigan, though 
she was born in Ohio, August 10, 1823. She 
died at Sparta, January 18, 1873. Mr. 
and Mrs. Caukin had a familj' of four sons 
and four daughters, viz: Mrs. S. P. Peterson, 
being Lucy A., a lady of liberal education and 
for some years a successful teacher, now re- 
siding at Grand Rapids; Lavant C. , assistant 
cashier of the Fourth National bank, at Grand 
Rapids; Cornelius H., bookkeeper, also in the 
Fourth National bank; Benton L. , an agri- 
culturist and school-teacher at Rockery, An- 
trim county, Mich.; Marion E , formerly a 
school-teacher, but now a farmer at Rockery; 
Belle A., wife of Albert Kocher, a fruit grower 
and farmer of Oceana count}', and Ada F., 
who resides with her brother and sister in 
Grand Rapids. 




KARLES CHADWICK. — Probably 
no industry in which Grand Rapids 
people are deeply interested has 
grown so rapidly and from such 
small beginnings, in a few years, as has that 
of the growing of vegetables under glass. The 
tables not only of the rich, but those with 
only moderate incomes, may now be furnished 
with home-grown lu.xuries that, a few years 
since, could not have been secured at any 
price. It has remained for men of this city 
to solve the problem of early vegetables, and 
now the industry affords employment to hun- 
dreds of laborers, and, besides supplying our 
own tables with tender lettuce, brings to the 
proprietors of our numerous greenhouses many 
thousands of dollars annually. Of the many 
who have won success in this important in- 
dustry is Charles Chadwick, the prosperous 
florist, gardener and fruit grower of Paris 



i 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



601 



township, his estabhshment being located just 
at the southeast cxjrner of the city. He was 
born in Grand Rapids, August 25, 1866, and 
is the son of George W. Chadwick, a well 
known resident of the city. 

Charles Chadwick was educated at the 
high school, taking a supplemental course also 
at Swensberg's commercial college. At the 
age of eighteen years he began gardening, and 
in connection therewith drove a market wagon 
and engaged in his present business in 1891. 
He has seventy-five acres of fine land, of 
which about forty acres are devoted to fruit 
growing, and on which there are 5,000 peach 
and 1,000 plum trees. He has 60,000 square 
feet of glass, under part of which he grows 
large quantities of lettuce, cucumbers, etc. 
Violets, carnations, and other rare flowers 
demand much attention and contribute largely 
to the annual income. His greenhouse is sup- 
plied with the most modern appliances for, 
watering and heating, and this department has 
been so thriving and satisfactory that he is 
now extending the space covered with glass. 
Starting nine years ago on a modest scale, the 
business has constantly grown until he has 
now one of the most remunerative plants of 
the kind in the vicinity. He grows about fif- 
teen acres of tomatoes and three acres of 
asparagus, employing six to twelve assistants 
all the year round. His product is mostly 
shipped to the cities of the south and east, 
and his gross sales amount to from $5,000 to 
$[0,ooo annually. All the surroundings are 
in keeping, and indicate general prosperity. 
The handsome house and grounds all testify 
to the taste, skill and oversight of an intelli- 
gent proprietor. 

While giving careful attention to the multi- 
farious details incident to this establishment, 
Mr. Chadwick has not ignored other impor- 
tant matters. In politics he is a silver-demo- 
crat and has attended, as delegate, for some 



years, the caucuses and conventions of his 
party, county, district and state, and has also 
filled the office of chairman of the township 
committee for three years. He is a popular, 
genial gentleman; is fond of athletic sports, 
including base-ball; likes to see a contest on 
the race course between thoroughbreds, and 
is one of the wide-awake, go-ahead men of the 
county. 

October 7, 1890, Mr. Chadwick was united 
in marriage with Miss Loretta M. Parsons, 
youngest daughter of William Parsons and a 
graduate of the Grand Rapids high school. 
Two children have blessed this marriage, and 
are named Maurice and Marian. 

William Spalding Parsons, late of Paris- 
township and deceased father of Mrs. Chad- 
wick, was .born in 1815 and died August 2, 
1877. He came from Maine to Michigan in 
1837, was a carpenter by trade, and about 
1840 bought a farm of forty acres in Paris, 
township, to which he added until he owned 
200 acres on Kalamazoo avenue, and now par- 
tially included within the city limits. 

In 1 841 Mr. Parsons first married Maria 
Fisk, of Moretown, Vt., who died at twenty- 
nine years of age, leaving two children — Milo, 
still living, and William G. , who died at the 
age of thirty-seven years. The second mar- 
riage of Mr. Parsons took place April 5, 1853, 
to Abby A. Fisk, sister of his deceased wife; 
she was born August 8, 1826, and came to 
Michigan in 1847. To this second union were 
born five children, viz: May, who died when 
fifteen years old; OrvilleJ., a farmer of Alton, 
Mo. ; Walter S., on part of the old homestead; 
Belle, wife of N. G. Luce, a grocer at No. 
1028 Fifth avenue. Grand Rapids, and Lo- 
retta M., novT Mrs. Chadwick. Mrs. Abby A. 
Parsons, a member of the Paris Ladies' Liter- 
ary society, resided from the date of her mar- 
riage on a part of the old homestead until her 
death, which occurred March 17, 1899. Mr. 



602 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Parsons was a stanch democrat and was fre- 
quently found in the councils of his party's 
leaders, and was one of the representative 
and most respected men of the da}'. 




ORENZO CHAPMAN, a well-known 
farmer and a highly-respected and 
prominent citizen of Tyrone town- 
ship, Kent county, was born near 
Odessa, Schuyler county, N. Y. , October 2, 
1837, and is the fourteenth of the fifteen chil- 
dren — twelve sons and three daughters — that 
constituted the family of John and Sallie 
(Pierce) Chapman; of which children eight sons 
and one daughter, besides Lorenzo, are still 
living, to-wit: Manuel, who crossed the Rocky 
mountains with Col. John C. Fremont, about 
1834, and is now living in retirement at Cath- 
erine, Schu3"ler county, N. Y. ; Anthony, a 
farmer in Croton township, Newaygo county, 
Mich.; Chauncey, a resident of New York; 
William, a farmer residing at Sheridan, Ore., 
to the site of which city he donated forty acres; 
his wife's father and mother, in the early days 
of settlement of that far-west country, v.'ere 
among the unfortunate pioneers who were 
burned at the stake by the savages; Gilbert, a 
resident of Catherine, N. Y. ; James, residing 
in Odessa, N. Y. ; Charles, a farmer of Sparta 
township, Kent county, Mich. ; and Lavina, 
wife of Lafayette Keeney, of the town of Cro- 
ton, Newaygo count}, Mich. 

John Chapman, father of the family above 
alluded to, was born in Litchfield county. 
Conn., April 8, 1792, was reared a farmer and 
at maturity removed to Schuyler county, N. 
Y. , where he entered land from the govern- 
ment, on which he lived until about 1873, 
when he came to Michigan and settled in 
Newaygo county. He was a minute man of 
the war of 18 12, and took part in the blowing 



up of Fort Niagara, adhered to the whig party 
until the formation of the republican party, 
and died in the faith of the Methodist church 
about 1879. His wife, who was born in Scho- 
harie county, N. Y., August 4, 1795, died Oc- 
tober 15, 1873, also in the Methodist faith. 

Lorenzo Chapman, whose name opens this 
sketch, has been a tiller of the soil since boy- 
hood, was educated in the common schools, 
and gave his services to his parents until he 
reached his majority, after which he worked 
for them two years, at $150 per year, and 
saved more money than most young men now- 
a-days save at $20 per month. December 24, 
i860, he married Miss Frances Ophelia Lyon, 
and of the two sons and four daughters 
born to their marriage five are still living, viz: 
Amelia, who was educated in the common 
schools and the Sparta high school, and is now 
the wife of Milo T. Jeffrey, a carpenter of 
Grand Rapids, but formerly a farmer; Lu Ber- 
tha, who received a common school education 
and instruction in vocal and instrumental mu- 
I sic, and is married to Charles R. Barrett, a 
farmer of T}rone township; L. J., who was 
educated in the Kent City schools, married 
Miss Floret ta Irene Wood in, and at present is 
residingon the home farm; Jessie M., who was 
educated in the common schools, and is mar- 
ried to August Johnson, a farmer, and Inez, 
who is in the fifth grade at school. 

Mrs. Frances O. Chapman was born in 
Catherine, Schuyler county, N. Y. , May 6, 
1844, and is a daughter of John M. and Cla- 
rinda (Mitchell) Lyon, who were the parents 
of one son and four daughters, of whom only 
Mrs. Chapman and Nancy V., a widow of 
Frank R. Jackson, are now living. Mrs. Jack- 
son is now making her home with Mr. and 
Mrs. Chapman. 

John M. Lyon was born in Schuyler coun- 
ty, N. Y. , about 182 1, and was a farmer by 
occupation. He was a stanch republican, a 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



603 



strong Lincoln man. heid several positions of 
trust and honor, and was quite prominent in 
his township, where his influence was used 
with great effect in raising recruits during the 
Civil war. His death took place in his native 
county October 19, 1870. His wife was born 
in the same county November 14, 1S14, and 
her death occurred September 6, 1875. The 
Lyon family came from Connecticut and were 
among the first white settlers in New York 
state, where they cherished the friendship of 
the Indians. 

Mrs. Chapman's maternal great-grand- 
father was a soldier of the Revolutionary war, 
took part in several battles, and it is related of 
him that once, in fleeing from a party of 
Indians, he crawled into a hollow log, and that, 
immediately afterward, a large yellow spider 
wove its web over the aperture. The Indians 
tracked Mr. Mitchell to his hiding-place, but 
as they were afraid of spiders, they did not 
disturb this one, yet cut into the log, but 
missed the spot in which Mr. Mitchell was 
concealed, and so went on their way. After 
that, Mr. Mitchell never allowed his children 
to kill a spider. His son, Jesse, served in the 
war of 18 12. 

Lorenzo Chapman and wife came to Kent 
county, Mich., in October, 1S64, and pur- 
chased forty acres of improved land in Sparta 
township. He shortly afterward enlisted in 
company K, Sixteenth Michigan infantry, and 
was assigned to the army of the Potomac. 
When his regiment came to within a day and 
a half's march of Appomattox Court House, 
news reached it that Lee had surrendered, 
consequently Mr. Chapman was honorably dis- 
charged July 8, 1865, at Jeffersonville, Ind., 
returned to New York for his wife (who had 
gone home in the meantime), and came back 
to Michigan in September, 1S65, lived in 
Alpine township one year, then came to Tyrone 
township and purchased eighty acres of land, 



of which twelve acres had been cleared, and 
improved with a log barn and frame dwelling. 
16x24 feet ground plan, and eight feet high, 
and in this they lived until 1894, when Mr. 
Chapman erected his present modern residence, 
which has a fine cellar and the upper part 
neatly finished in hard wood. He has also put 
up substantial barns and stables, and now 
owns 280 acres of as fine land as there is in 
Tyrone township, all gained through his in- 
dustry and good management as a farmer and 
stock raiser, and the aid of his estimable wife. 
Mr. Chapman cast his first presidential vote 
for Abraham Lincoln, but is now a solid free- 
silver democrat, and a strong believer in 
bimatellism. He has preferred to devote his 
time and attention to the cultivation of his 
farm rather-than to political affairs, and has 
therefore never sought public ofiice. Frater- 
nally, he is a member of Fighting Dick post. 
No. 243, G. A. R., at Sparta. Mr. and Mrs. 
Chapman hold a high social position in the 
township, owe no man anything, and live 
strictly up to the Golden Rule. Their farm 
is situated four and one-quarter miles from 
Sparta and three and three-quarter miles from 
Kent City, and its neat appearance and pros- 
perous condition make it a credit, not on!)- to 
its owner but to the township. 




1:NRY BAXTER CHILDS, now living 
in retirement, is one of the pioneers 
of I\ent county, Mich., and has been 
largely instrumental in developing its 
resources. He was born in Franklin, Mass., 
December 22, 18 14, a son of Asa Childs, whose 
maternal ancestors were natives of Wales. 
Asa Childs was reared to agriculture, was in 
fair worldly circumstances, and reared a fam- 
ily of three sons and two daughters, of whom 
H. B. Childs is the only survivor. The edu- 



604 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



cation of H. B. Childs was limited, and he be- 
gan his business life as a wagonmaker, at which 
trade he had served an apprenticeship, which 
he finished at the early age of fifteen, from 
which time on, until he reached his majority, 
he worked as a journeyman, and then became 
proprietor of the same shops at Charlemont. 

September 4, 1839, Mr. Childs was united 
in marriage with Miss Emeline Hawks, also 
a native of Franklin, Mass., and this union re- 
sulted in the birth of four children, three of 
whom are still living, viz: Adeline S.,wife of 
Edward W. Paine, a successful fruit grower of 
Algoma township, Kent county, Mich.; Horace 
H., a manufacturer in Plainfield township, is 
mentioned in full on another page; and Will- 
iam H., a miller, of Kansas City, Mo. 

In 1845, Mr. Childs came from Massachu- 
setts to Grand Rapids, Mich., having pre- 
viously purchased 491 acres of wild land near 
the city. In payment for 160 acres of this 
land he made 127 one-horse wagons, and, in 
fact, in the same manner had paid for all the 
land ere he came to the county. There were 
no railroads in the county at that time, Grand 
Rapids was a mere village, and Indians still 
roamed the adjacent forests. Agricultural im- 
plements were then of a make that we would 
now stigmatize as primitive, farm machinery 
was unknown, and oxen were used, both in the 
field and on the road, instead of horses. To 
the energy and enterprise of such men as Mr. 
Childs does the county of Kent owe her re- 
demption, although there was a period when 
his energies were sadly missed for awhile and 
his enterprises nearly lost to the neighborhood. 

After having done much toward clearing 
away the forest, and placing the land under 
cultivation, Mr. Childs decided to leave the 
state. Consequently, in 1856, he went to 
Christian county, III., where he passed nine 
years of his useful life. However, his attach- 
ment for Kent county, Mich., was never weak- 



ened, and in 1865 he sold off his Illinois estate 
of 500 acres and returned to Grand Rapids. 
Here he purchased city property and made his 
plans for erecting a paper-mill in Plainfield 
township. He therefore purchased a saw-mill 
on Rouge river, in Plainfield, in February, 
1866, together with ninety-two acres, and to 
this he added until he had about 200 acres in 
all. He completed the mill in 1867, the ma- 
chinery for which was made in- Beloit, Wis., 
and this was the first mill, up to that time, in 
which straw-board was manufactured west of 
Rochester, N. Y. In 186S this valuable plant 
was destroyed bj' fire. It did not, like the 
fabulous phcenix, live five or six hundred years, 
and yet, like that same fabulous bird, it sprang 
from its own ashes renewed and sound in all 
its parts and standing on its own solid founda- 
tion within twenty-four months. Mr. Childs 
was not the man to be daunted by a "little 
thing like that," but kept energetically at work 
in managing the mill until about 1885, when 
he retired — a wealthy man, although really a 
poor boy when he began the battle of life. 

Mr. Childs was a friend of good schools and 
good roads — a part, indeed, of the platform of 
the political party to which he first belonged. 
— the whig; later he became a republican. In 
religion he is a Congregationalist, and has ex- 
pended a great deal of money in aiding to prop- 
agate the faith and in the erection of churches 
in different parts of the country. He and Mrs. 
Childs now live with their daughter, Mrs. 
Paine, who sees to it that their comfort shall 
in no way be neglected. Like a tired war- 
rior; who gazes in triumph over'the field he has 
conquered but still rejoices that peace has re- 
turned and that his labors have aided to bring 
this return, Mr. Childs rests in the complacent 
contemplation of the field he has conquered 
by less warlike means and replaced idleness 
with prosperity. 

Mrs. Childs represents one of the sturdy 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



605 



old New England fa'nilies, goin^ back to the 
Puritan days. Her father, Horace Hawks 
Childs, was (or seventy years deacon of the 
Congregationalist church at Charlemont. He 
owned 500 acres on the line of the Fitch- 
burg R. R., and but a few miles east of the 
farm is Hoosac tunnel. He reared twelve 
children, gave them college trainings, and one 
of the sons is still on the old homestead. 




GRACE H. CHILDS, proprietor of the 
Childsdale Straw Board mills at 
Childsdale, Kent county, Mich., was 
born in Paris township, Kent county, 
April I, 1S52, a son of Henry B. and Emeline 
(Hawks) Childs, of whom a biographical 
sketch is given on another page. 

Horace H. was educated in the schools of 
Grand Rapids. At the age of twenty years he 
undertook the management of the straw-board 
and paper-mills owned by his father in Plain- 
field, and after superintending them five years 
purchased a half-interest in the plant. Five 
years later, when thirty years old, he married 
Miss Frankie M. Lockerby, of Rockford, and 
this marriage has been graced with three chil- 
dren, two girls and one boy, Ida, Eva, and 
Henr}- Baxter — all attending school at Grand 
Rapids. Mrs. Childs was born in New York, 
April 28, 1864, and was brought to Michigan 
by her parents in i86g. She was a member 
of the first graduating class of Rockford high 
school, and is a lady of estimable qualities. 

In 1885 Mr. Childs purchased the remain- 
ing interest his father held in the mills, since 
when he has operated them on his sole account. 
These mills constitute the leading manufactur- 
ing industry in the township and give employ- 
ment to a large number of men. Twice 
they were destroyed by fire — in 186S and 1898 
— their destruction entailing a loss of .^75,000 

31 



to the propietor and a sore inconvenience to the 
employees, but in the first instance they were 
soon restored to their activity, and in the 
second increased in sizs, making a fifteen-ton 
mill. The new buildings are erected as nearly 
fire-proof as material and skill can make them. 
The plant contains one si.xty-two-inch board 
machine, containing forty-one driers and all 
the necessary adjuncts or appliances, and turn- 
ing out first-class material. Other machinery 
is devoted to the manufacture of pulp-lined 
boards, sizing, largely wood pulp and sulphite, 
for lining purposes, and comprises three 1200- 
pound beaters, two Jordan engines, rotary 
bleachers, machines for sheet and cylinder-lin- 
ing boards, and one Cross compound condensing 
steam-engine, with boiler capacity for doing 
all the dryipg and also for furnishing all the 
motive power when water power is not avail- 
able. The cost of the new plant reaches 
about $75,000. 

Mr. Childs, in connection with the mills, 
owns a fine stock farm of 700 acres, known as 
the Childsdale stock farm. He breeds short- 
horn cattle from imported English stock, and 
has the finest herd in this section of the coun- 
try. His Shropshire sheep are registered, 
and some of his horses are thoroughbred ani- 
mals. Mr. Childs also owns a cattle ranch of 
3,000 acres in Texas, and has 400 head of 
horses and cattle. 

Mr. Childs, like his father, is a friend of 
public improvements and is very liberal in his 
contributions to the support of church and 
school. 



EWIS S. CLARK, an old-time and 
highly-respected farmer and dairy- 
man, in section No. 25, Cascade town- 
ship, Kent count}', Mich., was born in 
Davenport, Delaware county, N. Y., June 2, 
1829. His father, Isaac Clark, son of Daniel 




606 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Clark, and his mother, Marg;aret (Lewis) 
Clark, were also natives of the Empire state. 

Until sixteen years of age, Lewis S. Clark 
lived on a dairy farm in his native coimty, and 
the family then moved to Seneca county, in 
the same state, where the subject attained his 
majority, and where he lived with his parents 
for ten years, or until twenty-six years old. 
At the age of twenty-one he sold a cow for 
$22, and continued to work his father's land 
on shares, and also worked out at fifty cents 
per day, until 1854, at which time he had 
saved $800. That year he came to Michigan 
and invested $400 in an eighty-acre tract of 
heavily timbered land in Cascade township, on 
which he erected a small frame house, and 
then returned to Seneca county, N. Y., and 
May 12, 1 85 5, married Miss Mary Blue, and 
immediately afterward brought his bride to his 
newly- acquired home in Michigan and went to 
housekeeping. The little frame house, it may 
here be remarked, was replaced by the present 
pleasant home in 1881, and the old home con- 
verted into a stable, but the latter, in June, 
1899, was struck by a cyclone and utterl}- de- 
molished, after having done continuous duty 
for forty-four years. 

Mr. Clark cleared off his tract of land by 
burning the valuable timber, and by hard work 
finally developed a productive and profitable 
farm. Beside general farming, he is now en- 
gaged in dairying, making butter from a fine 
herd of Jersey cows, of which stock he is a 
breeder. 

i i In politics, Mr. Clark was formerly a re- 
publican, but since the prohibition party came 
into existence, about twenty years ago, he has 
taken a lively interest in its conventions, and 
has led the party in the forlorn hopes as a 
candidate for the town supervisorship, but, 
with the rest of the ticket, has been defeated, 
prohibition, as a rule, not yet being strong 
enough in the township and county to make 



any marked progress at the polls. Mr. Clark, 
however, is strong in his faith political, and 
lives fully up to it, never using spirits or 
tobacco. Mr. Clark was a charter member of 
the Cascade grange, was its first master, an 
office he held for two ^ears. He is a member 
of the West Lowell Methodist church, was one 
of the original members of the class of which 
he is leader, a trustee from the time of the 
erection of the edifice, and a steward and Sun- 
day-school superintendent; he is a recognized 
pillar of the church, and is ready at all times 
to uphold his belief and principles with reason 
and argumentative force. 

Mrs. Mary (Blue) Clark was called away 
May 12, 1880, after twenty years of wedded 
life. She had been a faithful helpmate to her 
husband, aided him greatly in carving out a 
home from the wilderness, and ever exerted 
an influence for good. She was the mother 
of one son and four daughters, born in the 
following order: Sarah, wife of D. W. Cal- 
kins, of Lowell township; Ann, married to 
Joel C. Merriman, of Sanilac county; John I., 
who married Effie Bye (a niece of the late 
Mrs. Clark) and now conducts the home farm; 
Ellen, wife of Charles Freyermuth, of Bowne 
township, and Jennie, now Mrs. \\'esley Yei- 
ter, of Lowell township. 

The second marriage of Mr. Clark took 
place November 13, 1882, to Miss Marietta 
Haver, who was born in Livingston county, N. 
Y. , and at the age of twelve years was taken 
to Iowa, and then to Moline, 111. ; as a child 
she attended school in the latter place, and 
later taught for twelve years in that city, jn 
the same building with Rev. J. C. Hartzell, 
now bishop of the African Methodist church. 
Mrs. Clark had an aunt living in Cascade, 
whom she was in the habit of visiting, and 
hence came about her union with Mr. Clark. 

Mr. Clark has always lived in peace with 
his neighbors, has never sued nor been sued, 



i 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



607 



and has wielded a wide influence for good in 
social, school and church matters, and no man 
in the township is more highly respected. 




E. CLINTSMAN, of Tyrone town- 
ship, I\ent count}', Mich., is a native of 
Jefferson county, N. Y. , and was born 
on the 23d of March, 1854. He is 
the eldest of a family of one son and three 
daughters born to Dewitt C. and Evaline G. 
(.■\llen) Clintsman. The children are all liv- 
ing, viz: Mr. Clintsman, of this sketch; Fannie, 
wife of J. L. Hill, a dealer in musical instru- 
ments at Lisbon, Mich. ; Flora, who received 
a common-school education, is now located in 
Colorado, where she is a nurse of high stand- 
ing, having received some excellent letters 
from the most prominent physicians; and 
Carrie is the wife of James Streeter, an agri- 
culturist of Lisbon. 

The father is a native of New York state 
and was born February 12, 1830. By occu- 
pation he has always been a farmer. In 1865, 
when he immigrated to Ottawa county, Mich., 
he was very poor, but along with his poverty 
he was temperate and industrious and strictly 
honest in all his dealings. In his politics he 
was a republican, but was somewhat inclined 
toward the prohibition party. The mother 
was a native of New York state, was born in 
1S32 and died in 1894. She was a lady of fair 
education considering the early day and the 
disadvantageous schools. Both father and 
mother were esteemed members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and were favora- 
ble to all worthy benevolences. 

Mr. Clintsman, subject of this biography, 
is a self-educated man, his training being re- 
stricted to that which he was able to acquire 
from the advantages of the common schools, 
and at thirteen years of age he came with his 



parents t.o Michigan. He has been a stock- 
man and horseman for years and is promi- 
nently known all through east Ottawa and 
Kent counties as a shrewd man in his business. 
He has been battling in the arena of life since 
a lad of fourteen, when his first wages were 
$2 per month. Toil and industry are not for- 
eign to him. 

On the 2ist of September, 1875, Mr. 
. Clintsman was united in marriage to Miss Hat- 
I tie Streeter, a native of Ottawa county, Mich. 
To this marriage there have been born five 
sons and one daughter, of whom five are liv- 
; ing, viz: Glenn, who was in the tenth grade 
in the common public schools, is now acting as 
salesman in a drug and dry-goods store with 
an ambition tending to commercial life; 
Herschel, who has completed the ninth grade 
at school and is now a salesman with Sunder- 
land Bros., at Casnovia, Mich. ; Tenor, who 
has special talent for music, graduated with 
the class of 1899 of Casnovia public schools, 
and since this has taken a course at Ferris 
Industrial college, stood 86 per cent, is 
now teaching, and stands high in his literary 
work; Myrtle Bell, in the ninth grade at 
school, where she takes up literature work 
with interest and success and has been receiv- 
ing musical instruction, and Basil E., the 
youngest, is in the seventh grade at school, 
where his main interest tends to mathematics. 
Mrs. Clintsman was born December i, 
1855, and is the eldest of three children born 
to Guy and Eunice (Wilkinson) Streeter. All 
are now living, viz: Mrs. Clintsman, the eldest; 
Ethan A., an agriculturist and a resident of 
Wexford county, Mich., and James, also an 
agriculturist, residing in Kent county, Mich. 
Mrs. Clintsman was reared, the greater part, 
in the common-schools of Michigan, and has 
maintained her station nobly, both as wife and 
parent. Her father was born July, 1837, and 
is now an agriculturist and prosperous man, 



608 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



residing in Wexford county. He was honor- 
ably discharged after a period of service in the 
Civil war. 

At the union of Mr. and Mrs. Clintsman 
they had an extremely small capital. Their 
first purchase was a farm of forty acres, which 
they afterward sold and moved near the place 
where he had first settled. Here they bought 
thirty-five acres of improved land lying close 
to the schools, an essential cause prompting 
the purchase. In 1S92 he took up seventy- 
three acres of partly improved land in Tyrone 
township, which has since been improved, 
mainly by himself. He has been continually 
adding to his possession, and at the present is 
the owner of 14S acres, the best stump-fenced 
farm in Tyrone township. 

Politically, Mr. Clintsman is a republican, 
having cast his first presidental vote for 
Rutherford B. Hayes. The public schools 
find firm friends and strong supporters in Mr. 
and Mrs. Clintsman, who are of the idea that 
the best instructors are not too good for their 
schools. Socially, Mr. Clintsman is an es- 
teemed member of K. O. T. M., No. 544, 
and also of the M. W. of A., at Daily, Mich. 
His wife is a member of the Lady Maccabees 
hive, No. 330. Both are taking a great in- 
terest in the moral and religious training of 
the place, and their names are engraved high 
on the roll of honored citizens, and in his- 
tory deserve prominent mention. Their lives 
have been well spent, and they command 
the regard of all by reason of their sterling 
qualities of mind and heart. 



RWELL E. COLE for more than three 
decades has been a citizen and an 
agriculturist of Spencer township, 
I-vent county, and is descended from 
English ancestry, both grandparents having 




been natives of England. Mr. Cole is a na- 
tive of Moscow township, Hillsdale county, 
Mich., and was born on the 24th of January, 
1853, being the second of a family of three 
sons and one daughter born to Riley and Lydia 
A. (Tiffany) Cole, three of whom are now liv- 
ing, viz: Lemuel P., an agriculturist residing 
in Hartwick, Osceola county, Mich. ; Orwell 
E. and Fred, residing at Howard City, Mich., 
and engaged with the G. R. & I. R. R. 

The father was born in Cuyahoga county, 
Ohio, November 21, 1814, and died on the6th 
of February, 1890. By calling he was a 
farmer, but had received only a limited educa- 
tion. He was one of the pioneers of Michigan, 
having come to this state before it was ad- 
mitted to the Union. At the insignificant 
price of $1.25 per acre he purchased a home- 
stead among the Indians, with whom he was 
oftentimes engaged in conflict. In that early 
day the forests abounded in game and wild 
animals, and deer were often shot on his 
premises. 

This first purchase of land was in Eaton 
county, and he in 1864 came to Spencer 
township, then a perfect wilderness. He was 
one of the earliest settlers, and his son, whose 
name heads this article, says that oftentimes 
he pursued the panther into the wood or 
brush. Their first habitation was an aban- 
doned limiber camp, in which they lived for 
years until they erected an excellent frame 
house on section No. 24, Spencer township. 
At that time there were no churches in the 
township and only one little log school-house 
and but few highways. The father of Orwell 
E. Cole was politically a republican and cast 
his first presidential vote for Gen. Harrison in 
1840. He was a man of great activity and 
achieved an abundant success in his calling. 

The mother was a native also of Ohio, born 
December 25, 1830, and died March 27, 1S95. 
She was a lady of liberal education, having 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



r,09 



been a teacher for a number of 3'ears. Her 
ancestr}' was also of English origin, and came 
from England in the historic Mayflower to 
Plymouth, Mass. The Cole family was one of 
prominence in Spencer township, Kent coun- 
ty, as well as in Eaton county. Grandfather 
Cole was a hero of the war of 1S12, and died 
with two bullets in his body. He was, as well, 
an Lulian fighter, and his wife and children 
were oftentimes called to protect the home 
while he was engaged with the redman. 

Orwell E. Cole was a lad of about eleven 
years when he came with his parents to Kent 
county, and distinctly remembers when Grand 
Rapids was but a small place in comparison to 
what it is at present. His education was only 
a limited one, and he was compelled to work 
hard in the improvement of a new farm. 

On the 28th of September, 1879, until 
which time he had remained at home with his 
parents, he was married to Miss Louise Cowles, 
•who bore him two sons and one daugher, viz: 
Florent, Myrtle L. , who is a music teacher, 
and Leon, the youngest. Mr. and Mrs. Cole 
are endeavoring to give their children the best 
advantages possible for their education. Mrs. 
Cole was born in Spencer township, Ivent 
county, June 29, 1862, a daughter of Shepherd 
B. and Louise J. (Fletcher) Cowles. 

Subsequently to their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Cole settled down on their farm of eighty 
acres, which Mr. Cole had purchased and paid 
lor. Their first habitation was a log cabin, 
where they happily lived, honored and respect- 
ed citizens until the year 189S, when they 
erected their fine farm residence of ten rooms, 
with modern finish of ash and white oak. He 
has also erected a fine, large barn and improved 
his home in various other ways. 

Mr. Cole is politically a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for Rutherford 
B. Hayes. He takes a deep interest in all that 
pertains to the welfare of the community, and 



faithfully performs every duty of citizenship. 
He has been profoundly interested in the 
schools, and served on the board as one of the 
directors of his home district. Mr. and Mrs. 
Cole in their religious views are members of the 
Seventh Day Adventists' church, and have 
aided materially in the erection of the beauti- 
ful new church edifice located about a mile 
and a quarter from their home. The}' are lib- 
eral contributors to v\'orthy benevolences, and 
are workers in the Sabbath-school, where their 
daughter Myrtle is an organist. Honor and 
integrity are synonymous with their name, and 
they enjoy the respect, confidence and regard 
of the community. 




RED CLARI'C is one of the most pros- 
perous and enterprising young farm- 
ers of Alpine township, Kent county, 
Mich. , is a native of Grand Rapids, and 
was born March 6, 1854, the second in the fam- 
ily of John H. and Temperance C. (Pegler) 
Clark. 

John H. Clark, father of Fred Clark, was 
born in Canterbury, Kent county, England, in 
1820. When a young man he enlisted in the 
reserve battalion, Twentieth regiment of foot, 
British army, held the position of corporal 
three years and of sergeant si.\ years, and 
served a total of twelve years and twenty-nine 
da3£, mainly in the West Indies. In 1S49 he 
received his discharge and immediately came 
to America. On reaching Grand Rapids he 
engaged in the milling business at Mill Creek, 
which he followed until his death, which oc- 
curred January 20, 1891. His wife was a 
native of Gloucestershire, England, was born 
in I S3 I, and at the age of thirteen years came 
to America with her father. She first met her 
husband in Canada, and was there married. 
Her death took place January 26, 1887, and 



610 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



her remains were interred in the Valle\' City 
cemetery, and beside these those of her hus- 
band were subsequently interred, and now a 
handsome monument marks the spot. 

Fred Clark became an agriculturist on his 
own account when about twenty years of age, 
and of this he has made a decided success. 
His household is taken care of by an elder sister, 
and it is the home of peace and plenty, as well 
as quiet happiness. His farm contains eighty- 
two acres, and he has made tobacco growing a 
feature. 

Mr. Clark is a democrat in politics, but is 
not extremely partisan, and while he and sister 
are not members of any church organigation, 
so live that they have won the esteem of all 
who know them. 



M 



OHN R. COFFEE.— One of the exten- 
sive land owners and leading farmers 
of Kent county, Mich. , is John R. Cof- 
fee, who resides on section No. 17, 
Alpine township. He owns and operates 330 
acres of valuable land and has wrought a 
wonderful transformation in the appearance of 
the tract upon which he located a third of a 
century ago. All the improvements of the 
place stand in evidence of his busy, industri- 
ous and useful life, and the farm is a monu- 
ment to his enterprise. 

Mr. Coffee is a native of Alpine township, 
Kent county, Mich^, having been born there 
January 27, 1852. He was the sixth child to 
grace the union of John and Marinda (Good- 
ing) Coffee. John Coffee, the father, was a 
native of Enniskillen, county Fermanagh, Ire- 
land, and was born May 12, 1812. He came 
from Ireland to America with his parents in the 
year 1S15, and they first located in Pennsyl- 
vania, where they remained for some time 
prior to their removal to Marion count}', Ohio. 



It was while his parents were residents of 
Ohio, that Mr. Coffee began the struggle of 
life for himself, and whatever success he has 
attained — and it is considerable — has been, 
for the greater part, through his own industry 
and exertion. After living in Ohio for some 
time, and after considerable moving, he finally 
came to Michigan, where he purchased a farm 
in section No. 20, Alpine township, and im- 
mediately commenced cutting the timber, dis- 
posing of the same, and buying more land and 
timber until he became independently rich, at 
the time of his death being considered one of 
Alpine's richest farmers. All his wealth lay 
within the borders of the above-named town- 
ship. His death occurred April 6, 1887, but 
his name still lives and the famil_\' relations 
are being well kept up by his son, John R. 

The mother of the subject was a native of 
New York and was born in the year 1819. She 
went from New York to Ohio with her parents 
and there met her husband. More fortunate 
than her husband, she still lives and enjoys 
fairly good health, making her home among 
her children. 

John R. Coffee began life for himself when 
twenty-four years of age by purchasing forty 
acres of land, adding to this the amount his 
father deeded to him, and engaged in farm- 
ing. By careful management and hard labor 
he made a decided success, despite the con- 
dition of his purchase, and has been adding to 
it from time to time, until at the present he is 
the owner of 330 acres of good improved land, 
situated in sections Nos. 19 and 20, Alpine 
township. 

On December 25, 1874, Mr. Coffee wedded > 
Miss Mary Johnson, but their happy married f 
life was soon ended by the death of Mrs. 
Coffee, but not until one son, Watson, could 
claim her as mother. 

On June 5, iSSr, he was again married, 
this time the bride being Miss Sarah Keas, a 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



611 



native of Chester, Ottawa county, Mich., born 
July 25, 1S59, being the second child of John 
and Mary (Bisle) Keas. Her parents were 
both from Germany, but came to Atnerica 
at an early age and located in Ottawa county, 
where they lived until their deaths. Mr. and 
Mrs. Coffee are the parents of three children 
— Stephen, \\'illiamj., and John — all of whom 
reside at home. 

Politically, Mr. Coffee is a supporter of 
the republican party and cast his first presi- 
dential vote for R. B. Hayes. He has served 
the people of Alpine as highway commissioner, 
and in fraternal affiliations is a member of Lis- 
bon lodge, F. & A. M. 

Mr. and Mrs. Coffee are considered among 
Alpine's leading agriculturists, true to every 
principle in whi:h they believe, earnest in the 
support of their honest convictions, industrious 
and energetic in the practical affairs of life, 
cordial and genial among their friends, and at 
all times a couple whom to know is to respect. 




[UEY L. COMPTON.— In nearly every 
community of the great northwest are 
to be found individuals who have 
succeeded in overcoming unfavorable 
environments and rising among their fellows 
to the dignity of successful self-made men. 
Among such, the gentleman to whose life these 
lines are devoted deserves to be classed. 

Riley L. Compton is a representative of 
one of the old families of Kent county. His 
father, James R. Compton, having moved to 
this part of the state from New York about the 
year 1846, settled in Plainfield township, 
where, with the exception of a few years spent 
in the township of Cannon, he continued to 
reside until his death. He was born in Oc- 
tober, 1 80S, [Harried Sophia J. Law, and de- 
parted this life June 9, 1880. Mrs. Compton 



was born in New York state in the year 1816, 
and died at her home in Plainfield township, 
aged sixty years. 

Riley L. Compton was born and grew to 
early manhood on the old homestead, and at 
intervals during his minority attended the com- 
mon schools, in which he obtained a fair Eng- 
lish education. This, supplemented by close 
observation in after years, and contact with 
his fellows in various business transactions, 
has made him an intelligent and well-informed 
man. His youth was not passed in the lap of 
lu.xury by any means, and while still young he 
started in the world for himself in the humble, 
but honorable, capacity of a common laborer 
in a shingle mill. He worked thus fora period 
of eight years, carefully husbanding his earn- 
ings the nreanwhile, and the savings accumu- 
lated enabled him to purchase the necessary 
implements and engage in agriculture. With 
the exception of the years between 1892 and 
1896, when he acted as landlord of a hotel in 
Belmont, Mich., Mr. Compton has given his 
entire attention to tilling the soil, and the suc- 
cess with which he has met in this honorable 
and useful calling is creditable to his industry 
and superior business foresight. 

On the 27th of June, 1878, Mr. Compton 
took to himself a companion in the person of 
Miss Charlotte Eva Pinkney, daughter of 
^^'illiam B. and Lydia (Courtwright) Pinknej', 
natives, respectively, of England and the state 
of New Jerse}'. \\'illiam B. Pinkney was born 
in January, 1808. He was one of the pioneers 
of Plainfield township, where his death oc- 
curred February 22, 1884. Mrs. Pinkney was 
born in 1S14, departed this life in the year 
1868, and lies beside her husband in the 
beautiful Livingston cemetery, where a fine 
monument has been erected. They were 
parents of twelve children, of whom five were 
living at the close of the nineteenth century, 
viz: Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Clark; Benja- 



612 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



man, of near Stockton, Cal. ; Frank, of Bel- 
ding. Mich.; Ella ^Mrs. George Eldred), of 
Mecosta county, and Mrs. Cornpton. 

.As stated in a previous paragraph, Mr. 
Cornpton is a leading farmer of Plaintield, and 
one of the township's representative citizens, 
honored and respected for his many sterling 
qualities and manliness of character. His 
home life is most agreeable, and every com- 
mendable movement for the public good is 
sure to enlist his sympathy and active co- 
operation. In politics he was originally a re- 
publican, and cast his first presidential ballot 
for Ulysses S. Grant, but of late years he is 
actise in support of the democratic party, be- 
lieving the principles it represents to be for 
the best interest of the country. He is iden- 
tified with the Masonic and Odd Fellow fra- 
ternities, belonging to the lodges at Mill 
Creek and Rockford, respectively. While not 
members of any church, Mr. and Mrs. Cornp- 
ton believe in the great religious principles for 
which the church stands and actively support 
an}' moral or religious movement calculated to 
benefit and uplift humanity. 

They are parents of four children: Will- 
iam R., Clara May, Edith, and Sabra, whose 
birthday is e.xactly ten years to a day later 
than that of the eldest. The family now ha\e 
their happy home on the old Pinkney home- 
stead, entered from the government by Mrs. 
Compton's father, to which Mr. Compton has 
considerably added and has also greatly im- 
proved. 



HILANDER COLLINS, well-known in 
B3'ron township, Kent county, Mich., 
for the past quarter of a century as a 
a man of integrity and as a prosper- 
ous farmer and dairyman, is a native of Wayne 
county, was born April 17, 1856, about eight 
n:iles from the citv of Detroit, and is the sec- 



ond in a family of nine children — ^ seven sons 
and two daughters — born to John and Nancy 
(Williams) Collins, of which family there are 
three known still as surviving, viz: Philander, 
the subject of this sketch; James, and Lucre- 
tia, the latter the wife of Owen Blain, a farm- 
er of Gaines township, Kent count}'. Mr. Col- 
lins can trace his paternal ancestry in America 
for 265 years back, the first John Collins hav- 
ing arrivjed in Boston only five years after the 
landing of the Mayflower. From Massachusetts 
John C'ollins went to Connecticat, became a 
major in the Continental army, and from him 
descends the subject of this sketch. 

John Collins, father of Philander of the 
ninth generation and ninth in name from the 
original John, was born in Windsor, Canada, 
September 36, 1830, and was a ship-carpenter 
by trade; he had come to Michigan while it 
was yet a territory, and was here educated in 
the common schools and learned his trade. 
His father, also named John, was a wealthy 
man at one time, located in Detroit when there 
were very few buildings in that city, and once 
owned the land on which its city-hall now 
stands. He was a hero of the war of 18 12, 
under the then Capt. William Henry Harrison, 
later the victor of the battle of Tippecanoe and 
still later president of the United States.' 

In January, 1872, John Collins, father of 
Philander, visited Grand Rapids, remained 
there until the following summer, and 
then settled on 240 acres of dense forest land 
in Byron township. He erected a little frame 
shanty I4.\ 18 feet, with but one room, which 
served the purpose of living-room and sleep- 
ing-room. Indians frequently passed by the 
shanty and deer were to be seen from the door- 
way. Besides his 240 acres, Mr. Collins owned 
some city property, all of which had been 
earned by his own industry. 

In politics Mr. Collins was first a whig, 
but became a republican and voted for the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



613 



first nominee of the latter party for the presi- 
dency — John Charles Fremont. In religion 
Mr. Collins was a faithful Methodist, and in 
this faith he passed away August 7, 1S94, 
highly esteemed by all who knew him, and in 
his death the township lost a good citizen, the 
wife an affectionate husband, and the children 
a loving father. 

Mrs. Nancy Collins was born in Wales, 
near the English line, December 15, 1832, a 
daughter of Timothy and Dorothy Williams. 
At the age of twelve years she embarked with 
her parents on board a sailing vessel at Liver- 
pool, and after a stormy voyage of three 
months landed in New York cit\', whence they 
came, via the Erie canal and Buffalo, to 
Wayne county, Mich. She now resides with 
her son, is in good health and of sound men- 
tality, and is a devoted member of the Division 
street Methodist Episcopal church at Grand 
Rapids. 

Philander Collins was a lad of si.xteen years 
when he came with his parents to Kent county. 
He had received a good common-school edu- 
cation, and in his earlier manhood was a 
member of the Grand Rapids city fire depart- 
ment, yet spent a part of his time as a brick- 
mason, or at anything by which he could earn 
an honest dollar, but his later years have been 
passed in agricultural pursuits. 

Mr. Collins was united in marriage, No- 
vember 6, 1879, with Miss Cecelia Curran, 
and this union has been crowned with eight 
children, born in the following order: Margaret, 
wife of F. Baker, a farmer of Byron township; 
Benjamin J., who has completed the eighth 
grade in school and still resides with his par- 
ents; Matthew C, who has also passed the 
eighth grade; John H., in the seventh grade; 
Frank, in the si.xth; Mary, Owen and Daniel 
P., also attending school. 

Mrs. Cecelia Collins was born in Amster- 
dam, N. Y., April 15, 1855, 's a daughter of 



John and Margaret (Hays) Curran, and was a 
child when brought by her parents to Grand 
Rapids, which was 'then a small town and 
Monroe street lined with wooden structures 
and the only railroad the D. & IvI. Her par- 
ents purchased fifty acres of land in Walker 
township and there and in the city her school- 
days were passed. She was confirmed in the 
Catholic faith by Bishop I^eFevre, at Grand 
Rapids, and in that faith her parents were 
called away. 

In the fall of 1881 Mr. and Mrs. Philander 
Collins settled on their farm of 100 acres in 
Byron township, and all the improvements on 
the place have been made by Mr. Collins and 
his estimable wife. His comfortable dwelling 
was completed in 1882, his farm has been well 
drained, and by hard work and intelligent 
direction of his energies he has made it one of 
the most productive in Byron township, the 
soil being a mi.xture of clay, muck and sand 
loam. He has added d:;iirying to farming, and 
of this he has made a success, being recognized 
as one of the industrious, enterprising and up- 
right citizens of the township. 

Mr. Collins is a stanch republican, has 
served as justice of the peace four years — hav- 
ing been elected in 1895 — has been an official 
on the district school board three years, and 
has several times been selected as delegate to 
republican county and senatorial conventions. 
With his wife, he is an ardent friend of the 
public-school system and of the best grade of 
schools and teachers, and as a party man has the 
implicit confidence of his people in his ability 
and integrity. 

Mr. and Mrs. Collins began their married 
life with but little capital, but to-day own a 
handsome homestead, free from incumbrance, 
and have afforded an e.xample of enterprise 
and industry well worthy the imitation of their 
juniors. They are kind to the poor and benev- 
olent in their contributions to those projects 



614 



THE. CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



which are designed to promote the public 
welfare; they have aided financially in the 
erection of the Congregational church-building 
in southeast Byron, as well as in many other 
benevolences, and have well earned the high 
esteem in which they are held by all the resi- 
dents of Byron township. 




BRAM F. COOK. — Succeeding gen- 
erations will search with interest 
and an.xiety to learn something 
definite of those who, braving the 
dangers and sharing the privations incident to 
a new, wild country, peopled mainly with wild 
animals and still wilder men, carved out for 
themselves and their successors permanent and 
substantial homes, and, dying, passed from 
the scenes of effort, handing to sons and 
daughters a heritage made more honored and 
valued by the bravery and self-sacrifice shown 
in its making. 

Western New York was peopled mainly by 
those brave men who won undying honor and 
renown, as soldiers, under the gallant Sullivan, 
in the memorable expedition, during the 
Revolution, against the five nations who were 
seduced by British emissaries into taking up 
arms against the colonists. Steuben county 
especially presented attractions and advan- 
tages for many of them, and from such ances- 
tors the Cook family, who were pioneers in 
Kent county, Mich., sprang. 

Jesse Cook was born in that grand county, 
named in honor of a hero; there married 
Rachael Fisher, and sought a home in Ontario. 
He was not of the brood that was contented 
to live under king and queen, and soon came 
into the then territory of Michigan. They set- 
tled at first at Pontiac, Oakland county, where 
they resided some thirteen years, and where 
Abram F. Cook was born on the 17th day 
of November, 1836. 



In the spring of 1849, half a century ago, 
they came to Kent county, and going deep 
into a wilderness, secured the land that is now 
embodied in the farm of their son. Covered 
with beech and maple trees, centuries old, and 
presenting a defiant attitude in their broad 
branches, and great trunks three feet in thick- 
ness, that would have daunted any but a brave- 
hearted, strong-armed, stout-limbed man, sup- 
ported by a no less brave woman, to whom 
too much credit cannot be accorded in the en- 
couragement extended and fortitude displayed. 
Not an ax had ever sounded in this wild, but 
now its blows could be heard, startling the 
birds and squirrels from their aerial homes. It 
was the first of millions such, and was followed 
up with stroke and stroke, till a log house was 
erected, fields cleared, fences constructed, and 
another home was made where peace and con- 
tentment have reigned, from whence, in these 
later years, men have gone forth to take up 
other duties no less onerous or less important 
than those done half a century past. ■ Here 
Jesse Cook made his home until called from 
earth, about r874, at the age of seventy-si.\ 
years. His widow survived him eleven years, 
when she passed away in her eighty-fourth 
year. Of their eleven children, ten grew to 
maturity, but of these four only now are liv- 
ing, viz: S. R. and J. R., of Cascade town- 
ship; Abram F., the subject of this review, 
and Lydia M., a widow, residing in California. 
William Cook, one of the sons, who lived in 
Cascade township, died about seven years ago, 
and his daughter, Lydia, is now a member of 
his brother's family. 

Abram F. Cook assisted his father on the. 
home place until twenty-threeyearsold and then 
started in to make a separate set of improve- 
ments on the farm, and after his mother's 
death purchased the homestead, which he still 
owns and were he resides. At the age of 
twenty-three, also, Mr. Cook married Miss 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



G15 



Maria L. Patterson, a daughter of Jacob and 
Rose Ann (Carlton) Patterson, and a niece of 
Miner Patterson, whose life sketch will be found 
on another page of this work. Mrs. Cook 
was born on a farm where the Paris school- 
house now stands; she and her husband were 
school-mates and reared almost together from 
childhood. To their happy union have been 
born three children, viz: Frank J., who is 
abstracter in the county register's office, and 
resides in Grand Rapids. ■ He had served as 
deputy register for two years, and for two 
years worked in the county treasurer's office. 
Byron L., the second child, was for six years 
in the commission house of Mosley & Stevens, 
Grand Rapids, where he attained an admira- 
ble record, being held in greatest respect by all 
his associates. He died July 26, 1898, at the 
age of thirty-three years. He was a remark- 
ably bright and industrious young man, whose 
friends were numbered by the score. Fred A. , 
the third child, is the able assistant of his 
father on the home farm. Mr. and Mrs. Cook 
are members of the Church of Christ at Cas- 
cade, of which he is one of the official board, 
and in politics is a republican, yet he is not at 
all demonstrative or aggressive in his political 
manifestations. 

Jacob Patterson, father of Mrs. Cook, died 
at the age of sixty-two years, and his wife at 
the age of seventy-eight. The latter was born 
in Washtenaw county, where she was married 
and was the mother of one child when they came 
to live in Kent county, where the last four 
years of her life were passed at the home of her 
daughter, Mrs. Cook. The children born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Patterson were eight in number, 
all of whom are still living excepting Frank, 
who died at the age of thirty-five years. The 
survivors are Sarah, of Fremont count}', Iowa, 
and wife of Nelson Henry; Rilla, married to 
.Edwin Bailey, of Paris, Mich. James of Okla- 
homa; Maria (Mrs. Cook); Clara, wife of H. H. 



Henshaw, of Chicago, 111. ; Hewitt, a mail- 
carrier, of Grand Rapids, and Bert, a boot 
and shoe dealer, of the same city. 




VLVESTER R. COOK, a prosperous 
farmer in section No. 28, Cascade 
township, I\ent county, Mich., and an 
ex-soldier of the Civil war, was born 
in Hornellsville, Steuben county, N. Y. , May 
28, 1830, and is a son of Jesse and Rachel 
(Fisher) Cook, the former of whom was a shoe- 
maker by trade and came to Wayne county, 
Mich., when the subject of this sketch was 
but four years old. 

At the age of eighteen years, Sylvester R. 
Cook went -to Livingston county and ran a 
threshing machine and separator, and in 1853 
operated an eight-horse separator — more than 
likely the first ever used in Kent county — and 
it was known to be the first ever set up at 
Grand Rapids. In 1857 he bought land in 
Cascade township, the tract then comprising 
eighty acres, all heavily timbered, and to this 
he added another equall}' wild tract of eighty 
acres. He had but few neighbors within miles, 
and no roads, so that he found it difficult to 
define the boundaries of his possessions. He 
succeeded in hewing out a profitable farm from 
the beech and maple forest, and it is hardly 
necessary to say that this was accomplished 
only by the hardest kind of work. Nor is this 
all; he continued to purchase additional land, 
until he eventually owned 300 acres, of which 
he still owns 160, having divided the remainder 
among his sons, who are located near by and 
all of whom are prospering. 

At the age of twenty-six years, Mr. Cook 
married Miss Melissa Bailey, sister of Sluman 
S. Bailey, and for thirty years they were help- 
mates, he managing the farm and she the 
i household affairs. Two years after his wife's 



61G 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



death, Mr. Cook married Miss Laney Diefen- 
becker, of Alaska, Kent county. To the first 
marriage were born five children, viz: William 
L. , a farmer in Brown county, S. Dak. ; Charles 
W. ; Joseph S. and Sluman B., farmers, and 
Mary Melissa, wife of Ralph Darling, of Paris 
township. ■ To the second marriage one child 
has been born — Ray G., still at home. 

In politics, Mr. Cook is a republican, and 
has filled various township offices, but he is 
more interested in placing suitable men in 
local official positions than he is in the election 
of party nominees. 

Mr. Cook has a good war record: In 1S62 
he enlisted in company H, Si.xth Michigan 
cavalry, and was assigned to the army of the 
Potomac. He had charge of a squad de- 
tailed to patrol the city of Washington, D. C, 
after having been for some time on picket duty 
in the city. He attended Ford's theater the 
night President Lincoln was assassinated, but 
had left the place before the dastardly tragedy 
occurred. He was also at Fort Stevens when 
Gen. Early threatened to attack the cit}'. He 
was honorably discharged at the close of the 
war, with the rank of orderly-sergeant, to re- 
turn home and become one of Cascade's most 
useful, substantial and honored citizens. 




OHX \V.. COOPER, M. D., an eminent 
physician and surgeon of Grandville, 
Wyoming township, Kent county, 
Mich., has been in active practice in 
this village the past twenty-six years, and has 
been so successful that he is well entitled to 
the prominence in his profession which he now 
enjoys. 

Dr. Cooper was born in Whitestown, 
Oneida county, N. Y., September 19, 1842, 
and is a son of William and Zada (Bailey) 
Cooper, the former of Holland, or Dutch de- 
scent, as some of the best New York families 



are known to have been, and the latter of 
English extraction. Of the five sons born to 
these parents, four still survive, one being a 
clergyman, one a railroad man and one a 
farmer, and one a physician, the latter being 
the subject of this sketch, but who was, how- 
ever, the third born child of the family. 

The doctor was reared on his father's farm 
until about sixteen years of age, but did not 
have a very hard time of it, as his time was 
utilized more for the execution of chores and 
other light farm work, and yet he became 
quite fatniliar with agriculture as a whole. 
Until the age of sixteen he had at frequent in- 
tervals an opportunity of attending the com- 
mon schools, and then for four years received 
instruction at Wnitestown seminary. He 
was a studious and methodical young man, 
and for five winters taught in the schools of 
the vicinit}'. 

He began the study of medicine under Drs. 
Whiting and Charles E. Smith, in the village 
of Whitestown, with whom he studied three 
years, including his attendance at lectures. 
He graduated from the medical college at 
Albany, N. Y., in the class of 1865. In May, 
1866, he began the active practice of his pro- 
fession at North Bay. Oneida county, N. Y. , 
where he remained two years. Thence he 
came to Michigan, practiced in Girard, Branch 
county, and Jamestown Center, remaining in 
the latter place from March, 1870. until May 
5, 1873, when he came to Grandville, where 
he has practiced ever since, and now stands 
at the head of the medical profession in his 
vicinitj'. 

Dr. Cooper was united in marriage at 
Rochester, N. Y. , April 16, 1S68, with Miss 
Lucy E. Whitehead, daughter of Benjamin 
and Deborah (Robinson) Whitehead. This 
marriage has been blessed with six children, of 
whom Albert B. is in the emploj- of the well- 
known wholesale book and stationery firm of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



617 



A. C. McClurg &Co. , of Chicago, III.; Addie 
O. is the wife of Daniel H. Pitts, of the same 
city; \\'illiain B. is a prosperous farmer of 
Georgetown, Ottawa county, Mich.; Charles 
H. is bookkeeper for the Consumers' Ice Co. 
of Grand Rapids; and Ethel E. and Nellie I. 
are still at school. 

Fraternally the doctor is a member of Cres- 
cent lodge. No. 322, F. &. A. M. ; Grand Rap- 
ids chapter. No. 7, and the Tyre council, No. 
10. He is also a Knight of the Maccabees, 
and likewise a member of the Grand River Med- 
ical society, of which he has served as presi- 
dent and secretar)', and before which he has 
read many valuable papers on professional 
subjects. He is chairman of the republican 
township committee, and attends all his part\''s 
conventions, in which he is ever a potent 
factor. 




HESTER FRANKLIN COVELL, one 
of the most prominent fruit growers 
of Kent county, Mich., was born De- 
cember 31, i860, on a farm in sec- 
tion 22, Walker township, adjoining that on 
which he now lives, the birth-farm being now 
owned by a half-brother, George P. Hoga- 
done. His parents, Philip F. and Sarah 
(Thompson) Covell, were respectively born in 
Cabot, Vt., and Canada, and were married in 
Michigan. 

Philip F. Covell, born December 12, 1806, 
was a carpenter by trade, came to Michigan in 
1837, 3ncl assisted in building the old Sweet 
grist-mill, on Grand river, and also some of 
the first houses in Grand Rapids, some of 
which are still standing. Pie ground-the first 
grist in the mill mentioned, and a year later 
returned to New York state, where he married 
Maria Abbott, returning with her to Michigan 
the year following and located on a farm in 
Alpine township, Kent county, but in a few 



years returned to Grand Rapids, where he en- 
gaged in the grocery business, and where his 
wife died. He chose for his second wife Sarah 
Hogadone, nee Thompson, and the widow of 
Peter Hogadone, a farmer of Walker town- 
ship, on which his son, Chester F. , was born. 
Three years later, in 1864, he sold this farm 
and purchased the farm now occupied by 
Chester F. Here he erected the present dwell- 
ing and cultivated his 240 acres of land, the 
greater part of which he himself cleared of the 
timber. He was for some years, also, engaged 
in lumbering, and owned a saw-mill at Cedar 
Springs, where he manufactured lumber from 
timber cut from pine lands purchased for the 
purpose. He was an original stockholder in 
and promoter of the Walker & Alpine Plank 
Road company, the road passing his premises 
and being built about twenty years ago, and 
in this he held an interest for more than ten 
years. Also, he was a stockholder in and an 
officer of the old Kent County Fair associa- 
tion, and one of the original stockholders in the 
Fifth National bank, and owned, beside, con- 
siderable real-estate in Grand Rapids, where 
he built a business block and several fine 
dwellings. 

In politics Mr. Covell was a republican, 
and for several years served as township treas- 
urer. In religion he was a Methodist, and a 
trustee of the Second street church in Grand 
Rapids, and was also very active in Sunday- 
school work and a liberal contributor to the 
support of both. Fraternally he was an Odd 
Fellow. He lost his wife November 3, 1893, 
and his own death occurred July 3, 1896. 

To the first marriage were born five daugh- 
ters, viz: Addie, wife of E. E. Anderson, of 
Shelby, Iowa; Emma, unmarried and living 
in the city; Mary, wife of Alva Loucks, of 
Grand Rapids; Lottie, wife of J. H. Ream, of 
Peru, Ind. ; and Frances, wife of C. E. Kipp, 
of Walker township, Kent county, Mich. 



(318 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Chester F. Covell, the subject of this sketch, 
was born to the second marriage. Mrs. Co- 
vell, by her first marriage, was the mother of 
one son, George P. Hogadone, of whom a 
biography is given on another page. 

Chester F. Covell was educated in the 
public schools of Grand Rapids, and also at a 
commercial college in the same city, and dur- 
ing the latter years of his father's life assumed 
the management of the farm, which contains 
i6o acres, mainly devoted to fruit culture. He 
has 3,000 peach trees and twenty acres in ber- 
ries and small fruits, and grows several acres 
in tomatoes. His farm is one of the best im- 
proved in the county, being equipped with a 
steam-engine, feed-mill, cutting-box, wind- 
mill for pumping, and all other conveniences. 

Fraternally, Mr. Covell is a member of 
Doric lodge, F. & A. M., and also a member 
of the Horticultural society and the Fruit 
Growers' association. In politics he is a re- 
publican, has served as township treasurer, 
and been a delegate to county and district 
conventions. Although not a member ot any 
religious society, he is liberal in his contribu- 
tions toward church purposes. 

Mr. Covell was united in marriage, March 
26, 1884, at Detroit, with Miss Florence Mc- 
Cullough, who was born at Milford, Mich., 
but reared in Ontario, and to this union have 
been born three children — Helen, Kate and 
Ruth — who are now attending school, and 
socially Mr. and Mrs. Covell mingle with the 
best people of the township, as well as of the 
city. 




HE ROCKFORD REGISTER.— The 
press is the great leveler of all differ- 
ences, and promoter of opinions, and 
is acknowledged to be one of the 
greatest forces as a civilizer. The functions 
of a cleanly edited paper are multifarious, and 
the eye of the editor must be that of a critic 



as well as that of a detective, that articles of 
a dangerous and scurrilous character may not 
find a place in the columns which he super- 
vises or controls. Each and every city or 
town is proud of an ably edited journal, of 
home news and enterprise. The home news- 
paper has the " open sesame " to every home, 
which comes under its influence. The Rock- 
ford Register, an eight - page, forty - eight 
column quarto, was established February 11, 
1871, and was at that period a little folio. 

C. H. Cowdin, founder and present pro- 
prietor, whose former years had been partially 
spent as a teacher, forsook the haunts of 
pedagogy to take up the duties of a journalist. 
He is a native of Dexter, Washtenaw county, 
Mich., and was born May i, 1S33. His edu- 
cation was mostly obtained under the tutelage 
of his parents, since they were more than ordi- 
narily well educated. They were both teach- 
ers and were well-known for their standing in 
the educational line. His life has been passed 
in the professions of teacher and journalist. 
We clip from the home journal the following, 
which is very complimentary to the gentleman: 

C. H. Cowdin, founder and proprietor of 
the Register, celebrated his fiftieth anniversary 
Thursday, June 3, 1897. Not of his wedding, 
however, but this is about the size of it. The 
morning of June 3, 1847, he presented himself, 
as a "cub" in the office of the Lima (Ohio) 1 
Reporter, Mr. Edward Maro (who died in Oc- \ 
tober, 1849), being the proprietor. The Re- 
porter was a whig paper of four pages, five 
columns to the page, set in small pica and 
long primer type. For fifty years the print- 
ing business has, in the main, been his occu- 
pation, and he has not quit it yet, but, like 
eating, he still keeps at it, "these few lines," 
being a specimen of his skill. 

He worked at his trade at Lima, Sidney 
and Republic, Ohio; Fort Wayne, Ind. ; New- 
port, Ky., then came to Rockford, Mich., and 
February 11, 1871, issued the first copy of the 
Register. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



619 



He wedded in February, 1862, Miss Mar- 
garet H. Underwood, a native of the Bucke\'e 
state. Siie was born in the vicinity of Lima, 
November 10, 1S3S, and two sons have been 
born to this marriage, viz: Charles R. , who 
is a practical newspaper man of Belding, Mich., 
in partnership with E. B. Lapham. The}' are 
the editors and publishers of the Belding Ban- 
ner, a si.x-column quarto, forty-eight columns, 
and is a beautiful paper, tN'pographicallj-. It 
has a circulation of 1,000. These gentlemen 
have one of the most complete newspaper 
plants in the state of Michigan, and they are 
making of it a signal success; Charles R. 
Cowdin married Miss Mae DeGeer, a native 
of Michigan and an adopted daughter of a Con- 
gregational minister, Rev. W. W. DeGeer, 
and a niece of the latter's wife. Two children 
have been born to this marriage — Walter and 
Florence. Mr. Cowdin is a stanch republican, 
is a member of the county committee, and has 
been elected three times as the city clerk of 
Belding. 

H. Ear! Cowdin, the younger son of C. H. 
and Margaret H. Cowdin, and the present 
editor and general manager of the Rockford 
Register, is a native of Lima, Ohio, was born 
July 20, 1870, and is a graduate of the Rock- 
ford high school, of the class of 1887. He is 
a born printer and journalist. He and his 
brother Charles are said to be the youngest 
editors in the state. When but a little boy of 
eight summers, he would climb up to the case 
to set type. In May, 1889, he assumed the 
entire management of the Register, the third 
oldest paper in the county outside of Grand 
Rapids, and is classed among the practical 
printers of Kent county. He also is the editor 
and publisher of the Michigan Messenger, the 
official organ of the Michigan division, Sons of 
Veterans, and which is sent to every member 
of the order in Michigan, the issues averaging 
2,500 copies. He wedded Miss Flora J. Ar- 



nott, a native of Kent county, September 21, 
1893, and a little son, Alden Arnott, born May 
17, 1896, and a baby daughter, Marjorie, born 
August 28, 1899, grace the union. Mrs.' Cow- 
din was born in November, 1870, graduated 
from the commercial class of 1889, and then 
attended Alma college one year. Mr. and 
Mrs. Cowdin are both members of the Congre- 
gational church at Rockford. Mr. Cowdin is 
a stanch republican politically, cast his first 
presidential vote for Benjamin Harrison; was 
vice-president of the Kent County Young Men's 
Republican club for the two years — 1897-99 — 
and in 1899 was elected first vice-president of 
the Lincoln Republican club; was elected as 
village clerk within two months after his ma- 
jority, and is now the incumbent of that office. 
Socially he is prominent as a member of the 
Sons of Veterans, was state commander of the 
Michigan division in 1896, was re-elected in 
1S97. He doubled the membership in nine 
months during the first year he held the office, 
and the ne.xt year he increased the member- 
ship eighty-iive per cent. At the completion 
of his first year he was awarded the silver cross 
of the order, and at the end of the second year 
was presented an officer's sword, which is a 
high testimonial to his competency. He was 
asked to again assume the office, but declined 
on account of pressing business interests. He 
is also a member of Rockford lodge. No. 246, 
F. & A. M., and of the K. O. T. M., No. 684. 
To revert to the career of C. H. Cowdin 
the father of H. E. Cowdin. it should be re- 
corded that he was one of the brave men who 
went to the front during the Civil war. He 
enlisted in company I, Thirty-fourth Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, September 15, 1862, and 
served until his honorable discharge, June 27, 
1865. Mrs. Cowdin's brother, Robert Under- 
wood, was a member of the same company, 
but it should be added that Mrs. Cowdin had 
four brothers in the war, two of whom were 



620 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



captains, and C. H. Cowdin had two brothers 
in the service, one of whom, Frank B., was 
adjutant of the Twenty-seventh Ohio infantry. 

The name Cowdin is of Scotch origin, and 
a branch of the family emigrated from Scot- 
land to America in the sixteenth century and 
settled in Massachusetts. Miss Ada Howard, 
of Methuen, Mass., a first cousin of C. H. 
Cowdin, was a former president of Wellesley 
college. 

The Register plant is complete in its fur- 
nishings and contains an eight-column Prouty 
press, which is capable of running off Soo to 
1,000 copies per hour; and is also furnished 
with a Gordon press, with platen 10x15 
inches, both run by the Backus water motor 
power, twenty-two inches in size. The large 
press was placed in the office in 1S93 and the 
water motor in 1897; the Gordon took the 
place of an " Aldine, " and there is also a 7 .x 1 1 
Model jobber, and a twenty-three-inch Leader 
paper cutter. The plant is valued at $1,500. 
As already mentioned H. E. Cowdin is the 
editor and compiler of the work of the paper, 
and also the manager of the job and mechan- 
ical department. The job work is metropoli- 
tan in style, and consequently entices the pat- 
ronage of the business men of Rockford. The 
paper itself is cleanly edited, is typographically 
and grammatically correct, and will class well 
with any paper in a town of 2,500 population. 



LIFTON S. COWLES, a scion of one 
of the best-known pioneer families 
of Spencer township, Kent county, 
Mich., and himself a highly respected 
citizen, is a native of Moline, 111., was born 
September 24, 1853, and is the second child 
in the family of Shepard B. and Louise J. 
(Fletcher) Cowles, whose family history will 
be found in full in this work. 



Clifton S. Cowles was but a mere child 
when his parents removed from Illinois to 
Ohio, where they lived two years only, and 
then came with the family to Kent county, 
Mich., where he has since lived, and engaged 
in the pursuit of agriculture. He received a 
rudimentary education in the district school, 
but was an apt scholar and very observant, 
and as he grew to manhood's years was noted 
for his industry, firmness of character and 
decision of purpose. 

July 5, 1878, Mr. Cowles wedded Mrs. 
Louisa (Cowles) Hart, and this union was 
graced with five children — one son and four 
daughters — of whoui, however, three only sur- 
vive, viz: Edith L., and Persis S., who are 
students in the high school, class of 1901, at 
Greenville, and Georgia L. 

Mrs. Louisa Cowles was born in Dumfries, 
Ontario, Canada, June 19, 1S46, and is a 
daughter of Solomon and Persis (Shaw 
Cowles, whose family consisted of four sons 
and three daughters, of whom, besides Mrs. 
Cowles, only two are living, viz: Charles S., 
and Richard B., extensive farmers. Mrs. 
Cowles received a common-school education 
and is a lady of most pleasing address. Her 
parents, now deceased, were of English de- 
scent; and her uncles, the Shaws, were re- 
nowned as tanners in Canada and the New 
England states. Mrs. Cowles was but thirteen 
years of age when she came to Michigan with 
her parents, who settled in Ionia county, 
where her father took up 320 acres of land in 
Keene, twelve miles from Ionia, and there 
died, aged sixty-seven years. Her mother 
then lived with Mrs. Cowles till her death, 
aged eighty-one years, having survived her 
husband twenty-one years. In politics the 
father was of republican tendencies, and in 
religion he and wife were at first Presbyterians, 
but in their latter years became Congregation- 
alists. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



6-21 



Clifton S. Cowles purchased his present 
farm about 1S73. It comprised eighty acres 
of pine land, from which considerable of the 
timber had been cut, and the first habitation 
occupied here by Mr. and Mrs. Cowles was a 
log cabin, which still stands. They endured 
the usual hardships of frontier life, as all was 
solid timber from their home to Trufant, four 
miles distant, with no highways, no neighbors. 
Mrs. Cowles well remembers the lonesome 
days she passed with her little children while 
her husband was toiling in clearing up the 
homestead. Indians roamed about and deer 
gamboled on their premises. But they toiled 
hard to carve out a home from the woods and 
to rear their children in respectability, and, 
notwithstanding some ill-fortune, they have 
succeeded admirably. Pine trees have given 
place to fields and meadows, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Cowles now own 160 acres of good ara- 
ble land, highly cultivated and improved with 
all the conveniences of modern farm life — the 
result of their own efforts. 

Mr. Cowles is liberal and broad in his po- 
litical views, and cast his first presidential 
vote for Peter Cooper, the father of the green- 
back party, and his last for William J. Bryan. 
Mr. Cowles has served his fellow-townsmen 
as justice of the peace for almost twelve years, 
has been school inspector two or three years, 
and for many years has been a member of the 
school board. He favors employing the best 
instructors the district school funds will per- 
mit, and in bringing the school to the highest 
efficiencv'. On several occasions, Mr. Cowles 
has acted as delegate to conventions. In 
his religious views Mr. Cowles is a Universal- 
is!. Mr. and Mrs. Cowles have done their full 
share in contributing to the promotion of all 
benevolent projects, and never fail to con- 
tribute toward advancing the public welfare as 
far as their means will permit. They are 
highly prized as citizens, and enjoy the 

32 



esteem of every member of the community 
among whom they have passed so many years 

of usefulness. 




\SON C. COWLES, one of the 
young and enterprising agricultur- 
ists of Spencer township, Kent 
county, Mich., is a member of a 
well-known and influential famil}- of the same, 
and was born January 27, 1868, on the old 
Spencer township homestead. He is the sev- 
enth in a family of eleven children, seven 
sons and four daughters, born to Shepard B. 
and Marian A. (Conant) Cowles, the full rec- 
ord of which family may be learned by con- 
sulting the sketch of the father at another 
place in this volume. 

Mr. Cowles of this sketch received such 
an education as could be acquired from the 
advantages of the common schools of his na- 
tive township and was reared to honest toil as 
a farmer, which vocation he has followed 
through life. He is a young man who has 
ever lived a life of integrity and honor, has al- 
ways been active and industrious, and has 
been a credit both to himself and his family. 

On the 30th of November, 1890, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Minnie Sipple, a 
native of Courtland township, but reared in 
Nelson. To this union there has been born 
one daughter, Cleo. 

Mrs. Cowles was born on the 33d of 
March, 1871, and is a daughter of William 
and Katie (Stoll) Sipple. There were three 
brothers and one sister in the family, all of 
whom are living, viz: John, agriculturist, re- 
siding in Nelson township; William, also a 
farmer of Nelson township; Minnie and Alvah. 
The father of Mrs. Cowles was born in Ger- 
many, and at an early age was brought to 
America by his parents, Christopher and Mag- 
gie Sipple, who settled in Courtland township. 



62-2 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Kent county, Mich., where the mother still 
resides. Here he followed the lumber busi- 
ness for many years and is a successful farmer 
of the vicinity. In his political predilection 
he is a stanch republican and strongly upholds 
the principles of that party. He now lives on 
his old home with his son, William, Jr. His 
wife died when Mrs. Cowles was eighteen 
years of age, when she became his house- 
keeper until her marriage. 

Mr. Cowles took charge of the old home- 
stead in the year 1892. He has since by his 
diligence and industry been able to buy out the 
other heirs and is keeping the farm in excel- 
lent repair and neatness. He has eighty acres of 
the 260 that originally constituted the home- 
stead. He makes potatoes a leading crop. 

Mr. Cowles is,, in politics, a non-partisan 
and casts his vote for the man rather than the 
party. He and his wife are charitably dis- 
posed and are ever ready and willing to lend a 
helping hand to the poor and needy. They 
are people who hold the highest respect of all 
their acquaintances in Spencer and surrounding 
countr\-. 



,m 



HEPARD B. COWLES, one of the best 
known citizens of Spencer township, 
Kent county, Mich., and hero of two 
of the nation's wars, was born in Am- 
herst, Hampshire county, Mass., March 15, 
1826, and is a son of Sylvester and Sophronia 
(Mason) Cowles, who were the parents of 
three sons and three daughters, of whom four 
still survive, vi^: Newell M., a retired farmer 
and wealthy resident of Brunswick, Medina 
county, Ohio; Shepard B., the subject of this 
memoir; Millura, wife of Jerome Fredericks, a 
prominent Freemason and prosperous mechanic 
of Conneaut, Ohio, and Emily, wife of Louis 
E. Remsburg, a successful merchant at Ohio, 
Bureau county. 111. 



The name of Cowles is of English origin, 
and the Cowles family of America traces its 
lineage to John Cowles, who was born about 
1593, sailed from England about 1635, and 
died in Massachusetts in 1675. S. B. Cowles, 
whose name stands at the head of this article, 
has still in his possession a genealogical tree 
of the Cowles family, running from 1635 up 
to the present time, showing that nearly all 
those of the name in the United States de- 
scend from the above mentioned John Cowles. 

Sylvester Cowles, father of Shepard B., 
was born in Amherst, Mass., March 12, 1795, 
and died in Ohio in 1S80. He was a mason 
by trade, but an agriculturist chiefly by occu- 
pation, and his estate adjoined the campus of 
the celebrated Amherst college. After mar- 
riage he removed to the state of New York, 
and thence to Ohio, in 1836 purchased land in 
the Western Reserve, and there passed the re- 
mainder of his life. Politically, he was first a 
whig and later a republican, and religiously 
both he and wife were Congregationalists. 

Mrs. Sophronia Cowles was a native of 
Cummington, Mass., was born in 1800, and 
died in 1879. She was liberally educated at 
Belchertown (Mass.) seminary, was a great 
favorite wherever she made her home, and 
was a lad}' of fine instinct and high principles. 

Shepard B. Cowles was but a small boy 
when taken from Massachusetts to New York, 
and was ten years of age when taken to Ohio, 
where he lived until he had attained his ma- 
jority. May 24, 1847, he enlisted at Cleve- 
land as a volunteer for the Mexican war, in 
company E, Fourth regular infantry. He took 
part in the battle of National Bridge, under 
Gen. Franklin Pierce, and was thence sent, 
under the same general, to Pueblo, to rein- 
force Gen. Winfield Scott. He was present 
at the battles of Cherubusco, Molino del Rey 
and Chepultepec. After the fall of the city of 
Mexico he was for three months on guard 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



623 



duty, or until the final surrender of the Mex- 
icans, and was paid off in the hralls of the 
Montezumas after peace was declared. He is 
still a pensioner of the Me.xican war. After 
his return to Ohio, he located his land warrant 
of eighty acres in Wood county, but afterward 
sold his land, started across the plains of 
California with an e.\pedition, but so much 
sickness prevailed in the party he withdrew 
and returned to Ohio, where his first marriage 
took place, November 7, 1850, to Miss Louise 
J. Fletcher, the result being four sons and one 
daughter, of whom three sons and one daugh- 
ter are still living, viz: Volney F. ; Clifton S. ; 
Franklin C. ; and Louise, wife of Orwell E. 
Cole. A separate sketch of each is found in 
this volume. 

Mrs. Louise J. Cowles was born at Olm- 
sted, Ohio, February 7, 1832, was a daugh- 
ter of Cotton and Sophronia (Mason) Fletcher, 
was reared and educated in her native state, 
and died July 28, 1863, a faithful member of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. 

The second marriage of Shepard B. Cowles 
took place in Oakfield, Mich., to Miss Marion 
A. Conant, a native of New York, and to this 
union were born three sons and three daugh- 
ters: Georgie M., who is married to Philo 
Lavander, a farmer of Oakfield; Mason C, of 
whom mention is made in full elsewhere; Flor- 
ence M., wife of John Sipple, of Nelson; Cor- 
win, a farmer of Spencer; Cary N., a farmer 
of Spencer; and Marion A., a teacher of music 
in Jackson county, Mich. The lamented 
death of Mrs. Marion A. (Conant) Cowles took 
place in Spencer township June 14, 1879. 

The second war experience of Shepard B. 
Cowles was during the late Rebellion, to assist 
in putting down which he was enrolled in com- 
pany G, Thirteenth Michigan infantry, Sep- 
tember 24, 1864, and assigned to the Four- 
teenth army corps, under Gen. W. T. Sher- 
man, with whom he made the famous "march 



to the sea." He was at the burning, of Atlan- 
ta, and at the siege of Savannah, Ga., and 
while on the march from the former to the lat- 
ter city was compelled to do his own foraging, 
and once, while carrying a good heavy load of 
flour he had "gobbled up," he lamed himself 
in both insteps. He was famous as a forager, 
and being liberal hearted and always ready to 
divide with his messmates and comrades, and 
being withal jovial and good natured, was a 
favorite with officers and men and escaped any 
little punishment that possibly might have 
been meted out to another soldier that could 
not handle his case welh 

At Savannah, Mr. Cowles once had a very 
' ' close call. " He was helping to erect a forti- 
fication, and while behind the enclosure spread 
his rubber poncho on a stick stuck in the 
ground and was standing erectly under this 
shelter to protect himself from the burning 
rays of the sun; but the thought struck him 
that he might as well sit down, which he did, 
and the next instant a minie ball passed 
through his little improvised tent, just above 
his head, the act of sitting saving his life. 

Mr. Cowles was present at the battle of 
Bentonville, N. C, the last battle of the war. 
At Alexandria, Va., came the shocking news 
of the assassination of President Lincoln, and 
the recent rejoicing over the surrender of Lee 
was transformed to deep-seated sorrow and 
horror. The march was continued on to 
Washington, D. C, however, and there Mr. 
Cowles was a participant in the historical 
grand review in May, and in June, 1865, he 
was honorably discharged, for the second time, 
from the military service of his country. He 
was a brave, faithful and devoted soldier, 
prompt to obey orders, never asked to go 
home on a furlough, and was never guilty of 
an act that led to his being put in the guard- 
house. 

It was in 1854 when Mr. Cowles pur- 



624 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



chased his first tract of land in section No. 
29, Spencer township, Kent county. For 
this tract of 120 acres, utterly without im- 
provement, but a wilderness of pines and 
swamps, he paid the government $1.25 per 
acre in gold, and he still holds the original 
deed to it, signed by President Franklin Pierce, 
who had formerly been his commander in the 
war with Mexico. Spencer was then a part 
of Oakfield township, so he has been a citizen 
of the former ever since and even before it 
has borne a name — for, in fact, its first name 
was Celsus. In the beginning Indians were 
numerous and deer abundant; no church, no 
school-house existed in the township, nor any 
roads. The first post-office was in section No. 
29, and Mr. Cowles was the first postmaster, 
having been appointed during President Lin- 
coln's first administration. The first habita- 
tion of Mr. Cowles in his new home was a pine 
log house, but his present handsome dwelling 
and the well-tilled farm of to-day give ample 
evidence of the thrift which has attended the 
labor and excellent management of the owner. 

As a practical mason Mr. Cowles has done 
a great deal of superior brick-work in his part 
of the count}', and among other "jobs" su- 
perintended the brick-work on the Cedar 
Springs high- school edifice; but the greater 
part of his time has been passed, since re- 
siding here, in the improving of his home- 
stead, agriculturally and otherwise. 

Politically Mr. Cowles was first a free soiler, 
but on the organization of the republican party 
joined its ranks and voted for its first presi- 
dential candidate, John C. Fremont, and later 
for Abraham Lincoln; but he is not altogether 
partisan, and in local politics will often vote 
for a good man in preference to a strictly 
party nominee. He has himself held every 
township office within the gift of the people, 
with the exception of those of supervisor and 
treasurer, and has filled each with credit to 



himself and to the satisfaction of his constit- 
uency. Fraternally he is a Freemason, and 
is also a member of Carlton post, No. 327, 
G. A. R., at Trufant, of which he is the pres- 
ent quartermaster. His guide through life 
has been the Bible, and he endeavors to fully 
live up to its teachings, taking for his model 
the Savior of man. Having himself taught 
school in Ohio for two years in his earlier 
days, he advocates the employment of the 
most experienced teachers in his present dis- 
trict. He has alwaj'sbeen an active worker in 
all things in which he has been interested, and 
has lifted himself from comparative obscurity 
to his present position as one of the leading 
and most influential men of Spencer township 
and county of Kent, and is now passing his 
declining days in peace at the home of his 
son, Clifton S., honored and beloved by all 
the community. 




OLNEY F. COWLES, a well known 
agriculturist and ex-official of Spen- 
cer township, Kent county, Mich., is 
a native of Berea, Cuyahoga count}', 
Ohio, was born November 21, 185 i, and is the 
eldest of five children — four sons and one 
daughter — born to Shepard B. and Louise 
(Fletcher) Cowles, a full biography of whom 
will be found elsewhere in this volume. It 
may here be mentioned, however, that the 
subject of this biographical notice descends 
from an ancient English family, the progenitor 
of the American branch having been born on 
Albion's isle in 1695, and in his day quite- 
prominently known in New England as John 
Cowles. 

Volney F. Cowles was a child of four years 
when his father, a hero of the Mexican and 
Civil wars, settled in Michigan among the 
pioneers of Spencer township, Kent county. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



625 



At that time Indians still roamed at will 
through the wilderness that surrounded the 
rude cabin occupied by his parents and family; 
wolves made " night hideous " with their bark- 
ing and growling, and even bears were occas- 
ional visitors, terrifying the children when they 
strayed too far from the cabin door. But to 
compensate for these annoj'ances, deer also 
abounded, and a little expenditure of either 
cash or farm produce for powder and ball suf- 
ficed to keep the family table supplied with 
ample food. 

Educational advantages in the early days 
of the life of Mr. Cowles were at a discount, 
and at nine years of age the first school he at- 
tended was held in the rude log cabin. Miss 
Louisa Ingraham being his teacher. The cost 
of educating the children was paid through the 
"rate bill," which was levied on each family 
according to the number of children who had 
attained school age. 

Volney F. Cowles is a practical brick and 
stonemason and plasterer, which trade he be- 
gan to learn when he was si.xteen years old. 
He remained with his parents until he had at- 
tained his majority, meantime giving them his 
earnings. He aided in building the Cedar 
Springs high school, of which his father was 
superintendent of construction. In 1877 he 
traveled through portions of Illinois, Iowa, 
Missouri and Mississippi. 

February 29, 1S80, Mr. Cowles wedded 
Mrs. Mary M. Powell, whose maiden name 
was Kennedy, and three children have graced 
this union, viz: Clifton V., Glenn S., and 
Gladys L. 

Mrs. Mary M. Cowles was born near 
Sparta, Ontario, June 17, 1847, and is a 
daughter of Alonzo and Harriet D. (Cook) 
Kennedy, who were the parents of five sons 
and si.\ daughters, of whom Mrs. Cowles is the 
only survivor. She was a child of nine years 
when she came to Michigan with her parents, 



who purchased forty acres in Vergennes 
township, Kent county, but subsequently 
sold this property and removed to Greenville, 
Montcalm county. Both are deceased. 

When Mr. Covvles and wife began their 
married life on their present farm of 1 20 acres, 
he was $r,8oo in debt. He also had to secure 
a team, cow, implements, etc., on credit. 
About twenty-five acres of their land had 
been cleared off, but the stumps remained, 
and it required an immense amount of hard 
labor to put it in a condition for cultivation. 
They now own 160 acres with 120 acres well 
cultivated and highly improved. They are 
free from mortgage, and their industry, fru- 
gality and perseverance afford a worthy exam- 
ple to the rising element or the township. 

Mr. Cowles cast his first presidential vote 
for Peter Cooper, the great apostle of the 
greenback party. He has been several times 
selected to represent his people in county 
conventions. He was elected township clerk 
in 1SS2 by the republicans, and re-elected 
yearly until 1S85, when he was chosen super- 
visor. In 1886 he was again elected town- 
ship clerk, and this office he has filled alto- 
gether for eleven years — a fact which indi- 
cates that his constituents have great faith in 
his integrity and ability, and this is further 
evinced by the fact that he was elected town- 
ship treasurer in 1896. He and wife are 
warm friends of the public schools and favor 
the employment of the best teachers. 

Mr. Cowdes has in his possession a copy of 
the Cowles' Genealogical Tree, running back 
to 1695, and compiled by Capt. Calvin D. 
Cowles, of the regular United States army; 
he also has the original deed, signed by Presi- 
dent Franklin Pierce, to the land in Spencer 
township, entered by his father, Shepard B. 
Cowles. 

Volney F. Cowles is a member of Evans 
tent, No. 785, Knights of the Maccabees, and 



62G 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Mrs. Covvles is a member of hive No. 696, L. 
O. T. M. 

Miss Marion A. Cowles, half-sister of 
Volney F. Cowles, has made her home with 
him and wife since she was four years of 
age. She is now a teacher of music. Mr. 
and Mrs. Cowles are of the pioneer families 
of north Kent county, and stand among the 
most prominent residents of their section of 
the state, and live fully up to the Golden 
Rule: "Do unto others as you would have 
others do unto you." 



ARDNER CRANSTON, one of the ex- 
perienced farmers of Plainfield town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., and one 
of the brave men who secved with 
the Michigan volunteers during the late Civil 
war, was born in Tompkins county, N. Y. , 
August 24, 1838, and is a son of Thomas and 
Betsey (EldredJ Cranston. 

Thomas Cranston was a native of Rhode 
Island, was born in iSor, and after several 
migrations came to Michigan in 1838 and lo- 
cated on section No. 15,. in Plainfield town- 
ship, Kent county, where his summers were 
passed in clearing up his land, and his winters 
in the manufacture of shingles, for many years. 
His death occurred in 1888. His wife was 
born in Vermont about 181 1, and her death 
took place, also on the old homestead in Plain- 
field township, in iSSo; their remains now 
rest side by side in Hall cemetery; but their 
memory is still fondlj- cherished by their chil- 
dren and the many warm friends they had 
made during their long years of life in Kent 
county. Of their family of ten, three only 
survive: Gardner, Samuel C. and Alice, wife 
of Alfred Pixley, at the old homestead. 

Gardner Cranston was reared to agricultur- 
al pursuits on his father's farm, which he 



assisted in his boyhood days in clearing up 
from the wilderness, but was accorded a fair 
district-school education. He began his busi- 
ness life on his own responsibility, about 1867, 
by purchasing a farm now containing seventy- 
six acres in Plainfield township, adjoining the 
old homestead, and here prosperity has ever 
since attended him. He was united in marriage, 
.April 7, 1867, with Miss Sarah Ann Wells, 
who was born in Plainfield township January 
27, 1848, a daughter of Robert and Laura 
(Richardson) Wells, and to this union have 
been born four children, viz: Clyde D.. a 
farmer of California; Clarence A., of Grand 
Rapids, Mich., and George, at home, but who 
is a carpenter and cabinet maker, and Laura, 
who is a music teacher. 

Robert Wells, the father of Mrs. Cranston, 
was born in Madison county, N. Y. , about 
1809, came to Plainfield, Mich., in 1847, and 
here followed his trade of blacksmith until his 
death, in 1SS6. His wife was also a native of 
Madison county, N. Y. , was born about 18 14, 
and died in 1889, her remains now lying in- 
terred beside those of her husband in Hall 
cemetery. 

The war record of Mr. Cranston may be 
briefly given as follows: In September, 1862, 
he enlisted in company F, Sixth Michigan 
volunteer cavalry, under Col. Gray, and left 
for the front December 6, of the same year. 
He participated in all the marches, skirmishes 
and engagements of his regiment, and gallant- 
1\- and unflinchingly served until wounded at 
the battle of Falling Waters, which wound 
necessitated his confinement in hospital about 
three months. On recovering, he rejoined his 
regiment, and underwent all the arduous serv- 
ices of a soldier's life, and fought in every bat- 
tle in which his regiment took part until the 
close of the war. He participated in the grand 
review, after which the regiment was sent to 
Powder River to attend to the Indians, and 



I 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



627 



there they erected Fort Conner. Mr. Crans- 
ton received an honorable discharge Novem- 
ber 24, 1865, and now receives from a grate- 
ful country a pension of $12 per month for his 
valiant services. He is a member of \\'ebber 
post, G. A. R., at Rockford, and in politics is 
a prohibitionist. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cranston are active members 
of the Free Will Baptist church, and by their 
straight walk through the paths of morality, 
and their uniformily kind and amiable conduct 
in life, have won the warm friendship of all 
who know them. 



i:ORGE CRAWFORD, the subject of 
this sketch, has been one of the lead- 
ing and popular citizens of Oakfield 
township, Kent county, since 1861, 
not only as an agriculturist but also business 
man and as one of the veterans of the Civil 
war. He enjoys the confidence of all who 
know him as an honest, trustworthy and re- 
spectable citizen. 

He was born in Preble county, Ohio, on 
the 19th of October, 1834, being the seventh 
of the family of nine sons and four daughters 
of Samuel and Elizabeth (Loy) Crawford; nine 
of these are living, viz: Sarah, widow of Will- 
iam Conra<l, residing in Ivent county; William, 
who was a soldier through the Civil war and is 
now a mechanic of Dallas county, Iowa; Da- 
vid, a farmer of Montcalm county, Mich.; 
Green B., a farmer of Spencer township; 
Thomas, a soldier in the Civil war and now a 
farmerof Oakfield; John M., of Montcalm coun- 
ty; Isabella, a widow of Jesse Fletcher, resi- 
dent of Oakfield, and George. 

Samuel Crawford was born in the state of 
Maryland in 1803, represented the early Dutch 
and Irish families, carrying blood of each in 
his veins. He lived successively in Pennsyl- 



vania, Ohio, Indiana, and latterly in Michigan, 
where he died in Oakfield in 1873. In politics 
he was formerly a democrat, but after the sec- 
ond administration of President Lincoln he be- 
came a firm supporter of the principles of the 
republican party. He and his wife were reared 
in the faith of the Lutheran church. 

Elizabeth Loy was a native of Ohio, and 
was born in 1804. She died in Kent county, 
Mich., on the 30th of July, 1888, at the 
ripe age of eighty-three. Until death she re- 
tained exceptionally fine mental powers and a 
remarkably keen perception. 

George Crawford's boyhood and youth were 
passed in assisting his father in operating his 
farm, and in fact he devoted his services to the 
family needs until after he had reached his 
twenty-fourth birthday. All advantages for 
anything but a limited education were meager 
in Preble county at that time, so that much of 
his learning has been acquired in contact with 
men and in the exercise of a naturally quick 
intellet. 

On the 25th of December, 1858, he was 
) united in marriage to Miss Rose Anne Trego. 
They have eight living children: Loice Alice, 
wile of George C. Smith, a farmer of Montcalm 
county; Lewis Allen, a farmer in Oakfield, and 
who married Miss Alta Hill, and has one 
daughter, Agnes W. ; Minerva Adella, wife of 
Alonzo Hart, a farmer of Oakfield; John M., 
who was lately married to Miss Bertha Conk- 
lin and is a farmer of Oakfield; Cora B. , wife 
of Edward Taylor, a farmer of Oakfield; Mary 
Elsie, at home; E. Eldora and Rosa L. \'ernice, 
are at home. Mr. Crawford and wife have given 
their children a good common school education 
and such other advantages as as the community 
affords; and take pleasure in knowing that all 
reflect credit upon their parents. 

Mrs. Crawford was born in Northumber- 
land county, of the Keystone state, on the 22d 
of February, 1839. When but two months 



628 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



old she was taken to Elkhart county, Ind., 
where she was reared and acquired a common- 
school education. Her father, JohnS. Trego, 
was a native of New York, and was born in 
1809. His life work was that of a farmer. 
He died at his daughter's in Oakfield, in 1897, 
when he was eighty-eight years of age. He 
was a republican and a man in many respects 
worthy of emulation. His wife was born in 
Pennsylvania, of German parentage. Mrs. 
Crawford is a lady of kind and genial disposi- 
tion and has proven a suitable helpmate and 
companion to her husband. 

Mr. Crawford was one of the boys in blue, 
as he enlisted in company F, of the Twenty- 
first Michigan, at Ionia. His regiment was 
assigned to the army of the Cumberland under 
the command of General Rosecrans, at Louis- 
ville, Ky. , in which state he saw most of his 
service. He was taken sick, but owing to the 
vile and filthy condition of the hospital, he 
was placed in a tent, and in a few days, under 
the skillful nursing of comrade Lucius E. Mor- 
gan, was able to be on duty in his regiment at 
Bowling Green. He received a rupture, ter- 
minating in diseases, on account of which he 
received a surgeon's discharge in 1863. He 
has never fully recovered, but still has to de- 
pend upon the protection of a truss. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Crawford were mar- 
ried they had an extremely limited capital, 
their entire outfit for housekeeping costing but 
a few dollars. 'They sold their first eighty 
acres and purchased forty in Montcalm county, 
of partially improved land, on which they 
lived until they came to Oakfield in 1869. 

In 1870 they settled on the present farm, 
which was then in almost a state of nature, 
requiring many years of hard labor and diligent 
application of every energy to place it in its 
present excellent condition. It is located one 
mile east of the village of Harvard, and, with 
suitable buildings and other improvements 



found on a well-regulated homestead, making' 
a most valuable and desirable propertv. Years 
of assiduous industry, backed by intelligently 
directed efforts, have carved from the wilder- 
ness a comfortable home, where ease and 
comfort now come to this worthy couple and 
where they find pleasure, being surrounded by 
children and friends. 

In political affiliations, he has been a stanch 
supporter of the republican party since its 
birth at Jackson, in 1854, and finds satisfaction 
in that he has voted for every presidential 
candidate of his party, including Fremont, 
Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley. He has 
always taken an active interest in the affairs 
of his township; and, being one who at all 
times has ably advocated his party's princi- 
ples, has often been selected as a delegate to 
conventions. He is interested in education 
and has advocated all those things that tend 
to better and broader education. 

Socially, he is a member of L. C. Hart 
post, No. 247, G. A. R., of which he has twice 
served as commander, and has aided greatly in 
bringing the post into its present flourishing 
condition. Mr. Crawford lives the life of a 
good citizen, surrounded by his family and 
many friends, justly meriting the success and 
reward which has crowned his efforts. He has 
many strong social qualities, and while not of 
a sporting nature enjoys sitting with jovial 
companions at a quiet game of pedro. 




ICHOLAS B. CREVELING, a pros- 
perous farmer and prominent official 
of Alpine township, Kent county, 
M ich. , was born in Livingston county, 
N. Y. , August 8, 1847, a son of Benjamin and 
Jane C. (Olp) Creveiing, natives of New 
Jerse)', whose marriage was blessed with six 
children, viz: Christina, now the wife of Ed- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



629 



ward E. Wheeler, a prosperous fanner of 
Alpine township; "Nick," as he is familiarly 
called, and who is the subject proper of this 
biographical mention; Alfred C. , deceased; 
Daniel C, also a thriving farmer of Alpine 
township; Elizabeth, wife of Clifford Critten- 
den, a professor of Latin in a public school of 
Grand Rapids, and Benjamin, deceased. 

Benjamin Creveling, the father of this 
famih- and alluded to in the foregoing para- 
graph as a native of New Jersey, was born in 
1819, came to Michigan about 1852, lived 
about forty years in the township of Plaintield, 
and then removed to Grand Rapids, of which 
city he is still an honored resident. When he 
first located in Plainfield the township was 
an unbroken wilderness, but through his in- 
dustry and thrift he amassed considerable prop- 
erty, an3 up to the date of his removal was 
classed among Plamtield's wealthiest citizens. 
His wife, who was born in 1822, is still living 
with her husband in Grand Rapids. 

Nicholas B. Creveling was about thirty 
years of age when he began life for himself by 
purchasing a small tract of land in Alpine 
township, which tract is cleared up and con- 
verted into a comfortable home. He after- 
ward purchased a saw-mill, which he operated 
two years or more, and then bought his pres- 
ent home in section No. 12, Alpine township, 
and this he has since continued to profitably 
cultivate. He has erected two commodious 
barns at considerable expense, makes a spe- 
cialty of dairying, keeps twelve or fifteen cows, 
and converts their milk into butter. He has 
a silo, and up-to-date accommodations and 
facilities. He uses a separator in his butter- 
making and sells to special customers, who 
consume all he produces. He also feeds an- 
nually from fiity to seventy-five Berkshire 
hogs, which, when fattened, he exhibits at the 
district and state fairs, in which he has se- 
cured several high-class honors. 



December 24, 1887, Mr. Creveling married 
Miss Alice Wilson, a native of Kent county, 
Mich., born February 17, 1S67, the fifth child 
in the family of Andrew J. and Sarah (Nixon) 
Wilson. Mrs. Creveling received a common- 
school education, but she was carefully trained 
in housewifery, and her home of to-day is a 
model in all respects. This union has been 
graced with three children, viz: Jane, Clifford 
(deceased) and Dora Elizabeth. 

In politics Mr. Creveling is a democrat, 
although he cast his first presidential vote for 
Ulysses S. Grant. He is serving his people as 
clerk of Alpine township, an office he has filled 
in a most satisfactory manner for several years, 
and fraternally he is a member of the I. O. O. 
F. lodge at Mill Creek, and of the Alpine 
grange. Socially, he stands very high in the 
esteem of his fellow-citizens, and this esteem 
is shared equally by his estimable wife. 



EORGE CROW, postmaster of Ada, 
Kent county, Mich., was born No- 
vember 16, 1832, in Newfane, Niag- 
ara count}', N. Y., and is a son of 
Elias and Philatha (Hill) Crow, also natives of 
the Empire state, born, respectively, in 1799 
and 1800, and parents of six children. 

Elias Crow first came to Michigan in 1830 
and located in Detroit, and in 1831 moved to 
Jackson county, but three years later removed 
to Ada, Kent county, where he followed farm- 
ing up to the date of his death, 1843, his widow 
surviving until 1875. 

George Crow was educated in the common 
schools of Ada township, whither he was 
brought in 1837 by his parents, and was reared 
a farmer. In his early manhood he had the 
superintendency of an eighty-acre farm in the 
township of Ada, and in July, 1856, his first 
marriage was to Miss Emily Amelia Grant, who 



630 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



bore him two children — Harriet, w ho is deputy 
postmaster, and William, a street-car con- 
ductor in Grand Rapids. Mrs. Amelia Crow 
died May 27, 1874, and for his second help- 
mate Mr. Crow chose Miss Isabella Grant, a 
sister of his former wife. The second mar- 
riage took place July 5, 1S75, ^^''"^ this union 
has also been blessed with two children, viz: 
Claude Grant, who graduated frcm the Sag- 
inaw high school, then entered the class of 
mining engineering in the State university, and 
is pursuing his studies at the present time in 
practical connection with the operation of a 
gold mine in California; the second child, Maud 
E., died at the age of seventeen years; and, in 
addition to this affliction, Mr. Crow was a sec- 
ond time bereft of his life-companion, as Mrs. 
Isabella Crow was called away January 21, 
1881. 

Mr. Crow is a member of the G. A. R., 
having gallantly served in the Thirteenth Mich- 
igan battery of light artillery in the Civil war 
from August, 1864, until honorably discharged 
in July, 1S65. He took part in many severe 
engagements, but suffered less injury from the 
vindictive enemy than from an attack of rheu- 
matism, from which he is still suffering. On 
his return from the service he resumed farming 
in Ada township, of which he has been a resi- 
dent since the days when it was a primeval 
forest — his father having been the first person 
to grow wheat within its boundaries. 

In politics an ardent republican, Mr. Crow 
has filled several offices of trust and honor in 
Ada township — among them that of town treas- 
urer. In September, 189S, he was appointed 
postmaster of Ada under President Mclvinley's 
administration, and has since filled the office 
to the entire satisfaction of the public and with 
credit to himself. He is a member of the Con- 
gregational church and lives fully up to its 
teachings. He has practically retired from 
agricultural pursuits, is now living in compar- 



ative retirement, and is classed with the sub- 
stantial and public-spirited citizens, respected 
and honored by all. 




F.V. JAMES CRUMLEY, pastor of St. 
Mary's Catholic church of Cascade, 
Kent county, Mich., was born in To- 
ronto, Canada, September 28, 1845, 
his parents being of sturdy north of Ireland 
stock. When he was six years of age the 
family removed to St. Sylvester, Quebec, 
where the father followed his trade of carpen- 
ter. In 1863 young James went thence to the 
state of Maine and was employed in the lum- 
ber woods, and later in saw-mills at Augusta. 
July 4, 1865, he came to Michigan and lo- 
cated at Alpena, where he worked in the mills 
three years, and thence went to Cheboygan, 
where he lived eight or nine years, most of 
which time he was associated with his brother, 
Thomas J. Crumley in taking contracts for the 
cutting of pine timber. He then returned to 
Alpena as foreman, and later went to the 
north shore, where he was employed in a 
similar position by a large concern, ha\ing 
under his charge a force of forty-five men and 
teams operating in the lumber woods. 
Although he held a responsible position, his 
duties were performed with great satisfac- 
tion to his e'oployers. His brother had 
remained at Cheboygan, and .subject re- 
joined him as foreman of his woodsmen, dur- 
ing the lumbering seasons, while during the 
summer seasons he worked at building. In 
1875-76 he took a course in Goldsmith's com- 
mercial college in Detroit, and while a student 
there decided to prepare himself for the min- 
istry. Having been reared in the Catholic 
faith, he had always felt a deep interest in its 
work; accordingly, he entered Assumption col- 
lege at Sandwich, Ontario, and for two \-ears 
studied the classics. He next entered the uni- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



631 



versity of Notre Dame, Ind., as novitiate in 
the congregation of the Holy Cross, where 
three years' close application was given to the 
classics and to philosophy. He next took the 
theological course at the seminary of the 
Sulpician Fathers at Baltimore, Md., from 
which he graduated in 1883, receiving the 
minor orders and sub-deaconship from Cardi- 
nal Gibbons, then archbishop. August 25, 
1882, he was ordained deacon in the cathe- 
dral, at Grand Rapids, by Bishop Kichter, and 
November i, 1882, was ordained priest at the 
same place. 

The first mass read by Father Crumley 
was at Cheboygan in November, 1882, when 
his brother and many of his old friends, whose 
interest had been keenly shown, were mem- 
bers of the congregation. He next recited 
mass at Alpena for a few weeks to hll vacan- 
cies, and here also many of his old friends 
were among his auditors. His first charge began 
November 29, 1882, as pastor of St. Patrick's 
church, at Grattan, Mich., where he remained 
for more than twelve years, working assiduous- 
ly for the welfare of his congregation and the 
glory of his church, and in 1892 erected the 
parochial school-house. February 12, 1896, 
he was assigned to the pastorate of St. Mary's 
at Cascade, which includes the mission of St. 
Patrick in Bown§ township. St. Mary's has 
a congregaticn of about fifty families, who are 
alive to the welfare of the church. The 
church-edifice is a creditable building for a 
country town, and cost $6,000. Here Father 
Crumley has done noble work, both spiritual 
and temporal, for his congregation. His fiock 
has the greatest respect for him, and his rela- 
tions with the bishop are of a very pleasant 
and satisfactory nature, so that his life work 
has produced results that have redounded to a 
better citizenship, and greater interest in spir- 
itual life. 

As a citizen. Father Crumley, when a resi- 



dent of Cheboygan, was a democrat in politics, 
though he does not allow politics to distract 
his attention from pastoral duty. He is a total 
abstainer from the use of intoxicating beverages 
as well as of tobacco, and has ever advocated 
strict temperance by example as well as pre- 
cept. As a pastor he has been untiring in his 
labor for his congregation's welfare, and his 
pleasing personality, unassuming demeanor, 
ripe scholarship, and christian character have 
won for him the sincere respect of hosts of 
friends, without as well as within the pale of 
his mother church. 




EBULON M. CUMMINGS.— In giving 
a history of the leading citizens of 
Alpine township, Kent county, this 
work would be incomplete without 
mentioning the gentleman whose name heads 
this sketch and the admirably kept farm of 
which he is the owner. His earnest and sin- 
cere efforts to make life a success are well 
worthy of the emulation of all, and the in- 
terest he takes in all matters, touching upon 
husbandry, are to be thoroughly commeded. 

Mr. Cummings was born near Buffalo. N. 
Y., June 23, 1842, being the fifth child of 
Zebulon and Charlotte (Sweres) Cummings. 
His father was a native also of New York, 
born February 29, 1808, and thus could enjoy 
a birthday but once in every four years. He 
left his native home and came with his family 
to Michigan in the year 1848, locating near 
Ionia. After moving a few times he, about 
sixteen years later, came to Kent county, and 
located in the village of Lowell, then with a 
population of about 500 inhabitants. At this 
place he at first acted as groceryman and later 
conducted a livery stable. Upon leaving 
Lowell he settled on a farm in Plainfield town- 
ship, where he lived for about three years, 
thence removing to near Saranac and there 



632 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



remaining for a similiar length of time. At 
the expiration of this time, and upon the 
death of Mrs. Cummings, he made his home 
with his children until his decease, July 14, 
1883. Upon his arrival in Kent county he 
found affairs not very far advanced, as the 
land of his purchase was wild and Grand 
Rapids was a city of only 15,000 inhabitants. 

The mother of Z. M. Cummings was a 
native of New York and was born in the year 
1 8 14. She came to Michigan with her hus- 
band and lived there until her death, which 
occurred on the Saranac farm, in 1871. 

Zebulon M. Cummings began life for him- 
self when but twenty-one years of age by 
hiring out as a farm hand, but followed such 
occupation only for one season. He then 
went to Grand Rapids, where he became a 
teamster, hauling goods from and to the city. 
In a short time he and his brother formed a 
partnership and engaged in the livery business 
for a period of four years, at the end of which 
time he and a gentleman, by the name of 
Campbell, purchased the Lake house, located 
three miles east of Grand Rapids, he acting as 
landlord for about two years, then trading for 
some property at Sturgis, Mich., where he 
kept hotel and livery stable for two years. 
After this he went to Burr Oak, where he en- 
gaged in the livery business for one year, 
thence coming to Grand Rapids, and in 1880 
locating on his present home in section No. 
31, Alpine township. 

On June 25, 1875, he was married to Miss 
Laura E. Burtch, a native of Greenville, 
Mich., born in the year 1859 — October 16. 
Her father was born near Chatain, Canada, in 
the year 1828, and came to Michigan about 
1855, this state serving as his home until the 
year 1893, when he removed to Iowa, where 
he still resides. Her mother is a native of 
Saginaw, Mich., born April 21, 1838. She 
now lives with her husband in Iowa. 



Mrs. Cummings received only a common- 
school education, but her home is always kept 
in the best of order, which shows the highest 
advancement in the science of housekeeping. 
She is the parent of but one child, Edward A. 
Cummings, a young man of twenty j'ears, who 
still resides at home. 

Politically, Mr. Cummings is a stanch ad- 
herent to the principles of the republican 
party. Socially, he is held in the highest 
esteem of his friends, is respected for genuine 
worth, and although not active members of any 
church, he and his wife are, nevertheless, lib- 
eral donors to all worthy benevolences. 




OHN I. CUTLER, a greatly respected 
agriculturist of Gaines township, 
Kent county, Mich., is a native of 
New York, was born May 7, 1836, 
and is the fourth in a family of ten children 
— two sons and eight daughters — born to John 
and Christina (Sparr) Cutler, of whom there 
are only three living, viz: Anna C, widow of 
Hiram Brandow; John I., the subject of this 
sketch, and Charles ]., a farmer of Lyon 
township, Allegan county. 

John Cutler, the father, was born in New 
York, was of \\'elsh descent and was reared 
to the trade of a blacksmith, and in the later 
years of his life was an agriculturist. He re- 
ceived a limited education. In 1853 he came 
to Gaines township, Kent county, and pur- 
chased 312 acres, all new land, with no im- 
provements. The first home that was erected 
was a log cabin on the gravel road. As his 
father was sick, John had full charge of the 
estate. He lived in Kent county till his death, 
but went to the city later, being a resident 
some years. He was, as well as his wife, a 
Methodist; in politics he was a whig and after- 
wards a republican, and later a prohibitionist, 
and was a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln. 




RESIDENCE J. I CUTLER 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



685 



The mother was a native of New York, traced 
her ancestry to the Mohawk Dutch, and died 
about 1876. 

John I. Cutler, of this sketch, was a young 
man of about seventeen when he became a 
citizen of I\ent count)'. He received a limited 
education, as the schools were very scarce in 
the early day. Mr. Cutler was reared to the 
life of an agriculturist, and with his two good 
hands he has helped to clear up almost 600 
acres of land in Ivent county, and he also 
helped clear up forty acres in his native state. 
He began toil in life at the early age of ten 
years, and all these years has he been a hard 
worker. When he came on the farm in 
Gaines township, it was heavily timbered. 
He has cradled many acres of grain with the 
four-fingered cradle at four shillings per acre, 
and many a day has he cut grass with the 
scythe. He has used the old ox-team many a 
year, and many a time has he driven it to 
Grand Rapids; and upon Canal street he has 
seen the mud and mire a foot deep. He can 
well remember that where the Union depot 
now stands there were but a few small buildings. 
Mr. Cutler continued in charge of his father's 
farm till his majority. Mr. Cutler attended 
one school year in Albion seminary, and while 
there he was janitor and earned $90. 

Mr. Cutler wedded Miss Harriet E. Church, 
March 7, 1861, and to this union have been 
born five children — two sons and three daugh- 
ters — viz: Mary M., who is a graduate from 
Ann Arbor university, is a doctor and worked 
one year for the state. She has charge of the 
Woman's Foreign Missionary society hospital 
at Corea, 11,000 miles from her native land. 
She has been there for six years. John C, 
the second born, is a physician and surgeon, 
and is located at Verona, Wis. He graduated 
in the class of 1899, at the Chicago North- 
western College of Medicine, and stands high 
in the estimation of the best citizens. He is 



married. Frank, the third born, is a gradu- 
ate of the class of 1891, of the Grand Rapids 
high school, and was also a teacher in Kent 
county with success. He is associated with 
his father in the estate. He wedded i\fiss 
Myrtie E. Soper, a native of Kent county, and 
a daughter of Francis B. and Eliza (Allen) 
Soper; she was educated in the common 
schools, and also the city schools, and has re- 
ceived instruction in vocal and instrumental 
music. There were two sisters and one 
brother in the family. Her parents were na- 
tives of New York, and are residents of Paris 
township, Ivent county, Mich. Frank is a 
prohibitionist in principle. He is connected 
in the dairy business in Grand Rapids with his 
father, and is doing a business of $4,000 per 
year. Nellie J., the fourth born, is the wife 
of Sheriff Woodworth, of the county of Kent. 
She was educated in the common schools and 
Ann .Arbor, Mich., and has taught school in 
I\ent county. Hattie, the youngest child, is 
the wife of Wallace Richards, a farmer of 
Paris township. She was educated in the high 
school, and was also a successful teacher. 
She has had classical musical instruction. 
Mr. and Mrs. Cutler have done all they could 
to give their children the full benefits of a 
high and practical education which has fitted 
them for the higher walks of life. 

Mr. Cutler was one of the boys in blue who 
was at the front at the time of the nation's 
peril. He enlisted in company G, Third Mich- 
igan infantry, in August, 1862, under Capt. 
Whitney and Col. Champlin; his regiment was 
assigned to the army of the Potomac. Some 
of the leading battles he participated in were: 
First battle of Fredericksburg, the battles of 
Chancellorsville, Locust Grove, Mine Run, the 
Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna, and 
Cold Harbor. He crossed the James river, 
where there was a slight action in front of 
Petersburg, and in the charge was struck with 



636 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



a minie ball just below the center of the heart, 
which would have been fatal to him, but he 
had turned a little to the left, which saved his 
life. This was June, 1S64. At the battle of 
Chancellorsville the captain of the company 
was killed just at the side of Mr. Cutler, and 
Mr. Engels, a member of the company and a 
comrade of Mr. Cutler, was shot in the leg. 
Col. Pierce, of Grand Rapids, was hit in the 
hand. The night before the battle, while on. 
a charge, Mr. Cutler was struck by a ball in 
the heel. Mr. Cutler served his nation for 
two years and seven months, and he never 
was in the hospital, nor ever off duty. He re- 
ceived his honorable discharge at Detroit, 
Mich., in March, 1865. He was a faithful 
soldier, and served his country well. 

Mr. Cutler has always- supported the re- 
publican policy, and the first presidential vote 
he cast was for Lincoln, but during the recent 
years of his life he has been of a strong pro- 
hibition principle. He has been selected by 
the prohibition party to represent them in 
county and state conventions, and always re- 
ceived the nominations from his party for im- 
portant positions in the township, and was also 
nominated for county treasurer by the same 
party. He takes high ground as to the public 
schools, and he believes in the best of teach- 
ers which can be procured, and in keeping up 
the best improvements to advance the children 
to a higher and better education and place in 
life. He is one of the heavy ta.xpayers of the 
township, and a man who has aimed to let 
nothing impede the progress of improvement 
and advancement. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cutler are ardent members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Mr. 
Cutler has aided in the erection of six different 
churches in the community, which shows that 
he has been generous. Their church is on 
Division street, Grand Rapids. 

The estate of Mr. Cutler comprises 4S6 



acres in Gaines and Byron townships. The 
beautiful brick mansion is of three stories and 
basement underthe entire residence, with stone 
base. The elegant home is finely finished in 
hard wood, is heated by furnace, and fitted 
with electric bells and gas. The residence is 
a model of a beautiful home, built in the 
Romanesque style of architecture. It was 
erected in 1S91, and most of the natural woods 
were taken from the Cutler estate. Mr. Cutler 
is a gentleman of large executive ability and 
business experience, and the family is one of 
the most highly respected in the township. 




EXANDER L. D ARROW, one of 

the most prominent citizens of Rock- 
ford and Courtland township, Kent 
county, Mich., was born in Medina 
county, Ohio, October 16, i8j2, and is the 
fifth of the six children — two sons and four 
daughters — of whom John and Rhoda (Co- 
nant) Darrow were the parents, but of whom 
three only are now living, viz: John, a farmer 
of Stockton, Cal.; Alexander L. , whose name 
opens this biographical sketch, and Alvira, 
wife of Alvin Evans, a farmer of Aurora, 
S. Dak. 

John Darrow, the father of this family and 
a native of New York, was born April 12, 
1797, was by trade a stonemason, but later 
became a farmer. At his majority he located 
in that part of Ohio then known as the West- 
ern Reserve, and which was still infested with 
Indians. He was better educated than most 
young men of his day, and was energetic, 
enterprising and industrious. He was married 
in Ohio to Miss Conant, a native of that state, 
born July 4, 1S04. Shortly after marriage 
they came to Michigan when this state was 
still a territory, locating in Lenawee county, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



637 



as it is now known. He entered land from 
the government in the town of Woodstock, 
where he lived until December 31, 1S42, when 
he came to Kent county and settled in Court- 
land township, thus being one of its earliest 
pioneers. Indians in those days were still 
numerous; agricultural implements still rude 
in make; Grand Rapids was a mere trading 
post, and not a line of railroad threaded the 
count}'. But Mr. Darrow was equal to all the 
trials, tribulations and hardships of frontier 
life and, triumphmg over all difficulties, 
wrought out from the wilderness a comfortable 
home. In politics he was at first a whig, and 
took an active part in the "hard cider" cam- 
paign of 1840, which resulted in the election 
of William H. Harrison to the presidency and 
John Tyler to the vice-presidency of the 
United States. In 1854 he assisted in form- 
ing the republican party, to which he adhered 
until his death, which occurred January 18, 
1877. His remains were interred in Courtland 
cemetery,' in the midst of many of his pioneer 
friends. No man in the township was more 
truly honored and mourned than he. His 
widow survived until 1894, dying, much re- 
spected, in South Dakota, where her remains 
are buried. 

Alexander L. Darrow was a lad of ten 
years when his parents settled in Kent county, 
and here he received his education in the primi- 
tive schools. He was taught the carpenter 
and joiner's trade, but has preferred agricult- 
ure as a vocation. Having no capital, save 
brain and sinew, entrance upon this pursuit 
was somewhat difficult, yet he eventually "got 
there" and very effectually at that, as the se- 
quel will show. The first serious, yet most 
pleasant, responsibility that he assumed in 
life's progress was his marriage to Miss Arvilla 
Shank, November 8, 1S55. This lady is a 
native of Portage county, Ohio, and was born 
March 11, 1834, a daughter of George and 



Harriet (Chaffee) Shank, who came to Court- 
land township, Kent count}', Mich., when she 
was but ten years of age. George Shank was 
born in Virginia, near the Potomac river, and 
died in Kent county, Mich., November 30, 1898. 
His wife, who was a native of Ohio, died in 
1877, when she was about sixty-five years old. 
Of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Shank, 
Rosetta is the wife of George Rounds, a farmer 
of Courtland township; Arvilla, wife of Mr. 
Darrow; Cornelia, widow of \^'illiam Lawrence, 
and residing in Cadillac, Mich.; Dallas, a fruit 
grower of Nelson township, Kent county; Au- 
rilla L., widow of Alfred Sliter, who was a 
carpenter by trade, her residence being now in 
Chicago, 111. 

Mr. Darrow is a strong republican and cast 
his first presidential vote for John C. Fre- 
mont, the first nominee of his party. He was 
also a strong advocate for the election of 
Abraham Lincoln, and for years he has been 
closely indentified with party work, though he 
has never himself been desirous of holding an 
office. 

With the assistance of his faithful and amia- 
ble wife, Mr. Darrow has acquired a hand- 
some home just on the corporate limits of the 
town of Rockford and is in every way in most 
comfortable circumstances. So well situated 
are they, as far as the goods of this world are 
concerned, that the}' are enabled to take long 
and frequent trips to different parts of the 
United States, for pleasure, improvement and 
refining influences. The}' are profninent in the 
social circles of Rockford and Courtland town- 
ships. Their unostentious acts of charity have 
relieved many a poor person in time of distress. 
The respect they enjoy has been earned, al- 
though it must be acknowledged that, regard- 
less of financial condition, their natural endow- 
ments and virtues would make them beloved 
in any sphere of life in which their lot might 
be cast. 



G88 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



RANK W. DAVIE, quite prominent 
as a business man and postmaster of 
Plainfield village, Kent county, Mich., 
was born in Cannon township, in the 
same county, September 30, 1S72, the eldest 
child of Edward and Rosill (Crissman) Davie. 
Edward Davie, the father, is a native of 
Wayne county, N. Y. , was born in 1850, and 
when ten years of age was brought to Michi- 
gan by his parents, who located at Flushing, 
Genesee county, and engaged in farming. On 
attaining his majority, Mr. Davie came to 
I-^ent county, and here married Miss Crissman, 
a native of Plainfield township, born in 185 i. 
Later he moved to Oceana county, where he 
resided thirteen years, when he again came to 
Kent county and settled on a farm in Plain- 
field township, where he and wife still reside, 
and are classed with the most respected of its 
residents. 

Frank W. Da\ie, who received a sound 
common-school education, was reared to the 
practical affairs of life on his father's farm, 
and at the age of twenty-one years began his 
active business life by renting the homestead, 
but this he worked two years only, and then 
hired out one year as a farm hand. He next 
purchased the ferry-scow, which he still oper- 
ates back and forth across the Grand river at 
Plainfield village, and this has proved to be 
to him a profitable investment. His ne.xt step 
was to rent a grocery store near his ferry land- 
ing, and the next was to secure his appoint- 
ment as postmaster, in which office he has 
given the utmost satisfaction to all concerned. 
By close attention to the needs of his patrons 
he has made his grocery the most popular in 
the village, and he may now be termed the 
leading merchant in this line in the township. 
The store, of course, now occupies his entire 
attention, while the ferry is intrusted to the 
care of hired help. 

The marriage of Mr. Davie took place 



December 22, 1896, to Miss Edith Waite, 
daughter of \\'arren W. Waite, of Cannon 
township. This lady is recognized as one or 
the most sensible young women of the nighbor- 
hood and as one of the best of housekeepers. 
In his politics, Mr. Davie was formerly a 
democrat, but for reasons fully satisfactory to 
himself has become an ardent republican. 
Although Mr. Davie is not himself a member 
of any religious denomination, he is yet free in 
his contributions to all. His wife, however, 
is a devoted member of the Congregational 
church at Bostwick lake, and both stand 
exceedingly high in the esteem of the com- 
munity in which they live. . 




HARLES E. DAVIS, who for half a 
century has been a resident of Kent 
county, was born in Courtland town- 
ship on the 2 1 St day of February, 
1850. He is the fourth in a family of nine 
children, seven of whom are now living, viz: 
Jane, who has been one of the successful 
teachers of Kent county and is now the wife of 
Charles Sears; Charles E. ; Rebecca, the wife 
of John Cowan, a farmer of Plainfield town- 
ship; Delight, the wife of Fred Carlyle, one of 
the prosperous agriculturists of the township; 
Ophelia, who married E. E. Hewitt, and who 
was also a successful teacher; Lucinda, the 
wife of Wm. Whittall, who well represents 
the farming interests of Courtland ; and George, 
also a farmer of the last named township. 

The father of Charles E. Davis was born 
in Cheshire, England, eighteen miles from the 
great metropolis, London, March 14, iSig, 
and died in Michigan, November 4, 1879. 
He was reared to the life of a farmer and 
came with his parents to America when four- 
teen years of age. They embarked in an old 
sailing vessel from Liverpool, England, and 



1 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



639 



after a voyage of nine weeks dropped anchor in 
the harbor of New York city. In the state of 
New York he learned the trade of a carpenter 
and resided there until twenty-six years of age. 
At twenty-four years of age he married Eleanor 
Brown; and in September, 1844, after the birth 
of their first child, he immigrated to I\ent 
county, Mich., the trip being made via the 
Erie canal, lakes Erie, Huron and Michigan to 
Grand Haven, thence up Grand river to Grand 
Rapids, which upon his arrival was only an 
Indian post, not larger than Rockford at the 
present time. There were only three school- 
houses in the township and not a church. He 
purchased eighty acres of land which is now 
part of his son's farm, at that time covered 
with. timber, and began to clear off a place on 
which to erect a small frame house. A car- 
penter b}- trade, he built most of the older 
barns of Courtland. He also followed farming 
and lumbered some in the early days. He 
later added eighty acres adjoining, and this is 
now where Charles E. Davis lives. 

In politics he was a stanch adherent to 
democratic principles, and fraternally was a 
charter member of the Rockford lodge of Ma- 
sons. His wife, a devout member of the 
Methodist church, was born in the state of 
New York in January, 18 18, and died at Rock- 
ford 'May 23, 1S93. 

The life of Charles E. Davis has been one 
of toil. He early became engaged at and ac- 
customed to hard work, and fourteen years of 
his life were spent at logging in the pine for- 
ests on Black and Rouge rivers. Until thirty 
years of age he remained at home to care for 
his parents, taking great responsibility upon 
himself and meriting much credit for his filial 
love and respect for them. He has witnessed 
the speedy development of the stirring city of 
Grand Rapids, and has lived to see the primi- 
tive log cabins replaced by more commodious 

buildings. 

33 



March 14, 1874, Mr. Davis was united 
in marriage to Miss Orcelia R. Myers, who 
has become the mother of three children, one 
of whom, Glenn, is living, and has completed 
the common schools and has been a student of 
the Rockford high school. 

Mrs. Davis was born in Courtland town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., March 30, 1852, 
and is a daughter of William H. and Elizabeth 
(Dancer) Myers, the full genealogy of which 
family is given in the biographical sketch of 
William H. Myers. Mrs. Davis completed 
her education in the Rockford high school. 
Her life has been spent in her native township, 
where she has been a model wife and mother. 

Whatever Mr. and Mrs. Davis now possess 
has been acquired through their industry 
and frugality. The}' know that life is real and 
earnest, after having endured its many trials. 
In February of 1888 their entire home was de- 
stroyed by fire, but through their perseverance 
they have raised above the ashes their present 
modern, comfortable, and convenient home 
on their farm of eighty acres, located about 
two miles and three-quarters from Rockford 
and six miles from Cedar Springs. 

Mr. Davis, in his political views, is a dem- 
ocrat, and his first presidential vote was cast 
for Horace Greeley. He has been director of 
his township for six years, and in his fraternal 
relations is an esteemed member of Rockford 
lodge, F. &A. M., No. 246. 




ENNIS GARDNER DAMS, a leading 
farmer of Courtland township, Kent 
county, Mich., is the onlj' child of 
Daniel S. and Lydia Ann (Straight) 
Davis, and was born in Steuben county, N. 
Y., December 19, 1844. 

Daniel S. Davis is a native of Washington 
county, N. Y., his nativity being March 12, 
182 I. He is one of the honored pioneers who 



OiO 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



have not only seen the progress and advance- 
ment of the community, but have borne an 
active part in the work of development and 
improvement. For many years he has been 
prominently identified with the agricultural in- 
terest. Great changes have occurred during 
his residence in the county; wild lands have 
been transformed into beautiful homes and 
farms: villages and towns have sprung up; 
railroads, the telegraph, telephone, and all 
modern improvements have been introduced; 
industries and commercial interests have been 
established. He first located in Jackson, 
Mich., but, in 1847, came to I\ent coun- 
ty and became the owner of eighty acres in 
Courtland township. In politics he is a stanch 
democrat and cast his first vote for James K. 
Polk. He later dropped his ballot for ' ' Tippe- 
canoe and Tyler, too," but ever since has been 
a firm upholder of the principles and policies 
of the democratic party. He now lives with 
his son in easy retirement. 

Lydia Ann (Straight) Davis, the mother of 
Dennis Gardner Davis, was born in Steuben 
county, N. Y. , February 7, 1827. She re- 
ceived a common-school education and passed 
her declining days in Michigan, here died Feb- 
ruary 17, 1895, and her remains are interred 
in Courtland cemetery. 

Dennis Gardner Davis became h. resident 
of Kent county, Mich., when twelve years old. 
He attended the common schools near his 
home, and by much exertion has secured a 
good educatian. His career has been one of 
greBt activity and for the greater part one of 
agriculture. 

On March 5, 1871, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Alice V. Austin, and one child, 
Dennis D., has honored this union. In the 
educational line this young man has done ex- 
cellently. He has completed the eight grades 
of the common schools and has been a student 
in-the high school at Sioux City, Iowa. 



Mrs. Davis is one of the three living of six 
children born to John S. and Emily P. (Dean) 
Austin, and dates her birth July 29, 1849. 
She has a brother, Lorimer E. Austin, a resi- 
dent and agriculturist of Cortland township, 
and a sister, Alzoa, who is the wife of Hiram 
H. Seeley, foreman of a lumber company at 
Sioux City, Iowa. Her father was a native of 
New York, who was born in 18 10 and died in 
Courtland 188S. He was a pioneer of Michi- 
gan, having come here in 1858. The country 
at that time was in a wild state, and Indians 
were the principal inhabitants. He and his 
wife, whom he survived four years, were mem- 
bers of the Methodist church. 

Dennis G. Davis and his wife began mar- 
ried life almost empty-handed. They went in 
debt to purchase forty acres, but by econom- 
ical industry have paid for it and added seventy 
acres more of the most fertile land in the 
township, located in section No. 10. 

Dennis Gardner Davis, in his political 
views, adheres thoroughly to democratic prin 
ciples, having cast his presidential vote fo 
Horatio Seymour in 1868, At various times 
he has been selected as delegate to county 
and district conventions, and has held the of- 
fice of township treasurer,- commissioner and 
clerk. He is beloved by many people, is a 
successful farmer, and a man of great decision 
of character and of the strictest integrity. He 
is a member of Cedar Springs lodge, No. 213, 
F. & A. M., and Edgerton tent, K. O. T. M. 
Mrs. Davis belongs to Evans hive, L. O. T. 
M., and both are identified with Evans grange, 
Patrons of Husbandry. 



I 



;i 



SAAC DIXSON DAVIS.— Like many of 
the early settlers of ICent county, the 
Davis family were from New York, a 
state which furnished its full comple- 
ment of the sturdy yeomen, who, in pioneer 



AND KEXT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



641 



times, impressed their individuality so indeli- 
bly upon the country and institutions of the 
great northwest. Isaac Dixson Davis was a 
native of Pulaski, Oswego county, N. Y., born 
December 27, 1818, a son of John S. and 
Charlotte (Dixson) Davis, the father of New 
Jersey and the mother of the Empire state. 
His great-grandfather, Ezekiel Woodruff, held 
a commission in the American army during the 
war for independence. 

John Smith Davis was a son of Capt. 
Thomas Davis, a prominent civilian in Eliza- 
bethtown, N. J., who removed to Herkimer 
county, N. Y. , in 1792, when John S. was an 
infant. In Pulaski, Oswego county, N. Y., 
John S. Davis carried on the mercantile trade 
for a number of years; but sometime after his 
marriage, which occurred in Oneida county, 
N. Y., he decided to try his fortunes in the 
then new and undeveloped territory of Michi- 
gan, as reverses caused b\' the credit system 
of those da3's had overtaken him. Accord- 
ingly, in 1821, he emigrated to what is now 
Oakland county, where his death occurred the 
year following, at the early age of twenty-nine. 
His widow, who was left with three children, 
subsequently returned to her native state, 
where she died when the subject of this review 
was about seven years old. The following 
are the names of the children: Charles Rol- 
and, James Lawrence and Isaac Dixson. The 
youngest, Henry Niles, died in Michigan two 
weeks prior to the death of his father. 

After the mother's death the children were 
separated, Isaac D. being taken by his grand- 
father, Capt. Thomas Davis, of Herkimer 
county, N. Y. , when about eight years old, 
and accompanied that gentleman's family to 
Michigan in 1836, when there were less than 
a dozen white families in what is now Paris 
township, Kent county. Two years prior to 
the above date his uncle, Ezekiel Davis, made 
a settlement at Reed's lake, being one of the 



first pioneers to penetrate the wilds of Paris 
township, and one year later, 1835, was 
joined by a brother, Luther Davis, who as- 
sisted materially in laying the foundation of 
the future community. 

Owing to the advanced age of his grand- 
father, and the death of Luther Davis, which 
occurred within a few months after settling in 
the new country, Isaac was early compelled to 
bear his full share in supporting the family. 
He worked early and late in the woods and 
fields, and soon developed into a strong, rug- 
ged young man, inured to every hardship inci- 
dent to pioneer times, and well fitted to the 
arduous duties which the future had in store 
for him. He remained on the original farm 
until after his marriage, which was solemnized 
on the 29tb of December, 1842, with Miss 
Sophia Reed; in 1847 he removed to the place 
where he afterward resided in Paris township, 
where his death occurred October 14, 1899. 
The place at the time of his taking possession 
contained but ten acres of cleared land and a 
diminutive log cabin, the rest being as nature 
had created it — wild, heavily timbered and 
thickly overrun in places Vvith dense under- 
growth. To develop a farm from this wild 
was an undertaking attended vvith hardships, 
both numerous and formidable; but, undaunted 
by this uninviting prospect, Mr. Davis went 
to work, and by years of almost unremitting 
toil and manj' privations, eventual.ly succeeded 
in removing the forest growth, and bringing 
into cultivation 160 acres, upon which in the 
meantime were erected comfortable buildings 
and other valuable improvements. All of 
this represents the work of his own strong 
arms and determined will, and it is a fact 
worthy of note that of the few pioneers con- 
temporary with himself he was the last of the 
" Old Guard " to live in Paris. One other 
pioneer, Robert Barr, who came about the 
same time and who has reached the ripe old 



642 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



age of ninety years, survives, making his home 
in the city of Grand Rapids. Few, if any, 
citizens in Kent county have lived on the same 
farm continuously for over a half a century, 
as did Mr. Davis, and certainly none have wit- 
nessed more striking chances in the aspect of 
the country from the early times to the present. 

In 1840 Mr. Davis was elected constable, 
and at the first meeting in Paris township, 
after its organization in 1839, he was a lead- 
ing spirit, and did much toward shaping the 
future of this part of the country. He had 
also filled various other positions of public 
trust, including those of supervisor and town- 
ship clerk, and pro\'ed himself an efficient 
servant of the people, discharging every duty 
with commendable fidelity and an eye single 
to the common good. 

Mr. Davis was chiefly instrumental in or- 
ganizing and maintaining the Paris grange, fill- 
ing the principal offices of the same, and he 
took an active part in the county grange, of 
which he was a regular attendant, and also 
represented the county of Ivent various times 
in meetings of the state grange. The success 
of the county Agricultural society is largely 
due to the active interest he ever manifested 
therein, and all movements, having for their 
object the advancement of agriculture, dairy- 
ing and horticulture, ever found in him a zeal- 
ous advocate and liberal friend. 

As already stated, Mr. Davis was married 
to Miss Sophia Reed. Mrs. Davis was a 
daughter of the late Lewis Reed, one of the 
early pioneers of Kent county, after whom 
Reed's lake took its name, and she proved a 
suitable companion of a worthy husband. 
She was born in Herkimer county, N. Y. , 
and came to Michigan in 1834 when but 
eleven years old, and consequently spent the 
greater part of her life in the state and county 
of her adoption. She died December 7, 1863, 
leaving the following children: Charlotte 



Adelia, wife of John L. Murray, a prominent 
lumber dealer of Muskegon, Mich.; Thomas 
Albert, who served in the Civil war as a mem- 
ber of the First Michigan light artiilerj', and 
died in hospital at the early age of eighteen; 
Mary Julia, widow of Alonzo Barkley, of 
Paris; Elizabeth, wife of John T. Smith of 
Allegan county; Lewis Reed, who resides on 
a farm adjoining the old homestead, and of 
whom further mention is found elsewhere; 
Catherine Aurelia, wife of Rev. O. E. Whight- 
man, pastor of the M. E. church at Remus, 
Mich., and Milton Davis, dealer in agricult- 
ural implements in Nebraska City, Nebr. 

On February 8, 1866, Mr. Davis married 
his second wife. Mrs. Louisa M. Barr (nee 
Cain), who departed this life March 13, 1899, 
just seven months before her husband, at the 
age of seventy-four years. She was a lady of 
exemplary character, a model wife in assisting 
her husband by wise counsel, and was loved 
and respected by a large circle of friends in 
the community. To her second husband she 
bore one son, John Loren Davis, who married 
Martha Whitford, of Paris, and who manages 
the home farm. 

Mr. Davis was always a democrat, active 
ill behalf of his party's interests, and for years 
a zealous and influential worker in many cam- 
paigns. In later years, owing to feeble health, 
he was not so able to participate in the can- 
vass as in former times, nevertheless he was a 
wide reader and kept himself fully abreast of 
the times on all matters of political and pub- 
lic nature. A life-long temperance man, he 
ever took the keenest interest in the liquor 
question, and whenever it came before the 
people always sided with efforts toward its 
restriction. When it became of prime mo- 
ment, he identified himself with the party of 
prohibition, and after 1S84 was counted one 
of the stanchest of those who worked for its 
control under the banner of that party. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



648 



^^'hile not identified with any church, he was 
a believer in religion, and, recog;nizing a moral 
value in the churches, contributed liberally 
toward them, and other causes having for 
their object the moral and spiritual well-being 
of the community. 

For some months it was known that the 
machinery of the body was becoming worn, 
and realizing the near approach of the dark 
messenger, he settled his property interests, 
in accordance with his own views of justice 
and right, and bore the pain and depression 
of failing health with the fortitude that ever 
characterized him. 

^^'hile in his orchard, October 14, 1S99, 
picking apples, from trees set by his own 
hand, in earlier years, the Great Reaper 
reached out his hand and plucked this, the 
ripe fruit of humanity. 

It would be a difficult matter to find a man 
more thoroughly respected and admired among 
the citizens of Paris than was Mr. Davis. 
Scrupulously honorable and just in all his deal- 
ings with others, his promise was ever suffi- 
cient, and his word as valuable as "coin of 
the realm." His was indeed a full life, and he 
. needs no sculptured epitaph to perpetuate his 
memory in a community which he assisted in 
founding and where he was so widely known 
and highly esteemed. 




EWIS R. DAVIS, a thriving farmer and 
fruit-grower of Paris township, Kent 
county, Mich., was born June 20, 
1852, on fhe farm adjoining his own 
eighty-acre place on the north, and which was 
the homestead of his father, I. Di.xson Davis. 
He was educated in the schools of his district, 
and farming has been his life-work. January 
4, 1883, he married Miss Myrtie I. Darling, a 
native of Paris township and a daughter of 



Hiram and Louise (Vosburg) Darling, and 
formerly a teacher for twenty-four months in 
the district schools of Clinton and Kent coun- 
ties. This marriage has been crowned with 
four children, those living being — Mary L., 
Elsie D., and Myron W. They lost one in 
infanc}'. 

Mr. Davis' place was formerly known as 
the Lorin Root farm, and for fifty years had 
been in the Root family, but the present hand- 
some dwelling was erected by Mr. Davis. He 
devotes his land to general farming, yet gives 
much of his attention to the cultivation of fruit, 
which he has exhibited at many horticultural 
fairs, together with his other products, and in 
many instances has secured prizes for their 
excellence. He filled for one year the office 
of secretary of the Kent county Agricultural 
society, giving the utmost satisfaction. 

He cast his first vote for the candidates of 
the prohibition party, to which he still adheres, 
and at the conventions of which he is a con- 
stant attendant. He is firm in his belief in 
the right, and eventual triumph of his party 
and its principles, and works ardently for its 
success, while free silver doctrines also meet 
his approbation. He is a member of Paris 
grange. No. 19, Patrons of Husbandry, in 
which he takes intense interest and in which 
he has held every office. He and wife are de- 
voted members of the Paris Baptist church, of 
which he is the clerk, and he is also a faithful 
worker in the Sunday-school. Social!}' they 
enjoy the respect of all their neighbors and 
mingle with the best people of Paris township. 



tLLIAM E. DA\TS, supervisor of 
Bowne township, was born in 
Pultney. Steuben county, N. Y., 
November 26, 1842. He spent his 
boyhood on the farm until nineteen years of 



I 

2 



644 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



age, when he responded to the country's call 
to quell the great rebellion, enlisting August 
26, I 862, in company A, One Hundred and Six- 
ty-first New York infantry. He served in the 
department of the Gulf underGens. Banks and 
Canby, and was with his command at the siege 
of Port Hudson, Baton Rouge, and in other 
operations on the Mississippi, and also took 
part in-theiRedViver expedition to Sabine Pass, 
Tex., returning to New Orleans, thence up the 
Mississippi river to Columbus and Paducah, 
Ky., andilater his regiment with others was 
ordered to Mobile, Ala., to co-operate with 
Admiral Faragut in his victorious operations 
against that city. 

Mr. Davis was detached at brigade head- 
quarters for some months as clerk and later 
was detailed as corporal with a squad of men 
to care for a large plantation at the breaking 
of a levee. on the Mississippi river. Mr. Davis' 
military record is fraught with duty bravely 
and uncomplainingly done, and during his 
period of service he participated in fifteen bat- 
tles and skirmishes, through all of which he es- 
caped with no serious injury. He was honor- 
ably discharged, October 16, 1865, and im- 
mediately thereafter returned to his native 
state, where for a number of years he filled the 
position of superintendent of a gravel road, 
having in charge a section six miles in length. 
He was thus employed for a period of fifteen 
years, during which time the road under his 
immediate ccntrol became one of the best 
highways in the part of the state through 
which it extended. 

In 1 88 1 Mr. Davis became a resident of 
Kent county, Mich., since which date he has 
lived and prospered on his present home in the 
township of Bowne, where he owns a tract of 
120 acres of highly-improved land. The 
greater part of his farm has been cleared and 
developed by his own hands, and the results of 
his well directed energy is attested by the ex- 



pensive improvements by which the place is 
adorned. He has good buildings, including a 
large and commodious barn, recently erected, 
and everything on the farm bespeaks the pres- 
ence of a thrifty and progressive agriculturist. 

In his native state, Mr. Davis served at 
different times in various official capacities, 
and, with the exception of one year, has filled 
the office of supervisor of Bowne township, by 
successive re-elections since 1890. His popu- 
larity with the citizens of his township, irre- 
spective of party affiliations, is attested by the 
fact that, with a single exception, he is the only 
democrat ever elected to official station in the 
township of Bowne. The republican opposi- 
tion in this part of the county is unusually 
formidable, the average majority for many 
years being in excess of 100, yet he has time 
and again successfully overcome this strength 
and filled the office with credit to himself and 
satisfaction to the public in general. 

Mr. Davis was married September 30, 1873, 
in New York, to Miss Lois Buell, a union 
blessed with the birth of the following children: 
Fred, Ed, Sarah, Olive and Will, all of whom 
are still with their parents. 

Mr. Davis is a member of Caledonia lodge. 
No. 387, F. & A. M., and an active worker in 
Charles Brown post. No. 296, G. A. R. He 
is a reputable citizen, a courteous and capable 
public servant and occupies a commendable 
standing among the representative men of 
Bowne township. 



i 



ILLIAM E. DAVIS, a representative 
farmer of Solon township, with his 
post-office at Cedar Springs, Kent 
county, Mich., is a native of 
Ontario county, N. Y. , was born August 
16, 1847, and is the fourth of the family of 
four sons and two daughters that resulted from 




AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



645 



the marriage of Alexander D. and Fannie 
(Lyon) Davis, but of whom three only are 
still living, viz: George C. , a farmer of Solon 
township; William E., the subject of this 
sketch, and Elizabeth, wife of Eugene Smith, 
also a farmer of Solon township. 

Alexander D. Davis, the father of these 
children, was born in Dutchess county, N. Y., 
in 1812, early came to Kent county, Mich., 
purchased eighty acres of unimproved land, 
and followed farming the remainder of life, 
dying at the age of fifty-six years. 

In politics he was a Jeffersonian democrat, 
and with his wife was a member of the Jileth- 
odist Episcopal church. Mrs. Davis, also a 
native of the state of New York, died when 
the subject of this sketch was but seven years 
of age. 

William E. Davis was reared to farming 
and stock raising and acquired his education 
in a common school. He began his business 
life with a small amount of cash capital only, 
but his capital of pluck, energy and bodily 
strength was unusually large. December 7, 
1 8/ 2, he married Miss Fannie Tozer, a native 
of Putnam county, N. Y. , and this union has 
been blessed with five children, viz: Ida Amy, 
wife of Elmer \Vilson, a farmer of Solon 
township; William \\'allace, still at the home 
of his parents; Daisy, wife of Frank Covey, of 
Luther, Lake county, Mich., and the mother 
of two children — Harriet and Dorothy; Alex- 
ander, still under the parental roof, and Jen- 
nie Estella, who died at the age of eleven 
years. But this loss has been partially com- 
pensated for by Mr. and Mrs. Davis, who, in 
the kindness of their hearts, have adopted a 
little girl, named Dora Annie. 

Mrs. Fannie (Tozer) Davis was born Au- 
gust I 8, 1847, and is a daughter of William S. 
and Sarah J. (Lockwood) Tozer. Her father, 
a native of Herefordshire, England, was an 
excellently well-educated gentleman, forsome 



years was a tutor in the city of London, and 
after coming to the United States taught 
school in New York and New Jersej'. He de- 
scended from a very wealthy and influential 
family in Herefordshire, who were adherents of 
the Established church, but after coming to 
America became Baptists. His wife was 
bore in Westchester county, N. Y. , August 6, 
1818, and her father was the proprietor of 
quite a large estate just across the boundary 
line in the state of Connecticut. She was 
reared and died a Presbyterian. Her maternal 
great- grandfather, John Wallace, a Scotch- 
man, was a soldier in the English army, and 
whilst aboard a transport declared he would 
not bear arms against, or for, the colonies, 
jumped overboard and successfully swam 
ashore. His action was caused, no doubt, by 
his fidelity to his oath, as a soldier, to be loyal 
to his king, and his abhorrence to waging war 
against a young nation struggling for liberty. 
To the parents of Mrs. Davis two children 
only were born — herself and Samuel L. — the 
latter a farmer of Ontario county, N. Y. , with 
his post-office at Bristol. Mrs. Davis has in 
her possession a Bible, the gift of her mother, 
and printed in 1846, but which, although not 
at all antiquated as an edition of the Holy 
Scriptures, is a year older than herself and is 
greatly prized for that reason. 

Mr. Davis had two brothers, Alonzo and 
George, who were soldiers in the late Civil 
war. .A-Ionzo was a member of the One Hun- 
dred' and Twenty-sixth. New York volunteer 
infantry, was assigned to the army of the Po- 
tomac, and was taken prisoner at Harper's 
Ferry, but was exchanged at Chicago in time 
to rejoin his regiment and take part in the 
battle of Gettysburg, where he was shot 
through both legs, and was then honorably 
discharged; George was a member of the One 
Hundredth New York volunteers, served in 
the army of the Tennessee, participated in 



646 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



several severe actions, and was wounded near 
the city of Charleston, S. C. Alexander Davis, 
grandfather of subject, served in the war of 
1812, and subject for a long time had in his 
possession the belt and cartridge box which his 
grandfather carried through the second struggle 
for independence. The old patriot was of 
wonderful physique, and in this respect sub- 
ject is similarly blessed. 

The first purchase of land made by Mr. 
Davis in Solon township was a tract of forty 
acres in the brush, which was so thick between 
the little log cabin, which he erected, and the 
highway, that one could scarcely see a passer- 
by on the latter. Now, in 1900, a beautiful 
modern farm residence stands on the ground, 
the brush has given way to fruitful fields and 
blooming orchards, and substantial barns and 
other farm-buildings have been erected, the 
farm inclosed with a neat fence, and all these 
are the results of Mr. Davis" thrift and in- 
dustrious toil during the more than the quar- 
ter-century that he and wife have resided in 
the township. 

In politics Mr. Davis is a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for U. S. Grant. 
He is a stanch supporter of public schools and 
advocates the employment of the best teachers 
obtainable, and in all respects is a model citi- 
zen, standing, with his estimable wife, very 
high in the regard of the entire community. 



fvED De COU, proprietor of the Cen- 
tral hotel at Cedar Springs, Kent 
county, Mich., is a native of this 
county, born October 14, 1874, and 
is a son of George W. and Mary A. (Whitney) 
De Cou, a full record of whom will be found 
on another page in this volume. He was 
reared to farming in the northern part of Kent 
county, and there received a common-school 



education. The earlier years of his business 
life were passed in the northwest in railroad- 
ing, and m extensive travel through that region 
of the United States. 

November 14, 1894, Mr. De Cou was united 
in marriage, in Kent county, with Miss Anna 
Bills, a native of Indiana, and a daughter of 
Edward and Elizabeth (Morris) Bills, and this 
marriage has been crowned by the birth of two 
children, Lila G., whose presence in the fam- 
ily is like that of a never-varying sunbeam, 
and Harold S. Mrs. De Cou was but a little 
girl when brought to Michigan by her parents, 
who had a family of nine children — two sons 



and seven daughters. 



The daughters are stil 



living, and are Clara, wife of H. H. Brown, a 
prosperous resident of Cannon township, Kent 
county, and Charity, married to Edward Engle- 
wright, a farmer of Portland, Mich. ; Flora, 
wife of Cyrus Clare, a well-to-do resident of 
Grand Rapids and formerly a miller: Jennie, 
wife of Earl Perry, a thriving farmer of Algo- 
ma township, Kent county; Anna, now Mrs. 
De Cou; Inez, wife of Claxence Higby, a well- 
known agriculturist of Nelson township, Kent 
county; and Maud, who resides with Mr. and 
Mrs. De Cou. Mr. and Mrs. Bills were born 
in Ohio, but now reside in Michigan. 

Mrs. P'red De Cou has been a lady of great 
activity all her life, and, having the necessary 
experience, makes an excellent superintendent 
of the affairs of the Central hotel, over which 
she presides with dignity, ease and grace, and 
with that genial and happy demeanor which 
makes every guest feel as if he were in his 
home. Mr. De Cou took possession of the 
Central in 1898, and by his affable and studied 
attention to the wants of his guests, has made 
his house unusually popular with the traveling 
public. The rooms of the Central are neatly 
and comfortably furnished and are kept well 
warmed in winter and coolly ventilated in 
summer; the menu, superintended by Mrs. De 



i 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



647 



Cou herself, is prepared with the utmost care, 
the result being that the tables are supplied 
with every substantial and luxury the market 
affords, and each manipulated in the cuisine 
by the same accomplished lady, aided by a 
competent corps of culinary assistants. 

Mr. De Cou is a republican in politics and 
cast his first presidential vote for Maj. McKin- 
ley. Fraternally he is a member of the lodge 
No. 3S1, I. O. O. F., at Cedar Springs, and 
socially he and Mrs. De Cou are classed among 
the most respected residents of Cedar Springs 
and Nelson township. 




EORGE W. De COU, a deceased pio- 
neer of Nelson township, I'Cent coun- 
ty Mich., was born in Wayne county, 
^ N. Y. , February 27, 1835, the sev- 
enth in a family of eight sons and three daugh- 
ters born to Charles S. and .^nna (Cooperj De 
Cou, of which children, B. F. De Cou, a pros- 
perous farmer of Nelson township, is the only 
survivor. 

Charles S. De Cou was a native of New 
Jerse)', was of remote Huguenot e.xtraction, 
but in his individual religious sentiments a 
Quaker. He was liberally educated, was a 
gentleman of the old school, and his word was 
considered to be "as good as his bond." 
When a young man he emigrated from his na- 
tive state to New York, and thence came to 
Michigan in 1856. In politics he was first a 
whig, but when that party passed into oblivion 
he became an advocate of the principles of the 
democracy. His wife, Anna (Cooper) De Cou, 
came from an eminent New Jersey family, her 
father, James B. Cooper, being a commodore 
in the United States navy. Two of her chil- 
dren fell victims to the war of the Rebellion — 
Samuel being shot through the head at the 
battle of Gettysburg, and Charles, while on 



detailed duty in the ambulance corps, received 
injuries from which he died in hospital at 
Washington, D. C, his remains being in- 
terred in the National cemetery at Arlington 
Heights, Va. 

George W. De Cou received a sound ordi- 
inary education when young, but at the age of 
seventeen years was seiqed with the gold fever 
so prevalent at the time, and started for Cali- 
fornia, via Cape Horn, a distance of 12,000 
miles, working his passage as a seaman, and 
there he spent si.\ j'ears in the gold mines. 
Having met with reasonable success, he re- 
turned home via the isthmus of Panama, and 
a short time afterward, iri 1859, came to Ivent 
county, Mich. Here his father presented him 
with eighty acres of wild land, on which he 
erected the inevitable log cabin on the site now 
occupied by a pretty modern residence. 

October 30, i860, George W. DeCou mar- 
ried Miss Mary A. Whitney, and to this union 
were born three sons and one daughter, of 
whom two of the sons are stjll living. The 
eldest son, James C. , married Martha McDon- 
ald, had born to him one daughter, GraciaM., 
and died in Nelson township at the age of 
twenty-seven years. His widow is now wile of 
Henry Whitney, of Nelson township. The 
second son born to Mr. and Mrs. George W. 
De Cou is named Elmer S.,and was born July 
16, 1865. He married Miss Rose Newman, a 
native of Cayuga county, N. Y., has two chil- 
dren, Merton C. and Clair G., and resides on 
the old homestead. The third son is Freder- 
ick, proprietor of the Central hotel, the lead- 
ing hostelry at Cedar Springs. The only 
daughter was named Julia, who died in in- 
fancy. 

In politics George W. DeCou was an ardent 
republican, and a true friend of the public 
school system. He was a firm believer in spir- 
itualism, and he and wife were members of 
the Religio-Philosophical society at Rockford. 



648 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



■He was a gentleman of the strictest integrity, 
was frugal and industrious, and although his 
purse was somewhat depleted on his settling 
in Nelson township, he succeeded in redeeming 
his farm from the wilderness and in making it 
the handsome home that is now occupied by 
his widow and son Elmer. He was called 
from earth March 6, 1S82, and his remains 
were interred in the De Cou cemetery, in Nel- 
son township, were a beautiful white bronze 
monument marks his last resting place. 

Mrs. Mary A. (Whitne}) De Cou was born 
November 14, 1839, a daughter of Solomon 
and Amanda (Martin) Whitney, of Puritan 
stock and the parents of three children, viz: 
Mary A., now the widow DeCou; Nancy C, 
wife of Norman J. Painter, of Elwood, Nebr. , 
and Solomon, who was a brave and gallant 
soldier of the Twenty-first Michigan volunteer 
infantry', was wounded at Chickamauga, and 
died in field hospital two da}'s later. 

Solomon Whitney, father of Mrs. De Cou, 
was a native of New York, born November 29, 
1809, and in early life was a mechanic. He 
was mostly self-educated, but was possessed 
of supeiior mental endowments. In May, 
1854, he came to Michigan, when Nelson 
township was known as North Courtland, pre- 
empted 160 acres of pine forest land, and pur- 
chased by land warrants 160 additional acres. 
Not a tree had been felled on the place; Indians 
and wild animals infested the forest; Grand 
Rapids was little more than a trading-post. 
Railroads, churches and schools were unknown 
and Mr. Whitney was one of the first to or- 
ganize the home school district. His first 
habitation in Michigan was built of logs, was 
18x20 feet in dimensions, and had a stove- 
pipe thrust through the roof for a chimney. 
But Mr. Whitney was a man of enterprise and 
unfaltering industry, and in due course of time 
succeeded in developing a first-class farm from 
the forest, and died a wealthy and honored 



citizen in August, i8S-6. His grandson, Elmer 
DeCou, has now in his possession the original 
warrant for the 160 acres of land mentioned 
above, which was executed September i, 1851, 
and signed by Millard Fillmore, then president 
of the United States. The father of Mr. Whit- 
ney was a soldier at Detroit when Gen. Will- 
iam Hull surrendered to the British without 
firing a gun, which dastardly act so mortified 
the American soldiers that Mr. Whitney, like 
many others, splintered the stock of his own 
musket. He, wife and two children were tal:en 
prisoners at that time, but later exchanged. 

Mrs. DeCou received an excellent educa- 
tion when young, and taught two terms in 
Illinois; also two in Michigan, one of which 
was the first winter term in her home district, 
and the other the first school in Jewell dis- 
trict, Solon township. She has been a resident 
of Kent county for nearly half a century, and 
has witnessed the many miraculous changes 
for the. better during this long period, and no 
lady in the region is more highly respected 
and honored than she. 




AJ. WILBUR FISK DICKERSON, 

a veteran of the late Ci\il war and 
a highly respected citizen of Ada 
township, is the gentleman of 
whose life an epitome is herewith presented. 
He belongs to an old New York family, and 
since 1857 has been identified with the indus- 
trial interests of Kent county, has been active 
in every enterprise for the moral and material 
well-being of his community, and is a gentle- 
man against whose good name no word of sus- 
picion has ever been breathed. 

The major's father was James L. Dicker- 
son, who was born May 24, 1814, married 
Mary A. Riley, and in 1857 became a resident 
of the county of Kent, dying in Grand Rapids, 



fl 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



649 



January 27, 1S87. His wife survived him un- 
til 1S89, departing this Hfe on the 27th of 
October that 3ear. James L. Dickerson was 
in early life a carpenter and joiner, but after 
settling in Kent county turned his attention 
principally to agricultural pursuits, which he 
carried on in connection with his trade until 
advanced age compelled him to retire from 
active labor. He reared a family of eleven 
children, of whom five are still living, Wilbur 
F. being the fourth in order of birth. 

Maj. Dickerson was born in Xevv York 
city, June 22, 1842, and accompanied his 
parents to Michigan in 1857. Previous to 
coming west he attended a private seminary 
in the city of Xevv York, and later continued 
his studies in Lowell and Hastings, Mich., be- 
coming well versed in the branches constitut- 
ing the curriculum of the public schools of the 
state. \\^hile still young he began working at 
the carpenter's trade in Grand Rapids, and 
after becoming proficient therein concluded to 
lay aside his tools and engage in a business 
which promised more liberal returns, to-wit: 
merchandizing. For some years he carried 
on a lucrative business in Grand Rapids as a 
dealer in coffees, teas and spices, and later 
purchased a farm in Ada township, where he 
has since resided. 

In 1 861 Mr. Dickerson responded to the 
country's call for volunteers, enlisting as a 
musician September 13 of that year in com- 
pany F, Eighth Michigan infantry, with which 
he served as a drum-major, with full charge of 
the music, until mustered out December 31, 
1863, when he at once veteranized at Knox- 
ville, Tenn., and remained with his command 
in all its varied experiences until August 12, 
1865, when he retired from military service 
and returned to Grand Rapids. 

During Maj. Dickerson's periods of service 
at the front he participated in many skir- 
mishes, forced marches, and not a few of the 



bloodiest battles of the war, in all of which his 
conduct was that of which any defender of the 
nation's honor might feel deservedly proud. 
Among the thirty-two real engagements may 
be mentioned Coosa Ferry, Fort Pulaski, Wil- 
mington Island (where twenty-two men of his 
regiment were killed and over 100 wounded), 
James Island, Rappahannock, Sulpur Springs, 
Warrington Juction, Culpeper Court House, 
Rapidan, second Bull Run, Fredericksburg, 
the Wilderness, Chancellorsville, Cold Harbor, 
and other engagements of the bloody Virginia 
campaign, besides several battles and minor 
engagements in east Tennessee, including 
Lennox Station, Campbellville, Knoxville and 
others. At Cold Harbor, while picking up the 
disabled, Maj. Dickerson was twice wounded, 
one ball passing through and badly lacerating 
his leg. Few veterans of the Civil war can 
point to a prouder record, and no one con- 
ducted himself more bravely than did the 
major in the many bloody scenes through 
which he passed. At the call for militia in 
the Spanish-American war, the major promptly 
responded, but being twice rejected chose to 
remain at Island Lake to instruct the bands of 
each of the five regiments, and so continued for 
four months. 

Maj. Dickerson has an official as well as a 
military record, having since 1896 filled the 
office of justice of the peace for Ada township, 
a position requiring a high order of intellect 
and good judgment, both of which he pos- 
sesses in a marked degree. He has been con- 
nected with the Michigan National Guard as 
drum- major of the Second regiment for 
twenty-one years, and for disabilities received 
while in active service is now the recipient of 
a liberal pension from the government. His 
services while with his regiment at the front, 
and his long connection with the National 
Guard since the war, have been themes of 
many articles in the public press in Kent 



650 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



county and throughout the state, all of which 
abound in many allusions to his gallantry as a 
soldier and high standing among his fellow- 
citizens as a civilian. 

Maj. Dickerson was married January 31, 
1865, to Miss Melissa R. Wells, daughter of 
William Wells, of Kent county. Four chil- 
dren have been born to this union — three sons 
and one daughter, namely: Mary C. , Charles 
W., Frank J. and Harold S. 

Politically the major is a leading repub- 
lican of the county, is active in the councils of 
the party, and has been an influential factor 
in many contests during the last twenty-five 
years. He is a member of the Masonic order 
and an active worker in the circles of the 
Grand Army. The family are Congregation- 
alists, belonging to the church in Grand 
Rapids. 




R.A.NK DOUBLEDAY, a thriving and 
highly-respected farmer of Tyrone 
township, Kent county, was born in 
Wakeshma, Mich., July 29, 1861, 
and is the second of the family of four sons and 
one daughter born to Hiram M. and Maria 
(Waugh) Doubleday, of which children three 
still survive, viz: Hiram, a farmer at Burling- 
ton, Calhoun county; Marion, a mechanic at 
Casnovia, Muskegon county, and married, and 
Frank, the subject of this sketch. 

Hiram M. Doubleday was born in New 
York, December 28, 1830, his father being an 
Englishman, and was but four years of age 
when brought to Michigan by his parents, who 
settled in Branch county, coming all the way 
from New York by ox team. He received a 
good education in the common schools, and 
passed his boyhood on his father's farm, which 
was a virgin forest, purchased from the gov- 
ernment, and where Indians were still numer- 
ous. At his majority he was seized with the 



gold fever, and crossed the plains to Califor- 
nia, made a success of the trip, and three years 
later returned to the states via the isthmus of 
Panama. For four years he lived in Calhoun 
county, Mich., then went to Minnesota and 
engaged in farming in Waseca county for si.\ 
years; he then returned to Michigan, lived 
in Ottawa count}' about ten years, 
then removed to Calhoun county, where 
his death took place June 14, 1898. In poli- 
tics he was a democrat. Mrs. Maria Double- 
day, widow of Hiram M., is a native of Branch 
county. Mich., is now about fifty-five j^ears of 
age, and resides in Calhoun county with her 
son Hiram. 

Frank Doubleday, the subject of this 
sketch, passed his life, from nine years of age 
until twenty-two, in Ottawa county, and well 
knows what hard toil means, as he began to 
make his livelihood at the age of thirteen 
years, his first wages being $50 for eight 
months' work. He continued to work by the 
month until he attained man's estate, and 
seven winters of this time were spent in the 
lumber regions. 

September i, 1883, Mr. Doubleday married 
Miss AUie E. Shear, arid to this marriage have 
been born two children, viz: Blanche, who 
graduated from the Kent City public schools, 
in 1899, and is the youngest person yet to , 
graduate from this school; her record stands as f 
follows: Rhetoric, 96; algebra, 96; botany, 
94; physics, 92; history, 87; arithmetic, 95; 
general average, 93^ percent. September 11, 
1899, she entered the Union City high school, 
where she will complete the course. Hazel 
May, the younger daughter, is in the fifth 
grade, is very attentive to her studies, and has 
not missed a day's attendance in two years. 

Mrs. Alice E. Doubleday was born in 
Chester township, Ottawa county, Mich., 
April 7, 1867, and is the only daughter of 
William and Frances (Porterj Shear. She had 



AXD KENT COUxNTY, UP TO DATE. 



651 



two brothers, one of whom is deceased, and 
the other, L. G. Shear, is a resident of 
Ottawa county. WiUiam Shear, the father, 
was born in Toronto, Canada, June 29, 1832, 
and his father, a native of the same country, 
was a soldier in the war of 181 2. Mr. Shear 
came to Michigan when a young man. was 
educated in the common schools, and was a 
farmer all his life. He was a republican 
in politics, passed the greater number 
of his years in Michigan, and died March 
14, 1886. His wife was born in New York, 
December 27, 1843, was educated in the com- 
mon schools, and is still living in Ottawa 
county, Mich., where Mrs. Doubleday was 
reared and also educated in the common 
schools. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Doubleday began their 
married life their capital was very small, but 
through diligeuce and economy they have 
realized a comfortable competence. Most of 
iheir married life has been passed in f\ent 
county, but four for years they lived in the 
village of Casnovia, where Mr. Doubleday en- 
gaged in buying and selling ^horses. In 1892 
he purchased forty acres of land in section No. 
31, Tyrone township, resided on it one year, 
and then purchased sixty acres of his present 
homestead, within three-quarters of a mile of 
the Kent City schools. He now owns 140 
acres in Tyrone township, all gained by his 
own efforts. Scarcely six years ago he owed 
$2,000, but to-day he is free of all debt, and 
owns one of the well-improved farms in Tyrone 
township. This is a record of which Mr. and 
Mrs. Doubleday may well feel proud, and his 
success is an example well worthy the emula- 
tion of young men now as poor as he was 
when he began life's career. In politics he is 
a republican, and cast his first presidential 
vote for Benjamin Harrison, but he has never 
frittered away his time in seeking public office, 
as he found that attention to his own business 



was more profitable than the vainglorious 
pursuit of politics. Mr. and Mrs. Doubleday 
are greatly esteemed on account of their many 
personal merits and are classed among the 
best people of Tyrone township. 



OCKERAY BROTHERS.— This well- 
known lumber and produce firm of 
Rockford, Kent county, Mich., is 
constituted of George A. and R. 
Harlow Dockeray, both natives of Orleans 
county, N. Y. The lumber business was pur- 
chased in December, 1894, by the younger 
brother, George A., and has been conducted 
with unvarying success until the present time, 
the integrity of the partners. never having been 
impeached and their energy and thorough 
knowledge of the business being universally 
recognized. Of their ancestry mention will be 
made in full further on. 

George A. Dockeray, originator of the 
business conducted by Dockeray Brothers,' 
was born March 9, 1 8 5 2 , in Orleans county, N. Y. , 
and was a child of two years of age when 
brought to Michigan by his parents, who set- 
tled one and a half-miles from Rockford, Kent 
county. Here George A. was reared, and 
until twenty-six years old spent his life on his 
father's farm, assisting in agricultural work, in 
the meanwhile receiving a practical education 
in the common schools. In 1889 he was em- 
ployed by C. Ainsworth, a seed and wool 
dealer at Grand Rapids, and has purchased 
wool for that gentleman every season since. 
After three years spent in Mr. Ainsworth's 
store, Mr. Dockeray came to Rockford in Oc- 
tober, 1893, and embarked in the produce 
business, in partnership with W. I. Towne; 
but at the end of a year sold his interest in that 
trade to Mr. Towne. He purchased in De- 
cember, 1894, the lumber business of S. 
Fincham, and being a thorough busines man 



m 



652 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and well conversant with the channels of 
trade, had exclusive command of the lumber 
business in Rockford until January i, 1898, 
when his brother, R. Harlow Dockeray, joined 
him in partnership, purchasing one-third in- 
terest. 

In 1895, George A. Dockeray had pur- 
chased the produce business of Mr. Towne 
and incorported it with his present line of 
trade. The firm handle potatoes, beans and 
grain, making shipments to \'irginia, Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee, Ohio and other states, the 
volume of business in this line alone reaching 
$30,000 to $35,000 annually. 

When George A. Dockeray took charge of 
the lumber yard in 1S94 there were about 
35,000 feet on hand; at present there are in 
the yard about 125,000 feet of the best hem- 
lock and white and Norway pine. The firm 
handle the Michigan product almost exclu- 
sively, purchasing from Cadillac and other 
northern points. Beside lumber, they deal in 
cedar and pine shingles, lath, drain and sewer 
tile, lime, cement, hair and brick. The lum- 
ber trade alone aggregates from $7,000 to 
$10,000 per annum, a most excellent showing 
for so short a time. 

June 28, 1899, Mr. Dockeray was united 
in marriage with Miss Edith C. Paine, a 
daughter of E. \V. Paine, a prominent fruit 
grower residing near Rockford. In religion he 
is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and in politics he is an ardent prohi- 
bitionist, casting his first presidential vote for 
John P. St. John, the noted prohibition 
leader. 

R. Harlow Dockeray, of the firm of Dock- 
eray Brothers, was born in 1854, also in Or- 
leans county. N. Y. , and was reared and edu- 
cated in Kent county, Mich. In 1880 he 
began life as a sawyer, remained at the busi- 
ness three years, and then worked for Allen & 
Rykert, proprietors of a planing mill in Rock- 



ford, until 1887, when he took a position with 
Watkins & House, proprietors of the Rockford 
Flouring mills, with whom he remained until 
1898, when he became a partner with his 
brother, George A., bringing to the concern 
considerable technical experience. 

In October, iSSo, Mr. Dockeray was joined 
in matrimony with Miss Ida Norton, a native 
of Ithaca, N. Y., and to this union has been 
born one daughter, Ethel, who is a student in 
the school at Rockford and has also received 
instruction in instrumental music. In politics, 
R. Harlow Dockeray is a stanch republican, 
casting his first ballot for Rutherford B. Hayes. 
For two 3"ear3 he was a member of the village 
council. 

Robert Dockeray, father of George A. and 
R. Harlow, was born near Kendal, Westmore- 
land county, England, August 4, 1829. His 
parents, Robert and Elizabeth Dockeray, 
came to America with their family in 1839, 
and settled on a farm in Orleans county, N. 
Y. Robert was married, in 1854, to Lucy A. 
White, a direct descendant of Thomas Wight, 
who was one of the early immigrants to Mas- 
sachusetts, where he settled about 1630. The 
family of Robert Dockeray came to Kent 
county, Mich., in 1864, and settled on a farm 
one and one-half miles from Rockford, and in 
1888 retired to the village. 

Robert Dockeray identified himself with 
the Patrons of Husbandry when that order 
was first instituted, and became one of its 
most prominent members, several times filling 
the highest positions in the county and sub- 
ordinate granges. During the closing years of 
his life he assisted his son, George A., in his 
lumber and produce business, and died, No- 
vember 8, 1897, one of the most respected 
citizens of Rockford. His widow is now a 
resident of Grand Rapids. Beside the mem- 
bers of the above named firm, there are two 
sisters in the Dockeray family, viz: Ella E., 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



653 



a successful teacher in the public schools of 
Grand Rapids, and Alice D., wife of M. A. 
Norton, who is in the employ of Dockeray 
Brothers, and is a resident of Rockford. 




EWTS DUNN, 



a respected retired 
farmer of Sparta township, Kent 
cqunty. Mich., is a native of Seneca 
county, Ohio, was born June 21, 
1S36, and is the youngest of the family of 
three sons and two daughters that graced the 
marriage of George and Catherine (DeGraw) 
Dunn, and of whom four are still living, viz: 
Mrs. Lucy Givins, a widow, residing in Attica, 
Ohio; Jephtha, a farmer of Richardson county, 
Nebr., and Lewis, the subject. 

George Dunn, the father, was born in 
Steuben county, N. Y., and died in 1837. He 
was a farmer, and all his children were born 
in the Empire state with the exception of 
Lewis, the 3'oungest, and when he settled in 
Ohio bought his land from the United States 
government. His wife was also a native of 
Steuben county, N. Y., and died in Sparta 
township, Kent county, Mich., in 1887, a 
devout member of the Close-Communion Bap- 
tist church. 

Lewis Dunn began the battle of life at a 
very early age, and when only ten years old 
was the'sole reliance of his widowed mother. 
At the age of fourteen years he resolved to 
seek his fortune in the west, and in 1850, with 
a capital of $10 in cash, started, in company 
with three others, for the wilds of Michigan. 
They walked as far as Toledo, and came thence 
by cars and stage to Grand Rapids, the town 
then being but a trading post. There was 
but one bridge across the Grand river at that 
time, and the point where the Tower now 
stands was known as Grab Corners. He came 
up the river and crossed in a skiff to the spot 
on which Sweet's hotel has since been built. 



There were a few houses on the north side of 
the river and court was held in a little old 
frame building west of the present bridge site, 
but there was not a railroad in the county. 
His first work in Kent county was for a Dr. 
Squires, in the woods, at $16 per month, 
and thus it will be seen that Mr. Dunn began 
at the bottom of the ladder, at the top of 
which stands Fortune, to reward the man 
who successfullj' makes the ascent. 

From Ivent county Mr. Dunn went north 
into Newaygo county and there purchased 
eighty acres of oak openings, but went in debt 
for the greater part of the cost. This land he 
retained three years, then sold and returned 
to Kent county. In February, i860, he mar- 
ried Miss Nanc}' Hunter, a native of Kent 
county bo.rn November 30, 1864, and in 
1866 they settled in Sparta township, where 
Mr. Dunn bought eighty acres of forest land, 
partly on credit. Their first habitation was a 
small frame structure, which still stands on the 
farm. Indians were not infrequently seen 
passing b\- the door. 0.\-teams were the 
means of conveyance, and with one of these 
Mr. Dunn often drove his family to church, 
and more than once to Grand Rapids for trad- 
ing purposes. His farm implements were of 
the primitive character, but he worked hard, 
cleared off his indebtedness, and was soon 
able to add twenty acres to his original eighty. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Dunn 
have been born two children, of whom George 
W., who finished his education in the Sparta 
high school, was married to Miss Libbie Mc- 
Cune, February 14, 1889, has two sons and 
one daughter, and at present has charge of 
his father's farm on section No. 8; Lancie, 
the eldest child born to Mr. and Mrs. George 
W. Dunn, is in the fourth grade at school; 
Elsie, the second born is in the second grade, 
and Nuell, the youngest child, is still at home. 
Mrs. George W. Dunn was born in Ottawa 



654 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



county December 12, 1869, and was educated 
in the common schools. In politics, George 
W. is a democrat. 

Lewis Dunn, although an almost penni- 
less lad when he came to Kent county, now 
owns a fine estate of 100 acres and an ex- 
cellent farm residence, erected in 1SS6, to- 
gether with substantial barns and out-build- 
ings, supplied with every modern convenience,' 
while his farm implements are of the latest 
improved manufacture and style. He owes no 
man a dollar and is now able to .pass his de- 
clining years in peaceful ease, and is classed 
with the substantial men of Sparta, a town 
of 1,200 inhabitants, but which had only 
about fifteen when he first knew it. 

In politics, Mr. Dunn is non-partisan in 
local elections and votes for the man who, in 
his opinion, is fittest for office. He is a friend 
of public education, having served on the 
school board for fifteen years, and his son, 
George W. , is a member of the present board. 
Mr. and Mrs. Dunn are devout members of 
the Free Will Baptist church, and no family 
in the township stands higher iu the public 
esteem than that of Lewis Dunn, the pioneer. 




DWIN C. DUFF, an enterprising and 
progressive young merchant of Ada, 
Kent county, Mich., is a native of 
the place and was born March 23, 
1869, being the eldest of the three children 
that blessed the marriage of Patrick and Ellen 
(Chaffee) Duff, the former of whom was born 
in Quebec in 1837, and was a wheelwright by 
trade. Patrick came to Ada about the close of 
the war and conducted his business here until 
his death at the age of fifty-two years. The 
other children are, Olive and Isola, who are 
still at home with their mother. 

Edwin C. Duff, the subject of this sketch, 
was educated in the district schools of his na- 



tive town, passed his minority in farm work 
and as a laborer on a railroad, and at a very 
early age began merchandizing on his own ac- 
count, being but twenty-two years old when 
he assumed the responsibilities of business. 
On the I 5th day of September, 1S91, he pur- 
chased a stock of goods for $500 and boldly 
embarked in trade, but the venture proved a 
fortunate one, for, by close attention to the 
needs of his patrons and the exercise of an up- 
right method of doing business, his trade now 
reaches at least $5,000 annually, his choice 
and well-selected stock reaches from $1,000 to 
$1,500 in value, and his trade extends far out 
into the country surrounding the village of Ada. 
Mr. Duff was united in marriage, Decem- 
ber 2, 1892. with Miss Lillie Bangle, daughter 
of Samuel and Emilj- Bangle, and this union 
has been blessed with three sons — Miles P., 
Basil J. and Chester B. In politics, Mr. Duff 
is strongly democratic, but although extremely 
popular with his party and the public in gen- 
eral, being looked upon as an energetic young 
man, he has never yet aspired to public office. 
Fraternally a member of Ada tent, Knights of 
the Maccabees, being the record keeper of the 
same, and his social, marital and business re- 
lations are of the most pleasant and, indeed, 
enviable character. 




B.. DUNNING, agriculturist and fine 
horseman of Tyrone township, is a 
gentleman that has been known for 
over a quarter of a century in Kent 
county as a man of integrity and honor. He 
is a native of Genesee county, N. Y. , and was 
born on the 26th day of August, 1844, being 
the only li\ing child of Orren and Hansy Lu- 
cretia (Brown) Dunning. 

His father was also a native of Genesee 
count}', N. Y., where he was a stone and brick- 
mason by vocation. He was a man of thorough 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



655 



education and had taught school a number of 
years in his native state. As tohis political affil- 
iations he was an old-line whig, and at the birth 
of the republican party espoused its principles 
and became a great admirer of Abraham Lin- 
coln. I^eligiously he was a strong Baptist, of 
which church he had at one time been deacon. 

The mother of C. B. Dunning was a native 
of the same county and state as her husband, 
where she was reared and died. She was also 
a member of the Baptist church and in very 
high standing. 

Mr. Dunning of this sketch was educated 
and reared in his native state until his major- 
ity, when he concluded to try his fortune in the 
west. He came to Van ISuren county, Mich., 
located near Decatur, and there, without any 
capital, he began work by the month. 

On the second day of December, 1S70, he 
was wedd'ed to Miss Alice Blanchard, a native 
of Orleans county, N. Y. , which union was 
graced by the birth of one son and a daughter. 
The elder is a daughter, who is now the wife 
of L. D. Cummings, an agriculturist, residing 
in Sparta township. She was reared in the 
conmion schools, where she received a good 
education. She is now the mother of one son 
and two daughters, all of whom are living, viz: 
Adele L. B., Lucille and Ray P. 

Ray P. Dunning is living with his father, 
assisting on the estate. He has received a 
good education, having been prepared for en- 
trance into high school, but he ceased attend- 
ing. He was one of the boys who offered their 
services in the recent Spanish-American war. 
While visiting in Dakota he enlisted in troop 
E, Third regiment of the First cavalry, under 
the command of Capt. Joseph Binder and Col. 
Melvin Grigsb}-. He was mustered into serv- 
ice at Sioux Falls on the 15th day of May, 
1898, and his regiment was ordered at once to 
Chickamauga. There he remained from May 

19th until September 2, 1898; part of the 
34- 



time he was engaged in heavy drill work, and 
the remaining time he lay sick in bed. At 
first he was seized with malarial fever, and on 
his convalescence was stricken with a severe 
case of typhoid fever, which at times caused 
his comforters to despair of his life. At the 
end of this sickness he received an honorable 
discharge, and returned home to his parents. 

Mr. and Mrs. Dunning have taken a great 
educational interest in their children and have 
given them the benefits and advantages of 
good schools. 

Mrs. Dunning was born September g, 
1846, a daughter of Almond and Lena (Al- 
dridge) Blanchard. There were three in the 
family; one son, Augustine Blanchard, is mar- 
ried and is a real-estate and loan agent of Ar- 
mour, S. D. ; and two daughters, Mrs. Dunning, 
and Ella, the wife of Ellis Olmstead, an agri- 
culturist, residing at Cheater, Ottawa county. 
Almond Blanchard, the father, was a native of 
j New York, born in 18 15 and died in 1890. 
He was educated in the common schools of his 
native state, where he became a mechanic, and 
later was engaged in agriculture. Both he 
and his wife, who was a native of New York, 
and died in 1886, were good members of the 
Free Will Baptist church. Martin Aldridge, 
the maternal grandfather of Mrs. Dunning, 
was of Welsh extraction, and was a hero of 
the war of 1 8 12. Mrs. Dunning is a self-edu- 
cated lady. She received her primary educa- 
tion in the common schools and later took an 
academic course, for which she paid by teach- 
ing school, both in her native state and in 
Michigan. 

Mr. Dunning and family resided in the lit- 
tle village of Sparta for two years and a half, 
and in September, 1895, came to Tyrbne 
township, where they purchased ninety acres 
of land within a mile of the village of Kent 
City, and are now the owners of a beautiful 
farm with man_\- improvements, which may be 



65(3 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



said to be one of the model estates of the 
township. 

Mr. Dunninf^ in his poHtics is a republican, 
having cast his initiator}' vote for U. S. Grant. 
He has never aspired to any offie, but has pre- 
ferred to devote his time to his business inter- 
ests. He served as a trustee of the Kent City 
Baptist church, and is at present superintend- 
ent of the Sunday-school, which averages 
about seventy pupils. He has taken a great in- 
terest in education, is a friend and supporter 
of the public schools and in favor of procuring 
the best instructors. Mr. and Mrs. Dunning are 
respected members of the Baptist church, con- 
form strictl}' to its teachings, and have given 
liberally to every worthy cause. The}- favor and 
give aiding hand to such enterprises or works 
which may elevate the plane of the intellectual 
and moral good of their community, and have 
been active and successful people, standing 
high in both business and religious ciicles, and 
are most valuable citizens to their community. 




N. Y. 



VRUS A. DURFEY, an energetic and 
enterprising farmer and stock-raiser 
of Nelson township, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of Oswego county, 
was born August ii, 1857, the third 
child in a family of three sons and two daugh- 
ters born to Milton J. and Sarah M. (Storer) 
Durfey, and is the only survivor. 

Milton J. Durfey, also a native of the Em- 
pire state, was born September 8, 1830, and 
passed his early working days on the Erie canal 
either as driver or steersman, and in 1869 
came to Cedar Springs, Mich., and purchased 
160 acres in section 14, Nelson township. The 
land was covered with a solid growth of pine, 
and in March of the same year he struck his 
first blow into one of these monstrous trees 
and proclaimed the fact that he had founded 
his home. His son, Cyrus A., has preserved 



this particular tree, and when he pulled the 
stump so marked it and ornamented the latter 
that it can still be recognized as a memento of 
pioneer life. The excavation made in e.xtract- 
ing this stump is also preserved intact. The 
first shelter for the family of Mr. Durfey in 
this forest was originall}' a little log struct- 
ure erected by a neighbor for a hog pen, 
which Mr. Durfey patched up and rendered 
tolerably habitable for the time being. Oxen 
were used as beasts of burden and draft, and 
the subject still has in his possession the 
horns of a favorite yoke of cattle which had 
been used many years in clearing up the land. 
An old log house, about a mile from the 
Durfey home, was the only school-house, and 
is still standing. 

The marriage of Milton J. Durfey with 
Miss Sarah M. Storer resulted in the birth of 
five children, of whom four died before the 
parents were called away. Mrs. Sarah M. 
Durfey was born in New York state Novem- 
ber 5, 1835. She was a lady of sound judg- 
ment, a loving wife and mother, and respected 
by her neighbors of every class. Mr. Durfey 
was in politics a democrat, and on several 
occasions served his fellow-townsmen in offi- 
cial positions from a feeling of public duty, 
and was greatly esteemed as a wise counselor 
and admired for his unlimited generosity. 
His lamented death took place December 28, 
1S92. He was followed to his grave by his 
amiable widow June 22, 1898, and the re- 
mains of both rest side by side in DeCou 
cemetery, where a fine monument will be soon 
erected to their memory by their son. 

CjTus A. Durfey was educated in the com- 
mon schools of his native county and was a 
lad of twelve years when brought to Michi- 
gan by his parents. His life has been passed 
in lumbering, farming and stockraising, and 
he has done much toward developing the 
home farm and in redeeming Nelson town- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



657 



ship from the wilderness. He has been a 
hard worker, wise and discreet in the man- 
agement of his farm, and above all has been 
strictly honest, thus winning for himself the 
unbounded confidence of all his neighbors. 

May 7, 1878, Mr. Durfey was united in 
marriage with Miss Minnie Brown, and this 
union has been graced with five children, of 
whom three are still living, viz: Ethel Irene, 
who is in the eighth grade in school and has 
manifested an especial talent (or vocal music; 
Grace Elner is also at school, and W'ilber J. 
is at home. The deceased were named 
George, who died at the age of fourteen years 
and was a fine large bo}', bright in all his ways; 
Fay died at the age of five months. Mrs. Dur- 
fey was born in Calhoun count}', Mich., Feb- 
ruary 7, 1S60, a daughter of P. F. and Adeline 
(Durfey) Brown, natives of the Empire state, 
and parents of three sons and four daughters. 

Mr. Durfej' began his married life on the 
old homestead, which he has increased from 
160 acres to a full half-section, has four differ- 
ent residences on the estate, and instead of 
the primitive farming implements of his early 
days possesses at the present time the most 
improved modern farming machinery known 
to the advanced and intelligent agriculturist, 
and has thoroughly stumped his land. 

Although primarily a democrat in politics, 
Mr. Durfey has of late been a strong advocate 
of temperance principles and renders \aluable 
aid to the prohibition part}-. Mr. and Mrs. 
Durfey are both warm friends of public educa- 
tion, are generous in their support of the 
church, and charitable to the extreme toward 
tlie poor and suffering. Their happy home, 
five and one-half miles from Cedar Springs, 
is the abode of a genuine hospitality and re- 
fined culture, and their long residence in the 
township has made them the cynosures of all 
newcomers, as well' as the recognized head of 
the old residents who have made the township 



the home of luxury and the flourishing agri- 
cultural district which marks its pre-eminence 
to-da}-, and in the creation and development 
of which they have taken so active a part. 



INCOLN A. DYGERT, a prominent 
and well-to-do farmer of Lowell 
township, Kent county, Mich., was 
born in Caledonia township on the 
30th of September, 1871, and is a son of 
Thomas and Mary Jane Dygert. His boyhood 
was one of hard labor passed on the farm of 
his parents, where he remained until his ma- 
jority. 

On November 29, 1894, Mr. Dygert was 
united in marriage to Miss Bertha Graham, 
the second" of eight children born to William 
B. and Sarah (Proctor) Graham. The former, 
a native of Lancashire, England, was born on 
the 15th of April, 1837. He was engaged at 
the trade of a carpenter for some fifteen years 
prior to his settleinent upon his present farm 
in Lowell township, vvhere he now resides in 
good circumstances. Of late he has been spend- 
ing the summers at various resorts on account of 
failing health. Mrs. Dygert's grandfather was 
a teacher and celebrated mathematician, born 
in England in 1809 and died in March, 1S83, 
at the age of seventy-four years. Mrs. Dygert 
was educated in the common schools and the 
high school at Lowell, and for several terms 
was a teacher in Kent county. 

For some years prior to her grandmother's 
death. Bertha Graham was, during a greater 
part of the time, an inmate of the Proctor home, 
and after the death of her grandmother she 
became the source of much comfort and con- 
solation to her aged grandfather, who found in 
her a valuable companion and one who looked 
after his every want, anticipating each care, 
and devoting her life for nine years most assidu- 
ously to his comfort and happiness. Her hus- 



658 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



band ably seconded her efforts to alleviate the 
afflictions of years that grew upon the old 
gentleman with his declining age, and nothing 
was left undone that would mitigate his lone- 
liness or that could add to the pleasure life 
still held for him. These years of love and 
devotion were not left unrewarded; but with a 
heart full of thankfulness and appreciation for 
her who had sacrificed so much of her young 
life to comfort him in his declining years, 
whilst the shadows of the tomb had not yet 
closed about him, and the intellect was still 
unobscured by the defirmities of accumulated 
years, he resolved that she should be suitably 
rewarded of earthly treasure so that which 
was most near and dear to his aged heart was 
conferred upon her that she, too, might pass 
the summer of life, as well as its autumn, 
amidst the scenes and surroundings where his 
own life was spent, and to the beautifying of 
which he had devoted so many years, to the 
end that she and her loved companion, who 
had also grown dear to the old man's heart, 
might be spared the toil and anxiety his own 
earlier years had known, and as the approach 
of age grew upon them they could ever feel 
that life's duties nobly done had given an 
eternal reward. 

The farm is one of the best in Kent county, 
with first-class buildings and a fine house of 
large proportions standing in such a way and 
place as to be rendered a landmark widely 
known. 




AMES EASTERBY, prominent among 
the successful self-made men of Kent 
county, is one of the leading farmers 
and stock raisers of the township of 
Lowell. 

Mr. Easterby was born in Yorkshire, Er^- 
land, February i, 1829, and lived in his native 
country until 1853, at which time he came to 
the United States, and located about fourteen 



miles from the City of Detroit, Mich. There 
he remained until the fall of 1855, when he 
came to Kent county, where for several months 
he found employment as a common laborer, 
husbanding his scanty earnings the meantime, 
for the purpose of investing in land when a 
favorable opportunity presented itself. With 
but meager capital he finally made a purchase, 
going in debt to the amount of $300, for an 
eighty-acre tract which forms part of his pres- 
ent beautiful farm in Lowell township. Upon 
his land, which at the time was an unbroken 
woodland, he erected a small log cabin con- 
sisting of a single room, and then took jobs of 
chopping wood and clearing land, in order to 
meet the payments on his home when they be- 
came due. When such employment could not 
be obtained, he worked with might and main 
on his own place, and in due time the heavy 
forests fell before his sturdy stroke until a 
goodly number of acres was fitted for cultiva- 
tion. In order to procure the furniture for his 
house, Iilr. Easterby worked some months for 
a firm in Grand Rapids, taking his pay in such 
articles as were needed to make home com- 
fortable. 

Energy and industry, backed by a deter- 
mination to succeed, brought its reward as the 
years went by. The little clearing gradually 
became enlarged into a beautiful and well 
tilled farm, the primitive log cabin was replaced 
by a more comfortable dwelling of greatly en- 
larged dimensions, and to the original purchase 
additions were made from time to time, until 
now the homestead consists of 280 acres of as 
fine and highly improved land as can be found 
within the limits of the entire county. Every- 
thing on this place, from the commodious res- 
idence, large barns, and out-buildings and fenc- 
ing, to the careful condition of field, meadow 
and woodland, bears testimony to theprogress- 
iveness and thrift of the owner, and easily 
places him in the front rank of Lowell's most 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



659 



successful agriculturists. In addition to gen- 
eral farming, Mr. Easterby pajs considerable 
attention to the breeding of live stock, espe- 
cially cattle, of which he has some superior 
breeds, rearing and marketing a large number 
each year. 

Mr. Easterby was married when twenty-two 
years of age to Miss Ann Proctor, who bore 
him children as follows: Libbie M. is de- 
ceased; Johnnie died in childhood; Joseph re- 
sides on a part of the home place; Belle is the 
wife of Lewis Hastings, of South Dakota; 
Ro.xy is the wife of Guy Lewis, of Lowell 
township; Anna has looked after the interests 
of the household since her mother's death; 
James is at home; Agnes, wife of John Kof, of 
Houston, Tex.; Mason died at the age of 
fourteen; Earl was accidentally killed when 
five }ears old, and Miles is a student in the 
Grand Rapids Business college. The mother 
of the children, a most amiable woman of 
many admirable traits of mind and heart, de- 
parted this life December 2, 1887. 

In politics, Mr. Easterby is a supporter of 
the republican party. As already stated, he 
is essentially a self-made man, and, as such, 
ranks with the most progressive citizens of the 
county of Kent. The sum total of his earthly 
possessions on reaching Detroit was $15, and 
the success with which he has since met, and 
the large and valuable property he has ac- 
cumulated, represent his own ardent efforts. 
He has nobly done his part in the development 
of the country, and in his declining years en- 
joys the confidence and esteem of all who 
know him. 



OHN EDISON (deceased), eldest child 
of Moses Edison, was born in Nova 
Scotia, February 5, 1805, and died in 
Kent county, Mich., March 28, 1889. 
June 8, 1840, he came across Detroit river 




from Canada. He and wife were both born in 
Nova Scotia, but descended from parents who 
were emigrants from New York after the 
American Revolution. They had been tories, 
and their property was confiscated; so they 
went to Nova Scotia. When the sons were 
matured they decided to come to the United 
States; John at that time had three children, 
and they moved to the present farm. They 
had, however, started an improvement in 1839 
by planting some wheat. John had made 
shoes in Canada, worked nights, and possessed 
but limited means. He operated the farm un- 
til his death, when he had 120 acres, and all 
this he had improved. His farm lies west of 
the present limits of the city, on Bridge street. 
His family were Elizabeth A., who lived with 
the mother, and died in February, 1898; 
Eli; Sarah J., unmarried, and living with her 
mother, and Albert Russel Edison, born on 
the farm December 27, 1844. Albert R. is 
now operating the old homestead, has nearly 
seventeen acres of peaches, and has erected a 
second residence on the farm. He is a mem- 
ber of all the fruit societies of the state, and 
is making rapid progress as a fruit grower. 

Albert R. Edison was married, some twelve 
years since, to Isabel Pogue of near London, 
Ontario, Canada. To this marriage have been 
born three children, as follows: Gladys Susan, 
A. Sinclair, and Harold Ogden. Albert R. 
Edison is a member of Grand River lodge, I. 
O. O. F., No. 208. 




OHN H. EDISON, a thrifty and intelli- 
gent young farmer and fruit grower 
of Walker township, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of the township, 
was born December 15, 1870, and is the 
youngest of five children born to Enos and 
Mary Isabelle (Bailey) Edison. 

Enos Edison, born near Fort Burwell, On- 



660 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



tario, Canada, June 24, 18 19, came to ^^'alker 
township in 1839, purchased a farm from the 
government, and settled in the wilderness on 
West Bridge street. Grand Rapids at that time 
contained but 300 inhabitants. Transporta- 
tion between that village and Kalamazoo was 
carried on by stage, and Walker township was 
one vast forest. Mrs. Mary I. Edison was 
born in New York February 14, 1838, came to 
Kent county. Mich., when seventeen years of 
age, with her parents, was here married, and 
died January 3, 1899; she bore her husband 
five children, named as follows: Jennie K., 
wife of Henry Gormely, who operates the old 
Edison farm in Walker township;Louisa, .\llie 
and Lewis, deceased, and John H., the subject 
of this sketch. Enos still lives on his farm 
where he has resided upwards of fiftytive 
years. 

John H. Edison graduated from the high 
school in 1890, and at the age of twenty-three 
3'ears, began fruit growing on his seventy-five- 
acre farm in section No. 2, Walker township, 
and still follows this vocation, at which he has 
made a complete success. His farm is part of 
his father's old homestead, of which he has 
about twenty-five acres set to fruit. August 
5, 1 89 1, he married Miss Myrtle Norton, a 
native of Sparta, Kent county, born August 
16, 1873, and the third child born to John 
and Sarah (Shaver) Norton. John Norton 
was born in Grand Rapids in 1844, but was 
reared to agricultural pursuits, and in 1S97 re- 
tired to Sparta village. His wife was born in 
Ontario, August 12, 1846, came to Michigan 
with her parents, and here met and was mar- 
ried to Mr. Norton. Mr. and Mrs. Norton are 
the parents of five children, viz: Herbert, of 
Clarksville, Mich. ; Ettie, with her parents, in 
Sparta; Myrtle, now Mrs. Edison; Wesley, of 
Grand Rapids, and Olive with her parents. 
Mr. and Mrs. Edison are the parents of two 
children — Carl Hadley, and Gretchen Irene. 



In politics Mr. Edison is a republican, and 
cast his first presidential vote for Benjamin 
Harrison. He is a member of the Fruit Grow- 
ers association, but neither Mr. nor Mrs. Edison 
is a member of any church organization, yet 
both lead strictly upright lives, are charitable 
and ever ready to assist any good cause, and 
enjoy the sincere respect of all who know them. 



EORGE L. ELLIS, the well-known 
stockraiser and farmer of Nelson 
township, Kent county, Mich., is a 
native of Ontario county, N. Y. , was 
born November 6, 1840, and is the second of 
the three children that blessed the union of 
Benjamin A. and Nancy M. (Frost) Ellis. The 
eldest of these three, Theron W., is a prom- 
inent stockraiser and agriculturist in Oakland 
county, Mich., and in that county also resides 
the youngest brother, Norman J., of Spring- 
field, whose beautiful farm and buildings are 
the pride of the township. Norman J. is also 
one of the best known horse and sheep breed- 
ers in the state, "Ingomar," well-known 
throughout the Union as an imported Percheron 
stallion, being an inmate of his stables, and 
his shipments of sheep reaching 5,000 head 
per annum. 

Benjamin A. Ellis, also a native of Ontario 
county, N. Y., was born in 181 1, a son of 
Eleazer Ellis, a hero of the Revolution. He 
was reared to farming and stockraising in his 
native state, was well educated, and in 1863 
came to Michigan and here passed the re- 
mainder of his life, dying March 10, 1S76. 
Mrs. Nancy M. Ellis was born in New York 
state in i8i8, and died in New York in 1861. 
George L. Ellis lived in his native state 
until twenty-three years of age, when he came 
to Michigan with his father and his family, and 
resided in Oakland county until 1870, \\'hen 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



G61 



he went to Kansas, located on a homestead in 
Cloud county and engaged in the rearing of 
Merino sheep. His flock, numbering 300, was 
partially registered, and one year his clip aver- 
aged eleven and one- half pounds per head and 
brought twenty-two cents per pound. In 1876 
he sold his Kansas farm and returned to Oak- 
land county, Mich., where he resided two 
years, then went back to Kansas, but soon 
afterward returned and re-purchased his old 
homestead and lived upon it until 188S, when 
he came to Kent county, Mich., purchased 240 
acres of fine land within two miles of Cedar 
Springs, and erected the most beautiful mod- 
ern farm residence in Nelson township. He 
has made an e.xcellent stock farm, well supplied 
with suitable barns and outbuildings. 

April 4, 1866, Mr. Ellis wedded Miss Mary 
B. French, a native of Ontario county, N. Y. , 
and this marriage has been blessed with two 
children — Fred Hamilton and Fleta B. The 
son is married to Miss Dica Parker, of Cedar 
Springs, resides on a portion of his father's 
estate, and is a stockman and farmer. Miss 
Fleta is a student at the Cedar Springs high 
school, is very apt at her studies, and has re- 
ceived especial instruction in instrumental 
music. 

Mrs. Mary B. Ellis was born January 19, 
1S45, a daughter of Hamilton and Nancy 
(Pomeroy) French, who had born to them ten 
children — four sons and si.x daughters — of 
whom eight are still living. Two of these 
eight — Fred and Mrs. Helen Stimson — reside 
in Kansas; five live in New York; of these 
five, two sisters, Mrs. Miranda Turner and 
Mrs.. Bertha Simond, are residents of \'ictor, ' 
Ontario county, that state. The father of 
Mrs. Ellis is a farmer and raiser of fine-wool 
sheep, and with his wife still resides in Victor, 
in the Empire state, aged eighty-four and eighty 
years, respectively. 

Politically, Mr. Ellis has always been re- 



publican in principle and cast his first presi- 
dential vote for .Abraham Lincoln; but still 
he is possessed of sentimentsin favor of bimet- 
allism, as advocated by the democratic party 
of to-day. He and wife are ardent friends of 
public education, and believe it to be the 
wisest economy to secure the best teachers at 
whatever price. As a business man, Mr. Ellis 
enjoys a spotless reputation. He is a constant 
buyer and shipper of sheep and cattle, sending 
the former chiefly to the Buffalo market and 
the latter to Chicago. As a farmer and fruit 
grower he has been quite successful and is 
classed among the best in the township. In 
1891 he sold to E. A. Reamer, of Cedar Springs, 
1,000 bushels of potatoes, mostly "Reeves' 
Rose," at ^i per bushel, which now would be 
considered a high price. In his orchard he has 
250 peach trees, planted three years ago, and 
in 1898 part of them bore fruit. The leading 
varieties of these are the Early Michigan, Al- 
berta, Bernard, Prolific. and Hill's Chili. 

Air. Ellis and his family ate among the 
most prominent and respected residents of 
Nelson township and Kent count}', and richly 
deserve the high esteem in which they are held 
by all classes. 




ILLIAM FRANCIS ERTELL, M. 
D. , a rising young physician and 
surgeon of Ada, Kent county, Mich., 
who has established for himself an 
enviable reputation for abilitj', was born in 
Waterloo, Ontario, August 29, 1872, and is a 
son of Maurice F. and Susan (LaPlante) 
Ertell, and of French descent. 

Maurice F. Ertell, who was born in 1845, 
came from France when he was sixteen years 
of age and settled in Canada, where he com- 
pleted his education and later became a con- 
tractor and builder. About 1890 he and wife 
and family of seven children came to the 



662 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



United States and now reside in Detroit, Mich. , 
where he still conducts the same line of busi- 
ness. 

William F. Ertell, the subject of this 
sketch, graduated from the high school of Ber- 
lin, Ontario, and at the age of eighteen years 
was granted a special permit by the principal 
to teach, it being the custom to grant such 
permits to pupils who graduate before reach- 
ing their majority. Young William Francis fol- 
lowed this vocation for three terms, and then, 
in 1891, entered the employ of Lapp &Co., 
hardware merchants of Detroit, and for two 
years was their bookkeeper, when he resigned 
to accept a similar position with T. W. Noble, 
ship chandler of the same city, with whom he 
remained four years. While thus employed. 
Mr. Ertell utilized his evenings and other 
leisure hours in the study of medicine under 
Dr. W. F. Hamlin, of Detroit, and in the 
meantime economized his salary until he had 
sufficient means with which to pay his ex- 
penses through the Michigan college of Medi- 
cine tS: Surgery of Detroit, from which he 
graduated in 1897. He entered upon the 
active practice of his profession in Detroit, and 
for one year, competed with the established 
physicians with flattering success, and then, 
July 9, 1898, came to Ada, which has afforded 
him a grand opening. 

Dr. Ertell was united in marriage, Sep- 
tember 29, 1896, with Miss Seva Withey, the 
accomplished daughter of the late Dr. William 
W^ithey, of Cass City, Mich., in which city 
Dr. Withey died in 1880, his daughter at that 
time being but an infant. Dr. Ertell and wife 
attend the Baptist church; and fraternally he 
is a member of the I. O. O. F. In politics 
he is a stalwart republican. 

Since his stay in Ada the doctor has met 
with a success that has exceeded his most 
sanguine expectations. He has a cosy dwell- 
ing in the center of the town, furnished hand- 



somely throughout, and he and wife are here 
surrounded by a circle of warm-hearted friends, 
and they enjoy, besides, the esteem of Ada's 
best citizens. 




f^ANK EBER. — On the opposite page 
is presented a view of the home of 
Frank Eber, of Alpine township, Kent 
county. It is a place that attracts 
the attention and excites the admiration of the 
traveler, however many other attractive places 
he may .see. Standing upon an eminence 
where it commands a view of a charming 
landscape, and itself seen for miles distant, its 
arrangement and well-kept condition is sure to 
produce favorable comment from the observer. 
Everything is in suitable proportion, and it 
needs more than a casual survey to fully ap- 
preciate its adaptability to the needs of a large 
and productive farm. Every building is 
adapted to its use by an intelligent and prac- 
tical mind, and while utility has been the first 
thing sought, the a?sthetical has not been neg- 
lected. It is a fair sample of what well di- 
rected labor can accomplish in a few years; 
and the engraving is presented as representa- 
tive of the agiicultural conditions of Kent 
county at the close of the nineteenth century. 
W'hen compared with conditions within the 
memory of men still living, the wonder is such 
transformations have taken place within the 
space of one generation. Farming may not 
pay if not conducted upon business principles, 
biit few enterprises yield more satisfactory re- 
turns than this when the proper brain power is 
coupled with muscular strength. The pro- 
prietor of this farm, not yet in the meridian 
of life, stands an example to the youth of the 
county, and this mention of him is made with 
the hope that it may be not lacking in value 
to some of the rising generation. 

Frank Eber was born in Alpine township 



1 




RESIDENCE OF FRANK EBERS. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



665 



Ma\' 2 1, 1856. His parents were Henry and 
Christine (W'arthy) Eber, who emigrated from 
Gercnany in 1846. An incident in their early 
life is presented that will interest and possibly 
instruct. Henry had, after being in Michigan 
some months, sent for wife and family. She 
sold off their property, realizing $1, lOO in gold. 
Her agent, who claimed he also was coming on 
the same ve-sel as herself and three children, 
abandoned them after they were on board and 
remained on land, keeping all her money. 
She reached New York, but was there stricken 
with cholera and died before her husband, who 
was sent for, could reach her. It was learned 
later that the treacherous agent sailed for 
Philadelphia on a later vessel and died on 
board ship, and was buried in mid-ocean. 

Being thus bereft of both wife and means, 
with three small children to care for, Henry 
Eber bravely set to work to provide for the 
family and secure if possible a home in Amer- 
ica. These children, all of whom are still 
living, are Bernhard, Henry and Elizabeth 
(now Mrs. Conrad Erhardt, of Alpine). He 
located a farm in Alpine and soon after was 
married to the mother of Frank Eber at Grand 
Rapids. He became a prosperous and re- 
spected farmer, dying in comfortable circum- 
stances in 1872. His wife was born in Han- 
over in 1815, and came alone to the United 
States when a young girl. After working out 
in New York for about ten years, she came to 
Michigan, and here met her husband, whom 
she survived twelve years, her death occurring 
in 1SS4. 

Frank Eber was but si.xteen years of age 
when he lost his father, and he and his brother 
John operated the old homestead, remaining 
in partnership until 1890, when he bought his 
present farm. This is certainly a valuable 
place, lying ten miles north of the city of Grand 
Rapids, in one of the richest sections of the 
county. It comprises 1 16 acres, all in a high 



state of culivation. The fields are tiled where 
needed, and in every sense it is kept up to a 
high standard. A basement barn, 40 .\ 76 
feet, has recently been erected, which, with 
other suitable buildings for proper care and 
shelter of stock and storage of grain, produce 
and fruit, supplies the owner with every facility 
for operating his farm to the best advantage. 

May 23, 1 888, Mr. Eber married Miss 
Anna Schindler, also a native of Alpine town- 
ship, born February 5, 1870, and a daughter 
of Edward and Anna (Hertlein) Schindler. Ed- 
ward Schindler was born in Bohemia about the 
year 1821, came to Michigan in 1852, and 
died on his farm in Alpine township in 1883. 
His wife, to whom he was married in Grand 
Rapids, was born in Baden, Germany, in 
1826, and her death took place at the home- 
stead in 1897. To the marriage of Mr. and 
Mrs. Frank Eber have been born three chil- 
dren — Vernie, Avery and Walter — all still un- 
der the parental roof. 

In politics Mr. Eber is a stanch republican, 
and cast his first presidential vote for James 
A. Garfield. Although neither Mr. Eber nor 
his wife is a member of any religious denom- 
ination, both are active workers in doing good, 
and freely and willingly aid in promoting every 
project designed for the advancement of the 
prosperity of the community in which they 
have passed their lives and where respect is 
bestowed upon them without reserve. 



AVID F. ELKERTON, dealer in lum- 
ber, ties and timber, and residing at 
Alaska, Kent county, Mich., was 
born in Monroe county, N. Y., May 
24, 1845, and is a son of Joseph and Angeline 
Elkerton, and of English descent. The family 
name was originally Elkington, but was 
changed to Elkerton by act of parliament, at 



666 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



the petition of the great-grandfather of the 
subject. It is thus a new name, not borne by 
any other family in this country. When 
David F. was seven years of age he was 
brought to Michigan by his parents, who set- 
tled in Ross township, Kalamazoo county,' 
where the father, who was a millwright as 
well as a farmer, erected a saw-mill on Gull 
creek. Both parents died in Brady, Kala- 
mazoo county. 

David F., before reaching his sixteenth 
birthday, left school and enlisted in company 
A, Thirteenth Michigan voluneer infantry, 
with which he served fourteen months, in the 
army of the Tennessee. His regiment marched 
from Louisville to Nashville, having several 
skirmishes with the Rebels, and after a march 
of 380 miles reached Shiloh. The company 
had I 10 men when it left Louisville; but April 
8, 1862, after the battle of Shiloh, only four- 
teen answered roll-call, although it had not 
reached the field until the second of the two 
days' fight. After Shiloh came Corinth, but 
when within one mile of that town David was 
declared incapacitated for dut}- and was sent 
back to Louisville. He lay there in a hos- 
pital from June until September, when he was 
sent home, reduced to a mere skeleton. He 
next enlisted January 28, 1863. in the Four- 
teenth Michigan battery, raised at Kalamazoo. 
It was sent to Washington and drilled at Camp 
Barry. It was selected as the first battery to 
go to Burnside's army, but was later converted 
into heavy artillery and placed in the forts 
aroun'd Washington. David was soon after- 
ward detailed as hospital steward at Fort 
Slocum, so that his service was confined to 
\Vashington. After three years and six 
months of active service he received an hon- 
orable discharge, June 25, 1865. 

On his return to Michigan, he became a 
contractor for timber on the Kalamazoo & 
South Ha\-en, and also on the West Michigan 



railroad. He erected the first building at 
Grand junction, and at the time of the great 
fire at Chicago, 111. (October, 1S71), this vil- 
lage was also destroyed, Mr. Elkerton losing 
everything except his clothing. He then went 
to \\'abash county, Ind., where he engaged in 
hardwood lumbering and in eighteen months 
cleared $3,000. In 1875 he went to Dowa- 
giac, Mich., cut lumber in his own mills, in- 
cluding a great deal of railroad material. 
W'hile still retaining in part his interests in 
Dowagiac, he went to Vincennes, Ind., where 
he lumbered for two years. He had 1,000,000 
feet of walnut and whitewood logs in the river, 
but in January, 18S1, the river took an unpre- 
cedented rise of thirty-eight feet, sweeping 
everything down stream. This disaster caused 
Mr. Elkerton to lose $20,000. He had con- 
tracted for the sale of his mill and timber, but 
the mill having been ruined the contract was 
broken, and he was left with 1,700 acres of 
limber on his own hands. To cut this he 
built another'mill, but by this time prices had 
gone so low that he suffered a loss of $1 3. 000. 
Discouraged, but with good credit at Dowa- 
giac, he returned and built a hotel near the 
Michigan Central depot, investing $4,800 in 
furniture. He was just at the point of opening 
it to the public, \\hen a fire broke out in a 
livery stable near by, reached the hotel-build- 
ing, and destroyed it and all contents, causing 
a loss to Mr. Elkerton of $9,000 above the in- 
surance. The citizens of Dowagiac, appre- 
ciating his pluck and vim, then raised a purse 
of $1,000 and presented it to him, with which, 
and that he recovered from the insurance, he 
immediately erected the present Elkerton 
hotel. 

The great perservance displayed b\- him 
was appreciated by the traveling public and 
he was liberally patronized. He continued 
the management of the hotel for five years, 
proving a most popular host. But he had de- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



007 



termined to engage in the lumber trade again, 
which he did both in southern Indiana and 
Michigan. In this state his operations ex- 
tended through Cass, Van Buren, Barrj-, Cal- 
houn, Ingham, Kent and Ionia counties. He 
now has his own mills and continues his con- 
tracts with the Michigan Central, and the De- 
troit, Grand Rapids & Western railroads. His 
lumber interests are now especially concen- 
trated at Elmdale, Ionia county, where his 
mill was burnt in .August, 1899, but within a 
month a new one was ready for operation. He 
is also a stockholder and director in the Bel- 
ding Refrigerator company, which does a busi- 
of $150,000 per annum. In iSgohe settled in 
Alaska, Mich., and bought 540 acres of land 
on the Thornapple river, including the former 
William Brown homestead. 

In 1892, Mr. Elkerton entered into the 
sheep industry with a flock of fifty Shropshires, 
which were the first of that celebrated breed 
introduced into the county, and this was the 
beginning of the raising of that famous breed 
in Kent. In 1895 he started a herd of Dur- 
ham cattle. 

In politics Mr. Elkerton is now democratic 
in predilections (although formerly he had 
strong republican sympathies), as were his two 
brothers, who served, like himself, in the war 
for tlie s,uppression of the Rebellion. But they 
became tired of the waving of the "bloody 
shirt across the chasm " by the republicans, 
and he now keeps out of active politics, refus- 
ing to become a candidate for any office, al- 
though frequently solicited to do so. 

Fraternally, Mr. Elkerton has for twenty 
years been a member of Masonic lodge, No. 
10, at Dovvagiac. He is also a member of the 
Valley City Gun club, of Grand Rapids, in 
which he has contested with such crack shots 
as Elliott, Parker, Budd, and others. 

In February, 1891, Mr. Elkerton married 
Mrs. Kate Rolfe (nee Cowan), a native of 



Niagara counts', N. V., who is a refined, cult- 
ured lady, quite popular wherever known. 

The remark may here be hazarded that 
Mr. Elkerton is the pushing business man of 
Caledonia township, and the only one to grasp 
large enterprises. Although he has suffered 
from disasters that would have crushed the 
ordinary man, he has never succumbed to 
misfortune, but seems to have been reinspired 
\yith energy, and has conquered every obstacle 
that lay between bankruptcy and opulence. 
He possesses in a large degree those magnetic 
qualities that draw to him everlasting friends. 
His integrity in word and deed, and his 
rectitude of heart and mind, are implicitly re- 
lied upon, and vouched for, by these, and not 
a man, even when he was at the lowest ebb of 
his business ^troubles, has ever said that Da\-id 
F. Elkerton once violated a pledge. 

The home of Mr. Elkerton, on the Thorn- 
apple river, some fifteen miles southeast of the 
city, is a delightful spot, where, in the com- 
pany of a devoted wife, his happiest hours are 
passed, and where sociable refinement is found 
and friends are ever welcome. 




OSEPH ELLISON, of Tyrone town- 
ship, is so well known that he needs 
no introduction to the citizens of 
northwest Rent county. He is a man 
of integrity and honor and holds the respect 
and esteem of all his acquaintances. He was 
born in Cook county. 111., on the 8th of No- 
vember, 183S. He is the second in a famiU- 
of si.\ sons and four daughters, five of whom 
are now living, viz: Elvira, the wife of Joseph 
Nelson, a resident of Chicago; Joseph; Jennie, 
wife of Harrison Thurstot*, residing in Chicago 
and engaged with the Burlington & Ouincy 
railroad for twenty-eight years; Lottie, wif.e of 
Fred Vosteen, a resident of Chicago, also, who 
has been for nearly thirty years connected 



668 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



I 



with John A. Lomax & Co., by whom he was 
presented with a fine timepiece for his in- 
tegrity, and F"remont, the youngest living, who 
is a resident of Dextervilie, Wis., where he is 
engaged in the lumber business. 

The father, Abner Ellison, was a native of 
New Hampshire, where he learned the trade 
of bricklayer, being an agriculturist by oc- 
cupation. He located in Chicago four years 
after the founding of that city, and was 
classed as one of the pioneers of the won- 
derful and progressive metropolis of the west. 
He sold out his inheritance in New Hampshire 
for $i,6oo with the view of investing in city 
property in Chicago, but when he witnessed 
the wet, muddy surroundings, he became dis- 
gusted and went into the country near the 
site of the present city and purchased a farm 
ten miles from the county court house. There 
he plied his trade for a number of years, and 
Mrs. Ellison has in her possession a brick 
which Mr. Ellison's father niade in those early 
days. He died in April of 1884, having been 
an eye-witness to the growth and development 
of the city of Chicago. In politics he had 
been a whig, but adopted the republican plat- 
form at the birth of that party. He was re- 
ligiously a member of the Methodist church. 
His father was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
war and took part in many of the decisive en- 
gagements. The mother was a nati\e of 
Canada and died in her forty-fourth 3ear, 
when Gen. John C. Fremont was born. 

Joseph Ellison passed his youth and younger 
manhood in Cook county and the country 
bordering the city of Chicago. His education 
was that acquired from the advantages of the 
common schools. In Illinois he had devoted 
his time to agriculture, and on coming to 
Michigan became engaged principally in lum- 
bering. It was in the spring of 1882 when he 
came to Tyrone township, Kent county, and 
purchased 180 acres of land, where for the re- 



mainder of his life he has lived a career of an 
honored citizen. He has added to his posses- 
sions until he has become the owner of 340 
acres in Tyrone township and eighty acres in 
Solon township, and still retains his share of 
the estate in Cook county. 111. 

On the 3d of December, 1885, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Mattie Lester, a 
native of Sparta township, Kent county. .To 
this union have been born two sons, Abner in 
the fifth grade of the common schools and 
quick and accurate in his school work, and 
Fred, the younger, called by his parents "the 
beam and life of the home circle." 

Mrs. Ellison is a daughter of Henry and 

1 Hanna (Huse) Lester, born March 14, 1858. 

I There were two daughters in the family, Mrs. 

I Ellison being the only one living. Her father 
is a native of Connecticut, and her grandfather 
was a college educated gentleman and a civil 
engineer, who laid out the first railroad in 
Connecticut. The Lesters are descendants 
from a noteworthy English family. The father 
is in politics a republican, and in occupation is 
an agriculturist. His wife was a native of 
New York and died about 1875. Mrs. Ellison 
is a lad}' of liberal education, affable in char- 
acter and disposition, and nobly performs her 
part as wife and mother. 

Mr. Ellison has always been a stanch re- 
publican, and his first presidential vote was 
cast for Abraham Lincoln. He has voted for 
four republican presidents, Lincoln, Grant, 
Garfield and McKinley. The public schools 
have firm friends in Mr. and Mrs. Ellison, and 
their interest in school work is great, as is, 
shown by their strong desire to have their 
children educated. Mr. Ellison is a respected 
member of the Methodist church, but his wife 
prefers the teaching of the Baptist. They are 
sprung from worthy families, are well-to-do 
people, and highly respected and esteemed in 
their community. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



671 




EV. ANTHONY EICKELMANN, pas- 
tor of St. Sebastian's church at Byron 
Center, Kent county, Mich., is a na- 
tive of the province of Westphaha, 
Germany, was born January 23, 1873, near 
Arnsberg, and is the third of the four chil- 
dren — three sons and one daughter — born 
to Anthony and Theressa (Dories) Eickel- 
maiin; but of this family the parents and two 
children have passed away. 

The Catholic clergy of the state or nation 
holds ever a prominent place in the annals of 
such state, and it is proper that it should have 
due representation in a volume such as this, 
and the affable young priest whose name opens 
this sketch is a fair type of this self-sacrificing 
and devoted body of ecclesiastics. 

Father Eickelmann's primary education 
was had in the public schools of his native 
province, and in his twelfth year he entered the 
preparatory school for the higher grades near 
his place of birth. In 1888 he entered the 
gymnasium at Paderborn, passed six years in 
taking the full classical and scientific courses, 
was under rigid discipline, and graduated with 
the class of 1894. From his boyhood days he 
had a strong inclination to be prepared for the 
priesthood, and at the age of twenty-one years 
bade farewell to the Fatherland and embarked 
at Hamburg on board the famous steamer 
Furst Bismarck, bound for the city of New 
York, whence ho came direct to Grand 
Rapids, in 1894, and thence went to Milwau- 
kee, Wis., and there entered the Provincial 
seminary of St. Francis de Sales, and pursued 
the full course of theological and philosophical 
studies, lasting four years. 

June 29, 1898, Father Eickelmann was or- 
dained priest at St. Andrew's cathedral, Grand 
Rapids, by the Right Rev. Henry Joseph 
Richter, bishop of the diocese. The first 
clerical work to which Father Eickelmann 
was assigned was as assistant to the Rev. 



Father Louis M. Prud'homme, at Cadillac, 
Mich., where his duties were onerous and 
laborious, as he had eight missions and stations 
to administer to, and one of these was sixty- 
five miles distant from Cadillac. He labored 
zealously in his good work, however, until 
July, 1899, winning the esteem of his people 
and superiors, and was then advanced to his 
present pastorate of St. Sebastian's as resident 
priest. 

St. Sebastian's affords an excellent field 
for the exercise of Father Eickelmann's zeal 
and energy, as the people are pious and thrifty, 
and the finances of the parish in a very satis- 
factory condition. There is a considerable 
amount of work marked for Father Eickel- 
mann to perform, but he is young and ad- 
mirably fitted for it. His congregation com- 
prises 125 families, or 600 souls, and he like- 
wise has under his supervision the parochial 
school of fifty pupils, to whom he gives daily 
religious instruction, and everything appears 
to be in so prosperous a condition that he 
contemplates the erection, at an early day, of 
a fine brick church, 40 x 100 feet in dimensions, 
with an eighty-foot spire, as the present 
church-edifice is inadequate for the needs of 
the congregation, being used both as a house 
of worship and for school purposes. The 
site, however, is one of the most commanding 
in the township, and the new edifice will be 
an ornament to the village as well as a matter 
of commendable pride to the congregation. 

Father Eickelmann is a gentleman of genial 
disposition and courteous address, is thorough- 
ly educated, and is, moreover, imbued with 
meek but fervent piety. His private library is 
well-stocked with works on theology, phi- 
losophy, history, and other themes gratifying 
to the tastes of the ripe scholar, and as he is a 
linguist, writing and speaking Latin, French, 
German and English fluently, and reading 
Greek and Hebrew with facility, his library 



(j7-2 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



contains many works in these languages, and, 
besides, he keeps himself well advised in the 
affairs of the world and the current history 
of to-day b}' patronizing the better class of 
periodicals. His life as a priest opens under 
very flattering auspices, and he is made of 
the material which, to quote the words of a 
titled English dramatist, knows no "such 
word as fail." 




OHN TEN BROECK EMMONS.— The 
history of representative citizens of 
Kent county would be sadly incom. 
plete should the name that begins this 
review be omitted. From good old Revolu- 
tionary ancestry John T. Emmons is descended, 
and the family is one in which devotion to 
ever}' duty of citizenship has ever held a 
marked characteristic. He is regarded as one 
of the valued residents of Wyoming township, 
and standsalmost alone as oneof thegreat army 
of pioneers who in an early day broke awa}' 
from home environment in an old and thickly 
populated state and turned their faces toward 
the setting sun, and after battling with nature's 
wild and rugged deformities for many years 
and enduring hardships from which the stout- 
est hearted of the present da}' would retire ap- 
palled, saw the great northwest peninsula 
emerge from the wilderness and become one of 
the most progressive and enlightened in the 
commonwealth of states. 

Mr. Emmons was born in Seneca county, 
N. Y. , January 20, 1817. His father, An- 
drew Emmons, was a soldier in the war of 
1 8 12, distinguished himself for gallantry on a 
number of bloody fields, and was finally taken 
prisoner by the British in the battle of Queens- 
town, Canada. John Emmons, father of An- 
drew, was a patriot in the war of American in- 
dependence, and a member of Gen. Sullivan's 
little army that did such valiant service in 



clearing central and western New York of hos- 
tile Indian tribes during the early .years of that 
memorable struggle. He was with \\"ashing- 
ton in the celebrated retreat westward to the 
Delaware river, and participated in the battle 
of Trenton, where 1,000 Hessians were made 
prisoners and the hopes of a discouraged and 
downhearted people revived. John Emmons 
idled many years ago in New York, leaving a 
number of descendants, who still reside there 
and in many parts of the central and northwest- 
ern states Andrew Emmons was a skillful 
worker in iron and the possessor of an invent- 
ive genius that made him an exceedingly val- 
uable man in the community where he resided. 
His wife was Sarah Kelh', a member of an old 
and highly respected family of New York, her 
people having been among the pinoeers of 
Seneca count)'. 

John Ten Broeck Emmons was reared on 
the home farm that was located in the beau- 
tiful and fertile country lying between those 
two handsome twin lakes, Seneca and Cayu- 
ga. He there grew to manhood in the pursuit 
of agriculture, his educational advantages be- 
ing hmited to a few months' attendance, each 
year, at such subscription schools as the coun- 
try at that time afforded. In 1840 he was 
united in marriage to Miss Mary A. Watson, who 
v\as born in the Empire state in February, 18 17. 
In the fall of 1843 Mr. Emmons made a trip 
to Michigan, in company with a brother-in- 
law, J. R. Retan, with a view to purchasing 
lands, and thespring following selected a home 
in what is now Wyoming township, Kent coun- 
ty. Here he settled on the eighty acres, of 
land which has ever since bet-n in his posses- 
siori. The journey to the newcountry would, 
if properly described, make a most interesting 
and thrilling chapter, as it was made in the 
face of difficulties both numerous and formi- 
dable Having selected his home site and 
erected thereon a small log cabin, Mr. Em- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



673 



mons, in April, 1S44, returned to New York, 
for the purpose of renio\infi his family to the 
new place of residence in the wilds of Michi- 
gan. Settling his affairs at the old home and 
getting" together his few effects, he, in com- 
panj' with one other famils' of the neighbor- 
hood, again turned westward, and after a tire- 
some journe}' finally reached his destination 
in .\ugust, 1S44. The sum total of Mr. Em- 
mons' capital on his arrival amounted to 
but $16, se\'en of which he was obliged to 
expend in redeeming his land, which in the 
meantime had been sold for taxes. In order 
to procure the necessities of life for his family 
Mr. Emmons was compelled to work in the 
woods for the insignificant sum of seventy-five 
cents yer day and board himself. But such 
was his industry, that he was never in want of 
employment, and from his meager earnings he 
succeeded, in a few years, in surrounding him- 
self with many of the comforts of life.- Much 
of the land in Michigan at that time was held 
by speculators; in consequence settlement 
was slow and neighbors few and far between. 
Incessant toil was the order of the day; hos- 
pitality among the pioneers was unbounded; 
and notwithstanding the man\' trials and hard- 
ships of the period, Mr. Emmons looks back 
to the time spent in carving a home out of the 
wilderness as one of the most enjoyable ex- 
periences of his life. Within a few years 
after his arrival he was a elected justice of the 
peacefor his township, and filled the position by 
successive re-elections many terms, discharg- 
ing his official duties in a manner highh' cred- 
itable to himself and satisfactory to the pub- 
lic in general. He was also called to other 
positions by his fellow-citizens, among which 
was that of highway commissioner, and dis- 
charged the duties incident thereto for a period 
of twelve years. He did much in that time 
toward the internal improvement of the county 
in the way of bridges, crossings, culverts and 



gradings.and performed the greater part of the 
work requiring skill with his own hands. He 
was elected supervisor in 1869, and could have 
had positions of greater emolument had he 
seen fit to accept them. 

In early -life P^Ir. Emmons was an active 
worker in the democratic party, but, being 
dissatisfied with its position on the question of 
slavery, he withdrew therefrom, and since the 
organization of the republican party has been 
one of its zealous adherents. He is active in 
the councils of his part)-, has frequently been 
a delegate to its conventions, but has persist-' 
ently refused to be a candidate for office ex- 
cept when that distinction has been forced 
upon him. 

Mr." Emmons has from early youth been 
an individual of strong religious convictions. 
In his native sate he early became identified 
with the Dutch Reformed church, but after 
coming to Michigan united with the Method- 
ist, of which for a period of over a half-cent- 
ury he has been a class leader, and for forty- 
five years a licensed minister of the Gospel. 
He was chosen class leader first in 1846, upon 
the originial organization of the class at 
Byron, and his continuance in that capacity 
speaks more eloquently than words of the 
high appreciation in which he is held by his 
brothers and sisters, and the spotless christian 
character he has ever sustained as an earnest 
worker in the vineyard of the Master. In his 
ministerial capacity, Rev. Emmons' labors have 
been more of a local than a general nature, 
assisting the regular pastor in special meet- 
ings, officiating at weddings and funerals, and 
in doing much other valuable work, in all of 
which he has proved himself "A workman 
that needeth not be ashamed." 

The prime factor in the organization of 
many classes, and chief mover in the erection 
of not a few temples of worship, his religious 
work has been entirely without ostentation; 



G74 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and while displaying forensic abilities of no 
mean order, it is his daily walk and conversa- 
tion, kindly counsel and loving ministration to 
those needing the consolation which only the 
religion of Jesus Christ affords, that have en- 
deared him to his people — a monument far 
more enduring than marble shaft or granite 
obelisk. - 

After treading life's rugged pathway hand 
in hand and heart to heart, for over a half 
century, the good wife and companion, a true 
helpmeet indeed, was called to the better land 
a few years ago, leaving, besides her husband 
and family, a large circle of sorrowing friends 
to mourn her loss. The following are the 
names of the children born to this most esti- 
mable couple, viz: James W., who was a 
member of the Twenty-first Michigan infantry 
in the late Civil war, and died in a military 
hospital in Tennessee just before the battle of 
Murfreesboro; Nichol D., present overseer 
of the Kent county poor farm; Andrew, a 
merchant of Albion, Mich.; Esther A., a well- 
know music teacher, and at this time manager 
of her father's household; Rev. John H., a 
minister of the M. E. church at Marengo, 
Mich. 

Mr. Emmons is one of the few remaining 
of the valiant army of pioneers, before whose 
sturdy strokes the giants of the forest fell, and 
through whose industry and self-denying efforts 
Kent county was reclaimed from its primitive 
condition and elevated to its present advanced 
state of civilization and enlightenment. All 
honor to their scattered ranks, for they were 
heroes indeed, whose story, though unwritten 
by the romancer's pen, and unsung to classic 
music, w'ill ever be fondly recounted by a 
grateful posterity. Of Mr. Emmons it may 
trathfully be said that he is indeed one of nat- 
ure's true noblemen, highly esteemed by all 
who know him, and possesses in full measure 
the genuine hospitality characteristic of the 



old-time country gentleman. Conscious of 
living a life void of offense to God and man, 
he is passing his declining years in peace and 
quietude, calmly awaiting the summons that 
must sooner or later come to all whose lives 
are in harmony with the divine standard — 
"Well done, good and faithful servant; enter 
into the joys of the Lord." 



ICHOL D. EMMONS.— Honored and 
respected by all, there is no man in 
Kent county who occupies a more 
enviable position in official or social 
circles than Nichol D. Emmons, not alone by 
the substantial success he has achieved, but also 
by reason of the honorable, straightforward 
business policy he has ever pursued. He 
possesses energy, is quick of perception, forms 
his plans readily and is determined in their 
execution; and his fidelity to public trusts, 
and his e.Ncellent management of every interest 
intrusted to him, have brought to him the 
high degree of popularity which to-day is his. 
Possessed of a genial personality, and happy 
faculty of making and retaining fast friend- 
ships, and an intimate acquaintance through- 
out the county, he has become a successful 
party leader, and a most efficient and obliging 
public servant. He has demonstrated the 
truth of the adage, that success is not the 
result of genius or birthright, but the outcome 
of clear judgment, experience and honorable 
dealing. 

Mr. Emmons was born in Wyoming town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., August 31, 1845, 
and is a son of John T. Emmons, of whom 
a biographical sketch will be found elsewhere 
in these pages. The curriculum -of the dis- 
trict school first engaged the attention of 
young Emmons; the training thus received, 
supplemented by a full high-school course, 
fitting him, when a young man, for the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



075 



teacher's profession, which he followed in 
Kent county with gratifying success for a 
period of ten years. Though the association 
of the school-room and the work of an edu- 
cator were most pleasant, he, not wishing to 
devote his life wholly to educational effort, 
abandoned the school-room, when about 
thirty years of age, and took possession of his 
father's farm, which he managed with suc- 
cess and financial profit until elected to the 
office he now holds in April, 1896. Previous 
to this date, Mr. Emmons was chosen super- 
visor of his township, holding this position by 
successive re-elections for ten years, during 
which period the new court house at Grand 
Rapids, also the county house, of which he 
now has charge, were erected, he serving as 
chairman of the building committee of the 
latter structure. 

The Ivent county farm is a model institu- 
tion of the kind and compares favorably with 
any like charity in the state. It contains 146 
acres, located some three miles southeast of 
the city in Paris township and which was pur- 
chased in 1859. The present building, a two- 
story brick structure with a capacity of 200 in- 
mates, furnished with all the latest and most 
approved appliances for the comfort and con- 
venience of the guests, was completed, under 
the personal supervision of Mr. Emmons, in 
1893, at a cost to the county of $35,000. 
The farm, practically self-supporting, is under 
a high state of cultivation, and upon it is 
produced almost everything in the nature of 
cereals, fruits and vegetables needed at the 
institution, five acres being devoted to garden- 
ing; all of which requires, beside the superin- 
tendent, the oversight of two men, whose 
efficiency contributes largely to the self-sup- 
porting, prosperous condition of the retreat. 

Since taking charge of the farm. Mr. Em- 
mons has introduced many valuable reforms, 
industrial and sanitary, and instead of being 

35 



what so many such institutions appear, a place 
of forced incarceration conducted upon prison 
discipline, this farm is more like a pleasant 
home to the poor unfortunates who find refuge 
within its walls. To say that Mr. Emmons 
has proved the right man for the place is 
stating mildly what everybody in the county 
knows; and it is a fact, universally conceded, 
that the county has never had a more obliging, 
efficient and painstaking servant to look after 
this particular branch of its business. 

Mr. Emmons affiliates with that great po- 
litical party which accords in its teachings 
most to his personal views on those great ques- 
tions of public policy, and of which Lincoln, 
Garfield, Blaine and McKinley have been the 
honored prophets, and which he has consist- 
ently supported, since arriving at the age to 
exercise the election franchise. He has been 
a delegate to both county and stateconventions, 
and while always taking a lively interest in the 
party's councils, and working for its success, 
has never been a strict partisan. He numbers 
among his warmest friends and most sincere 
admirers many whose political faith is opposed 
to his own, and among all with whom he 
comes in contact he is the same generous, 
open-hearted friend and genial companion. 

For a period of five years Mr. Emmons 
was a leading spirit in the Patrons of Hus- 
bandry, at Grandville, and at this time also 
holds membership in Crescent lodge. No. 222, 
F. & A. M., and Eureka lodge. No. 2, I\. of 
P., of Grand I^apids 

On the 31st of August, 1876, Mr. Emmons 
entered into the marriage relation with Miss 
Alice A. Kilburn, daughter of Josiah I-vilburn, 
a prominent citizen of XVyoming township. 
Mrs. Emmons was born in Pennsylvania and 
came to Michigan with her parents when nine 
years of age. At this time she is matron 
of the county house and, being possessed of 
charming presence emphasized by an unusual 



676 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



good common sense succeeds most admirably 
with the arduous and multifarious duties of 
the position. Two children have been born to 
Mr. and Mrs. Emmons — Harry T., aged sev- 
enteen, and Homer N., aged fifteen, both stu- 
dents in the Grand Rapids graded schools. 




OHN ESKILDSEN, one of the best- 
known and most respected foreign- 
born citizens of Spencer township, 
Kent county, Mich., is a native of 
Denmark, was born August 29, 1847, about 
fifty' Danish miles southwest of the city of Co- 
penhagen, and is a son of Jacob and Sophia 
Eskildsen, who were the parents of a son and 
daughter, twins, the latter, named Hannah, 
being the wife of Nels Christensen, a teacher 
in Denmark. 

Jacob Eskildsen, the father, was a native 
of Copenhagen, was educated in the common 
schools, and worked for one man as superin- 
tendent'of a large landed estate from the age 
of'eighteen years until his death. His wife is 
still living at the age of seventy-six j-ears. 

John Eskildsen, the subject of this sketch, 
was educated in the public schools of his native 
land, was apprenticed, when fourteen years 
old, to learn the blacksmith trade and worked 
as-a journeyman till twenty-eight years of age. 
March 20, 1868, he married Miss Marj' Christ- 
ensen, and to this union have been born one 
son and four daughters; all but one daughter. 
Rose, are still living. Carolina, wife of Jans 
Morgaard, a dairyman in Denmark; Toval, who 
was a student at Ferris Industrial college at 
Big Rapids, Mich., was a jeweler for eight 
years, and is now employed by the Manistee & 
Grand Rapids Railroad company, with his 
headquarters at Manistee; he married Miss 
Clara Murpher, who was formerlj' a teacher in 
the kindergarten at Mancelona, Mich. ; Clara, 



the youngest survivor of the three, is the wife 
of Walter Newland, a prosperous young farmer 
of Spencer township; she completed the full 
course in the district school, also the graded 
course at Lisbon,. and has a reputation as a 
musician, having taught music for some time; 
she has borne her husband two children — 
James and Mina. 

Mrs. Mary (Christensen) Eskildsen was 
born January 21, 1847, and is a daughter of 
Emich and Mary Christensen (deceased), who 
were the parents of two sons and two daugh- 
ters, all still living, but Mrs. Eskildsen is the 
only one who came to America. The father 
was a farmer by occupation, and both he and 
wife were devout members of the Lutheran 
church. 

In June, 1872, Mr. and Mrs. Eskildsen left 
Copenhagen for New York, via Havre, France, 
in which city they lay three days, and after a 
voyage of eighteen days landed at Castle Gar- 
den, N. Y. , whence they came directly to 
Michigan, and first located in Greenville, Mont- 
calm county, with $47. Mr. Eskildsen found 
employment for a short time on the railroad, 
but was swindled out of his earnings, and ne.xt 
worked for a year in a saw-mill at Ward Lake, 
Maple \'alley township. He then came to 
Kent county in the spring of 1874, and May 
10 opened a blacksmith shop in the village of 
Griswold, and there remained at work six 
years; he next went to the lumber regions in 
the northern part of Spencer township, where 
he conducted his blacksmith shop three years, 
and in the meanwhile purchased forty acres of 
forest land in section No. 15, Spencer town- 
ship, from which not a tree had been felled. 

When Mr. Eskildsen came to reside on his 
farm, about 1883, he had to clear up a space 
on which to erect a frame house, 16 x 24 feet, 
and then went to work to develop his farm, 
the result being that in the fall of 1893 the 
little frame shanty was replaced by a modern 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



677 



farm residence, equal in beauty and conven- 
ience of arrangement to any in the township. 
The original forty-acre tract has been added 
to until now Mr. Eskildsen is proprietor of 105 
acres in sections Nos. 15 and 16, all under a 
fine state of cultivation, with the exception of 
a small portion retained as woodland. After 
spending three years on the farm and making 
some changes he went to Luther, where he 
worked eight years as a smith for a lumber 
firm. In the meantime he hired the farm 
cleared. 

Mr. Eskildsen, since naturalization, has 
been a democrat in politics, and cast his first 
presidential vote for Grover Cleveland. For 
the past three years he has been school treas- 
urer of his district, but has little time to spare 
from his home interests to devote to politics 
or office work. Fraternally he is a member 
of Luther lodge, F. & A. M., and religiously 
he and wife are devout members of the Lu- 
theran church, in the faith of which their chil- 
dren have also been confirmed. They are 
warm friends of public education, and have 
nobly done their part toward educating their 
own children. 

When it is remembered that Mr. and Mrs. 
Eskildsen arrived in America in comparatively 
indigent circumstances, with no knowledge of 
the current language of the people with whom 
they had cast their lot; that they have, 
through intelligent industry and management 
of their affairs, acquired a home that has few 
equals -in the township in its improvements 
and appearance; that they have reared their 
children to become useful members of society, 
no person will fail to accord to them the credit 
that is their due, and the respect which they 
hold, as being among the most useful residents 
of Spencer township and Ivent county, and it 
may further.be added that to such stock the 
prosperity 'of every new countrj' owes its ex- 
istence. 




ILLLAM FARRELL, now of Ada 
township, Kent county, eldest son 
of Michael Farrell, was born at Ann 
Arbor, Mich., February 15, 1840, 
while his father was employed on the M. C. 
R. R., but has resided in ICent county since 
1844. He was educated at Notre Dame 
university, Ind. He taught school from the 
age of nineteen years for thirty-two terms in 
I'vent and Ottawa counties, and has filled 
some township office nearly all his life. He 
was a leader in the conventions of the demo- 
cratic party until recent years, when he be- 
came a republican, owing to dissatisfaction in 
the democratic ranks. He is active in agri- 
cultural and horticultural soc'eties, and was 
secretary of the Grand River \'alley Pioneer 
society for ten years. He was agent for the 
I\ent county Mutual Fire Insurance company 
for years. He has met many pioneers and has 
recorded the pioneer history of the county, 
and is secretary of the Pioneer society. 

Mr. Farrell married, August 16, 1876, Miss 
Mary Bowler, and this union has been blessed 
with nine children, viz: Charles James, a grad- 
uate of the Grand Rapids high school and a 
teacher for four years in Oakfield; May Ellen, 
a stenographer in the ofSce of Prosecuting 
Attorney Rogers; Catherine E., Bernard Jo- 
seph, William John, Henry Claude, Thomas 
Francis, Martha Evelin, and Edward J., all 
at home. In his church views, Mr. Farrell is 
very liberal. 




EUBEN FARNAM, one of the most 
prominent farmers of Nelson town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., and an ex- 
soldier of four years' standing,* was 
born in Summit county, Ohio, September 8, 
1843, the seventh in a family of eight children 
— four sons and four daughters — that consti- 
tuted the family of Charles and Esther (Mc- 



678 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Farlin) Farnam, of which family two only sur- 
vive, viz: Atherton H., a shingle manufact- 
urer of Aberdeen, Wash., and Reuben, whose 
name opens this biography. Charles Farnam 
was a native of New York state and died in 
Ohio about 1846, but his widow survived him 
until after the close of the late Civil war. 

Reuben Farnam, subject of this sketch, 
began the battle of life when a mere boy, but 
succeeded in acquiring a good common-school 
education, which was supplemented by a short 
course at the Akron, Ohio, high school. He 
enlisted October 18, 1861, and in November 
was mustered into company H, Twenty-ninth 
Ohio volunteer infantry, under Col. Buckley. 
This regiment rendezvoused at Jefferson, Ash- 
tabula county, Ohio, was assigned to the army 
in the Shenandoah Valley. \'a., and at differ- 
ent times was under the command of Gens. 
Banks, Pope and McClellan, Mr. Farnam tak- 
ing part, in all, in forty-three engagements 
and skirmishes. ' In the first action in which 
the Twenty-nmth was engaged — that of Win- 
chester, March 23, 1862 — the soldier imme- 
diately in front of Mr. Farnam was killed and 
his brains scattered over the latter's body. In 
the next active battle, that of Port Republic, 
Mr. Farnam suffered the loss of the index 
finger, and the middle finger-ends of his left 
hand, which disabled him for si.x weeks. His 
next important battle was that ofsecond Bull 
Run. He then participated at Fredericksburg, 
Monocacy Creek, Chancellorsville and Gettys- 
burg, in the last named sustaining a wound 
in the left foot, which confined him to 
hospital for four weeks. After convalesence 
he rejoined his regiment near Washington, D. 
C, whence he was sent to Chattanooga, and 
then to Lookout Mountain and Missionary 



Ridge. 



His next serious engagement was at 



Dug Gap, where his regiment lost every com- 
missioned officer except Second Lieut. Nash, 
of company H, and Capt. Myron T. Wright, 



of company D, and one-third of the men, and 
where Mr. Farnam's coat-sleeve was pierced 
by a minie ball. Notwithstanding their severe 
loss in this action, the remainder of the un- 
daunted boys of this regiment assembled after 
night-fall and defiantly sang "Rally Round 
the Flag, Boys." Later, Mr. Farnam took 
part at Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Kingston, 
Marietta and Pine Ivnob; at the last-named 
battle the Twenty-ninth Ohio lost one-fourth 
of its men, and at New Hope church a shell 
exploded in the midst of a group of its boys, kill- 
ing seven and throwing gravel and dirt over the 
subject, but not otherwise injuring him. Pri- 
vate Ira Condon, in this battle, received a 
gunshot in the thigh and for a long time lay 
exposed to the hot sun and the bullets of the 
enemy, but, upon the call of the captain, Mr. 
Farnam and a comrade bravely volunteered 
to rescue him and bore him triumphantly to 
camp, amid a shower of rebel bullets. July 
20, 1864, occurred the battle of Peach Tree 
Creek. The Twentieth army corps, to which 
the Twenty-ninth Ohio was attached, was the 
first to enter Atlanta, the Twenty-ninth being 
the second regiment to enter that cit}'. From 
Atlanta, Mr. Farnam followed Sherman to 
Savannah, before which his regiment lay 
eleven days, when the keys of the city, as it 
were, were surrendered by the ma'yor to the 
commander of the Twenty-ninth, the first 
Federals to enter. From Savannah the army 
proceeded northward to Raleigh, N. C. , but 
en route participated in the last battle of Sher- 
man's army — Bentonville. Before reaching 
Raleigh the welcome news of Lee's surrender 
was received. From Raleigh the army con- 
tinued on to Washington, passing through 
Richmond and over the battle field of the 
Wilderness, upon which still lay the bones of 
hundreds of soldiers who fell in that campaign, 
but had never been buried. Mr. Farnam, like 
many others, would have preferred to have re- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



679 



■ceived marching orders for home rather than 
to Washington, to be made a spectacle of after 
the war was over, but he nevertheless obeyed 
orders and took part in the grandest review of 
conquering heroes the world ever beheld. Mr. 
Farnam served his country in the army for 
nearly four years, having veteranized at Look- 
out Mountain December lO, 1863, and having 
been discharged at Cleveland, July 22, 1865, 
with the rank of sergeant, to which position he 
was promoted in September, 1864. That the 
gallantry of the Twenty-ninth was recognized 
by their antagonists is proven by the fact that, 
on a recent visit to Akron, a Confederate officer 
was in the city at the same time and called upon 
Col. Thomas, of the Thomas Lumber company, 
and e.\'pressed a desire to meet some of the 
brave boys who fought at Dug Gap, in which 
battle he himself took part, and expressed the 
opinion that no braver set of men ever existed 
than those of the Twenty-ninth Ohio. 

Mr. Farnam was united in marriage in 
Medina county, Ohio, December 10, 1867, to 
Miss Mary E. Saunders, and this union has 
been blessed with two children, Charles A. and 
Florence. The son, Charles A., was born in 
Kent county, Mich., September 20, 1868, 
graduated from the Ypsilanti normal school in 
1890, and from the university of Michigan, at 
Ann Arbor, in 1897, with the degree of A. M. ; 
he married August 3, 1898, Miss Luella Creed, 
a native of St. Joseph county, Mich., who also' 
graduated from the Ypsilanti normal school, 
was a student at the university at Ann Arbor, 
and was principal of the Midland (Mich.) 
schools for. three years — Mr. Farnam being 
now principal of the academy at Rochester, 
Wis. Afiss Florence Farnam graduated from 
the Ypsilanti normal school in 1896, and taught 
in a Detroit school until her marriage to Rich- 
ard S. Lawson, attorney, and now resides in 
Detroit. 

Mrs. Mary E. Farnam was born in Medina 



county, Ohio, September 26, 1844, a daughter 
of Nathan and Emeline (Phillips) Saunders, 
who have one other child living — Clara, wife 
of Joseph Brown, a jeweler of Sabetha, Ivans. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Farnam came 
to Kent county, Mich., in 1868, their cash 
capital was just nothing; but they went in debt 
for an eighty-acre tract of land in the woods, 
and this at a time when no market was near, 
Sand Lake being unknown and Cedar Springs 
being a mere hamlet. Their first house here 
was of logs and is still standing, but through 
the exercise of their industry and good man- 
agement they now own 121 acres, improved 
with a commodious modern dwelling and sub- 
stantial out-buildings suitable for every require- 
ment, and they owe no man a dollar. They 
have given their children excellent educations, 
and performed every duty pertaining to good 
and true citizens. 

In politics Mr. Farnam is a republican and 
cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln for 
president of the United States while with the 
army at Atlanta, Ga. He has been chosen by 
the republicans of Nelson township as their 
delegate to district and senatorial conventions, 
and is a great admirer of President McKinley 
and Hon. William Alden Smith, the present 
congressman from his district, and fraternally 
he is a member of Cedar Springs lodge, No. 
213, F. & A. M., while he and wife are 
members of Cedar Springs chapter. No. 178, 
order of the Eastern Star. Both are also con- 
nected with County Line grange, P. of H. 




ICHAEL FARRELL (deceased), late 
of Ada township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born in Ireland, August 
26, 1 8 10, fourteen miles from the 
birthplace of the Duke of Wellington, and 
near where Oliver Goldsmith was also born. 
His parents were landowners, so he had more 



680 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



than usual advantages, social and educational. 
He bacame a civil engineer and associated 
with the landed gentry. He came to New 
York in 1830 on The Lady of the Wave, hav- 
ing been eight weeks on the ocean. He had 
some means and engaged in engineering and 
constructing, and in building docks on Erie 
canal near Lockport, N. Y. He was married 
in New York city, in 1834, to Mary McCor- 
mack, who was also born in Ireland, and. with 
whom he was acquainted in the old Ireland 
home. In 1835 he lost his property by the 
great fire — losing his all. He then came to 
Michigan and started the system of canal and 
riAer imports, under Gov. Stephen T. Mason, 
"the boy Governor," in 1836. He came with 
his wife and daughter to Detroit penniless, got 
acquainted with Lewis Cass and Col. Berrien, 
the great men of that day, and secured a po- 
sition on the Michigan Central railroad as civil 
engineer and constructor, and was superin- 
tendent and contractor to Ypsilanti until June 
12, 1837, when he helped unload from a 
schooner the first engine to come to Michigan, 
and which arrived from Erie, Pa. He was ap- 
pointed engineer, and started the first engine 
in Michigan. The road was pushed and a bet 
was made between citizens of Ypsilanti and 
officials, that the road would not reach that 
place by January i, 183S. The rails were 
made of wood with strips of iron on top, known 
as snakeheads. Seven miles from Ypsilanti 
the iron ran out, and the engine would slip on 
the wood, which was covered with ice. But, 
not to be thwarted, Mr. Farrell hired teams, 
and December 31, 1837, he hauled the engine 
with cars into Ypsilanti, thus winning the bet. 
He helped to build the roads all over the state, 
and the last job was a bridge over the St. Joe. 
river. 

In 1842, Mr. Farrell met John Ball at 
Marshall, Mich., then the state land office. 
He asked the agent to indicate the state land 



assigned for internal improvement. Farrell 
was induced by Ball's description to invest his 
money, and purchased land warrants, then 
worth forty cents on the dollar. He invested 
in several thousands of acres in Grattan, \'er- 
gennes, Ada and Cannon townships, Kent 
county. He still possessed 4,000 half dollar 
silver pieces, new from the banks at Sandusky, 
Ohio. He loaned this to settlers without any 
security, to help get land and erect buildings — 
they to pay him later in labor. They all lived 
up to the agreement. His influence brought a 
great many of his old emplciyees of the Michi- 
gan Central road to come in and settle the 
land, and almost all the Irish families in these 
four townships came in from 1844 to 1850. 
He had himself located on his land in 1844. 

In 1842 three Irishmen started from 
Marshall — Farrell, Fingleton and McCormick 
— to select the land. They went at first to 
Ottawa county, but the bluffs along the river 
made it seem undesirable. They then came 
to Ada, and Mr. Farrell selected sections 10, 
1.2, II and 14, and Mr. Fingleton selected sec- 
tion I of Ada, and section 36 in Cannon town- 
ship, and Mr. McCormick selected section 2 
in Ada township. They went to an old block- 
house kept by a man named Lyoi, and there 
met John Ball, in whose company was Rev. 
Amos G. Chase, from New York. Ball en- 
quired if he had made a selection. Farrell said 
he had selected section 10 — describing it with 
its beautiful lake. Mr. Chase was on his way 
to Illinois to select land, but hearing Farrell's 
description of section 10, his interest was 
aroused. The three companions started on 
toward Marshall, where the land office was. 
Fingleton chided Farrell for saying anything 
about the description, fearing Chase would 
like the land, and reach the land office 
first. Chase did hire a team to drive to Mar- 
shall but the three who were riding horseback 
stopped at a Mr. McNaughton's house and 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



681 



heard the team pass in the night. They at 
once started in pursuit. Yankee Lewis, who 
also kept a tavern further on, informed them 
of Chase's passage. Their horses had given 
out, and Farrell hired Lewis' team, giving $20 
in gold, to pursue. At Battle Creek Chase 
was a half-hour ahead. Farrell got a fast 
team and reached Marshall but fifteen minutes 
behind, but found Chase had already secured 
the land and had purchased land warrants to 
pay for it. Farrell recounted this incident for 
years. Chase settled on the land and in after 
years all were on good terms. Chase was 
well known all over these counties as a Bap- 
tist minister. 

After settling on 720 acres of land Mr. 
Farrell made ithis future home and made all the 
improvements. Mr. Farrell was extremely 
charitable and public-spirited. He had no de- 
sire for office, but was the first highway com- 
missioner, and at his own e.xpense laid out all 
roads in the various townships. In politics he 
was a democrat and cast his first vote for 
Jackson in 1832. A kind and just man in and 
out of the family circle, he never sued nor was 
sued. He was a Catholic of strong convic- 
tions, was liberal, and was respected alike by 
Protestants and Catholics. He was one of the 
founders of the Catholic church in Grattan in 
1844, and assisted largely in its building. He 
died September 2, 1896, and his mortal re- 
mains rest in the cemetery at Grattan. 

He had a family of thirteen children, viz: 
Hannah, wife of Michael Downs of Ada; Will- 
iam, of whom further mention is made in an- 
other sketch; Garrett, on part of the old home- 
stead; Cathel'ine, wife of Daniel Fingleton, of 
Cannon township; Theresa, wife of Owen 
Doyle, of Ada; Michael on a part of the old 
homestead; Margaret, twin of Michael, was 
married to Bernard Fingleton, and died at 
thirty years of age; James Charles died at 
fourteen years of age; Mary Ann, widow of 



Andrew Whalen, of South Grand Rapids; 
Ellen, wife of M. D. Shaugnessy, superin- 
tendent of the northern division, G. R. & I. R. 
R. ; Eliza, twin of Ellen, is the wife of Patrick 
Bowler, on part of the old homestead; Julia, 
first married to John Platte, deceased, and 
now the wife of Jacob Steele and living on the 
old homestead; and one infant that died un- 
named. 

Mr. Farrell was a square-built man, and 
was a very pleasant and prepossessing appear- 
ance, and at his death had ten children and 
115 grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. 




[ LLIAM W. FENTON, ex-supervisor 
of Tyrone township, Ivent county, 
was born in Washtenaw county, 
Mich., December 27, 1845, a son 
of John and Hannah (Showerman) Fenton, 
who are parents of five children — one son 
and four daughters — of whom two only are 
now living — William W. and Estella. The 
latter is the wife of Abel Baldwin, of Lawrence 
county, Tenn., where they have resided twelve 
years, and have one son and two daughters — 
the elder daughter, Zelpha, who was formerly 
a school-teacher, being now Mrs. Dawes. In 
politics, Mr. Baldwin is a republican. 

John Fenton, father of William W., was 
born in England in December, 18 19, and when 
fifteen years old crossed the Atlantic to Can- 
ada, whence he came to Michigan. He was a 
carpenter, joiner and millwright, in politics 
was a whig, and was called away at the early 
age of thirty-five years. His widow, who was 
born in Arcadia, Wayne county, N. Y. , May 
5, 1824, is a devout member of the Baptist 
church, retains her mentality intact, and now 
makes her home with the subject of this 
sketch. 

When William W. Fenton was a child he 



682 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



was brought from Washtenaw county to- Kent 
county b\' his parents, who remained here a 
short time only and then went to Clinton 
county, subject being then nine years old, and 
purchased eighty acres of land improved with 
a log cabin, in which they lived until 1865, 
when they removed to Grass Lake, Jackson 
county, and there the family resided six years. 
Mr. Fenton was one of the brave men who 
went to the front when the nation was in peril. 
He enlisted December 13, 1861, in company 
D, Fourteenth Michigan volunteer infantry, 
under Capt. James J. Jeffery, was assigned to 
the army of the Tennessee, and was ordered 
to Pittsburg Landing, but was taken sick, re- 
ceived an honorable discharge, and returned 
home. As soon as able, he re-enlisted, join- 
ing company E, First Michigan light artillery, 
was assigned to the army of the Cumberland, 
with which he served — chiefly on gunboats and 
in garrison duty — until he received his second 
honorable discharge, July 30, 1865. During 
his second term of service, he was never sick 
nor a day off duty. 

W W. Fenton was united in marriage, at 
Grand Rapids, December 25, 1871, with Miss 
Clara J. Barber, who was born in Niagara 
county, N. Y., November 4, 1S47, a daughter 
of Richard and Adeline (Holmes) Barber, and 
some of her ancestors were heroes of the Revo- 
lution. Richard Barber was a native of cen- 
tral New York, was a farmer, and died when 
about seventy-eight years of age, but his wife 
is still living in the Empire state, at the age of 
eighty-five. 

W. W. Fenton settled on 160 acres of wild 
land in Tyrone township twenty-three years 
ago, when the woods were the domain of wild 
animals, and I\ent City and Casnovia of but 
little consequence, but he succeeded in hewing 
out from the wildness a comfortable home. 
In 1895 he purchased his present improved 
farm, on which he has a fine residence 



and has erected a new barn, 46 x 36 feet, 
and made many other valuable improvements. 
In politics Mr. Fenton is a republican, cast 
his first presidential vote for Gen. Grant, has 
represented his party in several district, county 
and legislative conventions, and in 1887 was 
elected supervisor of Tyrone township, and so 
satisfactorily did he care for the interests of 
his townspeople, that he was called upon to 
fill three additional terms as a member of the 
county board, and during his incumbency of 
the office the erection of the Ivent county court 
house was authorized. He is strongly in favor 
of public education on the highest possible 
plane. Mr. Fenton is a member of Casnovia 
lodge. No. 349, I. O. O. F., and Mrs. Fenton 
of Laurel lodge. No. 65, which comprises 
nearly fifty members. Socially, Mr. and Afrs. 
Fenton stand very high, and no family in the 
township is held in higher regard. 




ILTON O. FOSTER.— Through his 
life span of thirty-eight years Mil- 
ton O. Foster has been a resident 
of I\ent county, having been born 
on the paternal homestead where he now lives, 
in Ada township, on the 13th of April, 1861. 
His ancestry is traceable back to England, the 
birthplace of his father, John Foster, who came 
to the new world in 1842 and two years later 
became a resident of the township of Ada, 
purchasing the farm which he has since owned 
and operated. 

John Foster married Elizabeth Heaton, 
who bore him two children, both of whom are 
living at this time. He is an industrious man, 
worked hard for many years in bringing his 
farm to its present advanced stage of cultiva- 
tion, and is now enjoying the fruits of a well- 
spent life in the village of Ada, to which he 
retired from active labor a few years ago. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



683 



Upon the farm which the father located, 
the immediate subject of this sketch was 
reared, and the field and forest constituted his 
principal training school in youth, ft is 
true he attended the district school of the 
neighborhood during the winter months, and 
made good progress in the common branches 
of study, but through the greater part of the 
year he followed the plow, gathered the crops, 
and in many other ways assisted in the devel- 
opment and cultivation of the old homestead. 
Thus in early life he acquired habits of indus- 
try and perseverance that have proved im- 
portant factors in the success that has waited 
upon his later years. At the age of eighteen 
years Afr. Foster began farming on his own 
account in his native township, and is now the 
possessor of a good farm two and a half miles 
from the village of Ada. The well-tilled fields 
indicate his careful supervision, good buildings, 
well-kept fences, modern machinery and all 
other accessories and conveniences of the 
model farm are there to be found, and the 
dominant qualities of the successful business 
man are numbered among the chief character- 
istics of the proprietor. 

On the nth day of January, 1881, Mr. 
Foster was united in marriage to Miss Eliza- 
beth Wride, a daughter of Joseph Wride, of 
England. Mr. Wride removed from his na- 
tive country to Canada a number of years ago, 
and thence, in 1866, to the town of Cascade, 
Mich. Mr. and Mrs. Foster have no children 
of their own, but are raising an adopted child, 
Pearl Cook Foster, now a young lady of six- 
teen. She has never known other parents, 
having been taken by her benefactors when 
but three days old. 

Mr. Foster wields a potent influence for 
the democratic party, of which he is an ardent 
supporter. He is a member of the Odd Fel- 
lows and Maccabees fraternities, also belongs 
to the Union grange. His influence on the 



agricultural and political life of his section of 
the county has been marked, and he has been 
accounted one of the representative citizens of 
his community. Since 1896 he has been a 
trustee of the Ada school, and he takes an act- 
ive interest in matters educational. Mrs. 
Foster and little Pearl are members of the 
Baptist church. 



EORGE FfNGLETON, a successful 
farmer who for nearly fifty years has 
lived in Ada township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born here on the 12th of 
September, 1850. His father was Patrick Fin- 
gleton, a very popular man, and a native of 
Ireland, boi;n in the year 1800. In 1844 he 
crossed to America and settled in the state of 
Michigan. Here he was for twenty-four years 
engaged in farming, and died in 1868, sixty- 
eight years of age. He was one of the hard- 
working and successful agriculturists of the 
the country, and succeeded in acquiring about 
450 acres of land. Two hundred and seventy 
acres of this land was in Ada and 140 in Can- 
non townships, to which he later added about 
eighty acres. Here he gave his attention 
to his land until his estate was settled by will 
at his death. 

Patrick Fingleton was a member of the 
Catholic church and a life-long supporter there- 
of. He was known for his probity of charac- 
ter, no less than for his thrift and success in 
business. He was a man that made his own 
way in the world by means of integrity of pur- 
pose and of action. 

The mother of George Fingleton was 
Bridget Murray, also a native of Ireland, 
where she was united in marrriage with Pat- 
rick Fingleton and there became the mother of 
two children. After their removal to America 
three more children were born to them. In 



684 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



1886 she died. The members of the family 
were: Michael, who died when twenty-four 
years old; William, who at present resides at 
Grand Rapids; Dan, who lives in Cannon 
township; Barney, resident of Ada township, 
and George, the subject of this sketch. 

George Fingleton was born and reared on 
the old homestead at Ada. Here he lived and 
worked until his father's death, whenthe home- 
stead was assigned to him by will. His farm 
now contains 270 acres, improved and devel- 
oped by him in many directions. 

George Fingleton was united in marriage, 
November 8, 1881, to Miss Bridget Hickey, 
who was also a native of Ireland. To this union 
there have been born seven children, of whom 
five survive and live at home, viz: Pat, William, 
Mamie, Lena, and Ethel; Leo and Loretta, 
who were twins, died in early childhood. 

Mr. Fingleton has now lived on the farm 
for about fifty years, and has succeeded in es- 
tablishing for himself an enviable reputation 
for diligence, industry, integrity and useful- 
ness. 




RS. C. J. FINNUCAN, successor to 
the late John DeLange, manufact- 
urer and dealer in harness, saddlery, 
etc., is a native of Germany and a 
daughter of H. and Anna (Lemp) Nicoli. The 
father was a stonemason by trade, which he 
followed in Germany until his death, in 1878. 
Mrs. C. J. Finnucan was first married to 
William O. Kimball, in Algoma township, 
Kent county, in 1887, but that gentleman early 
passed away. Mrs. Kimball was ne.xt married 
to John DeLange, who was born in Holland, 
September 28, 1857, was brought to Grand 
Rapids, Mich., in i860, and there learned his 
trade of harnessmaker, and about 1879 settled 
in Sparta, and was here the leading harness 
and saddle merchant and repairer for fifteen 



or sixteen years, or until his death, which oc- 
curred March 4, 1895. The marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. DeLange was blessed with two chil- 
dren, William L. and William H. 

January 12, 1898, Mrs. DeLange was united 
in marriage with her present husband, Cor- 
nelius J. Finnucan, who was born in the state 
of New York, July 4, 1852, a son of Pennsyl- 
vania parents. He was reared to farming, but 
the greater part of his maturer years has been 
passed with the Chase Nursery company of 
Kent county. Mich. 

Mrs. C. J. Finnucan, a most affable and 
courteous lady, carries a stock in trade valued 
at $r, 200 to $1, 500, and gives constant em- 
ployment to one practical harnessmaker. This 
stock is varied and well assorted, and beside 
handling all articles pertaining to the trade 
she manages a fully equipped repair shop, 
which has proven to be a great convenience to 
her numerous patrons. 

Mrs. Finnucan is a devout and consistent 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
and also a member of the relief corps, and 
socially is very highly esteemed by the best 
residents of Sparta. 



IRAM N. FISK, a highly respected 
farmer of Solon township, Kent 
count)-, Mich., is a native of New 
York state, and was born in Leno.x 
township, Madison county, February 3, 1S41, 
a son of Hiram and Lucy (Chandler) Fisk, 
whose only other child, a daughter, was the 
first born. 

Hiram Fisk, the father, was born in Erie 
count}'. Pa., December i, 1788, and was of 
English descent. He was reared on his 
father's farm, and alter reaching his majority 
enlisted in the war of 1812, in which, at Sack- 
ett's Harbor, his lower jaw and left thigh were 
badly injured by the explosion of a shell. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



685 



While convalescing and walking about on his 
crutches, he witnessed the explosion of the 
magazine at Quebec, Canada, and at the ex- 
piration of his term of enlistment received an 
honorable discharge. At one time he was 
captured by Indians, who, after tramping some 
days, met an Englishman and exchanged him 
for a jug of Santa Cruz rum. In a few 
months he rejoined his old company. Later, 
he settled in Madison county, N. Y., rose to 
some prominence as a whig, but lived long 
enough to vote for the newly-born republican 
party. He was a great reader and often pre- 
dicted the downfall of slavery. He held the 
office of justice of the peace for many years, 
and died in Madison county in March, i860, 
respected by all who knew him. His wife was 
a native of Madison county and died in 1855, 
at the age of sixty-eight years, a truly chris- 
tian woman. 

Hiram N. Fisk was educated in the com- 
mon schools of his native state, and on begin- 
ning his business life did not possess $5 in 
cash. For a number of years he was a dair}'- 
man at Oneida Depot, Madison county, and also 
dealt in ice. July 3, 1859, he married Miss 
Roxanna Monroe, a native of Madison county, 
and this marriage has resulted in the birth of 
three sons and five daughters, of whom seven 
are still living, viz: Edwin M., who married 
Dora Stickles and has a homestead in Brown 
county, S. Dak., and also a tree claim on the 
Missouri river in the Blue Blanket valley; Ida 
is the wife of William Fuller, of Cannon town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich.; William, who mar- 
ried Miss Mamie Gaul, is farming in Solon 
township, and is a Woodman; Florence, who 
for a number of years taught school in Kent 
and Newaygo counties, and is the wife of Mer- 
ritt Potter, of Camden, Hillsdale county; Lot- 
tie P., who was also a teacher for several 
terms in Kent county, is now the wife of Jacob 
Howard, of Solon township; Lizzie May is a 



graduate of the Sand Lake and Cedar Springs 
high schools, and is the wife of Emory Brown, 
of Solon township, and Hiram O., who has 
received a good common-school education, is 
a natural stockman and is ably assisting on the 
home farm. All the above-named children 
were born in New York state save Hiram O., 
who is a native of Michigan. 

In 1878, Mr. Fisk came from New York to 
Michigan and for one year lived in Jackson 
county. In 1879 he located in Solon town- 
ship, Kent county, purchased eighty acres of 
forest land in section No. 4, from which the 
first growth of pine had been removed, and on 
which stood a second growth. The family re- 
mained in Cedar Springs until he had erected 
a log cabin, 18 x 24 feet, when all came to the 
wildwood home. He cleared off five acres 
and put in his first little crop in 1879, toiled 
hard and made all the necessary improvements, 
but in 1885 met a dire misfortune, as he lost 
his barn, farming implements and grain by 
fire. But Mr. Fisk was not daunted. He set 
bravely to work, replaced his improvements 
and erected a modern dwelling, and now owns 
100 acres of finely cultivated land, situate seven 
and one-half miles northwest of Cedar Springs, 
and is introducing and breeding fine blooded 
stock, more especially Poland China hogs, and 
stands among the affluent and respected farm- 
ers of Solon township. 

Mrs. Roxanna Fisk was born May 27, 1 841, 
a daughter of Osmus and Hannah (Daniels) 
Monroe, parents of three sons and three 
daughters, of whom two only are now living 
— Mrs. Fisk and her brother Silas, the latter a 
resident of Jackson county, Mich. The 
mother died about 1877, but the father, who 
was born in Connecticut and taken to New 
York when but four years of age and reared a 
farmer, is still living with his daughter, hale 
and hearty, at the advanced age of ninety 
years and, with keen mental faculties and well 



686 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



preserved body, enjoys himself in constantly 
attending to some of the work on the farm or 
in the garden. 

In politics Mr. Fisk is a republican, cast 
his first presidential vote for Lincoln, is an 
ardent friend of public education, and has 
been a school director for years. He and his 
wife are Methodists in belief and their daily 
life illustrates their high sense of religious duty. 




RS. MAY FONGER. a greatly re- 
spected lady residing in retirement 
on her homestead four and a half 
miles from the thriving village of 
Casnovia, Tyrone township, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of Plainfield township, in 
the same county, and was born April 25, 
1859, the second in a family of three daughters 
that blessed the marriage of Timothy and 
Mary (Lamoreaux) Konkle, viz: Lydia, wife 
of Dwight Clarke, a farmer residing east of 
the city of Gfand Rapids; Mrs. Fonger, the 
subject of this sketch, and Grace, wife of John 
Kidder, a shingle sawyer of Ford River, in the 
upper peninsula of Michigan. Mrs. Fonger 
was educated in the common and high schools 
of Cedar Springs, and for some years before 
her marriage was one of Kent county's favor- 
ite school-teachers. 

Timothy Konkle. father of Mrs. Fonger, 
was born in Pennsylvania, April i, 1834, and 
now resides in Solon township, Kent county. 
Mich. At the age of ten years he was brought 
to Michigan by his parents, who settled at 
Mill Creek, Plainfield township, Kent county, 
when Grand Rapids was but a small town, 
with no railroad leading to it. He was reared 
a carpenter, bat later adopted agriculture as a 
vocation, and in 1871 settled in Solon town- 
ship. In politics he is a democrat. Mrs. 



Mary Konkle, mother of Mrs. Fonger, was 
born in the state of New York, July 31, 1835, 
and is still living. 

Mrs. May Fonger was but ten years of age 
when her parents settled in Solon township, 
where she grew to womanhood. July 11, 
1877, she was united in marriage with the late 
George Fonger, and two sons came to crown 
this union — James M. and Bert A. — and both 
are living on the home farm with their mother. 
George Fonger, her deceased husband, was 
born in the province of Ontario, Canada, July 
31, 1836, where he grew to manhood and was 
reared to agriculture. When he came to 
Michigan he first located in Jackson county, 
whence, about 1865, he came to Tyrone town- 
ship, Kent county. His first purchase here 
was a tract of eighty acres of forest land, on 
which no improvements whatever had been 
made. But he was possessed of wonderful ac- 
tivity, mentally and physically, cleared off his 
timber and constantly added to his estate until 
he acquired 210 acres, and these he converted 
into one of the most e.Kcellent farms in the 
township. 

In politics Mr. Fonger was intensely re- 
publican, and was also an ardent supporter of 
the public-school system of the state. For 
some years he was a highway commissioner of 
Tyrone township, and attended to his duties 
with conscientious interest. He was, in fact, 
a devotee of the Golden Rule, which teaches 
us to "Do unto others as you would have 
others do unto you." The death of this hon- 
est man and useful citizen took place October 
29, 1898, and with him was lost a loving hus- 
band, an indulgent father and a true friend to 
mankind. Mrs. Fonger and her children are 
among the most respected residents of Tyrone 
: township, and count their friends by the score. 
Quite recently Mrs. Fonger and her children 
have caused to be erected a costly monument 
sacred to the memory of husband and father. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



687 



RANKLIN M. FORCE for over a 
quarter of a century has been a resi- 
dent of Spencer township, Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., and is well known as a gen- 
tleman of integrity. He was born in Wash- 
tenaw county, January lo, 1853, and is the 
eldest of a family of si.x sons and five daugh- 
ters born to Francis and Betsey (Christler) 
Force. Those living beside himself are: Fred- 
erick, a farmer in Spencer township. Belle, 
wife of Charles Chamberlain, farmer of Seat- 
tle, Wash. ; Ella, wife of John Frowley, a na- 
tive of Sweden and a farmer in Montcalm coun- 
ty, Mich.; Emma, wife of Reuben Wilson, a 
mechanic at Big Rapids; John, farmer in 
Pie'rson, Montcalm county; Hattie, wife of 
William Small, a hotel-keeper at Big Rapids, 
and George, farming at Trufant, Montcalm 
county. The father of this family was born 
in New York state, came to Michigan as a boy 
with his father, Obadiah, and settled near 
Stockbridge, Ingham county. The house he 
erected m 1832 is still standing. He later 
lived in Washtenaw county, where he im- 
proved a new farm. In 1873 he settled on the 
land that is now part of his son's farm. He 
improved a nice little farm and lived here till 
his death, July 2, 1886. He was a democrat 
and was most thoroughly convinced the prin- 
ciples of that party were what is necessary to 
the preservation of republican institutions. 
The mother, also a native of New York, is 
now seventy years of age, and resides with her 
son, in the full possession of her faculties. The 
families of both parents were noted for longev- 
ity, and two of Mr. Force's uncles served in 
the Revolutionary war and three brothers in 
the war of 1812. 

Franklin M. Force was reared in Wash- 
tenaw county until nearly twenty years of age. 
He received a sound education in the Man- 
chester graded schools, where he was fitted to 
teach. He came with the family to Spencer 



township in March, 1873. Their first home 
was a little board shanty, and the surrounding 
country almost a wilderness. Trufant was 
known only as a stopping place; deer were 
abundant in Spencer township, and it being a 
logging country there were 18,000,000 feet of 
logs in Black creek the spring of his arrival. 

August 27, 1876, Mr. Force wedded Miss 
Mary VVarnock, which marriage has been 
graced with three sons and one daughter, the 
latter dying in infancy. The sons are Willie, 
still residing with his parents; \'ernie and 
Myron. 

Mrs. Mary Force was born in Eaton, Lo- 
rain county, Ohio, November 4, 1867, and is 
a daughter of William and Eliza (Frisbee) 
Warnock, who were the parents of five sons 
and two daughters, of whom Mrs. Force is the 
youngest, and of whom she and three brothers 
are the only survivors. Of these, James was a 
soldier of the Civil war and is now a prosper- 
ous mechanic at Elyria, Ohio; David is a thriv- 
ing farmer in Walker township, Kent county, 
Mich., and Willie is prospering in the same 
line in Spencer township. Mrs. Force was a 
little girl when brouhgt to Kent county by her 
parents, and here she has been reared and edu- 
cated. Her father was of Scotch-Irish e.xtrac- 
tion, was of benevolent disposition, was de- 
voted in his love for his wife and children and 
was a sincere Methodist, not in name only but 
in heart and soul. His life was an open vol- 
ume to all who knew him, and, honored by all, 
he departed this life in May, 1881, having sur- 
vived his wife many years. His remains are 
interred in the Spencer Mill cemetery, where 
a beautiful shaft has been erected to his mem- 
ory by his children. 

Mr. and Mrs. Force began their matri- 
monial life without a dollar, but were filled 
with hope and laudable ambition. They went 
in debt for a forty-acre tract in section No. 16, 
Spencer township, where the district school- 



688 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



house now stands. The land was covered 
by the primeval forest and brush, and their 
home was a little board shanty. Here Mrs. 
Force united her efforts with those of her hus- 
band in clearing up the place and in bringing 
order out of chaos. Two years later, finding 
the title was defective, they sacrificed what 
little they had paid on it, and two years of 
hard labor. They then purchased forty acres 
in section No. 21, of which only three acres 
had been cleared from the dense forest. A 
little cabin was their dwelling, and many a 
time, after consuming Mrs. Force's little bak- 
ing of bread, nothing was left for the next 
meal. But she was still patient and hopeful, 
and she said that "the L.ord will provide. " Mr. 
Force worked as a day-laborer to earn the 
means with which to make the payment on the 
place, and even after all had been met Mrs. 
F"orce would go into the field and forest with 
her husband and help develop their farm. The 
result of this assiduous toil has been that they 
now own 145 acres of as finely improved land 
.as can be found in Spencer township, and they 
have the satisfaction of knowing that the im- 
provements have all been made by themselves. 
In politics Mr. Force is a. democrat and 
cast his first presidential vote for Samuel J. 
Tilden. In religion Mr. and Mrs. Force are 
sincere and devout members of the Disciples' 
church, who have a nice little society of their 
own in Spencer township, connected with 
which there is a Sunday-school, with an at- 
tendance of about forty scholars. Of this Mr. 
Force is the present treasurer, and has been 
superintendent, assistant superintendent, li- 
brarian and teacher — Mrs. Force being the 
present librarian; she also teaches the small 
children and has been very successful. Mr. 
and Mrs. Force have contributed liberally to- 
ward building up and supporting this little so- 
ciety. Mrs. Force is likewise president of the 
Ladies' Aid society. Both Mr. and Mrs. Force 



are public-spirited, are favorably and warmly 
inclined toward the public-school system and 
advocate the employment of the most com- 
petent teachers. They stand in the best social 
circles of the township and are sincerely re- 
spected for their personal worth as demon- 
strated by their useful and industrious life. 



EORGE H. FORCE, farmer and spec- 
ulator in general produce and an ex- 
tensive shipper at Lowell, Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., was born in the state of 
New York December 11, 185 i, and is a son of 
Harvey and Lucinda (Ackles) Force, who were 
parents of three children. 

Harvey Force, the father, was also a na- 
tive of New York, was born on the 4th day of 
July, 1825, came to Michigan in 1858, and 
settled in Shiawassee county, where he carried 
on a farm for a short time. Afterward he re- 
moved to Hillsdale, and thence to Newaygo 
county. His death occurred at the home of 
his son, George H.,in Lowell township March 
2, 1888. His wife still survives. 

George H. Force was reared to young man- 
hood in Hillsdale county, and was educated in 
the common schools. While still a young 
man he entered a general store, as clerk, in 
Croton, Newaygo county, and remained for a 
few years, or until he became familiar with 
the business, and at the age of twenty-five 
years embarked in a similar line, on his own 
account, at Morle}', Mecosta county, and in 
this was unusually prosperous — so much so 
that, at the end of ten years, by disposing of* 
his stock in trade, he was enabled to purchase 
a farm in Lowell township (in 1886), since 
when he has devoted much of his time and at- 
tention to farming and speculating in and ship- 
ping produce. He has shown great ability as 
a business man, and in 1S94 was made a di- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



689 



rector in the Lowell State bank, which posi- 
tion he still retains. 

Mr. Force was joined in marriage, Septem- 
ber 20, 1876, with Miss Laura E. Allen, and 
this union has resulted in the birth of two sons 
— Harold W.. who is being trained by his fa- 
ther in the art of speculation and is a buyer 
and shipper at Lowell, and Raymond C. , who 
has completed his studies as a stenographer 
and ranks high in this profession, and has been 
connected in this capacity with the King Mill- 
ing company. In the spring of 1899, this 
young man, remembering the advice of the re- 
nowned editor, Horace Greeley, started for 
the west to seek a fortune for himself and to 
" grow up with the country. " He was so fort- 
unate as to secure a position with the North 
American Transportation & Trading company, 
and is loud in his praises of the state of Wash- 
ington. 

In politics, George H. Force is a strong- 
republican; as a business man, he is regarded 
by the community as one of the keenest in the 
township, and one whose integrity is implicitly 
to be relied upon, and whose financial opera- 
tions are conducted with the strictest justice 
to all concerned. 




AMES M. FORD, now one of the most 
highly respected citizens of Spencer 
township, was born in Vergennes 
township, Kent county, Mich., De- 
cember 27, 1868, and is the third born of the 
family of six children — one son and five 
daughters — that blessed the marriage of Jacob 
A. and Cornelia (Jakewa\) Ford, and of 
these children there are five still living, to-wit: 
May; wife of George Cooper, a farmer of 
Spencer township; James M., whose name 
opens this paragraph; Minnie, wife of William 
Brigham, a farmer of Spencer; Iva, married 



to George Force, a farmer at Trufant, Mont- 
calm county, and Lida, wife of George Rouse, 
a millman of Rhinelander, Wis. 

Jacob A. Ford is a native of Ontario, was 
born in May, 1829, came to Michigan in 1837 
with his parents, who settled in Lowell, where 
he was reared a farmer and educated in the 
district school, and is now living in retirement 
in Trufant. His father, Ira Ford, was one of 
the pioneers of Kent county. Jacob A. re- 
mained with his parents in Lowell and Grat- 
tan townships until he enlisted in company B, 
Twenty-fifth Michigan infantry, was assigned 
to the army of the Potomac, took part in 
some of the most severe battles of the Civil 
war, including Gettysburg and Antietam, for 
three years served his country bravely and 
faithfully, and received an honorable discharge 
at Detroit. The first land he owned in his 
own right was 160 acres in Grattan township, 
but this he sold in 1869, and purchased eighty 
acres in section No. 16, Spencer township, on 
which there was but little improvement made, 
but which he converted into a profitable farm. 
He is a democrat, and is a member of Carleton 
post, G. A. R., at Trufant, of which he has 
for some time been the commander. His wife 
is a native of Herkimer county, N. Y., was 
born April 13, 1839, and was brought to 
Michigan when a child. She and husband are 
devout membersof the United Brethern church, 
and are among the most highly esteemed resi- 
dents of Trufant. 

James M. Ford was an infant when his 
father settled in Spencer township, and here 
he was educated in the common schools. He 
has spent a number of years in Kent, Ionia 
and Montcalm counties as a lumberman, and 
has done a great deal of work in getting out 
lumber for the John J. Foster Co., and the 
Renney Refrigerator Co., of Greenville, and 
cut the last stick of pine timber in Montcalm 
county. He has also engaged largely in 



690. 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



agricultural pursuits, and for the past nine 
years has operated a Nichols-Shepard thresh- 
ing machine throughout his neighberhood. 

Mr. Ford was united in marriage July 24, 
1890, with Miss Elma M. Lockwood, and to 
this union have been born four children — three 
sons and one daughter — of whom the eldest, 
Jacob H., has been called away; Ray G. , 
Ralph and Ethel M., still brighten the home 
of their father. 

Mrs. Elma M. Ford was born in Maple 
Valley township, Montcalm county, July 8, 
1872, and was a daughter of Harvey and 
Carrie (Powell) Lockwood, but this lovely 
woman and loving wife was called away from 
her devoted husband and surviving children 
November 14, 1898, and her remains are 
interred in Spencer Mills cemetery, where a 
beautiful column marks her last resting-place. 

In 1892, Mr. Ford took possession of the 
home estate by purchasing his father's interest. 
The old farm residence was destroyed by fire 
some years ago, but this was replaced by Mr. 
Ford with a comfortable and substantial dwell- 
ing. As he has passed nearly all his life on 
this farm, he has witnessed all the magical 
changes that have taken place in Spencer 
township since his. childhood. He can remem- 
ber the tine when deer gamboled lunmolested 
in front of the old residence, contiguous to 
Lincoln lake, which is but eighty rods east of 
his home; but deer, red men and forest have 
long since disappeared. 

In politics Mr. Ford is a democrat, and 
cast his first presidental vote for Grover Cleve- 
land. In 1896 and 1897 he served his people as 
township commissioner. He is a warm advo- 
cate of the employment of the best school- 
teachers, and fraternally he is a member of 
Trufant tent. No. 780, K. O. T. M. He is 
one of the most respected as well as most 
progressive citizens of Spencer township, and 
is public spirted to the last degree. 




OHN FOSTER, retired farmer of Ada 
township, was born in Yorkshire, Eng- 
land, on the 22d of December, 1821, 
one of six children born to Jeremiah 
and Mary (Maishall) Foster. His father and 
mother were also natives of England, where 
the father was engaged in farming until his 
death. 

John Foster remained at home until he 
reached the age of eighteen years, and re- 
ceived an education in the excellent schools of 
his native land. When eighteen years of age 
he crossed the Atlantic and landed in Quebec, 
later locating in Wyoming county, N. Y., 
where he remained until 1S47, engaged as an 
agriculturist. In the fall of the last-named 
year he located in Ada county, Kent county, 
Mich., where he purchased and cleared eighty 
acres of land. In 1864 he enlisted in the 
Thirteenth Michigan battery, under Captain 
Du Pont, and, on the following year, at the 
close of the war, was honorably discharged. 
He then returned to Ada and resumed farm- 
ing. 

He was united in marriage to Miss Eliza- 
beth Heaton, and this union has been blessed 
with the birth of two sons, Marshall H. and 
Milton O., both prosperous farmers of Ivent 
county. Mrs. Foster died on the 3d of May, 
1891, and her husband married Mrs. Clark 
Washburn, her maiden name having been May 
Teeple, a native of Cascade township. 

Mr. Foster in his political predilection ad- 
heres to the principles of the republican party 
and leads a retired life in his beautiful dwell- 
ing in Ada township. Both he and his wife 
are strict members of the Baptist church in ' 
Ada and he is one of Ada's highly respected 
old citizens and one of the first to take up 
land in that township. 

The few facts above enumerated in the life 
of John Foster may prove the fact that success 
does not lie alone in the great talent, but the 



^ 




O^OA^/^l^ 7^ ^^ 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



693 



persistent exercise and employment of what- 
ever talent and skill one may possess, and the 
seizure of good opportunities which present 
themselves. Mr. Foster at the inception pos- 
sessing little more than nothing, has by his 
unceasing toil and perseverance arrived at 
success, the monuments of his laborious efforts 
being his beautiful farm home, the ease and 
retirement in which he in his old age is living 
and the respect and esteem he enjoys in his 
community. 




\RSHALL H. FOSTER, township 
treasurer of Cascade township, 
Kent county, Mich., and a thriving 
farmer, was born in Ada township, 
across the township line, near the farm on 
which he now resides, on the 30th day of 
September, 1852, and is a son of John and 
Elizabeth Foster, of whom a biography ap- 
pears on another page. 

Marshall H. Foster was educated in the 
district school at Ada, and passed his boyhood 
years on his father's farm, and filially assisted 
his father in his agricultural work until twenty- 
one years of age, although his marriage took 
place December 14, 1872, to Miss Eliza M. 
Walter, a native of Kinderhook, Ind., and a 
daughter of John Walter, now of Grand 
Rapids, Mich. Mr. Foster then rented the 
homestead for a }'ear, at the end of which 
time he bought his present farm in Cascade. 
Of the 116 acres which were included in this 
purchase, forty acres were under cultivation, 
and improved with an old log-house. Here he 
went to housekeeping and worked diligently 
until he had cleared up the entire tract, and 
had made two sets of improvements, and then 
sold one part of the sub-divided tract, improve- 
ments included, retaining only forty acres for 
his own use, which he partly devotes to the 
cultivation of small fruits. But Mr. Foster 

36 



does not confine his industry to his home place 
alone, as he also rents a tract of 100 acres, 
which he cultivates in general or mi.xed crops. 
He has, likewise, for twelve years, run a 
threshing machine, from which labor he has 
realized quite an income. 

On his homestead in Cascade township, 
Mr. Foster has had born to him two sons and 
two daughters, as follows: Walter J., who is 
employed on the Agricultural college farm at 
Lansing; Floyd, who is in the second year of a 
four-j'ear course in the Agricultural college, 
and Belle and Marcia, still at home with 
their parents. 

In politics, Mr. Foster has always been 
stanchly a republican, has been a delegate to 
various conventions, in which his influence was 
strongly felt, and has worked hard, from time 
to time, for t"he success of his party, and his 
labors have been duly appreciated by the 
same. He is now serving his second term as 
justice of the peace, and in 1899 was elected 
township treasurer, the duties of which office 
he has already assumed. 

Mr. Foster, twenty-six years ago, helped 
to organize and became a charter member of 
the Cascade grange, P. of H., and of this 
grange he filled almost all fhe offices until he 
reached that of master, to which he has been 
twice elected. He is at present master of the 
county (Pomona) grange, and has also sat in 
the state grange, of which he is the present 
gate-keeper, and it may be added that he has 
never tired in promoting the interests of this 
beneficent order; he is, beside, a Modern Wood- 
man. Mrs. Foster is also a member of the 
grange, is one of its lecturers, and puts forth 
her best efforts to make it an educational and 
social factor among its members. In their re- 
ligious connection, Mr. and Mrs. Foster are 
devoted members of the Baptist church at 
Ada, of which Mr. Foster is the clerk, as well 
as the superintendent of the Sunday-school, 



694 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



having filled the latter position for the past 
seven years. For twenty-five years he has 
been active in church work, and in the cause 
of temperance likewise, as well as in everything 
that pertains to the elevation of society at 
large. 

Mr. and Mrs. Foster hold a high position 
in the social circles of Cascade township, and 
as a useful and public-spirited citizen, Mr. 
Foster is classed among the foremost. 




RANIv L. FULLER, prominent in the 
monetary affairs of Kent county, 
Mich., as the founder and proprietor 
of the Northern Kent bank at Cedar 
Springs and also of the Farmers & Merchants' 
bank of Rockford, in the same county, was 
born in Balding, Ionia county, October ii, 
1858, and is the only child of Kelly and Hen- 
rietta (Pierce) Fuller, the former of whom 
was born near Buffalo, N. Y. , and the latter 
elsewhere in the same state. The father, re- 
siding near Cedar Springs, is an agriculturist 
by vocation, is a republican in politics, and 
has been a resident of Michigan for forty-three 
years, and the mother was brought to the 
state when a child by her parents, Lyman 
and Bethana Pierce. Her death occurred 
about two years since. 

Frank L. Fuller received a sound English 
education in the public schools and a full 
business course of instruction at the Bryant 
& Stratton Business college in Detroit. At 
the early age of twelve years he was first em- 
ployed in keeping two sets of doubly-entry 
books for a large lumber and shingle company, 
and established a fine reputation as an e.xpert 
accountant. He was ne.xt appointed railway 
route agent for the post-office department on 
the F. & P. M. R. R. from Ludington to To- 
ledo, and from Detroit to Howard City on 



the D., G. R. & W. R. R., under Garfield's 
administration. He was then employed in the 
First National bank at Greenville, Mich., and 
from 1886 until 1888 was half-owner of the 
Bank of Frankfort, which was conducted un- 
der the firm name of Chandler & Fuller. In 
I 888 he came to Cedar Springs and established 
the well known Northern Kent bank, and to- 
gether with his extensive banking business he 
controls the largest line of insurance in north- 
ern Kent county, some of the more promi- 
nent companies for which he is agent being the 
Mutual Life, of New York, with a capital of 
$254,000,000; the Etna; the German Fire 
Insurance, of N. Y. ; the Commercial Union, 
of London, England; the American Insurance 
company, of Newark, N. J., and the Michigan 
Fire and Marine, of Detroit. 

The Northern Kent bank does a safe and 
conservative business, which wins for it the 
confidence of its patrons and the public in 
general. During the panicky days of 1893, 
when great banking houses throughout the 
country were shaken to their foundations, this 
bank never closed its doors and paid all de- 
mands upon it promptly in full. 

The handsome bank-building in Cedar 
Springs was erected by Mr. Fuller in 18S9, 
and its vault is fitted up with one of the latest 
improved burglar-proof safes, with time- 
lock, and manufactured in Detroit. 

The Farmers & Merchants' bank at Rock- 
ford, Mich., was established by Mr. Fuller in 
1895, with Charles H. Peck as cashier. This 
bank likewise enjoys the confidence of the pub- 
lic and of Rockford's business men, and the 
wealthy farmers of the contiguous territory. 

Mr. Fuller is also largely interested in the 
breeding of fine horses, and the Fuller stock 
farm is famous throughout the United States 
for its super-bred trotting stock. Exhibiting 
from ten to twenty-four animals at the Michi- 
gan state fair at Grand Rapids, he has, with 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



695 



two exceptions, carried off all the first honors 
contested for. His famous stallion " Failnot," 
with a record of 2:i6j, is a great favorite with 
breeders of trotting stock, and he has also in 
service several other stallions of great value. 
The Fuller stock farm is situated near Cedar 
Springs, on the Grands Rapids & Indiana and 
the Toledo, Saginaw & Muskegon railways, 
where visitors are always welcomed on any 
week-day. Mr. Fuller's courteous demeanor 
has made him > popular with his numerous pa- 
trons, who come from far and near to inspect 
his stock, and he has made sales to parties liv- 
ing in all parts of the Union. 

In his politics Mr. Fuller is an uncom- 
promising republican, and cast his first presi- 
dental vote for Garfield in 1880. He is an 
unwavering friend of temperance, and at the 
age of fourteen years joined the Good Tem- 
plars, and although the lodge he first joined 
went down, he has remained for twenty-five 
years a stanch Good Templar, and he is always 
ready to uphold its grand principles. He is 
very proud of being a Good Templar a quarter 
of a century, and he attributes a great deal of 
his success to the teaching received in the Good 
Templars' lodge and remains faithful to its 
teaching. The first Good Templar pass-word 
that he received was " In God we trust." Mr. 
Fuller is treasurer of Kent District lodge. No. 
23, which position he has very faithfully filled; 
he is also treasurer of the Good Templars' 
Funeral Benefit association of Michigan. He 
is the present chief templar of Cedar Springs 
lodge. No. 328, I. O. G. T., which position he 
filled at different times for many quarters, and 
is also the grand treasurer of the Good Tem- 
plars of the state of Michigan. 

Mr. Fuller has served as chairman of the 
committee on waterworks at Cedar Springs, 
and has the honor of having effected the pur- 
chase, at the lowest figure, of one of the best 
system of waterworks in the state; he is like- 



wise the treasurer of the- village school board, 
and has held this office two years. He is a 
member of F. & A. M. lodge at Cedar Springs, 
and was its senior warden and treasurer. 

In 1878 Mr. Fuller was united in marriage 
with Miss May A. Freeman, of Coral, Mich., 
and this union has been favored with eight 
children, viz: Grace E., Milo L. , Gertie, 
Florence, Frank L., Jr., Mark B. , McKinley 
and Esther. Mrs. Fuller was educated in the 
common schools, and Mr. Fuller attributes 
much of his success to her careful management 
and good advice. Mr. and Mrs. Fuller are 
devout members of the First Congregational 
church, of which Mr. Fuller has been the 
Sabbath-school superintendent a number of 
years. Mr. and Mrs. Fuller have a beautiful 
home on Maple street, and Mr. Fuller also 
owns lands in Algoma and Nelson townships. 
He is a leading citizen of Cedar Springs, and 
is highly esteemed for his public spirit and 
business enterprise and progressiveness. 




EON FULLER, one of the most pro- 
gressive and successful agriculturists of 
Spencer township, was born in Court- 
land, Kent county, Mich., April i, 
1855, and is the fifth of ten children — four 
sons and six daughters — that blessed the mar- 
riage of Edward and Dorinda (Vanderwater) 
Fuller, eight of whom are yet living, viz: Har- 
riet, still at home; Altha, wife of Bert John- 
son, of Grand Rapids; Leroy, of Oakfield 
township; Leon; Anna, married to William 
Vanderwater, of Bigi Rapids; Ira and Sarah, 
at home, and Nellie, wife of Lee Garlick, of 
Courtland township. 

Edward Fuller, father of this family, is a 
native of New York, came to Kent county, 
Mich., about 1849, and is a farmer by occupa- 
tion; with his wife he is still living in Courtland 



690 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



township, aged eighty-four and seventy-six 
years, respectively. 

Leon Fuller was- reared a farmer, received 
a sound common-school education, and re- 
mained on the home farm until he reached his 
majority. He then began his career on his 
own account at the bottom of the ladder, but 
through industry and good management has 
attained a comfortable position in life. 

July 3, 1879, Mr. Fuller married, in Court- 
land township, Miss Maggie Wolf. They have 
three children: Scott J., Ray and Pearl. 

Mrs. Maggie Fuller was born in Oakfield, 
March 29, 1861, and is a daughter of Freder- 
ick and Mary (Baur) Wolf, natives of Ger- 
many, and the parents of five sons and two 
daughters, five of whom are still living and 
residing in Michigan, viz; Lucy, wife of John 
Hart, of Oakfield, township; John, a farmer of 
Spencer; Charley and Joseph Wolf. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fuller, with about $200 
capital, began their married life on forty acres 
of wooded land in section No. 27, Spencer 
township, made some improvements and four 
j'ears later sold the farm. He then spent 
about two years in the lumber woods, cutting, 
sawing, skiddiug and running logs, and in the 
mill. The ne.xt purchase was eighty acres of 
the present homestead, paying $2,000, with 
$800 indebtedness. About 1895, Mr. Fuller 
purchased forty additional acres, and now he 
owns as fine a farm of 120 acres as there is in 
Spencer township. He has ninety acres in 
cultivation. He plants it mainly in potatoes 
and wheat, and with these he has been very 
successful. In the spring of 1898 Mr. Fuller 
erected his beautiful andcommodiousresidence, 
which is modern in style and consists of twelve 
rooms, besides halls and attic; it is finished in 
hard wood and surrounded with tasty veran- 
das. The parlor is finished in white oak and 
the other rooms in black ash, and the doors 
throughout are of the new paneled style. A 



furnace supplies hot air and the furniture is 
rich and elegant, making the home attractive 
to the children and a pleasant visiting place to 
many warm friends, who always find a wel- 
come. 

In politics Mr. Fuller is a stanch republic- 
an, and cast his first presidential vote for 
Rutherford B. Hayes. He has filled the office 
of school treasurer for three years, and he and 
wife favor the employment of the best teachers 
for their district that can be had for the money 
devoted to that purpose. 

Mr. and Mrs. Fuller are members of the 
Baptist church at Spencer Mills, in which 
Mrs. Fuller is a teacher in the Sunday-school, 
and to the support of which they contribute 
liberally, as well as to the promotion of all 
projects for the improvement of the township, 
or for the good of the general public. They 
are classed with the best people of Spencer 
township, and their many merits certamly en- 
title them to their high standing in the esteem 
of the community in which they have so long 
lived. 



S 



i:NJAMIN L. FULTON, justice of the 
peace in Caledonia township, Kent 
county, Mich., and a gallant ex-sol- 
dier of the Civil ■ war, was born in 
Massillon, Ohio, February 18, 1S18, and is of 
Irish parentage, his father, William Fulton, 
having come from the Emerald isle at the 
early age of seven years. 

B. L. Fulton, the eldest of a familj-of ten 
children, passed the later years of his boyhood 
in Richland county, Ohio, and at his majority 
went to Ashland county, where he lived until 
February, 1856, when he went to California 
and engaged in mining for si.x years, and while 
there served for awhile as justice of the peace, 
as he had already done in the state of Ohio. 



i 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



697 



In 1862 he returned to the east, and in 1863 
€nHsted in Ashland county, Ohio, in the One 
Hundred and Ninety-seventh Ohio volunteer 
infantry and saw service in Virginia, Maryland, 
Delaware and Pennsylvania. For^allantry in 
face of the enemy and meritorious conduct he 
was prouioted from private to sergeant, and at 
the close of the war was honorably discharged 
under general orders. 

In politics Mr. Fulton was a democrat until 
the breaking out of the war, when the revolt 
of the people of the south caused him to change 
his party allegiance, and he became a stanch 
republican. About 1884 he came to Michigan 
and settled on his farm near Alaska, Kent 
county, on the Thornapple river. Here he is 
serving his twelfth year as justice of the peace 
in Michigan, making seventeen years' service 
in that office, and it may well be believed that 
he thoroughly understands the duties of this 
responsible office. He is also a member of 
the Charles Brown post, G. A. K., at Alaska, 
has been very active and much interested in 
its welfare, and for si.x years has been an offi- 
cer of the order. 

Mr. Fulton first married Permelia Phelps, 
who bore him six children, one of whom, Wil- 
lie B., was well known as a successful teacher 
in Ivent county for five years in the high 
school of Caledonia, but is now a lumber 
dealer in Indiana. For his second helpmate 
Mr. Fulton chose Amine Frisbrie, of Will- 
iams county, Ohio, and to this union have 
been born two children, viz: Varion P., living 
in Grand Rapids, and who was a soldierinthe 
Spanish war, and Ora, a teacher and a young 
lady of more than ordinary natural ability, 
sweetness of disposition and strength of char- 
acter, and still making her home with her par- 
ents. 

Mr. Fulton is a gentleman of sound integ- 
rity, whose well-rounded life has gained him 
the esteem of the general public and many 



warm friends, and his war services have not 
been passed unrecognized by his country, 
which has granted him a pension. 




EROY FULLER, of Oakfield township, 
Ivent county, Mich. — During the pio- 
neer epoch in the history of Michigan, 
the Fuller family was founded within 
its borders and its representatives have since 
figured prominently in promoting its develop- 
ment and substantial improvement.- 

Leroy Fuller was born on the last day of 
March, 1853, and is fourth in a family of 
twelve children, born to Edward S. and Do- 
rinda (Vanderwater) Fuller. Educated in the 
common schools and reared to agricultural 
pursuits, after a thorough course of prepara- 
tion he took up veterinary surgery as a pro- 
fession and has practiced the same in connec- 
tion with the operation of a large farm for the 
last seven years. Affable in manner and ge- 
nial in nature, he has been successful in his 
chosen calling and has engaged in it with 
much pleasure as well as profit. 

On December 25, 1877, ^^r. Fuller was 
married, the lady of his choice being Miss 
Lettie Ziegenfuss. They have two children: 
Earnest E. and Flossie D. The former is a 
student in the eighth grade of the common 
schools. He is a thorough scholar, has a 
mechanical turn of mind and aids his father in 
the operation of the farm. The latter is a 
sweet-tempered little girl, the pride and joy of 
the home circle. 

Mrs. Fuller was born in Oakfield, January 
4, 1859, and is a daughter of Thomas and 
Hannah (Fogle) Ziegenfuss. She was liberally 
educated in Greenville high school and became 
a teacher in one of the Oakfield schools. Mrs. 
Fuller is a lady of pleasant address and her 
manner of entertainment is most pleasing alike 
to friend and stranger. She also merits com- 



698 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



mendation as a faithful helpmate to her hus- 
band in all the struggles of life. 

When Leroy Fuller and his wife began 
their energetic career they had little of this 
world's goods. He had but forty acres of land, 
and, though burdened with a debt of about 
$700, he nevertheless went still deeper in 
debt; his farm was mortgaged and his home 
fast slipping from his grasp, his accumulated 
indebtedness amounting at this time to nearly 
$1,100. At this critical period in his career 
he was attacked by severe illness, which also 
was a cause to the increase of his debt. Upon 
his recovery he again resumed work, and 
shortly afterward was able to purchase a forty- 
acre farm in Courtland township, paying only 
in part. Heathen began raising potatoes for a 
livelihood, and soon sold about $1,200 worth 
of the product. With this money he paid off 
his indebtedness and has since been steadily 
increasing their property until they now own 
three farms lying in Oakfield and Courtland, 
amounting to 250 acres, two of which he 
operates. Each has its improvements. He 
has continued to grow potatoes, depending 
considerably upon that crop, which proves 
very satisfactory. 

Mr. Fuller, as has been said, started in life 
comparative!}' poor, and now is a land owner 
and successful in his veterinary profession, 
with a large and steadily increasing business. 
He is modern and practical, and is always 
well informed on the latest scientific principles 
of the veterinary science. He is a republican 
in his political views, and while he has never 
sought the emoluments of public office, he is 
a stanch adherent to the party principles and 
is ever informed on the issues of the day. 
In all business transactions he has manifested 
scrupulous integrity and gentlemanly de- 
meanor, and by his unassuming and pleasant 
manner he has gained many friends. By 
reason of his success, his good character. 



his just and liberal life, and the esteem which 
he enjoys, Mr. Fuller might be known without 
invidious distinction as one of the honored 
and prominent citizens of Oakfield. He is a 
liberal donor to all benevolences and enter- 
prises calculated for the public good, and is 
fraternally an esteemed member of the Green- 
ville lodge. No. 96, F. & A. M. Both he and 
wife are members of Venus chapter, No. 107, 
order of the Eastern Star, at Grattan. 

Mr. Fuller's home is most pleasantly lo- 
cated, with a view of the surrounding country, 
and being supplied with commodious and im- 
posing barns and other suitable farm acces- 
sories to a very desirable country residence. 
His hospitality is extended to all. 




HOMASW. GIBBS.— Among the farm- 
ers of Alpine township, Kent county, 
Mich., who have been successful from 
a pecuniary standpoint in the conduct 
of their affairs, and are liberal, generous and 
high-minded gentlemen, about whom correct 
living has gathered a large circle of friends and 
well wishers, may be mentioned the name of 
this subject. 

Mr. Gibbs is a native of Ottawa county, 
Mich., and was born December S, 1848, being 
the fifth child of Charles T. and Hannah 
(Walsh) Gibbs. His father was a native of 
Connecticnt, born June ig, 181 5, and first 
came to Michigan in the year 1837, locating in 
Lenawee county, and remaining there but a 
short time, thence removing to Ottawa county, 
where, with the exception of one year's resi- 
dence in Alpine township, he lived until his 
death, September 16, 1889. The mother was 
a native of Ireland and was born December 17, 
1824. She came from Ireland to America 
with her mother and brothers, and it was in 
Ottawa county that she first met her husband 



I 



i 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



099 



and lived until her death in October, 1885. 
Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs were the parents of twelve 
children, viz: Eleanor, Margaret, and Rob- 
ert, deceased; Mary, the wife of Franklin 
Jones, a farmer of Ottawa county; Thomas 
W. ; Joseph, an agriculturist of Ottawa coun- 
ty; AnnM., the wife of Samuel Dell, a mill- 
hand of Muskegon; Jeremiah and William C, 
deceased; James A., a resident of Milwaukee; 
Emma J., the wife of Bass Dell, a resident of 
Leno.x, Mich. ; and Stephen Monroe, deceased. 

Thomas W. Gibbs left the parental home 
when twenty- one years of age, rented a farm 
in Alpine township, worked this for about thir- 
teen years, and then purchased an estate in 
section No. 6, Alpine township. In 1S86 he 
sold his farm in section No. 6, and bought the 
one now serving as his home in section No. 17, 
of the same township. It contains seventy 
acres, devoted to general farming. He also 
owns and operates another farm of eighty acres, 
some little distance away. 

On February 10, 1876, Mr. Gibbs was 
united in marriage to Miss Chloe A. Miller, a 
native of Cattaraugus county, N. Y. , who was 
born October 19, 1852, being the fourth child 
of G. W. D. and Lucinda (Brookings) Miller. 
Mrs. Gibbs has brothers and sisters as follows: 
Charles H., a resident of Cattaraugus county, 
N. Y. ; Lorinda, deceased; Elvira V., a resi- 
dent of Cattaraugus county, N. Y. ; Clarisi I., 
deceased; and Clark M., a resident of San 
Juan county, Colo. Her father was a native 
of Onondaga county, N. Y., born in the year 
18 1 8, and died April 27, 1897. He came from 
New York to Michigan in 1867, locating in Al- 
pine township, where he remained until death. 
Her mother was a native of Genesee county, 
N. Y., born in the year 18 18. She came to 
Michigan with her husband and family and 
here lived until her decease, which occurred 
June 20, 1872. 

Mr. Gibbs, politically, is a supporter of the 



republican party and cast his initiatory presi- 
dential vote for U. S. Grant. He has served 
the people of Alpine as highway commissioner, 
and socially, he is a member of the F. & A. 
M. lodge at Lisbon, Mich., and of the Alpine 
grange; and is a liberal donor to all worthy 
benevolences. Mr. and Mrs. Gibbs have no 
children. 




ON. G. CHASE GODWIN, late of 
Wyoming township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born April 18, 1840, read 
law with Judge John T. Holmes and 
John W. Champlin, was admitted to the bar 
in 1863, and entered upon a highly successful 
law practice. He was city recorder four years, 
several year-s city attorney, and was promi- 
netly mentioned for congress. He was made 
United States district attorney by President 
Cleveland. He filled every place he occupied 
with honor to himself and satisfaction to all. 
He was prompt and faithful in all his business 
relations and obligations; a lawyer of tireless 
energy and quick action; of ready tact in the 
trial of cases, and of remarkable judgment in 
perceiving the right of clients and in selecting 
the means by which these rights might be en- 
forced or defended. 

He was a lawyer pre-eminent as a practi- 
tioner, and in the legal forum his masterly 
knowledge of the great fundamental principles 
of law, combined with his instant command of 
an army of ready resources, made him an an- 
tagonist to be respected by all. He stood in 
the front rank of the Kent county bar for 
twenty-five years, and he successfully handled 
many of the most important cases that have 
ever been tried in western Michigan. This 
brilliant man was called away in the midst of 
his usefulness at the age of fifty years. His 
wife was Cornelia, daughter of Nelson Cham- 
bers, of Allegan county. 



700 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 




DWARD CAMPAU. an early pioneer 
of Caledonia township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born in Detroit May g, 
1825, a son of Francis E. and Mo- 
nique (Moran) Campau, and a descendant of 
Marquis Jacques, an associate with LaMotte 
Cadillac and others in the founding of Detroit. 
At the age of five years he was taken to Grosse 
Pointe, on lake St. Clair, where he remained 
until his mother's death, in 1838. Soon after- 
ward, Edward came to Grand Rapids to live 
with his aunt Supernaut, and his uncle, 
Louis Moran, and here attended school that 
winter (1838), the only English school he 
ever attended. 

In 1842, in company with his cousin, An- 
toine Campau, Edward began trading among 
the Grand river Indians, and passed some 
months in this traflic. He then worked as a 
chore-boy for Canton Smith and wife in a 
hotel that stood where the Morton house is 
now located. He next drove stage, at $10 
and $12 per month, between Grand Rapids 
and Battle Creek, his first vehicle being an 
ordinary open two-horse wagon, but later he 
secured a more pretentious outfit with spring 
seats; but it was some years before a covered 
stage-coach was seen on the road. He con- 
tinued in this capacity, under William H. 
Withey, until the opening of the plank road to 
Kalamazoo, on which he drove the first coach 
to enter Grand Rapids over this road when 
but a few miles were completed, by crossing 
to it from the old road at Cascade to Burton 
avenue, N. L. Avery being one of the pas- 
sengers. The first stage was from Grand 
Rapids to Whitneyville, via Ada, from Whit- 
neyville to Yankee Springs, and to Gull Cor- 
ner, now Richland, then to Battle Creek; 
starting from Grand Rapids at 4 A. m. it 
reached Battle Creek at 9 p. m. 

He was always temperate, resisted all 
temptation in companionship, never drank in 



inclement weather or when exhausted, and 
so won the entire confidence of his employers, 
who felt they could trust to him even in the 
most harzardous circumstances; but his wife 
dissauded him from accepting a position as 
driver on the plank road and urged him to 
purchase a farm, and in compliance with her 
wishes he bought a tract in section No. 11, 
Caledonia township, in 1855, and settled 
down to agriculture. 

Mr. Campau was united in marriage at 
Middleville, Barry county, February 25, 1846, 
with Miss Phebe, daughter of William and 
Mary C. (Goodwin) Lewis, natives of Oneida 
CDunty, N. Y. ; she was born in Genesee coun- 
ty, July 12, 1828. This marriage has been 
blessed with one child, Frank E., now a suc- 
cessful merchant at Alaska, Mich. The par- 
ents of Mrs. Phebe Campau came to Michi- 
gan in 1886, located at Yankee Springs, started 
the first tavern in the place, and there passed 
the remainder of their days, and were highly 
respected, as fully appears in a biographical 
record of them in the History of Barry county. 

Mrs. Campau is a lady of an amiable dis- 
position but of strong character and impress- 
ive appearance, and of a quick and mature 
intellect. Among the recollections of her 
girlhood is that of an Indian court held at 
Middleville in the fall of 1S40 — the last held 
there. A Chippewa hadjstabbed an Ottawa 
in or after a quarrel, for which a week later 
he was placed on trial. Nau-qui-ge-shik 
(Noonday), the Ottawa chief, sat by a fire, 
under a bower about 15x20 feet in dimen- 
sions, with a fire on each side, where sat the _ 
counselors for plaintiff and defendant. Pog- 
a-neb-a-no, a tall dark Indian, of great intel- 
ligence, appeared for the prosecution, and 
th.e equally renowned Paw-paw-me for the de- 
fense. The result was that the defendant, 
the Chippewa, was ordered to compensate the 
widow of the Ottawa with his pony and a cer- 



I 




EDWARD CAMPAU. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



703 



tain numberof his blankets, and after being thus 
" cleaned out, " he was banished. Soon after 
the trial, Edward Campau and James Moran, 
his cousin, and later chief of police at Grand 
Rapids, visited the scene of the trial, and now 
endorse this description. The trial had been 
attended by many Indians of both tribes, who 
had been gathering for several days, to the 
alarm of the settlers. 

At the fiftieth, or golden, anniversary of 
their wedding, the Whitneyville grange, of 
which Mr. and Mrs. Campau had been mem- 
bers for twenty-five years, honored the venera- 
ble couple with an open reception or socia- 
ble to which about 200 of their old friends and 
neighbors were invited, including a maiden 
sister of Mrs. Campau, Miss Hattie Lewis, 
who was present at the marriage ceremony. 
This was the first entertainment of the kind 
ever given by the grange, and it took advan- 
tage of the occasion to make Mr. and Mrs. 
Campau a handsome present. 

Mr. Campau is president of the Thorn- 
apple Valley Pioneer society, which was 
organized in time to secure as members all the 
early settlers of the Thornapple valley except- 
ing Israel Kent, the first to locate in Caledonia 
township. 

Mr. Campau, in selecting his present farm, 
secured a part of the old trail that entered 
Grand Rapids. He has kept a -few acres in 
their original condition, and some of the same 
trees under which he drove stage sixty years 
ago are still standing. The trail itself is 
plainly visible where the earth is worn 
below the surrounding surface. It is the 
only bit left of the old trail by which all 
the earliest pioneers came into Grand 
Rapids. A large body of forest, wet much of 
the year, and extending from lake Michigan, 
came to a point at the Thornapple river, and 
here met the western extremity of a similar 
forest that broadened out toward the east, and 



at the meeting of these points is where the 
trial passed on dry land. It came from Battle 
Creek along the ridge west as far as Middle- 
ville, then on the east side of the Thornapple 
to the river's intersection with Grand river at 
Ada, when it turned west into Grand Rapids. 
On this historical trail Mr. Campau now 
makes his home, honored by all, far and near, 
and both he and wife, liberal and hospitable to 
the core, always kept the latch-string out as a 
welcome to all comers. 




OHN GILES. — The gentleman whose 
name introduces this biographical 
sketch was identified with the interests 
of Kent county for over fifty-four years 
and contributed to its material progress and 
prosperity to an extent equaled by but few of 
his contemporaries. One of the successful 
self-made men of the community in which for 
so many years he resided, he was a potent 
factor in its industrial interests, and thus was 
largely instrumental in promoting the general 
welfare. Few lives furnish so striking an ex- 
ample of the wise application of sound prin- 
ciples and safe conservatism as does his. The 
story of his success, while extending over a 
long period of time, is short and simple, con- 
taining no exciting chapters, but in it lies one 
of the valuable secrets of the great prosperity 
which it records, and his private and business 
life were characterized by interest and incen- 
tive, no matter how lacking in dramatic action 
— the record of an honorable life, consistent 
with itself and its possibilities in every par- 
ticular. 

In tracing the history of John Giles, the 
biographer's investigations led him back 
through many years to one of the old ances- 
tral estates of Ireland and to a study of one of 
the aristocratic families of that beautiful 



704 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Emerald isle. The name has been well known 
for generations in county Waterford, where 
numerous representatives still reside, and local 
annalsof thatpart of Ireland abound in frequent 
reference to the manner in which the Giles 
figured among the landed gentry. The father 
of the subject, Richard Giles, born in county 
Waterford, was once a large and prosperous 
farmer in the land of his nativity and a gentle- 
man of many admirable traits of mind and 
heart. Leaving the old country many years 
ago, Richard Giles came to the United States, 
and. after careful investigation, concluded to 
make his future home in Michigan. He be- 
came a resident of the county of Kent in the 
year 1830, purchasing a large tract of land in 
what is now Grattan township, upon which he 
made many improvements, his farm soon be- 
coming one of the most highly cultivated and 
valuable places in this section of the state. 
His original purchase, consisting of 320 acres, 
was the home of a generous and open-handed 
hospitality, which Mr. Giles knew well how to 
dispense, and here he lived in the midst of 
plenty, passing his declining years in the 
quietude which only those who have long and 
successfully contended with the world know 
how to appreciate. The death of this excel- 
lent man occurred in the year 1877. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Anna Layne, bore 
him nine children, of whom the subject of this 
sketch was the second in order of birth. 

John Giles was born on the home farm in 
Kent county, October 6, 1837, and grew to 
manhood amid the beautiful rural scenes of 
his native township, attending first the com- 
mon schools and later completing his literary 
education in Grand Rapids college, graduating 
from that institution with high honors. After 
remaining with his parents until reaching man- 
hood's estate, he embarked in business for 
himself in Lowell, and for some time there- 
after was actively identified with the commer- 



cial interests of the town. In the spring of 
1862 he became proprietor of a grocery store, 
but after following the same for a limited 
period disposed of his stock on account of fail- 
ing health and went to Detroit, where later he 
purchased an interest in one of the largest 
grocery houses in the city, becoming a member 
of the well-known firm of McCarty, Rooney & 
Giles, which did an extensive wholesale busi- 
ness. He continued identified with the above 
firm for several years, completely regaining his 
health in the meantime, but finally in the 
spring of 1880, sold out his interest and again 
located in Lowell in the grocery trade, estab- 
lishing a large wholesale and retail establish- 
ment, with a stock ranging from $10,000 to 
$15,000, besides operating branch stores in 
various places, all of which returned him large 
and satisfactory profits. As a business man 
Mr. Giles possessed abilities of a very high 
order, and his reputation in commercial circles 
was always above the faintest tinge of reproach. 
His well-merited success was such as few at- 
tain, and much of the town's prosperity is 
directly traceable to the great interest he ever 
manifested in the moral and material advance- 
ment of the community. Financially, Mr. 
Giles was much more than ordinarily success- 
ful, seldom having met with reverses, and at 
the time of his death was owner of a business 
representing a capital in excess of $30,000, be- 
sides valuable property, real and personal, in 
Lowell and various parts of Kent county. 

Mr. Giles was reared in the Catholic faith, 
and never, throughout his long and busy life, 
was he ever known to swerve in his allegiance . 
to the Holy Mother church. No sooner had 
he located in Lowell than he began inaugurat- 
ing a movement for the establishment of a 
church in the town, and to him more than to 
any other individual is the present flourishing 
congregation indebted for its existence and 
continued prosperity. He contributed liber- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



705 



ally of his means, and that not a few times, 
for the consummation of this cherished desire 
of his heart, and the success of the church in 
Lowell was always to him a source of intense 
satisfaction, and the good work it has been the 
means of accomplishing will stand an endur- 
ing monument to his piety and unselfish de- 
votion. 

To the poor and needy the hand of this 
public-spirited man was ever open; no deserv- 
ing applicant for assistance was ever turned 
unaided from his door, and his charity was 
never appealed to in vain by those unfortun- 
ates whom he knew to be worthy. 

Mr. Giles was married November 24, i860, 
to Miss Maria Hefferan, daughter of Patrick 
and Mary (Grogan) Hefferan, the father a na- 
tive of Ireland and the mother of Michigan. 
Patrick Hefferan was a farmer and a most es- 
teemed citizen of Barry county, where his 
death occurred in the year 1850. The follow- 
ing are the names of the children born to Mr. 
and Mrs. Giles: George R., who assists his 
mother in managing the present business in 
Lowell, besides being identified with the pro- 
duce trade of the town; Anna C., wife of E. 
J. Killean, a well-known business man of 
Grand Rapids; Frank J., connected with the 
mercantile house in Lowell; Helena M., known 
as Sister Cecelia, of the Dominican Catholic 
order of New York, at this time filling the 
position of teacher of the p'ano forte in Bay 
City; Maude A., chief stenographer in charge 
of the counting-room of the Grand Rapids 
Cycle company ; Angela, who occupies a similar 
position with the same company in a branch 
office at Cleveland, Ohio; Bertha, a young 
lady in her teens, still under the parental roof, 
and Madge, who is now attending school. I3y 
reference to the foregoing mention of the fam- 
ily, it will readily be seen that the parents 
have wisely spared no reasonable pains in giv- 
ing all their children the advantages of the 



best education obtainable. All of the daugh- 
ters possess a high order of musical talent and 
e.xcel as musicians. Like the father, the wife 
and children are devout members of the Catho- 
lic church, and have contributed much to the 
cause of religion in the local congregation and 
elsewhere. The influence set the family by 
the godly parents has not been without good 
effect, and the upright lives of the children 
thus far have been a credit to themselves and 
an honor to the household in which they were 
reared. 

Reference has already been made to Mr. 
Giles' success as a business man, but it may 
be well in this connection to call attention to 
the fact that quite a number of the most sub- 
stantial improvements in Lowell, in the way 
of business blocks and other buildings, are the 
product of his interest in the material progress 
of the place. Among these may be noted a 
block on the south side of the town erected 
early in the 'si.xties, and the brick business 
building on the corner of Main and Broadway 
street, besides a fine brick residence and 
other buildings of various kinds, erected at a 
cost of over $7,000. A democrat in politics, 
Mr. Giles never sought nor desired the honors 
or emoluments of office, preferring to vote his 
j time and energies to his many business in- 
terests. 

The foregoing story sets forth briefly, step 
by step, how a fine character was molded and 
the foundation laid for a career of great useful- 
ness b)' one of Kent county's prosperous and 
representative citizens. By reason of the high 
esteem in which he was held in his community 
and the strict conformity to the ethics of busi- 
ness and social life, the name of Mr. Giles is 
enrolled among those who have won the honor 
and respect of their fellow-men. On the 8th 
day of July, 1890, Mr. Giles was summoned 
from the scenes of the earth life, and his death 
was felt as a great bereavement, not only by 



706 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



his family and immediate friends, but by the 
entire community as well. The duties of life 
well and faithfully performed, "May his soul 
rest in peace. " 




VS.\NDER T. BECKWITH. a highly 
respected farmer residing on section 
No. 22, Grand Rapids township, 
Kent county, Mich., with his post- 
office bo.x No. 266, Grand Rapids, was born 
in Guilford, Chenango county, N. Y. , July 31, 
1830. His parents, Peter and Sylvina (Gris- 
wold) Beckwith. were both natives of New 
York. The parents of Peter Beckwith were 
Daniel and Lucy (Perkins) Beckwith, natives 
of Connecticut, and both lived to reach a great 
age, she dying in her ninety-sixth year. Peter 
and wife lived for a time in the city of Roches- 
ter, N. Y. , also in Pennsylvania, and in 1845 
came to Michigan and located in Grand Rapids, 
where the father worked at his trade of car- 
penter for three years. In 1848 he settled on 
a farm still owned by the family in Grand 
Rapids township, deep in the woods, it being 
heavily timbered beach and maple land. He 
had but few neighbors — only three or four — 
no road except an Indian trail, and that is 
what they took to reach the village. On that 
farm of eighty acres the father died in his 
ninety-first year; his wife died in her seventy- 
ninth year. They were the parents of four 
children, viz: Lysander T., the subject of this 
sketch; William, a real-estate dealer in Grand 
Rapids, with his office over the Giant clothing 
store; Cynthia, unniarried, and living at the 
old homestead; Henry, who was killed in the 
battle of Bull Run, aged about nineteen years. 
Lysander T. Beckwith remained on the 
home farm until it was well cleared up, and 
until he had reached his twenty-fifth year. 
He cleared up a forty-acre tract, and then in 
the spring of 1S65 came to his present farm. 



It had but sixty acres cleared, but comprised 
130 acres, and he still owns the original forty 
acres where he first started. On coming here 
Mr. Beckwith was very poor and had to work 
his way along. He received $48 for clearing 
a five-acre tract, one-half of which was brush. 
When it was ready to put into wheat, this 
tract was on the farm that he now owns. He 
helped cut out all the roads through the heavy 
timber. He saw all the varieties of pioneer 
life and endured many hardships. Although 
not noted for hunting, he has killed hundreds 
of deer. Mr. Beckwith filled several of the 
township offices, such as justice of the peace 
and township treasurer three terms. A demo- 
crat early in life, he- has been a republican 
since the organization of that party, except that 
he was a greenbacker for a time. Although 
not active in politics in late years, he was, 
formerly found in conventions, county, district 
and state. 

Mr. Beckwith married, at the age of twenty- 
seven years, Julia A. Camburn, of Lenawee 
county, but she died May 14, 1897, after they 
had happily lived together almost forty years. 
Mrs. Beckwith was one of sixteen children 
among which were one set of triplets, all girls, 
now living, aged sixty-nine; two pair of twins, 
one pair living, aged seventy-five years. Lysan-^ 
der T. Beckwith's family comprised four chil- 
dren, viz: Mary Jane, housekeeper for the wife of 
Thomas Bamber, who works the farm; Cynthia 
Sylvania, wife of Ernest Stevenson, in Grand, 
Rapids; Julia Ann, wife of Eaton Gibbs, also' 
of Grand Rapids, and Henry P., a member of 
the Grand Rapids fire department. .; 






ETER GOOZEN, deceased, was one ot , 
the most respected and prominent > 
pioneers of Solon township, Kent 
county, Mich., and here passed forty- 
two jears of his long and useful life. He was 








oCJr ^^cJl 




m 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



709 



born in Middeleburg, near the city of Rotter- 
dam, Holland, February 26, 1824, a son of 
Jacob and Elizabeth (Zeeveldt) Goozen, the 
former of whom was a landlord and merchant. 
They were the parents of two sons and six 
daughters, and both died in their native Hol- 
land, in the faith of the Lutheran church, uni- 
versally respected in the community in which 
they had passed all their days. 

Peter Goozen bade farewell to his native 
land at the age of eighteen years, and after a 
tempestuous voyage of forty days, during a 
portion of which the passengers were confined 
in their cabins, his vessel arrived in the city 
of New York. From that port Mr. Goozen 
went to West Rush, Monroe county, N. Y., 
where he found work on a farm, but being ig- 
norant of the prevailing language received only 
$3 per month for his services the first year. 

Mr. Goozen married at West Rush, Oc- 
tober 13, 1854, Miss Jane Amelia Hawkins, a 
native of Ivingston, Canada, and in 1856 came 
to Michigan, located first in Marshall, Calhoun 
county, where he remained a few months only, 
and then came to Ivent county and settled in 
what is now Solon township the same year. 
Here he purchased 120 acres of government 
land at $1.25 per acre, the deed to which was 
executed March 10, 1857, was signed by James 
Buchanan, president of the United States, and 
is now in the possession of Miss Ida Goozen, 
Peter's daughter. Solon township at that time 
had not been organized, and its territory was 
known as North Algoma. It was a virgin for- 
est, and Cedar Springs consisted of a small 
store and a hostelry, the latter kept by Nick 
Shaw. The first habitation that sheltered Mr. 
and Mrs. Goozen on their wildwood farm was 
a log cabin, roofed with " shakes," which roof 
Mr. Goozen, who had had no experience in 
building, made so steep, that the settlers jo- 
cosely termed it the "lightning splitter." 
The fireplace in this' cabin was of enormous 



dimensions, but logs were cheap, and the size 
of the fireplace saved considerable wood-chop- 
ping. From this cabin Mr. Goozen assisted in 
blazing the way to Cedar Springs, and later this 
blazed path became a highway. Mrs. Goozen 
had remained in Marshall until the cabin had 
been erected, and when she arrived neither 
doors nor windows had been attached to its 
apertures, and this lack was substituted by 
quilts and blankets. Indians frequently passed 
by this cabin, and deer, bears and other wild 
animals abounded on the premises, and at 
night often came and sniffed at the kitchen 
door. Mr. Goozen's agricultural implements 
in the early days, were of the primitive kind 
then in use, but he lived to introduce the most 
approved" modern farming machinery, to erect 
a comfortable dwelling and to acquire a compe- 
tency. 

Mr. Goozen was pre-eminently a public- 
spirited gentleman, andwaslargely instrumental 
in establishing the first school district in his 
neighborhood. In politics he was an ardent 
democrat, as to national affairs, but as to local 
offices he voted for the candidates he deemed 
the most competent to fill them. For him- 
self, he never sought, nor would accept, pub- 
lic office. For a number of years just prior 
to his death he suffered from a chronic afflic- 
tion, against which he bore up with heroic 
fortitude, but which ended in his demise on 
January 29, 1899. He was a man of the 
soundest integrity, of unparalleled industry and 
open-handed charity. His loss was universally 
mourned as a kind friend, a devoted husband 
and father, and as one whose course through 
life offered an example well worthy of emula- 
tion by the rising generation, as he left behind 
a reputation unmarred by a single blemish. 

Mrs. Jane Amelia Goozen, of American ex- 
traqtion, was reared chiefly in Coburg, Can- 
ada, and is a daughter of Robert Hawkins, a 
hero of the war of the American Revolution, 



710 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and who received, in part compensation for 
his services, a soldier's grant of land. She 
bore her husband two sons and four daughters 
all born in Kent county, Mich., and of these 
six, there are three still living, viz: Cora A., 
who was a teacher for a number of years in 
Kent county, and is now the wife of John 
Melanie, a dairyman of Cadillac; Ida I., who 
was educated in the common-schools and 
graduated from the Northern Business college 
in the class of 1890, with a grade of ninety- 
six per cent., and for a number of years was 
a successful school-teacher in Newaygo and 
Kent counties; she is a member of Harmony 
chapter, order of the Eastern Star, at Sparta, 
and now resides on the old homestead with 
her mother, for whose declining days she is 
the comfort and solace; Wallace W., foreman 
for the large lumber firm of Friant & Fuller, 
of Manistique, Mich., is married to Miss 
Lillian CoUinen. Mrs. Jane Amelia Goozen 
is greatly beloved by the people of her neigh- 
borhood and recognized as one of the brave 
women who endured all the hardships of 
pioneer life and faithfully aided her deceased 
husband in developing the beautiful farm on 
which she now resides — not, probably, in 
wielding the ax and turning the furrows^ but 
by her close and assiduous care of the home 
and its surroundings, thus leaving Mr. Goozen 
free to devote his time and attention to the 
management of the estate. 




OHN E. GOUL, the most prominent 
business man of Sand Lake. Nelson 
township, Kent county, Mich., is a 
native of Summit county, Ohio, and 
was born January 23, 1857, the eldest of three 
children that constituted the family of John 
and Catherine (Keyes) Goul, and of these three 
one ison, Charles A., is a farmer of Allegan 



count}', Mich.; one is deceased, and John E. 
is virtually the head of the family, as far as 
seniority of years is concerned, both parents 
being deceased. 

John Goul, the father of the subject, was 
born in Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, in 1826, 
and was a cooper by trade. He came to 
America at the age of twenty-one years and 
lived in Ohio until 1858, and was there en- 
gaged in farming until his coming to Michigan 
in the year last mentioned. In Trowbridge, 
Allegan county, he purchased a farm, and on 
this he passed away in 1883, a member of the 
Luthefan church, and greatly respected as a 
man and a citizen. Politically he was strongly 
democratic, but was never an office seeker. 
His wife was a native of Wurtemberg, Ger- 
many, was born in 1824 and died in 1887, also 
in the faith of the Lutheran church. 

John E. Goul was a mere babe when 
brought to Michigan by his parents, and until 
sixteen years of age attended school in Allegan 
county, although much of his present advanced 
knowledge was gained through self inculca- 
tion. His business life was begun, at the age- 
of nineteen, in the manufacture of lumber 
and shingles at Sand Lake at a time when 
twenty-five lumber and shingle mills were oper- 
ated at or near that place, but later had some 
experience in conducting a general store — car- 
rying a stock of dry goods, groceries and the 
various other commodities usually suited to 
country trade. In January, 1S76, he com- 
menced mercantile business in Sand Lake, and 
this, but not altogether exclusively, has been 
his home. In 18S1, he erected a shingle and 
lumber plant in Ensley township, Newaygo" 
county, which he controlled until 1882, but 
did not relinquish his business interests in Sand 
Lake. In 1889 he erected in this town his 
present mill for the manufacture of lumber and 
shingles. He handled the product of other 
mills as well as hisown, and from 1875 to 1880 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



711 



assisted materially in clearing up this section. 
In the spring of 1891 he manifested another 
degree of enterprise by forming a partnership 
with James H. Brayman in the grain and feed 
business and the erection of a grain elevator 
at the cost of $2, 500. From this elevator grain 
and feed are shipped north and to points in 
the extreme east, and although the firm com- 
menced with handling ten or eleven cars per 
annum only, it now handles at least 100 cars. 
This elevator is the best on the G. R. & I. R. 
I\. , north of the city of Grand Rapids, and the 
fair and square dealinig of Mr. Goal and his 
partner have gained for it the extensive volume 
of trade it is now favored with. Beside owning 
their elevator, Messrs. Goul & Brayman are 
the possessors of sixty-five acres of land 
just north across the boundary line between 
Kent and Montcalm counties, and this land is 
made subservient to the interests of the firm. 

Mr. Goul was united in marriage, October 
20, 1880, with Miss Georgia Crabbe, a native 
of Jennings county, Ind., born November 28, 
1 86 1, and a daughter of George W. and Anna 
L. (Weeks) Crabbe, residents of Sand Lake, 
the result of this marriage being one son — 
George E. They also reared two girls, Lena 
and Iva Cullom, who remained in the family 
from childhood to maturity. 

As a democrat, Mr. Goul cast his first 
presidential vote for \\'infield Scott Hancock 
in 1880, and since then has been favored by his 
party by election to various official positions. 
For nine years he has served as a member of 
the town council of Sand Lake, and for sev- 
enteen consecutive years he has been connect- 
ed with the public school board. He has also 
served two terms consecutively as super- 
visor of Nelson township (although the town- 
ship gives about 200 majority for the republic- 
ans as a rule), and was chairman of that body 
one year. 

At the memorable deadlock in October, 



1899, regarding the apportionment of enumer- 
tion between city and country, Mr. Goul led 
the fight, and after twenty days won a victory 
by securing a less percentage to the township. 
In 1898 he was nominated for representa- 
tive from the third legislative district in the 
state assembly, and made a very close run. 
Several times he has represented his party in 
county and state conventions, and it would be 
only a waste of words to further demonstrate 
the popularity which his genial disposition and 
unswerving integrity have won for him. Fra- 
ternally, he is a member of Cedar Springs 
lodge, F. & A. M., and but few persons in 
Sand Lake stand higher in the esteem of the 
public than John E. Goul. 




ASON GRAHAM.— The record of Jason 
Graham is that of a man who has by 
his own unaided efforts worked his 
way upward to a position of affluence. 
His life has been one of industry and perse- 
verance, and the systematic and honorable 
business methods which he has followed, have 
won him the support and confidence of many. 
He not only occupies a leading position among 
the agriculturists of Spencer township, where 
he makes his home, but is also prominent in 
political and social circles. He was born in 
Genesee county, N. Y., October 14, 1837, 
and is the third child in a family of five sons 
and four daughters born to Frederick and 
Christina (Pifer) Graham, the following of 
whom are still living: Jonas, a landscape 
gardener of Cincinnati, Ohio; Sarah A. , wife of 
Stephen Irish, an old soldier of Spencer town- 
ship; Jason; Catherine, wife of George Raub, 
a veteran of Greenville, Mich. ; Myra, wife of 
James Newland, of Spencer, and Huldah, wife 
of. Lou Moore, an agriculturist of Oakfield 



ri2 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



township. The father, born in Pennsylvania, 
was educuted in the common schools and 
was reared a farmer. In 1872 he came to 
Spencer where he lived a long and active life 
beloved and esteemed by all. He in his pol- 
itics adhered closely to the principles of the 
republican party, and died on October 22, 
1894, at the ripe old age of eighty-eight years. 
The mother, a lady characterized by an un- 
common activity and cheerfulness, was also a 
native of Pennsylvania, and died on the 6th of 
February, 1894, at the age of eighty-nine 
years, having retained her youthful activity 
almost to the last. 

The education of the subject, which was 
somewhat meager, was acquired through his 
own means. He remained with and took care 
of his parents until after his marriage, show- 
ing that his duty to parents was entirely ful- 
filled. He began working out early, and his 
first wages were $3 per month, which he gave 
to his parents. 

During the Civil war he responded to his 
country's call for volunteers and enlisted at 
Elmira in company G, one Hundred and For- 
tieth New York Zouaves. His regiment was 
assigned to the army of the Potomac and par- 
ticipated in some of the bloodiest contests of 
the war. He took part in one engagement 
when only seventeen of the entire company 
left the battle ground. His scene of action 
was in Virginia, the battle field of the war. 
For four months he was confined in the hos- 
pital with typhoid fever. After his illness he 
was detailed to bury the dead of the Fifth 
corps at the field hospital. He was a faithful 
soldier and experienced all the terrors of the 
war. He received his honorable discharge at 
New York city, and returned to his home to 
engage in the peaceful vocations of life. 

On the 1 6th of October, 1864, in Catta- 
raugus county, he wedded Miss Melissa Cline, 
who was born and reared in New York. She 



has borne three sons and three daughters, viz: 
Cora, wife of Art Abbey, a farmer of Mont- 
calm; Fred, educated in the common schools 
and residing with his parents; George, a farm- 
er of Nelson township; Carrie, wife of John 
Addis, an agriculturist of Oakfield; Christina, 
wife of Warren Stroupe. a lumberman of Cad- 
illac, and Frank, at home. 

Mr. Graham was a citizen of Kent county as 
early as 1861, and returned to the same after 
the war in 1866. Here he invested all his 
money, amounting to about $100, in his fa- 
ther's farm. Hewas compelled to hard toil to 
earn subsistence, and his first purchase was 
forty acres of land near Lincoln lake, only si.x 
of which were cleared. He soon afterward 
sold this and bought eighty acres, which is his 
present estate. His first dwelling was a prim- 
itive log hut, and the farm was unimproved, 
but is now cleared and under a good state of 
cultivation. The work of clearing wild land 
is necessarily slow and laborious, but Mr. Gra- 
ham prosecuted his labors with zeal and dili- 
gence, and bounteous harvests afterward re- 
warded him. His new and comfortable home 
now presents a wonderful contrast to the prim- 
itive forest which he settled in. He did all in 
his power to promote the agricultural interests 
of the community, and to stimulate ambition 
and progressiveness among the farmers, and 
his own energetic e.xample inspired many 
others. He was an entirely self-made man, 
and the success he achieved was attributed to 
his own well-directed efforts. He was very 
industrious, and his prompt execution of any 
task that devolved upon him was one of the 
secrets of his prosperity. 

Politically he is a stanch republican, and 
cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. In 
addition it might be said that he is an honest, 
upright citizen in all its meaning, as well as a 
veteran of the Civil war who holds the respect 
of all who know him. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



713 




UGUSTINE GODWIN, of Wyoming 
township, Kent county, Mich., hails 
from the far-away Pine Tree state, 
and is a creditable representative of 
one of the leading New England families that 
found homes in Kent county during the pioneer 
period of its history. He was born in Gar- 
diner, Maine, July 2r, 1831, a son of William 
R. and Caroline (Harlow) Godwin, who came 
to Ivent county, Mich., in 1833, the parents 
of William R. with their family following in 
1834, and settling in Grandville. 

Shortly alter locating a farm in the new 
country William R. Godwin suffered the loss 
of nearly all of his earthly effects by fire, 
which destroyed, among other things, a stock 
of general merchandise, which he brought 
with him for the purpose of opening a trading 
post. This unfortunate occurrence served ef- 
fectually to change the plans of the pioneer 
settler, as he soon afterward purchased land 
from the government, to which he moved, 
about I S3 5, and began clearing a farm in 
what is now Wyoming township, about two 
miles south of Grand Rapids. He prospered 
as an agriculturist, made many substantial 
impro\'ements upon his purchase, and at the 
time of his death, in 1861, was in possession 
of a comfortable competence, including a beau- 
tiful farm of 120 acres, besides other proper- 
ties of \'arious kinds. For a number of years 
he was proprietor of the Godwin house on 
the old plank road leading from Grand Rap- 
ids to Kalamazoo, a favorite resort of the trav- 
eling public in pioneer times, and also assisted 
in the construction of that highway as a con- 
tractor. He continued to accommodate such 
travelers as saw fit to patronize his house as 
long as he lived, and earned the reputation of 
a most popular and genial host. His name 
was widely and favorably known throughout 
a large area of territory traversed by tourists 

and others. He enjoyed the distinction of 
37 



having been the first person elected to the of- 
fice of supervisor in Wyoming township, the 
record of the election bearing the date of 1S48; 
up to that time it had been included in Byron 
township. Politically he was an old-line dem- 
ocrat, active in the councils of his party and a 
leading spirit in all public enterprises. He 
did much to advance the material well being 
of the community he had assisted in found- 
ing, and to him as much as to any other man 
is due the prosperity which this section of the 
country has since attained. 

The family of William R. and Caroline God- 
win consisted of eleven children who reached 
the years of maturity, namely: William Henry, 
who went to Ivansas in an early day, and served 
there and in various other parts of the west as 
United States surveyor; Emeline, wife of Will- 
iam Dunham, of Grand Rapids; Delia, who 
became the wife of D. C. Blackburn, of the 
same city; Francis, who died when twent3'-five 
years of agein Missouri; Oilman Chase, of whom 
a brief biography is given elsewhere; Orland, 
one of Ivent county's public men, ser\-ed two 
terms as county clerk, being the incumbent of 
that office at the time of his death, which oc- 
curred when he was forty-two years old; Char- 
lotte married Arthur Meigs, a lumberman at 
Jacksonville, Fla. ; Eldridge,who died at the age 
thirty;. Lennie Caroline, who died at fourteen; 
Ida, who now resides in Grand Rapids, and 
Augustine, the immediate subject of this re- 
view, who was second in the order of birth. 

The best title one can establish to the high 
esteem of an intelligent community is a long 
and honorable residence therein. Such a title 
clearly belongs to Augustine Godwin, who for 
a period of over sixty-five years has been an 
honored citizen of Kent county, and one of the 
architects of its fortunes. He grew to man- 
hood amid the stirring scenes of the early time; 
and, when of proper age, became his father's 
assistant on the farm, where he learned those 



714 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



lessons of manly, sturdy independence, which 
fitted him well to discharg;e the duties of a 
long and useful life. His early education was ob- 
tained in one of the primitive log school houses 
common in the .western country many years 
ago, and when a young man he spent a season 
in the employ of the government as chainman, 
sectionizing the public land of Michigan, and 
also assisted in laying the base line for over 
600 miles, setting up markers each half mile 
between the states of Kansas and Nebraska. 
He next joined a company of gold seekers and 
went to Pike's Peak, where he remained with 
varied changes of fourtunes for one year, but 
was mainly in a surveying party for the gov- 
ernment. 

After spending some years in the above 
service, in various parts of the country, Mr. 
Godwin concluded to settle down to the more 
quiet and satisfactory pursuit of agriculture, 
though he has continued through life to do 
work as a surveyor; accordingly he returned 
to the old homestead in Kent county, which 
was a part of the original government entry, 
and here he has ever since resided, honored 
a.nd respected b}^ all with whom he has come 
in contact. He has ever been a potent factor 
in the community, looking well to its interests, 
and rearing his children to be useful members 
of society. A democrat in politics, he has for 
many years been active in the support of his 
party's principles, attending conventions and 
taking part in campaigns; notwithstanding 
which, he numbers among his warmest friends 
many whose political faith is antagonistic to 
his own. He has served a number of terms 
as township supervisor, always acquitting him- 
self, in that capacity, with credit, and is fre- 
quently consulted by neighbors relative to 
matters of legal and business interests, being 
considered a wise and safe counselor in such 
affairs. 

On the 4th of May, 1S69, Mr. Godwin and 



Miss Luc}' Cornelia Tousey, of Livingston 
county, N. Y. , a teacher of some years' experi- 
ence, were united in the holy bonds of wed- 
lock, a union blessed with the birth of two 
children: Edith Gertrude, a teacher in the 
Jefferson avenue school, Grand Rapids, and 
Grace Tousey, who is still under the parental 
roof. These daughters are exceptionally in- 
telligent young ladies, both being graduates of 
I the Grand Rapids high school. 




OSEPH GRAHAM.— The subject of 
this sketch is no longer numbered with 
the living. After a long and useful 
life, during which he nobly did his 
part in making the world wiser and better, he 
fearlessly responded to the summons which 
must soon or late come to all of earth's chil- 
dren. Mr. Graham was a native of England, 
born in Lincolnshire on the 20th day of July, 
1828. He entered into the marriage relation 
December 27, 1S52, with Miss Mary Robinson, 
who was also born in Lincolnshire, October 
24, 1824. 

The April following their marriage, Mr. 
and Mrs. Graham came to the United States 
and located first in Wayne county, Mich., 
where for ten years he worked at his trade of 
shoe-making. In 1855, in partnership with 
his brother, he purchased 160 acres of land in 
the townshipof Lowell, Kent county, andimme- 
diately went to work to make a home by erect- 
ing a small log cabin, which answered the pur- 
pose of shelter until a more comfortable struct- 
ure could be built. In connection with the 
labor necessary to clear and fit the land for 
cultivation he worked at his trade, and later 
with his brother engaged in the boot and shoe 
business in the town of Lowell. He was thus 
engaged for about fifteen years, living the 
meanwhile on the farm, the whole of which he 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



715 



afterwards purchased. He improved the place 
great!}-, erected a substantial residence, and in 
time became one of the most prosperous busi- 
ness men and successful agriculturists of the 
township. 

Mr. Graham was a gentleman of strong 
powers of mind, and he always took an active 
interest in public matters, especially those 
having a direct bearing upon the internal im- 
provement of the township and county. For 
a period of eight years he filled the office of 
justice of the peace, and was also called to the 
important office of drainage commissioner, the 
duties of which he discharged in a highly satis- 
factory manner. 

He gave loyal and unswerving support to 
the democratic party, and was ever ready to 
express well formed opinions relative to ques- 
tions of public policy. Reared in the Church 
of England, he never affiliated with any relig- 
ious body after coming to this country. Lib- 
eral in all the term implies, he never intruded 
his opinions upon others, but was never known 
to shrink from a controversy, in which the 
tenets of any religious faith was the subject of 
discussion. As a neighbor, no one was more 
popular, and he endeared himself to a large 
circle of friends by always exemplifying the 
principle of the Golden Rule in his daily walk 
and conversation. For many years she was a 
prominent member of the Masonic fraternity, 
and at the time of his death was probably the 
oldest member of the craft in Lowell. Mr. 
Graham died as he lived, an honest, upright 
man, possessing in full measure the confidence 
and respect of his fellow-citizens, and his 
death, which occurred on the 27th of May, 
1890, was not only a sad bereavement to his 
immediate family but a great loss to the com- 
munity as well. 

The famil}- of Mr. and Mrs. Graham con- 
sisted of the following children: Thomas 
Robert; William Henry; Frances Catherine, 



wife of David Wilson; Sarah Ellen, wife of 
Stephen Wallate; Joseph J., and Mary A., 
who died in infancy. Besides the above there 
is an adopted daughter, Effie May, taken into 
the family at the age of fourteen and now the 
wife of Joseph Easterby. 




OSEPH JOHN SIGEL GRAHAM, son 
of Joseph Graham, deceased, and 
one of the representative agricultur- 
ists and stock raisers of Kent county, 
was born on the farm where he still lives, 
September 30, 1S62. Reared amid the 
scenes of farm life, he early learned the 
lessons of industry and thrift which have con- 
duced to his financial success, and in the pub- 
lic schools he obtained a practical education. 
He voluntarily chose the noble vocation of a 
tiller of the soil, and in its prosecution he has 
met with success most encouraging, having 
been for a number of years classed with the 
most intelligent and progressive men of the 
township of Lowell. As a farmer he believes 
in the dignity of honest labor, and as a citizen 
keeps fully abreast of the times in all matters 
having for their object the moral and material 
advancement of the community. In connec- 
tion with general farming Mr. Graham is 
largely interested in breeding and raising fine 
stock, making a specialty of cattle, of which 
he has a large and valuable herd of the noted 
Galloway breed. 

Mr. Graham was happily married July 18, 
1 88 5, to Miss Lillie Murphy, daughter of 
William H. Murphy. She is a native of 
Shreveport, La., was born December 26, 
1869, and was educated in the Montcalm con- 
vent at New Orleans, and is the mother of 
the following children: Stella E. , Joseph 
William, Stanly Proctor, Ernest Giles, Earl 
Sigel, William Murphy and Fannie Irene. 



ri(3 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Mr. Graham has operated the old family 
homestead ever since his sixteenth year. Like 
his lather, he is a democrat, but by no means 
an aggressive politician. In every relation of 
life he reflects the virtues of a sterling ances- 
try, and few men of the township are more 
widely and favorably known. 



IK 



OBERT W. GRAHAM.— The enter- 
prising town of Lowell has had its full 
quota of successful business men, 
prominent among whom was the 
gentleman named above as the subject proper 
of this biographical sketch. 

Mr. Graham was a native son of England 
and dated his birth from the 20th day of July, 
182S. He passed his youthful years amid the 
delightful scenes of his native isle, and being 
early deprived of his parents, both dying while 
he was still an infant, was reared by a friend 
of the family, one William Proctor, who gave 
his young protege a good common-school edu- 
cation and afterward apprenticed him to learn 
the mason's trade. At the age of twenty-one 
years young Graham bade farewell to Eng- 
land, and like thousands of other young 
men turned his face towards the hospitable 
shores of the new world, thinking to better his 
condition in a land that teemed with so many 
opportunities which his native land did not 
contain. He landed in New York city in 1850, 
came to Michigan, and located not far from 
the Detroit, where for some time he worked 
at his chosen calling. In 1 854 he selected Low- 
ell as his future home, and for some time 
thereafter followed agricultural pursuits, but 
purchased one year later 160 acres of valuable 
land within a short distance of the town lim- 
its. This farm represented the carefully 
hoarded earnings of a number of years' faith- 
ful labor, and the improvements he put thereon 



soon made it one of the finest homesteads in 
the community. Up to the year 1S62 Mr. 
Graham carried on farming as his principal 
business, working in the meantime at his trade 
in Grand Rapids and elsewhere, acquired as 
the years went by a comfortable competence 
and became one of the well-to-do men of the 
county. In 1S63 he embarked in the mer- 
cantile business in Lowell, engaged in the boot 
and shoe trade with a Mr. White under the 
firm name of White & Graham; the partner- 
ship thus constituted continued until the 
close of the late Civil war. 

Owing to the illness of his associate, who 
eventually retired from the business, the firm 
name was changed to that of Graham & 
Graham, a brother of the subject purchasing 
an interest and continuing identified therewith 
for several years. In the year 1869 Mr. 
Graham built the Graham block on Main 
street, at an outlay of $6,000, did the mason 
work with his own hands, and exercised per- 
sonal supervision over the entire structure. 
Later he built an addition to the block at a 
cost of about $3,000, and in many other ways 
contributed to the material prosperity of the 
town, beside earning the title of its leading 
business man in the line of mercantile trade. 

Finding it somewhat difficult to give per- 
sonal attention to his large business interests 
and at the same time look properly after his 
landed estate, Mr. Graham finally disposed of 
his original 160-acre tract and purchased 
eighty acres adjoining the corporate limits of 
Lowell, which, like the former, he greatly 
improved, enhancing its value considerably 
thereby. 

No sooner had Mr. Graham become a resi- 
dent of Lowell than he at once began taking an 
active interest in the town's welfare, and in due 
time he was elected a member of the council, 
in which body he was largely instrumental in 
bringing about much valuable municipal legis- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



717 



lation. He served in this capacity two terms, 
was twice elected to the office of justice of the 
peace, and for a period of twenty-three years 
was a director of the school board of Lowell. 

Mr. Graham was twice married — the first 
time on the i8th of September, 1863, to Miss 
Emma Post, daughter of Joseph C. Post, of 
Kansas City, the issue of which union was 
three children, viz: Herbert E. , Myrtis and 
Ernst R. ; the last named is at this time one 
of the best-known architects of the northwest, 
with an office in the city of Chicago. He was 
assistant architect during the construction of 
the World's Fair buildings, having had per- 
sonal charge of the main building, and is now 
one of the firm of D. H. Burnham, of Chicago, 
who are among the most skillful architects in 
the United States. 

Mrs. Graham departed this life September 
18, 1873, and on the 20th of September fol- 
lowing Mr. Graham entered into the marriage 
relation with Mrs. Elizabeth Shaw, widow of 
the late E. P. Shaw — a union blessed with the 
birth of one child, Frank A. Graham. 

Mr. Graham was reared in the Episcopal 
faith and was always a friend of the religious 
and moral as well as the material upbuilding 
of the community. Politically he was for 
many years a firm believer in the principles of 
what was formerly the greenback party, but 
later voted the democratic ticket in national 
and state contests, and was independent in 
matters purely local. Fraternally he was a 
Mason. Mrs. Graham, a woman of most ex- 
emplary life, is a member of the Congrega- 
tional church and an active worker in the 
various societies of the local congregation to 
which she belongs. 

As already stated, Mr. Graham was one of 
the substantial men of Lowell, always inter- 
ested in everything pertaining to its welfare, 
its progress and upbuilding, and was widely 
known as a public-spirited and loyal citizen of 



his adopted country. By reason of his well- 
spent life he furnished many examples of in- 
dustry, fidelity and integrity that could with 
profit be imitated by the coming generation. 

August 7, 1899, this good man departed 
this life, and his remains were interred in the 
Lowell ce neter)'. 



LINT GREEN, a progressive young 
farmer of Grattan, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of the town and 
was born December 16, 1862, the 
fifth of the six children that blessed the mar- 
riage of Henry and Mary A. (Demorest) Green 
and of these si.x there are four still living, viz: 
Henry Wright in the monument trade in Grand 
Rapids, and, the father of two children — one 
daughter being cashier at Maybury's depart- 
ment store in that city; Ada is the wife of 
Frank Bowman, treasurer of Oakfield town- 
ship, and whose biography may be found on 
another page; Clint, whose name opens this 
paragraph; and Gertie, who graduated from' 
the Lowell high school and is now the wife of 
George Stevens, at Towner, N. Dak. 

Henry Green, the father, was born in 
Williamstown, Berkshire county, Mass., March 
I, 1820, was eight years of age when his fa- 
ther, Jacob, died, and he then went to live 
with his grandfather, Henry Green, at Will- 
iamstown. At the age of fourteen years he 
was taken to Genesee county, N. Y. , by this 
relative, but soon afterward came 'alone to 
Michigan to join his brother Hosea, who lived 
near Ann Arbor. Hosea at once sent Henry 
back to bring his mother and three younger 
children to this state, but the responsibility of 
caring for these fell upon himself. He was 
full of activity and energy and when seventeen 
years old had purchased forty acres of wild oak 
openings in Livingston county, with no dwell- 
ing; but he erected a cabin and cleared up the 



718 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



land for the mother and children, and left them 
in fair circumstances, to seek more profitable 
employment. He had but a limited education 
and no capital save a woodman's ax and a good 
supply of Yankee firmness of character. He 
finally engaged himself to a miller for four 
years, learned that trade and next worked as a 
farm-hand for a considerable length of time. 

In 1843 Mr. Green came on foot 100 miles 
from Livingston county to Grattan township, 
Kent county, and purchased 160 acres of gov- 
ernment land in section No. 13; he then re- 
turned to Livingston county, and in 1844 came 
back to Grattan township to remain. April 
28, 1846, he married Miss Mary A. Demorest, 
who was born February 28, •1828, in Pratts- 
burg, Steuben county, N. Y. , a daughter of 
Samuel and Ann (Clark) Demorest, who had a 
family of eight children — four sons and four 
daughters — and of these there are seven still 
living. 

Samuel Demorest^was born in Montgomery 
county, N. Y. , January i, 1796. He was 
reared a mechanic and farmer, was well edu- 
cated, served in the war of 18 12, and died in 
Missouri, March 19, 1869. The name Dem- 
orest is of French origin, and the Madame 
Demorest, of silver medal contest fame, was a 
sister of Mrs. Green's grandmother. The 
Demorests are distantly related to Aneke Jans, 
whose heirs claim the land on. which Trinity 
church stands, in New York city, as well as a 
vast amount of other property in the down- 
town portion of that commercial metropolis. 
Aneke Jans was a daughter of King Webber, 
who was a grandson of King William III, of 
England. Mrs. Green can trace her line of 
descent back to 1599. 

In 1838, one year after Michigan was ad- 
mitted as a state into the Union, and when 
Mrs. Green was but. ten years of age, her par- 
ents came to Michigan with her children, and 
in 1844 became residents of Ionia county. 



Mr. and Mrs. Green began their married 
life in section No. 13, Grattan township, with 
scarcely any capital, and their home was in 
the first frame house erected in that township, 
in the fall of 1845. The city of Grand Rapids 
was then little better than a trading post, had 
not a brick building, not a pavement nor a 
sidewalk; Monroe and Canal streets, and the 
ground where the grand Union depot now 
stands were sinks of mud, and not a bridge 
crossed Grand river, and often the village was 
swarmed with Indians, who came to collect 
their . annuities from the government agent. 
Deer, bears and wolves were frequently seen 
on Mr. Green's premises, and the first meet- 
ing for the organization of the township was held 
at the home of Converse Close, about two miles 
west of the homestead, and was attended by 
seven persons. Neither school nor church ex- 
isted within the township limits, yet, notwith- 
standing this crude state of affairs, pioneer life 
was not unpleasant. 

Mr. Green was kind-hearted and benevo- 
lent, was a life-long member of the Baptist 
church, and aided in erecting three different 
church edifices in Kent county. He held the 
implicit confidence of his fellow-citizens, and 
in acknowledgment of his worth, his name was 
placed as a director of the Kent County Mutual 
Insurance company, and so impartial was he 
in his surveys and adjustments, he was kept 
in office nineteen years. He died, beloved by 
all who knew him, October 3, 1897. 

Mrs. Mary A. Green, who yet survives, is 
a lady of remarkable clearness of understand- 
ing, is a member of the Baptist church, near 
the northeast corner of the township, and 
makes her home with her son Clint. Her 
father was the original owner of the land on 
which Greenville now stands, and Mrs. Green 
was the first young white woman to cross 
Wabasis creek. 

Clint Green was reared to agricultural pur- 



i 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



719 



suits, received a common-school education, 
and has had charge of the homestead since his 
majority; of this estate he has purchased the 
interest of the other heirs in 144 acres, and 
has in his possession the original deed exe- 
cuted to his father, dated June i, 1843, under 
the administration of James Knox Polk. The 
farm has a clay-loam soil, adapted to the culti- 
vation of all esculents usually grown in the 
Michigan southern peninsula. 

Mr. Green married Miss Lucy A. Lawrence, 
December 2, 1885, and two children have 
come to bless their union — Lawrence H., a 
bright lad in the fourth grade at school, and 
Nelson C, who has just started in. 

Mrs. Lucy A. Green was born September 
6, 1866, in Fentonville, Mich., and is a daugh- 
ter of A. H. and Lucy (I"Cile) Lawrence, She 
was reared chiefly in Oakfield township, was 
educated in the common schools, is a member 
of the grange at Grattan Center, and has been 
a worthy helpmate to her husband. Mr. 
Green is a republican, cast his first vote for 
Benjamin Harrison, and is a director of the 
public schools; he is also a member of the 
Grattan grange and his wife is a member of 
the Baptist church and interested in its Sun- 
day-school work. They are classed among 
the best residents of the township, socially 
and morally. 




OHN GRISWOLD, of Spencer town- 
ship, whose name is a household word 
in Kent county, Mich., is a leading 
merchant of Harvard, Kent county, 
although his rural home is in Spencer town- 
ship. He was born in the state of New York, 
April 13, 1857, and is the seventh of the eight 
children — five sons and three daughters — that 
constituted the family of Jabez and Eliza (Ed- 
gar) Griswold, five of whom still survive. In 



the biography of Scott Griswold, register of 
deeds for Ivent county at Grand Rapids, will 
be found a full record of the Griswold family, 
to which the attention of the reader is respect- 
fully invited. 

Mr. Griswold, the subject of this sketch, 
was reared in his native state until twelve years 
of age, but the major part of his education was 
acquired in the public schools of Ivent county, 
Mich., his parents having come to Spencer 
township in 1869. . This being a lumber coun- 
try, and the father operating a saw-mill, young 
John was employed in this business until 
twenty years old, when he married, July 4, 
1877, Miss Millie Johnson, to which union 
have been born three sons and six daughters, 
of whom the following named seven still sur- 
vive: Grace; Ed and Edna (twins); Lee, 
Ethel, Gladys and Edith. 

Mrs. Millie Griswold was born in Pennsyl- 
vania, July 26, 1856, is a daughter of Charles 
and Emiline (Inman) Johnson, and was about 
twelve years of age when brought to Michigan 
by her parents, who are now deceased. She 
is rearing her family most carefully, and has 
all during her happy wedded life been a worthy 
and cheerful helpmate to her husband. 

John Griswold, like his father, who is still 
living at the age of eighty-two years, has done 
much toward developing Spencer township. 
In 1882 he purchased eighty acres of stump 
land in section No. 30, and steadily devoted 
himself to clearing and cultivating it until 
1890, when he entered into a partnership with 
his brothers, Edgar and Alonzo, in general 
merchandizing at Harvard. They carry a 
$3,000 stock of dry-goods, boots, shoes, gro- 
ceries, and all the miscellaneous articles that 
usually constitute the stock of a first-class 
country store, and this stock is chiefly supplied 
from Grand Rapids, and is consequently fresh 
and undeteriorated, and the annual business 
amounts to from $15,000 to $20,000. They 



720 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



also ship potatoes each season, buying many 
thousands of bushels each year. 

Mr. Griswold, in politics, prefers to vote 
for the republicans in national affairs, but in 
local matters votes for worthy candidates rather 
than for machine nominees. He cast his first 
presidential vote for the lamented Garfield, and 
is generally selected as a delegate to the party 
conventions. He has been a school director 
for thirteen years and has ever advocated the 
employment of the best teachers the school 
funds would justify. Fraternally he is a mem- 
ber of Cedar Springs lodge, No. 2 [3. F. & A. 
M., and of Evans tent. No. 785, K. O. T. M. 

The Griswold family is one of the most re- 
spected in Kent county, and Mr. Griswold is 
himself especially esteemed for his many per- 
sonal good qualities by the community in which 
he has lived since boyhood, and of which he is 
a pioneer. 




OBERT HARDY, deceased, was one 
of the most respected farmers of Ionia 
county, Mich., and a director in the 
State bank at Lowell, Ivent county, 
was born in Scotland September 15, 1835, 
w-as well educated in the common schools of 
his native country, and when seventeen years 
of age came to the United States with his 
mother and sister, his father having died. Mr. 
Hardy landed in New York, but very shortly 
afterward went to Canada, where, in order to 
make a livelihood for his mother, sister and 
himself, he first worked in a saw-mill, and 
continued in this employment seven years. By 
this time he had accumulated a little money, 
and rented a farm near Burford, province of 
Ontario, and conducted it with marked suc- 
cess until the fall of 1S63. 

In the year last named Mr. Hardy came to 
Michigan, located in the village of Campbell, 



Ionia county, purchased a small farm and 
cultivated it two j'ears, then sold, and bought 
another farm of 100 acres in the same county. 
This place he improved with a handsome 
dwelling and substantial out-buildings, and 
cultivated it until the latter part of 1890, when 
he rented it and retired to Lowell, to pass his 
declining years in peace and comfort. August 
25, 1888, Mr. Hardy delivered a most able 
address before the union harvest picnic held at 
Morrison's lake, Ionia count}', and this speech 
was published in pamphlet form, as it was one 
of the ablest efforts ever made in that locality. 
The length of this address precludes its repro- 
duction here, but it immortalized Mr. Hardj'. 
He was an extraordinarily good business man, 
shrewd, calculating and strictly honest, and 
became a director in the Lowell State bank, 
in which he was a stockholder, and was a 
director at the time of his death. He was a 
member of the Masonic fraternity at Saranac, 
was a democrat in politics, and died July 22, 
1897, in the faith of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, of which he had long been a faithful 
member. 

Mr. Hardy was united in the bonds of mat- 
rimony, April 2, 1862, with Miss Euphemia 
Russell, daughter of David M. and Betsey 
(Tale) Russell, natives of Scotland, and this 
union was blessed with four children, of whom 
two only survive — George E. and Jennie. The 
deceased were named David R. and Lizzie T., 
the former of whom died December 29, 1893, 
and the latter, August 8, 1898. The surviv- 
ing son, George E., is married to Miss Mary 
Jackson, and the surviving daughter, Jennie, is 
the wife of Clarence C. Taff. 

Mrs. Euphemia Hardy, who still lives to 
mourn the loss of her husband and two chil- 
dren, conducted with excellent discrimination 
the farm in Ionia county until quite recently, 
when she disposed of it by sale; she resides in 
a cozy little dwelling in Lowell, where she is 



fc**iaSS*i 



S^SSi.«Ss«;K 




^^2^,^e^^^ 



'.^avJi^ri 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



723 



passing her declining years in comfort, hon- 
ored and beloved by a large circle of sincere 
friends and surviving children. 




EKKITT C. GRISWOLD, cashier 
of the Lowell State bank, Lowell, 
Kent county, Mich., is a native of 
Guilford, New Haven county. 
Conn., was born February 23, 1859, and is 
the eldest of four children that graced the 
union of Thomas and Sophia F. (Bishop) 
Griswold, the remaining three being Allen B. , 
Mary B. and Harry F. 

Thomas Griswold was born in Guilford, 
May 10, 1832, and descends from ante-Revo- 
lutionary ancestors. The Griswold family is 
of English origin, three brothers of the name 
having come to America with the first Puritan 
colony. Thomas was educated in the com- 
iTion schools of his native town, and by pro- 
fession was a sailor and commander of vessels 
in the coasting trade. His wife, also of colo- 
nial Puritan descent, was born in Guilford, 
Conn., May 13, 1835. Her father was 
likewise in early life a follower of the sea and 
traded with the West India islands. The 
names of both the Griswolds and Bishops 
figured conspicuously in the early history of 
Connecticut, and the names are still con- 
spicuous in many parts of the Union. 

Merritt C. Griswold attended the common 
schools of his native town of Guilford until 
fourteen years of age, then bade his parents 
farewell and shipped on board a merchant- 
man bound for Porto Rico, and continued in 
the West India and South American trade 
about si.\ years. He then came to Michigan 
and entered the employ of the Griswold Lum- 
ber Co., with which he acquired by practical 
experience a thorough knowledge of the lum- 
ber business from the stump to market. He 



later engaged in the lumber, hardware, and 
implement business at Middleville, Barry 
county, Mich., continuing these lines for sev- 
eral years, and until he sold out to accept a 
position as cashier in the banking house of 
Bowne & Combs, at Middleville, in which 
position he remained until October i, 1888, 
when he resigned this position in order to open 
a banking office for Bowne, Combs & Striker, 
at Lowell, of which he was the cashier and 
manager until February, 1891, when they be- 
came incorporated, under the general banking 
laws of the state, under the present title of 
the Lowell State bank, they being the first 
bank in Kent county, outside of the city of 
Grand Rapids, to incorporate under the state 
banking law, Mr. Griswold continuing as cash- 
ier the same as before. He opened a field of 
operations in Lowell which he has continued 
to broaden, and the result is most flattering to 
his business ability. His record as a financier 
shows him to be strictly conservative in his 
methods, leading to the indubitable success of 
his bank and other business enterprises. 

In politics Mr. Griswold is a republican 
and cast his first presidential vote for James 
A. Garfield. Fraternally he is a member of 
Lowell lodge. No. 90, F. lS: A. M., and 
Hooker chapter, No. 73, R. A. M., both of 
Lowell; of De Molai commander}'. No. 5, K. 
T. , of Grand Rapids; of Saladin temple, A. A. 
O. N. M. S.,of the same city, and of Cyclamen 
chapter. No. 94, O. E. S., of Lowell. 

Mr. Griswold is happily united in marriage 
with Miss Jennie A. Combs, daughter of 
Russell E. and Mary (Lynch) Combs. Mrs. 
Griswold, before marriage, was cashier of the 
banking house of Bowne & Combs, and is a 
lady well fitted for her high social position. 
She is a past grand matron of the order of the 
Eastern Star in the state of Michigan, and is a 
member of the board of control of the Michi- 
gan Masonic home at Grand Rapids. 



724 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



In all his business transactions Mr. Gris- 
wold has been strictly upright and bears a 
name that has never been impeached. His 
enterprise and energy in carrying out his 
various undertakings have invariably been 
crowned with gratifying success, and he now 
stands in the front rank of the business men 
and financiers of western Michigan. 




HE LOWELL STATE BANK was 
incorporated under the laws of the 
state of Michigan in February, 1891, 
with a capital stock of $25,000, suc- 
ceeding the banking house of Bowne, Combs 
& Striker, it being the first bank in Kent 
county (outside the city of Grand Rapids) to 
incorporate under the general banking laws of 
the state. Under the provisions of its charter 
from the state, it conducts both commercial 
and savings departments. Its present officers 
are: Francis Kinp;, president; Charles Mc- 
Carty, vice-president; M. C. Griswold, cash- 
ier. Its board of directors are : Francis 
King, Charles McCarty, Frank T. King, 
George W. Parker, O. Bergin, George H. 
Force, E. L. Bennett and M. C. Griswold. 

The bank is one of the strong financial in- 
stitutions of Kent county, and enjoys the con- 
fidence of the community. 




VRES M. GROSVENOR, one of the 
best known gentlemen and respected 
agriculturists of Nelson township, 
Kent county, and an e,\-soldier of the 
Civil war, is a native of Jackson county, Mich., 
was born July 31, 1S42, and is the eldest of the 
four children that have blessed the marriage of 
George W. and Caroline (Dumbleton) Grosve- 
nor, the other three being Mary J., wife of 
T. I. Phelps, the popular landlord of the 



Hotel Phelps, at Greenville, Montcalm coun- 
ty, Mich.; Maria A., wife of Anson Gallup, a 
farmer of Wahpeton, N. Dak., and Harriet 
Z. , wife of Benjamin Lansing, a farmer of 
Jackson county, Mich. 

George W. Grosvenor was born in Massa- 
chusetts, was of English descent, and was 
reared to agriculturial pursuits; he came to 
Jackson county with his wife, who was also 
a native of Massachusetts, and here he died 
November 26, 1852, a member of the Presby- 
terian church and in politics a whig. Mrs. 
Grosvenor died December 30, 1855, a mem- 
ber of the same church. 

Ayres M. Grosvenor was reared to man- 
hood in Jackson county, was educated in a 
common school, was inured to the hardships 
of a farmer's life, and at the early age of nine- 
teen years bravely volunteered his services in 
defense of the integrity of the Union. Sep- 
tember 24, 1 86 1, at Jackson, Mich., he en- 
listed for three years, or during the war, in 
company H, First Michigan engineers and 
mechanics, under Capt. Marcus Grant, with 
Col. W. P. Ennis as commander of the regi- 
ment. This regiment was assigned to the army 
of the Cumberland and was at once sent to 
Louisville, Ky. Mr. Grosvenor first took part in 
the terrific battle of PerryviJle, Ky., in which 
a minie ball entered the left side of his neck, 
between the vertebr;e and (esophagus, and 
came out on the opposite side, tearing clear 
through the neck and making a frightful hole. 
It had been previously agreed between him and 
his comrades that, should anyone of theui fall 
in battle, the others were to care for the re- 
mains and send them home for interment. The 
supposedly dead body of Mr. Grosvenor, on 
this occasion and in compliance with this 
agreement, was borne fro.:! the field by George 
W. Green and Ezra Stearns, comrades, and 
laid with a row of corpses beside an old build- 
ing, but when the time came for their burial 



Ml 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



I'^o 



the comrades were surprised, and agreeably 
so, by hearing a voice call "water, water." 
The voice was that of Mr. Grosvenor. He 
was immediately conveyed to the field hospital 
and thence to the hospital at Louisville, where 
he was confined for three months, and after 
convalescence was assigned to hospital duty, 
his recovery being one of the most miraculous 
on record. Deafness, however, was a per- 
manent result of his injury, and this is still too 
painfully apparent. At the termination of his 
assigned duty he rejoined his regiment at 
Murfreesboro, Tenn. , and was detailed for 
work on stockades, bridges, etc., at Atlanta, 
Ga., and received an honorable discharge 
October 31, 1864. He was a true soldier and 
endured the hardships and rigors of army life 
with courage and fortitude, and while in the 
service never sought a furlough. 

On returning to his home, Mr. Grosvenor 
resumed his vocation of farming, and Decem- 
ber 27, 1866, wedded Miss Lydia Brower, a 
native of Jackson county and born November 
10, 1842, a daughter of Henry and Margaret 
(Hooker) Brower, also natives of the Wolver- 
ine state. Henry Brower, who was a carpen- 
ter by trade, is now deceased, but his wife is 
still among the living. To the happy marriage 
of Mr. and Mrs. Grosvenor have been born 
six children in the following order: George 
W., who received a sound education in the 
public schools of Sand Lake, Mich., but is now 
a farmer of Fairmount, N. Dak., and wedded 
to Miss Mary Nelson, of that town; Rose, now 
the wife of D. S. Seaman, a merchant of 
Greenville, Mich., is a lady of fine education 
and of excellent business qualifications; Albert 
G. was educated in the Sand Lake common 
schools and the Cedar Springs high school, 
married Miss Hattie Perry, and also resides in 
Greenville; Henry B. graduated, or received 
his diploma, from the Sand Lake school in the 
class of 1893, and is now assisting on the home 



farm in Nelson township; Homer M. is a stu- 
dent in Greenville high school and will gradu- 
ate with the class of 1900, and Ralph A. at- 
tends the Sand Lake graded school, being a 
member of the class of 1903. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Grosvenor came to 
Kent county, in 1878, they were poor in this 
world's goods, and for two years resided on 
rented land. Their first purchase was eighty 
acres of unimproved land in Nelson township, 
section No. 9. They had a poor little span of 
horses and a wagon with no box, or body, but 
a board, stretched from axle to axle, served as 
a seat on which the children rode in a row. 
They had sufficient money with which to buy 
a plow and a few necessaries of life, and a 
commendable ambition and willing hearts and 
hands, and by laboring in accord and with a 
mutual object in view, they have won for 
themselves a farm of 200 acres of as fine land 
as is to be found in Nelson township, all 
cleared and under a fine state of cultivation, 
and improved with a handsome, cozy residence 
and substantial farm buildings — all free from 
debt. Industry and frugality have been the 
keys which, in the hands of Mr. and Mrs. 
Grosvenor, have opened the doors to prosper- 
ity and wealth. 

In politics Mr. Grosvenor is an ardent re- 
publican and cast his first presidential vote for 
Adraham Lincoln in 1864. His sons who have 
reached their majority are also warm support- 
ers of the same party. Mr. Grosvenor is an 
admirer of Michigan's illustrious statesman, 
Hon. William Alden Smith, and is a strong 
advocate of all measures that tend to elevate 
the standard of the community, morally and 
intellectually, and this is evidenced by the 
fact that he has given his children as high class 
an education as was in his power. He is a 
member of Jewell post. No. 62, G. A. R., at 
Cedar Springs, and he and family "are classed 
with the best citizens of Nelson township. 



71^6 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 




ESLEY F. HESSLER, the popular 
druggist of Rockford, is a native of 
Kent county, was born in 1867, 
and has been reared and educated 
in this county. At the age of fourteen he 
entered the drug store of W. H. Hessler, his 
brother, remaining two years a salesman. 
Here he acquired a practical knowledge of 
pharmacy. But wishing to master the entire 
secrets of the profession and have a standing 
second to none, he at the age of eighteen 
years matriculated in the National Institute 
of Pharmacy in Chicago, graduating from that 
well known institution in 1887. He then ac- 
cepted a position in the wholesale and retail 
drug house of Prindle & Co., at Grand Rapids, 
remaining until February, 1888. He then re- 
turned to Rockford, and bought his brother's 
drug store. A year later he and his brother, 
Henry C, formed a partnership to engage in 
the hardware business, under the style of the 
Rockford Hardware company, although he still 
conducted his drug store. The hardware firm 
existed until 1890, when Mr. Hessler retired 
from the firm, being sole proprietor of the drug 
store, and is to-day the leading druggist outside 
of Grand Rapids, in Kent county. 

April 8, 1896, Mr. Hessler, like other 
merchants in Rockford, suffered the dire mis- 
fortune of heavy loss by a disastrous fire, 
which laid in ashes the heart of the town. 
Nothing daunted by this calamity, Phoeni.K-like 
he rose from the ashes, and soon erected the 
present handsome block. It is of pressed brick 
and compares favorably with those found in 
towns of much greater population. This 
beautiful block is 71 .\ 84 feet and two stories 
high, with French plate-glass windows, was 
erected in 1896-97, at a cost of $12,000. It 
is built after the most approved plans, modern 
in construction, and convenience. It com- 
prises three commodious stores, several desir- 
able offices, and the Hessler opera hall. Its 



location is on the most valuable and desirable 
corner commanding the two principal business 
streets of the town. The building is finished 
in hard wood, is covered with a tar and gravel 
roof, and the entire block is heated by three 
Howard hot-air furnaces, is lighted by elec- 
tricity, and the sanitary arrangement is first 
class. The Hessler block, is fact, is the pride 
of the town. 

The beautiful opera house in the superb 
entertainment hall on account of its perfect 
acoustic properties. Its dimensions are 70 x 
71 feet with a 14-foot ceiling, and seat- 
ing capacity of S25. The proscenium and 
stage are placed at such a height and angle as 
to give to the audience an e.xcellent view of 
the stage productions. The stage proper is 
fitted up with five sets of scenes, whxh were 
designed and painted by the celebrated scenic 
artists, Messrs. Sosman & Landis,who are the 
leaders in the profession in the United States. 
This beautiful hall is also utilized as a ball and 
reception room, the fioor being of polished hard 
maple, and all other arrangements in ac- 
cordance. No sooner was the block finished, 
than Mr. Hessler stocked the corner store with 
a complete and well selected line of pure drugs, 
paints, oils, etc., a full and complete line of 
proprietary medicines and all fancy articles 
which make up a first-class drug store. His 
prescription department is filled to repletion 
with the purest drugs and remedies used by 
the medical profession. 

In connection with his drug store, Mr. 
Hessler has a well-equipped oculist depart- 
ment with facilities for testing and fitting. He" 
has placed in his establishment one of the best 
A. D. Puffer soda fountains, fully equipped; 
and besides, he carries the most popular grades 
of cigars and tobacco. His clerks are affable 
and genial gentlemen, and are always ready to 
wait upon the patrons. Mr. Hessler is largely 
interested in other real estate, besides the i 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



729 



Hessler block, and is one of the pushing busi- 
ness men of the village. 

May lo, 1S92, Mr. Hessler wedded Miss 
Emma Stegman, a native of Kent county, and 
to this marriage has been born one daughter 
— Pauline. Mrs. Hessler was reared in Kent 
county and educated in its public schools. 
Politically Mr. Hessler is a republican, and 
cast his first presidential vote for Benjamin 
Harrison; is president of the board of educa- 
tion and has been for six years; is also presi- 
dent of the village, and was chairman of the 
committee which put in the water works in 
1896. He has also been school inspector of 
Algoma township three terms. He has ever 
identified himself with the social life of the 
village, and his popularity is shown somewhat 
by his associates selecting him to fill the posi- 
tions of greatest honor. He is the worshipful 
master of Rockford lodge, No. 246, F. & A. 
M., and is king of Lovell Moore Chapter, No. 
88, of Royal Arch Masons. He is a member 
of DeWitt Clinton consistory, S. P. R. S., at 
Grand Rapids. Both he and wife are mem- 
bers of Rockford chapter, order of the East- 
ern Star. No more popular, genial or social 
gentleman is found in Kent county. 



HRISTIAN C. HACHMUTH, a pros- 
perous farmer of Walker township, 
Kent county, Mich., was born in 
Alsace, France bruary 21, 1841, 
and is a son of Henry and Elizabeth (Klein) 
Hachmuth, natives of Bavaria. 

Henry Hachmuth was born in Allenbaum, 
February 6, 1809. In 1845 he came to the 
United States with his family and landed in 
Baltimore, Md.," where he remained a year, 
following his trade of glassblower, and estab- 
lished a reputation for making the heaviest 
glass ever produced up to that time. He next 



went to Windsor, N. J., where he resided 
nine months, and then went to Montreal, Can- 
ada, where he lived until 1852, when he came 
to Michigan and located at Marshall, Calhoun 
county, remained there two years, and then 
came to the wilds of Keiitcounty, beingamong 
the early settlers, and made his home in Al- 
pine and Walker townships until his death. 
The now thrifty city of Grand Rapids then 
contained but'two brick buildings, and Walker 
township was what might be called a howling 
wilderness, but he lived to witness a great 
change take place, both in town and country, 
assisted in clearing up much of the latter, and 
passed away in March, 1885. His wife was 
a native of the same place with himself, and 
died February 10, 1875, aged sixty-seven 
years, three ilionths and nine days. 

Christian C. Hachmuth began life on his 
own account when about twenty-one years of 
age by purchasing a farm in section No. 36, 
Alpine township, from that time forward, has 
that time forward has made agriculture his life 
occupation, and has made but one change of 
location, his present home being in section No. 
I, Walker township, which is the homestead of 
his father. 

Mr. Hachmuth married, March 24, 1867, 
Miss Ida C. Seyfarth, a native of Saxony, 
born November 19, 1836, and a daughter of 
Earnhardt and Martha (Gauch) Seyfarth. Mrs. 
Hachmuth came to this country in company 
with an elder sister when young, her parents 
having died in their native country. The 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Hachmuth has been 
blessed with six children, born in the follow- 
ing order: Amanda M., at home; Henry C, 
a busiiiess college graduate and inventor and 
manufacturer of the Michigan fruit ladder; 
Edward A., who died oh his eighth birthday; 
George B., a graduate from a commercial 
college and now at home; Earnest William, a 
student at Ferris institute, and Frank A. 



730 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



In politics Mr. Hachmuth is a supporter of 
the sixteen-to-one silver party, and he has 
served his fellow-citizens as member of the 
board of review. Fraternally he is a member 
of Mill Creek lodge, I. O. O. F., and relig- 
iously was reared in the German Lutheran 
church, but latterly leans towards the spirit- 
ualistic idea. 

Mr. Hackmuth has proven himself to be a 
worthy citizen, who has led a life of sobriety, 
industry and frugality since his residence in 
the United States, and Walker township's res- 
idents may well feel gratified at his presence 
in their midst. He is withal generous and 
public-spirited, disposed at all times to aid his 
church or any project designed for the ad- 
vancement of the interests oi his township. 
His integrity has never been impeached, and 
he and family are most highly esteemed by all 
who know them. 




W. HALLACK, editor and proprietor 
of the Sparta Sentinel, of Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., was born in Wyoming 
county, N. Y. , October 28, 1844, and 
is the second in a family of eight children — 
five sons and three daughters — born to Will- 
iam and Eliza (Spaulding) Hallack. His pa- 
ternal ancestors came from England shortly 
after the sailing of the Mayflower, and settled 
about forty miles from Boston, Mass., at a 
point which afterward was known as Hallack's 
Neck. William Hallack, father of J. W. 
Hallack, subject of this sketch, was a native 
of New York, born in 18 15, and his father and 
grandfather were respectively heroes of the 
war of 1812 and the war of the Revolution. 
Mrs. Eliza Hallack, mother of the subject, was 
of Scotch descent. Of the eight children 
born to Mr. and Mrs. William Hallack five 
still survive, and these are J. W., himself, who 



is now the eldest of the living members of 
the family; Charles, a merchant, at Ouincy, 
Branch county, Mich., and married; Frank, a 
farmer of Oceana county, Mich.; George, in 
the same county, with his post-office at Shel- 
by, and Ahira S. is the wife of a Mr. Adams, 
also a resident of Oceana county and a fruit- 
grower at Shelby. 

J. W. Hallack spent his childhood on his 
father's farm in Wyoming county, N. Y., and 
was educated primarily in the common schools. 
\\'hen not quite twenty years of age he 
came to Michigan and for a short time lived 
in Lapeer county, but, the Civil war being 
then under full sway, and he, being imbued 
with the patriotic ardor that had inspired his 
ancestors, enlisted January 4, 1864, at Al- 
mont, Lapeer county, in company E, Eighth 
Michigan cavalry, under Capt. Abbey and Col. 
Mix, as a recruit, and joined his regiment at 
Mount Sterling, Ky., as it was returning from 
the siege of Knoxville, Tenn. He was princi- 
pally engaged at first in skirmishing, but par- 
ticipated in the campaign for the capture of 
Atlanta, and in the famous Stoneman raid, in 
which his regiment was literally cut to pieces. 
He had many narrow escapes with his life. On 
one occasion a scouting part}' ran into a Con- 
federate ambush and was ordered to dismount, 
and just as Mr. Hallack swung himself from 
his horse, several ballets struck his saddle. 
July 4, 1864, while on the skirmish line at the 
right of Atlanta, Ga., a shell struck the ground 
at the side of Mr. Hallack, entirely lifting him 
off his feet and filling his eyes, nose and cloth- 
ing completely with dirt and dust. He took , 
part in the entire siege of Atlanta, and passed 
through without a wound, but became so re- 
duced that he was forced to enter the hospital 
for temporary rest. 

Soon after the raid against Hood had 
closed, and while the Eighth cavalry was lying 
at Pulaski, Tenn., the joyful tidings reached 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



;"31 



it that Lee had surrendered. The news was 
received with great joy, but to counteract this 
exultation and satisfaction, there almost im- 
mediately followed the shocking intelligence of 
the assassination of President Lincoln. 

After peace had been declared, the regi- 
ment was divided into squads and passed the 
summer in running down bushwhackers. It 
was mustered out at Nashville, Tenn., Sep- 
tember 22, 1865, and honorably discharged at 
Jackson, Mich., October 6, 1865. Mr. Hal- 
lack then visited his home in New York, and 
in 1 866 returned to Lapeer county, Mich., but 
a short time afterward -entered the college at 
Hillsdale, Mich., where he studied five years 
in the literary and scientific courses. In the 
meantime his father had been called away, and 
leaving his collegiate course unfinished, Mr. 
Hallack went to Oceana county to locate a 
farm for the family, as the responsibility of the 
care of the family now mainly rested with him. 
He remained in Oceana county one year, in 
the ministry of the Free Will Baptist church, 
and in the spring of 1872 came to Sparta 
township, resumed his ministerial labors, and 
for four years had charges at Sparta and Lis- 
bon, following which he entered upon his 
career as journalist, practically establishing 
the Sparta Sentinel. The material cost about 
$50, as the press was a wooden affair, made 
in the village of Sparta, and the type was 
about on a par with the press. For nearly a 
quarter of a century Mr. Hallack conducted 
the journal under such disadvantageous cir- 
cumstances, but he was tenacious of purpose 
and had the ability to make the paper popular. 
He now has a Campbell oscillator press and a 
Gordon job press, with a 10. \ 15-inch platen, 
full fonts of newspaper and job type, and the 
Sentinel has assumed a metropolitan appear- 
ance, being a six-column quarto, with a weekly 
circulation of Soo; in conjunction with the 
Sentinel, Mr. Hallack publishes the Casnovia 



News, in Muskegon county, with a circulation 
of 500, and as his rates for subscription and 
job work are quite reasonable, he has made a 
complete success in this line. 

Mr. Hallack was united in matrimony with 
Miss Isabella A. Martindale, at Sparta, in 
1873. This lady is a native of Kent countj-, 
was born in 1855, was educated in the com- 
mon schools, for one year also attended Hills- 
dale college, later taught school, chiefly in 
Kent county, and is a member of most of the 
ladies' clubs in Sparta. To the marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Hallack have been born five 
children, in the following order; Charles M., 
HattieE., William M., Jasper W. and Joy 
Belle. Of these, Charles M.' graduated from 
the Sparta high school, and was also a student 
in the State Agricultural college, at Lansing. 
He was one of the brave boys to enlist for the 
Spanish war in the Thirty-third Michigan 
volunteer infantry, was present at the siege of 
Santiago, and his was the only regiment 
which lost men in this engagement. He wed- 
ded Miss Louisa J. Brown, and now has a half 
interest in the Sentinel, presented to him by 
his father. Hattie E. graduated from the 
Sparta high school, taught in Kent and Antrim 
counties, and is now married to Charles Nor- 
ton, of Sparta; William M. graduated from 
the Sparta high school with the class of 1897, 
and is now a student in the Agricultural col- 
lege at Lansing. Jasper W. is in the tenth 
grade in the Sparta schools, and Joy Belle is 
in the seventh grade. 

In politics, J. W. Hallack is a stanch re- 
publican, and while " in the ranks" cast his 
first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. 
He has been selected as delegate to various 
county and state conventions. Education re- 
ceives a hearty endorsement from Mr. Hal- 
lack; he has served six years on the school 
board; has been a member of the village coun- 
cil six or eight years, and as a writer is fear- 



;-32 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



less and trenchant in his handling of the issues 
of the day. 

In his fraternal relations, Mr. Hallack is a 
member of Sparta lodge, No. 278, I. O. O. F., 
in which he has occupied all the chairs, and 
he is also a member of Bonner post, No. 306, 
G. A. R. , at Casnovia, but formerly, when a 
member of the Sparta post, was commander 
at two different times. He and his wife are 
consistent members of the Free Will Baptist 
church in Sparta, of which he is a trustee, and 
has charge of the building fund. They are 
among the most highly respected residents of 
Sparta, and Mr. Hallack's long and arduous 
labors in the township and village have placed 
him in the foremost ranks of its citizens. 



EORGE HANNA, a prosperous and 
greatly respected farmer of Solon 
township, Kent county, Mich., is a 
native of county Antrim, Ireland, 
was born near the city of Belfast, the 
famous linen manufacturing city of the Emerald 
isle, July 12, 1S56, and is the elder of the two 
children that blessed the marriage of James 
and Jane (Reid) Hanna, the younger child be- 
ing Margaret A., wife of Alexander Wilson, of 
Ontario, Canada. 

James Hanna was born in county Antrim 
July 4, 1824, was reared to agriculture, and 
his first wife, a native of the same count}', was 
born about 1836, but died when George, their 
son, was but seventeen months old. The fa- 
ther ne.xt married Miss Catherine Hanna, who 
blessed him with with four sons and three 
daughters, and died in Belfast in 1885, after 
which date he came to the United States and 
now makes his home with the subject of this 
sketch. 

George Hanna left his native isle at the 
age of eighteen years and came, via Liverpool, 
to the United States, landing in New York, 



whence he at once went to Hamilton, Canada, 
to join an uncle, Peter, who resided about 
twenty-four miles from the city of that name, 
and there began work on a farm. He was the 
possessor then of about $5 but he worked 
steadily for four years, saved his earnings, 
and in 1879 came to Michigan, rented land in 
Kalamazoo county, on which he lived for two 
years, and whilst there married, March 26, 
1879, Miss Mary Grant, a native of New York, 
by whom he was blessed with three children, 
viz: James R. , who has completed the eighth 
grade in the public school and has decided to 
become a farmer; Otis, now in the eighth 
school-grade, and Fred, who died January 6, 
1897, at the age of thirteen years. Mrs. Mary 
Hanna was called away January 12, 1 891 , and 
for his second helpmate Mr. Hanna chose Miss 
Nellie Grant, of Barry county, niece of the 
former wife, whom he married April 11, 1895. 
When but sixteen years of age she, soon after 
her aunt's death, had come into the family as 
housekeeper and had the care of the house 
and children constantly up to her marriage. 
This union has been graced with one daughter, 
Margaret, aged thirteen months. Airs. Nellie 
Hanna was born in Barry county July 17, 1S75, 
a daughter of Elijah and Mary (Derbj-) Grant, 
natives of New York state and Michigan, 
respectively. 

Mr. Hanna came from Kalamazoo to 
Kent county in November, 1880, and pur- 
chased 120 acres of raw land, from which, 
however, the pine had been cleared, and for 
this land he went in debt. His first habita- 
tion on this farm was a little log cabin, which 
is still standing, but in 1891 he erected 
his present comfortable modern dwelling, and 
all the other improvements — barns and other 
outbuildings, fences, etc. — are of his own 
construction, indicative of his persevering in- 
dustry, capable management and persistent 
thrift. To-dav his farm is entirelv free from 



tl 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



733 



debt, and he stands among the most prosper- 
ous and independent agriculturists of Solon 
township and Kent county. 

In politics Mr. Hanna is a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for James A. 
Garfield. Although he has never permitted 
his name to be used as a candidate for any 
political office, he has represented his party in 
several district and county conventions, and is 
at present a delegate to the county convention 
for the nomination of a candidate for supreme 
court judge. In religion he is a Presbyterian, 
while his wife is a Methodist, and both are 
classed among the most respected residents of 
the township. Their handsome residence 
stands si.\ miles northwest of Cedar Springs, 
and is the abode of domestic happiness and a 
liberal hospitality. 




HARLES HARRIS, farmer and lum- 
ber dealer, of Bowne township, Kent 
county, Mich., was born in Yar- 
mouth, England, June 15, 1850, a 
son of William J. and Ann Harris. The fam- 
ily came to the United States in 1851 and spent 
the five succeeding )'ears in -New York, com- 
ing thence to Barry county, Mich., where the 
father, William J., carried on agricultural pur- 
suits until 1S63. In April of that year he 
came to Kent county and purchased eighty 
acres of land in Cascade township, to which 
he made additions from time to time until he 
became the possessor of a highly improved and 
well appointed farm of 1 50 acres. Subse- 
quently he disposed of this place and reinoved 
to the village of Alto where he is now living a 
retired life. 

The subject of this review remained with 
his parents until twenty years of age, when 
he began life for himself as an agriculturist, 
spending his winters in the pineries, by means 
of which labor he added considerably to his 

38 



income. Later, in partnership with his brother, 
J. S. Harris, he operated for several \ears a 
machine for the removal of stumps, his field 
of labor being confined principally to the town- 
ship of Cascade, and the enterprise returning 
him fair financial profit. 

Mr. Harris' ne.xt move was the renting of 
a farm in the township of Bowne, and subse- 
quently he purchased forty acres of land, which 
he afterward sold for a good figure and invested 
in an eighty-acre tract, one-half mile south of 
the town of Alto. He still owns and farms 
the latter place and has made thereon some 
very substantial improvements, including a 
good barn and handsome residence, supplied 
with many modern conveniences. About the 
year 1882 Mr. Harris engaged in the lumber 
business on his farm and has since carried on 
the same in connection with agriculture with 
encouraging success. Two years after em- 
barking in this enterprise he leased ground of 
the railroad company and erected thereon the 
necessary buildings, and at this time carries a 
large stock of lumber, building material of all 
kinds, and farm machinery, his brother being 
associated with him in the business which is 
large and continually on the increase. 

The various enterprises in which Mr. Har- 
ris has engaged have proved judicious invest- 
ments and his financial returns have been 
commensurate with the energy and thrift dis- 
played in the several business ventures. He 
displays ability of no mean order, and as a 
business man is widely and favorably known 
throughout Kent and neighboring counties. 

Mr. Harris is a leader of the local democ- 
racy of his township, and at this time is serv- 
ing as chairman of the central committee. 
His counsels have much weight with his polit- 
ical associates and he has contributed greatly 
to his party's success in local, state and na- 
tional contests. Fraternally he is a member 
of the I. O. O. F. , belonging to Alto lodge, 



JU 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



No. 425, in which at this time he holds the 
position of noble grand. 

Mr. Harris was married at the age of 
twenty-five to Miss Matilda Clark, who has 
borne him children as follows: William 
David, a graduate of the Grand Rapids high 
school and at the present time bookkeeper in 
his father's office; Grover, in the ninth grade 
of the public schools; Clara; Arthur died when 
five years old; Ruth and Perry. All the living 
ones are at home. 




HARLES E. HART, a prosperous 
gardener of Walker township, Kent 
county, was born in Barry county, 
Mich., March 30, 1862, and is the 
fourth child born to Austin and Elizabeth 
(Stratton) Hart. 

Austin Hart was born in Stillwater, Sara- 
toga county, N. Y., in 1834, came to Michi- 
gan in 1857, and settled in Barry county. 
His wife is also a native of Saratoga county, 
N. Y., was born in 1835, and came to Michi- 
gan with her husband. To the marriage of 
Mr. and Mrs. Austin Hart have been born six 
children, in the following order: Ella, who 
is the wife of Clarence Ovitt, of Middleville, 
Mich. ; Frank, of Barry county; Thomas, of 
Ottawa county; Charles E., the subject of 
this sketch; Lillian, wife of Alva Hart, of 
Minnesota, and Ola, deceased. 

Charles E. Hart began life for himself 
when about twenty-one years of age by taking 
a contract for erecting a railroad fence at 
Grand Rapids, and this calling he continued 
to follow about eight years with the M. C. and 
G. R. & I. roads. He then purchased a 
tract of land in section No. 12, Walker town- 
ship, began gardening on quite an extensive 
scale, and in this line he has made a decided 
success. He has twenty acres, situated just 
north of the city limits. 



February 5, 1884, Charles E. Hart mar- 
ried Miss Anna Hufford, who was born in Ohio 
November 27, 1862, the youngest of three 
children that blessed the marriage of Silas and 
Esther (Miller) Hufford. Her parents came 
from Ohio to Michigan in 1866, and first lo- 
cated in St. Joseph county, where they re- 
mained a short time only, then came to Kent 
county, and settled where Mr. Hart now lives. 
Here the mother died in 1897, but the father 
is still living and in good health. Their 
three children were named as follows: Clara, 
deceased; Mary, wife of Noah Shoemaker, of 
St. Joseph county, Mich., and Anna, now 
Mrs. Charles E. Hart. Mr. and Mrs. Hart 
are the happy parents of two children — Fred- 
die and Ida. 

In politics Mr. Hart is a supporter of the 
prohibition part}-. Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. 
Hart are active members of the Second street 
Methodist Episcopal church at Grand Rapids, 
and socially they stand very high in Walker 
township circles. 




ORRIS HAAS, wholesale and retail 
butcher, of Sparta, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of Ohio, was born 
March 26, 1859, and is ason of Rob- 
ert and Catherine (Dayhoff) Haas, natives of 
Germany, to whose marriage four children 
were born. | 

Robert Haas was a farmer by vocation, 
and on coming.to America followed his calling 
a few years in Ohio, and then came to Michi- 
gan and purchased a farm in Ottawa county • 1 
in 1859, and there passed the remainder of his 
life, dying in 1874, a respected citizen. His 
wife still survives. 

Morriss Haas worked on the home farm 
until he reached his majority, and then learned 
butchering, which he has continued to follow 
up to the present time. He does a business 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



735 



of $10,000 or over, per annum, beginning in 
Sparta in 1 886, and holding almost a monopoly 
of the trade. October 13, 1883, he was 
united in marriage with Miss Hester James, a 
daughter of David James, of Ohio, and al- 
though no children have blessed this union, 
Mr. and Mrs. Haas are rearing and properly 
educating Benny, a little son of Mrs. Mang, a 
sister of Mrs. Haas. This lady is a pious 
member of the Baptist church, while Mr. Hass 
is a Mason and an Odd Fellow. In politics 
he is a strong republican, is potent in the lo- 
cal councils of his party, but has never sought 
office as a reward for his devotion to its inter- 
ests. As a business man he stands conspicu- 
ously among the most substantial in Sparta, 
and his honesty or integrity has never yet 
been questioned. He owns a pleasant and 
comfortable dwelling in the village, which he 
purchased the year of his arrival here, and its 
doors ever open to a throng of warm-hearted 
friends, who are always welcomed with genu- 
ine hospitality. 




RS. ALICE F. HAWKINS, a highly 
respected lady now residing in 
Solon township, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of England, and 
was born in Mayfield, Sussex county, May 14, 
1849, the eldest of the three children of Rob- 
ert Denzel and Elizabeth (Herschell) Brown, 
of whom Mrs. Hawkins and Helen, a sister, 
alone survive, a brother having died when 
young. Miss Helen Brown has visited Amer- 
ica, but is now living in Maidstone, Kent coun- 
ty, England, where she is teaching music, 
having been educated under private tutors and 
being an accomplished lady. 

Robert Denzel Brown, who was also a na- 
tive of Sussex county, England, was born about 
181 1 and died in 1893. He was a gentleman 
ol finished education, was a member of the 



Pharmaceutical association of Great Britian, 
made several trips to America, but always re- 
tained his home in England, and there died in 
the faith of the Established church. His wife, 
likewise a native of Mayfield, Sussex county, 
was born in 1S14, but was called away when 
Mrs. Hawkins was yet a child. Mayfield rests 
its historical interest upon the fact that it was 
the country home of Sir Thomas Gresham and 
was once honored by a visitation from Queen 
Elizabeth. 

Mrs. Hawkins was united in marriage. 
May 19, 1870, in St. Peter's church, London, 
with Henry Hawkins, M. D., a native of 
Gloucestershire. 

In the spring of 1875, Dr. Henry Hawkins 
brought his family to America, sailing from 
Liverpool to'New York. He soon after located 
at Detroit, Mich. He was a successful physi- 
cian, surgeon and druggist, and at once estab- 
lished a remunerative practice in that city. In 
the conduct of the drug store he was ably as- 
sisted by his wife, who had been especially 
well tutored by her father in pharmacy, and 
who is to-day one of the registered pharmacists 
of the state of Michigan. Dr. Hawkins was 
not only a scientific and expert physician, but 
a dignified and honorable gentleman. 

In the full vigor of manhood and while still 
in active practice, he was called away by death 
on the 9th day of March, 1890. On the 12th, 
his body was cremated according to his own 
request. He had been an earnest advocate of 
that disposition of the dead. He was honored 
by his brother professionals, bore a fine repu- 
tation as a citizen, was a devoted husband and 
an affectionate father. 

At the death of her husband, Mrs. Hawkins 
assumed charge of the entire estate and came 
to Solon township, where she lives in dignified 
retirement. 

Alice May Hawkins, the eldest child born 
to doctor and Mrs. Hawkins, has been edu- 



736 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



cated in English and German. She has taught 
school very successfully in Kent county. She 
is now deputy under Col. Sellers, postmaster 
at Cedar Springs; she and her mother are 
members of the order of the Eastern Star, 
and in religion both adhere to the Episcopal 
faith. Henry Robert Hawkins was born in 
England, educated in the English and German 
languages, and operates the home farm. His 
wife was Miss Myrtle E. Welton. In politics 
he is a republican, and fraternally is a member 
of Cedar Springs lodge, No. 213, F. & A. M., 
also of lodge No. 38 1, I. O. O. F., of the 
same place, and he and wife are likewise mem- 
bers of the Eastern Star, of Cedar Springs; 
Iden Stewart, the second son, is also an as- 
sistant in the Cedar Springs post-office. 




(3HN ANDREW HART, who since 
1870 has been an honorable citizen of 
Kent county, and a well-known gentle- 
man of Oakfield township, was born 
in Orleans, Ionia county, February i, 1S55. 
He is the eldest in a family of four children 
born to Isaac and Samantha (Collins) Hart, 
all of whom are living, two. Will and Lib 
(Mrs. \\'illiam Zellers), being residents of 
Montcalm county; Alice Cora, the fourth, is a 
widow, and resides at Durand. 

Isaac Hart was a native of Calhoun county, 
Mich., and did service in the Civil war. He 
was a member of the Sixth Michigan cavalry 
under Capt. James Kidd, and his regiment was 
assigned to the army of the Cumberland. Al- 
most at the inception of his soldier career he 
was captured by the enemy and taken to 
Andersonville prison, where he suffered the 
horrors and torture of prison life- for eleven 
months and nineteen days, when he died. 
The mother, now wife of Dwight Diefunderf, 
is living in Greenville, at the age of si.\ty-five 
vears. - 



John Andrew Hart's educational advan- 
tages were meager, his life having been one of 
constant toil. When but nine years old he 
began to work out to assist his mother, his 
father being in the army, and his ability and 
opportunities to earn a living being extremely 
limited. His mother was again married when 
John A. was seventeen, and he then began 
work for himself in lumber mills, etc., and so 
continued up to manhood. 

On December 9, 1873, Mr. Hart was 
united in marriage to Miss Lucy Wolf, and 
two children, a son and a daughter, have 
blessed this union, namely: Earnie, who has 
received a good common-school education, 
and who is now working with his father, and 
Maggie, who is a professional nurse. 

Mrs. Hart was born on the farm where she 
now resides, April 4, 1854, and her full family 
record maybe found in the life of Leon Fuller, 
of Spencer township. She received a com- 
mon-school education and has proven herself 
a true and faithful wife to her husband in 
every emergency that has confronted them. 
When they started on life's highway together 
they possessed no cash capital, but what was 
better had the will and determination to do, 
and with confidence in each other entered 
upon their duties with faithful hearts and will- 
ing hands. Securing work in a shingle-mill, 
Mr. Hart was soon forced, on account of 
sicknesss, to abandon the job. In the follow- 
ing spring he began farming as a renter, and, 
had it not been for his great energy and per- 
severance, success would have never come 
to him. His first purchase was forty acres of 
land in Spencer township, where he lived in a 
little log cabin for six years, or until 1S91, 
when he bought eighty acres in Oakfield town- 
ship, which is part of their present property, 
the homestead lying six miles west of Green- 
ville and formerly the home of Mrs. Hart's 
father and family, and settled by him some 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



737 



forty years ago. Frederick Wolf was Mrs. 
Hart's father, was one of the pioneer German 
citizens and was an honorable, high-minded 
man. His death occurred April 27, iSgt, as 
the result of an injury received a few days pre- 
vious while hitching a span of spirited horses 
to a wagon. Sometime thereafter John A. 
Hart purchased the Wolf homestead and has 
converted it into a highly productive and re- 
muneiative property. 

To-day Mr. Hart is the owner of 140 acres 
of land, including the homestead where they 
live, wilh some of the best improvements in 
the township. The spring of 1899 he erected 
one" of the finest and most commodious 
barns in the county, with dimensions 40 x 50 
X16, with gravel roof, and stone basement 
nine feet deep. It is all conveniently arranged 
with suitable stalls for horses and cattle and 
ample storage capacity for potatoes, or other 
products. The building is well ventilated and 
in every respect is a model of convenience. 
The residence is also comfortable and conveni- 
ent, and the entire estate stands free from debt 
or mortgage, standing as a monument to the 
determination, industry and economy of a most 
worthy couple. 

Politically, Mr. Hart is a republican and 
cast his initiatory presidential vote for Ruther- 
ford B. Hayes. Officially he is district school 
treasurer, and has been such for three years. 
In his fraternal relations he is identified with 
the Oakfield arbor. No. 345, Ancient Order of 
Gleaners. Mrs. Hart is a member of the 
Baptist church. 



IDNEY W. HASKIN, proprietor for 
two years of a combined grocery, 
baker}' and meat market in the vil- 
lage of Ada, was born at Elkhart, 
Indiana, July 30, 1846. He is a son of Sydney 
and Lenora (Mott) Haskjn, who were the 



M 



parents of five children. The father was by 
calling a farmer, first in Vermont, for he was 
a native of that state, whence he moved to 
Indiana, settling about six miles from Goshen 
and finally locating in Cass county, Mich., in 
the year 1847, where for many years he was 
engaged in farming. At present he is residing 
at Niles, Mich. 

Sydney W. Haskin was reared on the farm 
in Cass county. He secured his educational 
discipline in the common schools of his native 
state, and also prepared himself for the prac- 
tical duties of life by devoting his attention 
for some time to work at the trade of carpen- 
ter, with which he had become familiar when 
quite young. 

In 1865, being then eighteen years of age, 
he enlisted in the Fiftieth Michigan volunteers, 
which regiment was assigned to Sherman's 
command, and took part in the last actions of 
the war. At the close of the Civil war he was 
honorably discharged. During his career in 
the army he was injured in the stomach, from 
which wound he has ever been greatly 
impaired. Soon after the war he took up the 
trade of carpenter and builder, in which, to- 
gether with farming, he has been engaged for 
many years. In his business he has been one 
of the foremost, and has contracted for the 
erection of many of the best buildings about 
Ada, where he has resided for fourteen years. 

On May 26, 1867, Sydney W. Haskirr was 
united in marriage to Martha F. Whiteman. 
To this marriage there have been born ten 
children, of whom eight survive. These are 
Nellie, wife of Joseph Lester, of Ada; Kit, 
wife of Albert Quay, of Ada; Mamie; Fred, 
who is a teacher in Kent county; Mabel, 
Altie, Georgie, and Vernie. The two that 
have died are Belle and Ella May. 

Fraternally Mr. Haskin is a Mason, and 
also a member of Ada lodge, No. 480, I. O. 
O. F. In these fraternities he is in good 



738 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



standing and is considered a useful brother, as 
he is endowed with good judgment and busi- 
ness quaUfications. 

As a business man he stands in the front 
rank and is high in the esteem of his friends. 
PoHticaliy he is an uncompromising adherent 
to the principles of the republican party. 
The religious association of Mr. Haskin and 
family is with the M. E. church, in which he 
is sincerly respected by each and every mem- 
ber. Mr. Haskin has had a commendable 
and industrious career, and is deserving of 
success and esteem. 




DWIN HAYWARD, the well-known 
young and enterprising agriculturist 
and miller, of Tyrone township, Kent 
county, is a son of Edwin and Alice 
(Johnson) Hayward, is a native of Muskegon 
county, Mich., was born July ii, 1873, and 
is the eldest of a family of seven children, four 
of whom are living, viz: Mr. Hayward, of this 
biography; Clara, wife of John Amundson, a 
merchant and resident of Beloit, Wis. ; Benie, 
an agriculturist residing in Muskegon county, 
and Hunter, who lives with his mother just 
across the road from where the subject of this 
sketch resides. 

The father, a very prominent and success- 
ful man in his day, was born in New York in 
1819 and died on the 2nd of September, 1895. 
He was educated in the common schools of his 
native state and spent most of his life as a 
lumberman in Michigan, to which state he 
came in i860, a poor man. His energy and 
industry, nevertheless, gained for him quite a 
recompense. He died on the old homestead, 
which he had made by his own toil. Polit- 
ically he was a follower at first of the green- 
back party, and later in life became a demo- 
crat, in the support of which party he was very 
ardent. He died in the high esteem and re- 



spect of all who knew him. The mother is a 
native of Michigan and is still living at the age 
of forty-five years. 

Edward Hayward, subject of this sketch, 
was reared in Muskegon county to agricult- 
ural pursuits, although he was by nature a 
mechanic. He was educated in the graded 
schools of Casnovia, and lived with his parents 
until his majority, when he commenced life 
with the capital he had accumulated by work- 
ing his father's farm on shares. 

On the 5th day of June, 1895, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Minnie Orlop, and 
to this union two sons have been born: Gerald, 
aged three years, and Harold. Mrs. Hayward 
was born in Ada township, Kent county, 
Mich., March 27, 1872. She received her ed- 
ucation also in the Casnovia graded schools. 
She was reared in Kent county and her par- 
ents are still living at Casnovia. 

Politically, Mr. Hayward is a free-silver 
democrat, and strongly endorses that policy, 
having cast his first presidential vote for the 
distinguished and brilliant young statesman. 
William Jennings Bryan. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hayward are educated peo- 
ple and are interested in education. They 
live honest and upright lives and "do as they 
would be done by." 

In 1896 Mr. Hayward established the 
present farm and home on sections No. 30 and 
31. At this date, he, having an interest in the 
estate, bought out the remaining heirs and 
now is the owner of 120 acres of good land, 
ninety acres of which is tillable soil. 

In 1897 he built his milling plant, which 
is in operation the entire year. All classes of 
feed and corn are ground, beside the manu- 
facture of crates and boxes for peaches and 
potatoes, etc. He has recently erected one of 
the most beautiful and attractive residences in 
Tyrone township. It is a two-story building, 
built after a modern style of architecture. 



Mi 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



r39 



Both stories are magnificently and artistically 
finished and provided with modern improve- 
ments. Both the residence and milling plant 
have been erected by Mr. Hayward, and fur- 
thermore are free from mortgage or debt. 
They stand to manifest the industry, persever- 
ance and success of Mr. Hayward, the enter- 
prising and highly esteemed citizen of T3rone 
township. 



OHN HEADLEY.— Among the sub- 
stantial citizens who became identified 
with the industrial interests of Kent 
county in the early 'si.xties, and with 
the passing years aided in the development 
and improvement of the township of Ada, is 
the gentleman whose name appears at the 
head of this biographical review. He is one 
of the four children born to Chalion and 
Elizabeth (Davenport) Headley, both natives 
of New Jersey. Chalion Headley was a skilled 
worker in iron. He followed the vocation of 
blacksmith for a number of years, accumulat- 
ing in the meantime considerable wealth, 
which he judiciously invested in real estate, 
principally farm lands. He died in the year 
1854 in Yates county, N. Y. 

John Headley was born in Sussex county, 
N. J., October 6, 1822, and received a 
limited education in the early schools o"^f 
Steuben county, N. Y., where he grew to 
manhood. About the beginning of the late 
Civil war became to Michigan, settling first in 
Cascade township, and two years later re- 
moving to Ada township, where he engaged 
in farming and lumbering, and where he has 
since resided. He brought with him but 
limited means, which he later invested in 
lands, and was soon engaged in agriculture on 
quite an e.xtensive scale in Ada township. Dur- 
ing the war he became interested in lumber- 
ing for some years. He would buy timber, 



cut it off, and send it to the Muskegon mills. 
He continued as a contractor, cutting for 
others for upwards of twenty years. Some 
years his business assumed large proportions — 
as much as 12,000,000 feet per annum— and 
he has cut in all not much short of 100,000,- 
000 feet. He was one of the best-known 
lumbermen, and while able to attend person- 
ally to the business invariably met with finan- 
cial success. 

In January, 1896, Mr. Headley was ap- 
pointed superintendent of the county poor, 
with an office and residence at Grand Rapids, 
and for a period of three years discharged his 
official duties to the entire satisfaction of the 
public. Returning to Ada at the expiration 
of his official term, Mr. Headley has since re- 
sided where he now lives and has borne his 
full share in the development of the country, 
materially and otherwise. He has filled the 
office of supervisor seven terms, a fact which 
attests his popularity with the people, and fre- 
quently he has been requested to accept other 
positions, all of which he has declined. 

Public spirited in the true sense of the 
term, Mr. Headley is entirely without osten- 
tation, and is always foremost in support of 
any movement calculated to prove of public 
benefit, but has never aspired to leadership in 
mattefs political. He is a strong republican — 
in fact, a "wheel horse" of the party in Ada 
township, and much of its success in many 
campaigns is largely due to his wise counsel 
and active management. Mr. Headley stands 
high in Masonry, having taken a number of 
degrees, including that of Sir Knight, and for 
over thirty years has been identified with the 
order. 

Mr. Headley has been twice married — the 
first time to Miss Jane Hull, daughter of Na- 
thaniel Hull, of New York, a union which re- 
sulted in the birth of eight children, namely: 
Hiram (deceased), George, MalvinaD., Frank, 



740 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Fred (also deceased), Moses and Mary, the 
last two being twins. 

Mrs. Headley died June ii, 1879. The 
second marriage was solemnized September 
20, 1890, with Mrs. Marion Frazier, widow of 
the late Ira G. Frazier, who died in the year 
1880. She was formerly Miss Marion But- 
trick, daughter of Charles B. Buttrick, of New 
York and later of Michigan, the family re- 
moving to this state in 1S37 and settling in 
Ada township, where she was born. By her 
former husband Mrs. Headley is the mother 
of two children — Ira Grant Frazier and Charles 
Nelson Frazier — but the latter marriage is 
without issue. 

As already stated, Mr. Headley is one of 
the prosperous men of Ada township, and 
throughout a long and useful life has been 
true to every duty of citizenship and foremost 
in every laudable enterprise. He has followed 
the peaceful pursuit of agriculture and the 
raising of live stock, and his well-directed 
efforts have yielded him satisfactory financial 
returns. As a friend, no man can be truer; 
as a neighbor, there never was a better, and 
as a citizen he deserves to be denominated an 
honest and straightforward gentlemen of the 
old school. 



EORGE HEMSLEY, one of the most 
respected citizens of Tyrone town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., was born 
near the town of Maidstone, Kent 
count}', England, January 30, 1841, and is the 
only living child, and the second, in order of 
birth, of the family of three sons and one 
daughter that crowned the marriage of Will- 
iam and Sophia (Bridger) Hemsley; the par- 
ents are now deceased, the mother having 
died in England. 

In the fall of 1849, William Hemsley and 
his young son, George, sailed from London 



(about thirty-six miles distant from Maid- 
stone), and after a not unpleasant voyage 
landed in New York city, although the boy 
was seasick the greater part of the trip. The 
father settled near the city of Ithaca, N. Y., 
where he passed the remainder of his life as a 
horticulturist, and died a member of the 
Episcopal church. 

George Hemsley, at the early age of fifteen 
years, undertook the task of earning a living 
for himself, and started in, as a farm laborer, 
in Steuben county, N. Y. , at the meager pay 
of $8 per month, and the next year worked at 
the same rate, thus beginning at the foot of 
the hill, at the summit of which stands the 
temple of Fortune. His education was of the 
common-school type, and most of his knowl- 
edge has been acquired through self-tuition 
and keen observation of men and events. 

Mr. Hemsley lived in New York state until 
the winter of 1864-65, when he aided in 
stretching the line of telegraph from Chicago, 
111., to St. Louis, on the C. & A. R. R., and in 
the latter year Came to Tyrone township, 
Kent county, Mich., and worked in the saw- 
mills at Casnovia for almost three years. In 
1868 he purchased eighty acres of woodland 
in section No. 32. He cleared ten acres of 
this tract and then sold, buying 120 acres in 
section No. 31, of which sixty acres were 
cleared off, and here erected a cabin in antici- 
pation of going to housekeeping. 

October 18, 1869, Mr. Hemsley married 
Miss Lucinda Aikin at Ithaca, N. Y., and to 
this union have been born two children, both 
boys, but only one of whom is now living — 
George Earl, who in 1897, graduated from 
the Kent City public schools and in Septem- 
ber, 1898, entered the Ferris Industrial school 
at Big Rapids, and is now a member of the 
F. & A. M. lodge at Sparta. Mrs. Lucinda 
Hemsley was born November 14, 1844, the 
youngest of the seven children in the family 




AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



741 



of John and Deborah Ann (Hunt) Aikin, but 
of whom four only now survive, viz: Delilah, 
widow of Isaac Creamer, of Dryden, N. Y. ; 
Joseph, a farmer of Ithaca, N. Y. , and mar- 
ried; Elizabeth, wife of Philip R. Snyder, 
also of Dryden, and Mrs. Hemsley. 

John Aikin, grandfather of Mrs. Lucinda 
Hemsley, and a weaver of fine linen, was a 
soldier of the Revolutionary war, married 
Elizabeth Jewel, July 22, 1808, and died 
December 5, i82[. His son John, the 
father of Mrs. Hemsley, was born in New 
York September 22, 1809, received a collegi- 
ate education, and was qualified for the prac- 
tice of medicine and surgery, but preferred 
the .following of agriculture. In politics he 
was a Jeffersonian democrat. His wife was 
born in central New York April 19, 18 16, and 
died May 18, 1877, a member of the Method- 
ist Episcopal church. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Hemsley began house- 
keeping Kent City was not known, and Cas- 
novia contained only two stores, one tavern 
and a blacksmith shop, and the nearest church 
was seven miles distant from their cabin. 
They were $3,500 in debt, but the}' have paid 
off this large sum and have, beside, erected a 
brick residence and improved the farm with 
substantial farm-buildings, and so cultivated it 
that it is now unexcelled in appearance and 
intrinsic value by any farm of its dimensions 
in the township, and is entirely free from 
indebtedness. 

In politics Mr. Hemsley is a democrat, 
and cast his first presidential vote for George 
B. McClellan. He has himself been fre- 
quently called upon to represent his fellow- 
townsmen in district and county conventions, 
has three times been elected a member of the 
board of supervisors, and has also filled the 
office of township treasurer. He is a warm 
advocate of the public-school system, and 
believes in employing the best instructors. 



Fraternally he is a member of Lisbon lodsre. 
No. 229, F. & A. M., and of Kent chapter. 
No. 106, at Sparta. Mr. and Mrs. Hemsley 
are members of the Baptist church at Kent 
City, to the support of which they freely con- 
tribute, and have been instrumental financially 
in aiding the erection of other churches in the 
northwest portion of Kent county. Their 
handsome brick residence, erected in 1882, is 
situated one and a quarter miles northwest of 
Kent City and one and three-quarter miles 
southeast of Casnovia, and is the abode of a 
genuine hospitality, which is freely e.xtended 
to the numerous sincere friends who have 
gathered around them within the thirty-four 
years of their residence in T3rone township, as 
well as to the occasional wayfarer, and no fam- 
ily in the county enjoys a larger share of the 
esteem of the citizens than does that of Mr. 
and Mrs. Hemsley. 




ICHARD E. HEFFRON, engaged in 
business on one of the principal cor- 
ners in Lowell village, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of Kent county, and 
is a son of James and Katherine (Gicles) Hef- 
fron, parents of twelve children, of whom ten 
still survive, as one died in infancy, unnamed, 
and one, Georgia, died at the age of eleven 
years. The father followed the vocation of 
farming in his native state of Michigan for 
many years, and still manages his farm in a 
general way, but has withdrawn from active 
labor. 

Richard E. Heffron was born July 31, 
1868, was educated in the common schools 
and reared on his father's farm, on which he 
made his home until twenty-two years of age, 
when he entered the employ of Hawkins & 
Co., wholesale grocers, in Grand Rapids, 
served one year, and was then employed in 
the city fire department, with which he re- 



742 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



niained about one year. In 1896 he opened 
his present business place in Lowell, and his 
affable address and accommodating disposi- 
tion have secured him a liberal patronage. 

Mr. Heffron was united in marriage April 
18, 1893, to Miss Catherine Malone, a daugh- 
ter of Michael and Mary N. (Roe) Malone, of 
Grattan township, Kent county, and this mar- 
riage has been blessed with one child, Emmett, 
born January 20, 1894. The family are strict 
members of St. Mary's church, at Lowell, to 
the support of which they liberally contribute. 
In politics Mr. Heffron is an ardent democrat, 
and cast his first presidential vote for Grover 
Cleveland, but takes no very active part in 
politics as a general rule, although he is very 
popular and is one of the rising young busi- 
ness men of the village. 

Mrs. Heffron was born in Grattan town- 
ship, Kent countj', and she and husband were 
confirmed by Bishop Richter in St. Patrick's 
parish. Mrs. Heffron was educated in the pub- 
lic schools of Grattan, and at the Ferris Indus- 
trial institute at Big Rapids, and later was a 
successful teacher in Kent county. Her par- 
ents, Michael and Mary N. (Roe) Malone, had 
a family of three sons and daughters, of whom 
four are still livfng — two in Washington, and 
two in Michigan. The father, now deceased, 
was a member of St. Patrick's parish, and 
aided in the erection of its beautiful church 
edifice. 




OHN G. HESSLER, an energetic and 
prosperous farmer as well as ex-super- 
visor of Grattan township, Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., was born in Cuyahoga 
county, Ohio, December 28, 1854, being the 
second of eight children born to Gottlieb and 
Barbara (Zimmerman) Hessler, of whom, be- 
sides the subject, the following still survive: 
Henry C, the well known hardware merchant 



at Rockford; Wesley F. , the popular druggist 
and president of the town council at the same 
place; George, a prosperous farmer located in 
Courtland township; Dr. Wm. Hessler, also 
of Rockford and a graduate of the Detroit 
Medical college; and Mary, the wife of Byron 
Smith, a resident of Courtland township. 

The Hessler parents came from Witten- 
berg, Germany, about 1S48, and in 1862 came 
from Ohio to Kent county, Mich., where they 
purchased a tract of land in Courtland town- 
ship, and in Rockford occurred the death of 
the father in 1894. He was a man very suc- 
cessful in life, held the highest regard of his 
fellow-citizens, and at his death was independ- 
ently wealthy. Mother Hessler now resides 
with her daughter in Courtland at the age of 
seventy-four years. 

John G. Hessler was a lad of eight }-ears 
when he became a resident of Kent count}-, 
near Lappenville, now known as Rockford. 
Here he was reared to manhood, and under 
some disadvantages received a practical edu- 
cation. Until twenty years of age he remained 
under the parental roof, and at his majority 
had the sum of $150, which was to serve as 
the foundation of his life's work. His life has 
been one of industry and energy, devoted for 
the greatest part to agricultural pursuits. He 
married Miss Emma J. Baldwin, of Courtland 
township, on April 12, 1877, and two children 
have blessed this union — William H. F., and 
Lillian Maude. The former completed the 
tenth grade of the common schools at Grattan, 
and is now a student of the Ferris institute at 
Big Rapids. The latter was also graduated from 
the Grattan schools and has taken instruction 
in instrumenral music. Fraternally, she is a 
member of the Grattan grange and of the 
Bachelor Girls' club, an organization instituted 
in 1898, wnth the object of advancing \oung 
ladies educationally and socially. 

Mrs. Hessler was born in Ontario county, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



r43 



N. Y., September 21, 1857, and is a daughter 
of William and Susan (Rose) Baldwin, pioneers 
of Courtland township. Mr. Baldwin died 
October i, 1899, having survived his wife 
three years. Mrs. Hessler came with her par- 
ents to Kent county when ten years old, and 
was here educated. Mr. Hessler is one of the 
men who began life with comparatively noth- 
ing. For some time he rented farms in Court- 
land and Cannon, and later, in 1S85, went 
$1,600 in debt to purchase his present farm, his 
wife owning half of it. He now owns 140 acres 
in sections 22 and 23, of Grattan township, un- 
burdened by debt or mortgage. The farm is 
well known as the late residence of Asa W. 
Slayton, who improved it from the wilderness. 

Mr. Hessler in politics is a true republican, 
and has been prominent in his township as an 
official. In 1891 he was elected treasurer and 
re-elected in 1892. Three years later he was 
made supervisor, and subsequently re-elected, 
filling the oflice with honor and credit both to 
himself and township. Fraternally, he is a 
member of the following orders: Ancient 
Order of Gleaners, No. 173, at Grattan, the 
Grattan grange, and the "Good Fellowship 
club," at Grattan. 

In addition to farming, he handles fruit, 
wool, etc., and has about twenty-five acres of 
fruit on the farm. He enjoys an annual out- 
ing with gun and companions to the hunting 
grounds of the state, and never misses a game 
of base-ball. 



iM 



YLVESTER P. HICKS, of Lowell, is an 
e.x-soldier of the great Rebellion, and 
a successful member of the Kent coun- 
ty bar. His parents were John H. 
and Jane (Winegar) Hicks, both natives of 
New York. They came to Michigan a number 
of years ago, locating on a farm near Rome, 



where the mother died November 30, 1879, 
and the father in March, 1S81. 

Sylvester P. Hicks was born and reared on 
a farm, attended the common schools at in- 
tervals during his minority, and for a period of 
nine years followed educational work, the 
greater part of the time as principal of the 
schools of Lowell. While engaged in teach- 
ing he devoted his leisure hours to a careful 
study of the law and also employed his vaca- 
tions in adding to his legal knowledge under 
the direction of capable instructors. At the 
breaking out of the late Civil war, Mr. Hicks 
proffered his services to the country, enlisting 
in April, 18G1, in company I, Second Michigan 
infantry, in which he served until August of 
the year following, when he re-enlisted in com- 
pany L, Fifth Michigan volunteers. He served 
with the latter until honorably discharged, by 
reason of disability, April 22, 1863, and in Au- 
gust, 1864, entered the United States navy, in 
which he continued till the close of the war. 
Mr. Hicks' military and naval record was 
marked by service well and faithfully per- 
formed, and in all his varied experience in 
upholding the honor of the government his 
conduct was that of a patriot who offered him- 
self a sacrifice upon the altar of duty. 

Mr. Hicks began the active practice of the 
legal profession at Lowell in 1877, and since 
that date his business has continued to increase 
until he now has a large and satisfactory cli- 
entele. In addition to general practice in the 
courts, he is largely interested in real "estate, 
insurance and loans, his transactions in these 
lines bringing him in contact with business men 
throughout Kent and adjoining counties, and 
retu!ning a liberal income. 

Professionally Mr. Hicks has met with well 
deserved success, and socially few citizens of 
Lowell stand as-high in public esteem. He is 
a local leader of the republican party, to the 
success of which he has in many ways contrib- 



744 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



uted; and any enterprise for advancing the 
welfare of his community is sure to enlist his 
interest and hearty support. He is a member 
of lodge No. 90, F. & A. M., Hooker chapter, 
No. yi, R. A. M. , and De Molai commandery, 
No. 5, at Grand Rapids; he is also a Forester, 
beside being an active worl<er in Joseph Wil- 
son post. No. 87, G. A. R., at Lowell. 

Mr. Hicks is married but has no children; 
his wife was formerly Miss Emma Dwight, 
daughter of Samuel Dwight, of Massachusetts. 




(3HN HILL, late deputy postmaster at 
the Michigan Soldiers' home and an 
ex-soldier, whose war history is well 
worthy of preservation, was born in 
Geneseo, Li.vingston county, N. Y., August 
13, 1843, and is a son of Joseph and Sophia 
Hill, natives of France. The father, a sailor, 
followed the ocean many years, and died in 
Grand Rapids, at the ripe age of ninety-four 
years; the mother died when the subject was 
a child, but the father never remarried. The | 
family is now composed of the subject and 
three sisters, all the latter having been mar- 
ried to soldiers, and named Emily Carson, 
Susan Gummer (whose husband was a lieuten- 
ant) and Mary J. Warner — the last two being 
■ widows. 

John Hill, the subject of this sketch, came 
to Michigan when he was but thirteen jears 
old, and his father came with his family some 
few years later. John was well educated in the 
common-schools and spent his early years on 
a farm. At the outbreak of the Civil war, in 
1861, he offered his services to the govern- 
ment, but being a minor and his family being 
loth to part with him, was refused admission 
into the army. A year later, however, he was 
accepted as a member of companj' I, Fifth 
Michigan cavalry, and was assigned to the 
army of the Potomac. He was under Custer 



as brigade commander, and Kilpatrick as com- 
mander of the corps, and took part in the bat- 
tle of Gettysburg — the first really large fight 
in which his regiment was engaged, but not 
the last. 

In the spring of 1S64, a body of 500 men 
was selected to go on a perilous raid in the 
rear of the Rebel army, and instructed to burn 
Richmond, if possible. Mr. Hill was a mem- 
ber of this body, which was under the com- 
mand of Col. Dahlgren, a nephew of the com- 
modore of the same name. He was a fearless 
leader and well fitted to command an expedi- 
tion of this character. The men were equally 
fearless and daring. The had several severe 
engagements on a forced march, covering more 
than a hundred miles through the enemy's 
country, and three days after leaving Ger- 
mania Ford, on the Rapidan river, they were 
surrounded by a large force of Rebel cavalry 
at Kings and Queens Court House, \'a., and 
of the original 500 but sixty-four remained to 
be captured, and of these Mr. Hill was one. 
Some few escaped capture, but of these few 
the majority had been either killed or wounded, 
during the preceding three days' terrible war- 
fare. The}' had done incalculable damage to 
the enemy's cause by cutting off communica- 
tion, destroying bridges, burning mills, etc. 
The gallant leader, Dahlgren, was killed, and 
his body horribly mutilated by the enraged 
victors. The sixty-four captured men were 
taken to Richmond, where they were informed 
that they would not be cnnsidered as prisoners 
of war, but as pirates or robbers. They were 
drawn up in line, jeered at and abused byciti-' 
zens as well as soldiers, and hourly expected 
to be either shot or hanged. However, in- 
formation had reached Federal headquarters 
of their plight, and the Confederates were 
warned that retaliation would be made, man 
for man, of Rebel prisoners in the hands of 
the Union forces, if these sixty-four men were 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



745 



executed. The Confederate authorities heeded 
this warning, and so held their captives as 
prisoners of war. 

For nearly ten months, Mr. Hill suffered 
in Libby prison, the Pemberton building, and 
on Belle Isle, and when liberated his weight 
had been reduced from i8o pounds to ninety. 
The prisoners were infected with small-pox 
and were vaccinated with vitiated virus, which 
produced blood-poisoning, from which Mr. 
Hill has ever since suffered, and for this reason 
has been granted a pension. Mr. Hill was 
eventually paroled as being among those in- 
capacitated for further active service, and of 
500 men who were exchanged at the same ! 
time, I 50 died on the way to the transport, 
which was to convey them to Annapolis, and I 
on reaching that city they were placed in , 
"paroled camp" until the spring of 1865. Mr. 
Hill was then assigned to duty in the invalid 
corps, but objected, and was finally returned 
to his regiment, with which he served in the 
closing campaign of the war, and was with 
Sheridan at the battles of Five Forks, Din- 
widdle court house, and Appamattox, and 
was honorably discharged at Fort Leaven- 
worth, I\ans., June 23, 1865. 

On returning to Allegan, Mich., where he 
had enlisted, Mr. Hill engaged in farming, in 
1868, and followed the vocation ten years. 
He next was employed as a salesman of sew- 
ing machines and musical instruments at Fre- 
mont, Mich., for eleven years, and then took 
up his residence in Grand Rapids to enter the 
employ of Huntley Russell, late postmaster at 
the Soldiers' home. Mr. Hill now lives re- 
tired at Plainfield village. 

Mr. Hill has been twice married. He first 
wedded in 1872, Margaret McMickin, with 
whom he passed twenty years of happy 
married, life. She died in Petoskey, Mich., 
leaving one child, Joseph Burton, who is in 
the employ of C. C. Comstock, of Grand 



Rapids. The second marriage of Mr. Hill 
took place in 1897 to Mrs. Catherine Blake, 
who was born in Victor, N. Y., and who came 
to Michigan eleven years since. 

Mr. Hill is a member of the G. A. R., and 
I. O. O. F., and also of the Order of Chosen 
Friends. In politics he has been a life-long 
republican. He is greatly respected for his 
many personal merits, and no one who knows 
of his military record can fail to honor him. 




OWLAND S. HILL.— A native of the 
county in which he now resides and a 
son of a family whose history was 
identified with the state in days of 
earlier and simple style of living, is possessed 
of a fine farm in Alpine township, where he is 
known as a prominent agriculturist. He was 
born June 24, 1864, and was the first child of 
James and Mary Ann (Snowden) Hill. 

James Hill was a native of England, born 
on the 21st day of August, 1835, and when a 
boy of sixteen years went with a brother John 
to Canada. He was a mason by trade, and 
with his brother, John Hill, worked at the 
trade in Grand Rapids. About 1S63 he set- 
tled on his present farm, having married the 
daughter of the then owner, whom -he met 
when he plastered the new house, which is the 
present residence. Here he cleared up a farm 
from the wilds of the country and here resid- 
ed until the year 1895, at which date he re- 
moved to the city of Grand Rapids and is now 
residing at 153 Scribner St. The mother was 
a native of Brooklyn, N. Y., born November 
29, 1839, and came to Michigan with her par- 
ents, James and Ann (Pratt) Snowden, who 
located in Alpine township in 1842, and cleared 
up the farm. They both died here at sixty- 
four and seventy-two, respectively. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hill are the parents of three 



r46 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



children: Rowland S., Annie E., the wife of 
Pearly C. Brown, and Carrie May, who died 
at eighteen. 

Rowland S. Hill, the subject, has spent 
all of his life on the homestead, with the ex- 
ception of the time consumed in making a tour 
of the west, which occurred when he was quite 
young. On May 9, 1895, he married Miss 
Carrie Denison, a daughter of William H. and 
Mary (Ganoe) Denison, both natives of Kent 
county and born in the years 1848 and 1851, 
respectively. He and his stepmother reside 
in Sparta. Her mother died in 1894. 

Politically, Mr. Hill is a supporter of the 
democratic party, and socially he and wife are 
members of the Alpine grange. Mrs. Hill is 
very devout in her connection with the Bap- 
tist church. The farm now consists of 160 
acres, about thirty acres in fruit. 




HOMPSOX HILL, of Plainfield town- 
ship, Kent county, is a native of Eng- 
land, born in Lincolnshire, July 13, 
1823. His ancestors from remote 
generations were honest English yeomen, and 
with the exception of himself but few of his 
immediate family have ever visited American 
soil. The father of the subject of this sketch 
was Thomas Hill, who lived and died in Lin- 
colnshire, and the mother, whose maiden name 
was Susan Thompson, also spent her life on 
her native heath, and now rests beside her 
companion in the old ancestral burying- 
ground. At the age of thirteen, Thompson 
Hill left the paternal roof and began life's 
struggle for himself as a farm laborer, and was 
thus employed until his twenty-eighth year, 
when, thinking to better his condition in a 
country which held out more encouragements 
to a young man than did Britain, he started 
for the United States, and landed in New York 



after an uneventful voyage of twenty-six days' 
duration. From that city Mr. Hill proceeded 
to S3"racuse where he was variously employed 
for four years, and at the end of that time 
started farther west. After considerable roam- 
ing he finally reached Kent county, Mich., 
1855, and being pleased with the country in 
Gaines township, wisely concluded to make it 
his future home. He purchased a tract of wood- 
land, and with nothing but an ax and his good 
right arm, backed by a well-formed determin- . 
ation to succeed, he immediately began felling 
the giant timber and clearing away the dense 
undergrowth, and within a comparatively short 
time had a few acres fitted for cultivation and 
a log dwelling erected. In March, 1874, became 
to his present farm in Plainfield township, 
upon which he has ever since resided. The orig- 
inal dwelling long ago gave place to a more 
comfortable and commodious modern struct- 
ure. He has about sixty acres in cultivation, 
about one-half devoted to peaches and plums. 
The farm lies in the heart of the choicest 1 
fruit region of Kent county, seven miles north- 
east of the city of Grand Rapids. 

On April 3, 1859, Mr. Hill and Miss Eliz- 
abeth Oppeneer became husband and wife, a ' 
union resulting in the birth of eight children, 
all of whom have reached years of maturity 
and are now fighting life's battle for themselves: 
J. Frederick; Fanny Maria; Mary Cordelia; 
Phebe Adelaide, Peter V., James Ruben, Nina 
Susannah and Orpha Maude. They lost one j 
son, Oscar, in his third year. Mrs. Hill is a 
native of Holland but was brought to the United 
States in early childhood, hence by long resi- ' 
dence and habit is thoroughly Americanized. 
" She has been in the true sense of the term a 
helpmeet to her husband, " sharing his joys and 
sorrows, encouraging him with kind words 
and wise counsel and now in life's decline 
is to enjoying with him the fruits of 
their long years of labor and the rest which 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



r47 



comes to those who have so faithfully borne 
their part in the long; and arduous strugg;le. 

For many years Mr. Hill has been an active 
participant in the Patrons of Husbandry and 
is now a member of Peach Grove grange. In 
politics he is a democrat of the most orthodox 
t^'pe, but never permits his partisan zeal to 
becloud his judgment in the matter of local 
candidates, always supporting the man whom 
he considers best fitted for office. He keeps fully 
abreast of the times on all questions of polit- 
ical or public nature, and has well formed and 
decided opinions pertaining thereto, which he 
does not hesitate to express, when occasions 
demand expression. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hill 
are religious in the larger sense of exemplify- 
ing their by daily lives the Golden Rule, but 
neither is identified with any church. They 
stand ever ready with influence and material 
support to further any good work, religious or 
otherwise, and none in the community have 
!i\ed more upright and blamelese lives than 
have this good old couple. Possessed of ample 
means to render his declining years comfort- 
able and retaining to a marked degree his 
faculties, mental and physical, Mr. Hill bids 
fair to reach a green old age, and makes the 
future as he has the past redound to the best 
interest of the community and his fellow 
man. 




ARTIN N. HINE, ex-postmaster of 
Lowell, Kent county, Mich., and 
one of its brightest business meri, 
is a native of Delaware county, 
X. v., was born November 15, 1829, and a 
son of Demas and Sallie (Noble) Hine, who 
were the parents of three children. 

Demas Hine, father of subject, was born 
in Connecticut in August, 1804, and was reared 
a farmer, and later became a physician of 
some eminence, and died April 25, 1872, 



while in practice at the town of Cannon, Kent 
county, ^^ich., where he had resided since 
1845. His wife, also a native of Connecticut, 
was born August 15, 1802, and died August 
28, 1889. 

Martin N. Hine received as good an edu- 
cation as the common schools of his early 
days afforded, and assisted on the home farm 
until the departure of his parents for the west. 
He learned the carpenter's trade in New York at 
the age of eighteen years, and then joined his 
father in Michigan in 1847, and here con- 
tinued working at his trade — chiefly erecting 
buildings — for three years. In 1852 went to 
California, worked two years, and in 1855 set- 
tled in Lowell, followed house building until 
the summer of 1861, and in the fall of the 
same year embarked in the drug business, but 
sold out in 1866. His next venture was in 
the dry-goods trade, which he conducted until 
appointed, in 1 871, as receiver for a nursery 
firm which had gone into bankruptcy. While 
thus officiating he also served as assistant 
cashier of the Lowell National bank, of which 
he finally became the president, but this 
moneyed institution closed its business in 
1888. He then became secretary of the Lowell 
Furniture company, which position he effi- 
ciently filled until 1890, in the fall of which 
year he went to Washington territory, where 
he filled the position of secretary of the Aber- 
deen Electric Light company and assistant 
cashier of the Aberdeen bank. In the latter 
part of 1892 he returned to Lowell, was ap- 
pointed cashier and general bookkeeper of the 
Sault de Ste Marie mill, and ably filled that 
double position until the fall of 1894, when 
he was appointed as a democrat to the posi- 
tion of postmaster of Lowell, the duties of 
which office he assumed January i, 1895. 

Mr. Hine was first united in marriage, in 
1855, with Miss Lucy J. Tilden, and to this 
union were born three children — George T. , 



r48 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Frank W. and Nellie J. Mrs. Lucy J. (Til- 
den) Hine passed away August i8, 1881, 
and February 28, 1SS3, Mr. Hine married 
Miss Rozetta A. Coleman, but this marriage 
has not been blessed with issue. Mrs. Hine, 
a most estimable lady, is a devout member of 
the Congregational church, while Mr. Hine is 
a member of the Masonic fraternity and the 
Good Templars. 

Mr. Hine, it will readily be perceived, has 
been one of the most progressive and ener- 
getic of men, and the many positions of trust, 
responsibility, honor and emolument he has 
filled clearly indicate that he is a gentleman 
of phenomenal ability. 




L F R E D S. H I N M A N, a highly 
esteemed pioneer of Sparta town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich. , has been 
a citizen or land-owner here since 
1853. He was born in Lebanon, Madison 
county, N. Y., June 24, 1826, the third in a 
family of five sons and two daughters, born to 
Noble D. and Prisilla (Smith) Hinman, of 
whom the six still surviving are named Zebu- 
Ion M., who is a retired farmer of Sparta; 
Charles, an agriculturist of Ionia county; 
Alfred S., the subject of this sketch; Colum- 
bus, of Sparta; Celina, wife of Jason Brad- 
ford, vice-president of the Sparta State bank; 
and Celestia, wife of Edwin Bradford, of 
Sparta. 

The Hinman famih- is quite an old one in 
this countr_\', three brothers of the name hav- 
ing come from England in the colonial days 
and having later taken an active part in the 
war for independence. Noble D. Hinman, 
father ot the subject of this memoir, was a 
native of the Mohawk valley, N. Y., was born 
about 1798, was reared to farming and fol- 
lowed this calling for many years in his native 



state, but finally sold his property and came 
to Kent county, Mich., and purchased a farm 
north of the village of Sparta. In politics he 
was at first an ardent whig, but on the forma- 
tion of the republican party he became one of 
its firmest adherents. He was greatly hon- 
ored for his personal merits and as a pioneer, 
and died in Sparta township in 1S72. His 
wife was a native of Massachusetts, and was 
reared in the faith of the Baptist church. 

Alfred S. Hinman was reared to farming 
in his native state, and his services were de- 
voted to his parents until he reached his 
majority, but before arriving at man's estate 
he was for some time allowed a certain pit- 
tance per month, which he carefully hoarded 
in order to purchase his "freedom" suit. 
\\'hen he began life on his own account, how- 
ever, he had no capital save his willing 
hands, and his first wages were but $7 per 
month, so that it will be seen that his suc- 
cess in life is the result of his personal indus- 
try and good management. 

Mr. Hinman was first married, in the state 
of New York, to Miss 'Martha Watros, also a 
native of the Empire state, and this union was 
favored with three sons and four daughters, of 
whom four are still living, viz: .\lice, wife of 
Frank Miller, a blacksmith by trade, but a 
farmer by occupation, and a resident of Sparta; 
Eugene, a barber by trade, married, and a 
resident of Grand Rapids; Mar}', also in Grand 
Rapids, and Ora, of the same cit)', married to 
William Drew, a mechanic. Mr. Hinman, 
ifter marriage, worked nine years on a farm 
in New York, and then came to Kent county,, 
and here his first wife died June 27, i 87 i , aged 
forty years, four months and two days. March 
28, 1872, Mr. Hinman took for his second 
wife Miss Christine Moline, who was born 
October 18, 1830, in Jonkopping, province of 
Smolen, Sweden, and was educated in her na- 
tive land by private tutors. She was baptized 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



r49 



and confirmed, at the age of fourteen years, in 
the Swedish EvangeHcal Lutheran church, and 
came to America in October, 1865, coming 
directly to Sparta via Grand Rapids. One 
child has blessed this second marriage — Her- 
son A., born July 27, 1874. He was educated 
in the common schools, is a young man of the 
strictest integrity, and the mainstay of his 
parents in their declining years. In politics 
he is a republican, and cast his first presi- 
dential vote for Mcl-iinley. 

When Mr. Hinman settled on his 120-acre 
farm in Sparta township, not an acre had been 
cleared of its heavy timber; there was not a 
railroad in the county, and when he reached 
Grand Rapids he came by coach from Battle 
Creek. Hundreds of Indians prowled around. 
He has seen teams mired in Canal street. 
Grand Rapids, almost beyond extrication, and 
as many as ten to twenty deer in a drove on 
his own farm. Sparta, now with a population 
of 1,200, then had four or five inhabitants 
only, and Jonathan E. Nash and Rodney E. 
Hastings owned all the land on which the 
present town stands. Township meeting was 
held about one mile west of this hamlet, which 
was then known as Nashville. Kent City and 
Casnovia had not, at that time, been dreamed 
of, and the settlers in Sparta township were 
compelled to go to Grand Rapids for their 
groceries, dry goods, etc., and chiefly by ox 
teams, and many a trip of this nature has been 
made by Mr. Hinman. 

In his earlier manhood Mr. Hinman was a 
whig in politics and cast his first presidential 
vote for Zachary Taylor, but when the repub- 
Hcan party was formed, chiefly from the ranks 
of the expiring whig organization, he cast his 
franchise with the new candidate for popular 
favor. He is a warm friend of public educa- 
tion, and he and wife have contributed finan- 
cially in aiding the erection of four school- 
buildings and four churches since their mar- 

30 



riage, and have thus done their share toward 
the educational and religious advancement of 
Sparta township. The Hinman farm lies four 
miles from the village of Sparta, and is now sole- 
ly under the management of Herson Hinman, 
but the credit is due to Alfred S. Hinman for 
having cleared it from the wilderness and of 
having converted it into one of the hand- 
somest, most fertile and profitable farms in the 
county. Here Mr. and Mrs. Hinman are pass- 
ing their declining years in peace and comfort, 
honored by the community and classed with 
the leading citizens of both county and town- 
ship. 




EBULON M. HINMAN, a highly re- 
spected retired farmer of Sparta- 
township, Kent county, Mich., was 
born in Lebanon, Madison county, 
N. Y. , January 12, 1822, and is a son of Noble 
and Prisilla (Smith) Hinman, natives of New 
York and Massachusetts, respectively, and of 
English descent. 

Mr. Hinman was reared to farming in his 
native state, and when but little past his 
majority came to Michigan and in 1S46 pur- 
chased 320 acres of forest land in sections Nos. 
4 and 9, Sparta township, his present place of 
residence, but of which he now retains twenty- 
five acres only. On this wild tract not a tree 
had been felled, and he first cleared a space 
on which to erect a temporary cabin of logs, 
16 X 24 feet in size, in which he lived one 
winter and summer, and then built a more 
substantial log house,- 18x24 feet. His 
existence in those days^ was passed in verita- 
ble pioneer style, accompanied by hard labor 
and makeshifts innumerable to secure the 
comforts of life, but still his life was not an 
unhappy one, notwithstanding its hardships. 
But constant work was necessary, and he was 
compelled to hew a passage through the forest 



750 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



in order to reach his nearest neighbor, and to 
find a way to reach Grand Rapids, his nearest 
market or trading post. Game, however, was 
plentiful, and nature offered many a feast 
which to-day would be esteemed as a luxury. 

In due course of time Mr. Hinman suc- 
ceeded in clearing away the forest and replac- 
ing it with fruitful fields, and his rude log cabin 
has given place to a modern dwelling. He 
has witnessed during his useful life in this 
country changes that would rival a story in 
the Arabian Nights' Entertainments, and in 
these wonderful changes he has been a potent 
factor. Of his large farm he retains, as has 
been stated, twenty-five acres, but he also 
owns three acres in the corporation of Sparta, 
Mich. The remainder of his property he has 
munificently bestowed upon his daughter 
or devised to various charities most benevo- 
lently. 

.August 22, 1848, Mr. Hinman married, in 
Madison county, N. Y. , Miss Martha Hotch- 
kiss, a native of said county and born in 1826. 
To this union were born two children — Jennie, 
now the wife of A. B. Cheney, of Sparta, and 
an infant that died unnamed. Mrs. Martha 
Hinman was reared in the Congregational 
faith, but in 1850 joined the Alpine and Sparta 
church. A sincere Christian and a noble 
woman, she passed away February 25, 1899, 
and her moral remains, escorted by a large 
number of mourning friends, were interred at 
the edge of the town, within 100 rods of the 
old homestead. Owing to this sad bereave- 
ment, Mr. Hinman will in the future make his 
home with his daughter, Mrs. Cheney. 

Mr. Hinman is a deacon in the Free Will 
Baptist church, and lives strictly in accordance 
with its tenets and teachings. For years he 
has been a Mason and has ever lived in the 
square, keeping in mind the All-Seeing Eye. 
In politics he is a prohibitionist, and has 
served his fellow-townsmen as highway com- 



missioner, and was one of the first councilmen of 
Sparta, but has never sought office for the sake 
of honor or emolument. And now, after a 
long and useful life, he retires to the quietude 
of private life to enjoy in peace the fruits of 
his early labor and husbandry. 



ALLEN HODGES, D. D. S.— The 
profession of dentistry has an able 
representative in Lowell in the person 
of Dr. E. Allen Hodges, who. al- 
though comparatively a beginner, has within a 
few months succeeded in firmly establishing 
himself in the estimation of the people by 
reason of the high grade of his professional 
services. 

The doctor is a son of Job A. and Justina 
(Hoag) Hodges, the father a well-known busi- 
ness man of Grand Rapids, where at this time 
he holds the position of president of the Valley 
City Desk company. Dr. Hodges was born in 
Grand Rapids, in November, 1875, and in the ; 
public schools of that city received a good 
English education. While still young, he de- 
cided to prepare himself for the profession of 
dentistr)', and in due time he entered the Den- 
tal college of Indiana, at Indianapolis, from 
which he was graduated with high honors, 
April 12, 1898. For several months after re- 
ceiving his diploma the doctor practiced in 
Grand Rapids, looking in the meantime for a 
favorable opening elsewhere, which fortunate- 
ly presented itself in Lowell, where he removed 
in February, 1899. Securing a good office, 
and fitting it handsomely throughout, the doc- ■ 
tor announced himself a candidate for public 
favor professionally, and, as already stated, 
success soon waited upon him with a reason- 
ably liberal patronage. The doctor believes 
in the dignity of his calling and spares no 
efforts in keeping in touch with the latest and 
most advanced thought pertaining to the pro- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



751 



fession. He possesses the delicate touch so 
essential to success in the practice, and, to- 
gether with the skill displayed in the purely 
mechanical department, will no doubt soon 
place himself in the front rank of the profes- 
sion. He has before him a promising future, 
and distinction, as well as financial success, is 
sure to reward him for service skillfully and 
conscientiously rendered. Dr. Hodges is a 
wide-awake, aggressive young man, a repub- 
lican in politics, and while interested in all 
that benefits his town and community, is not a 
place-seeker, preferring to give his time and 
attention to prosecuting his profession. 




EORGE PETER HOGADONE, a 

farmer, born on section No. 15, 
Walker township, Kent Co., Mich., 
had his nativity in the house he still 
occupies, December 6, 1850, and is a son of 
George Peter and Sarah (Thompson) Hoga- 
done, the former a son of John and Rena 
(Couchman) Hogadone, both natives of Scho- 
harie county, N. Y. George Peter, the father, 
died December 26, 1852, the father of two chil- 
dren — the subject of this sketch and Serena, a 
posthumous child, born April i, 1853, but who 
died in young girlhood. George P., the father, 
purchased the subject's farm from the govern- 
ment in 1S44, and made all the original im- 
provements, including the present dwelling 
and barns. His wife was the widow of Will- 
iam Edison, who owned the farm adjoining 
his own, which is divided between George P., 
the subject, and Chester Covell. After the 
death of Mr. Hagadone she remained on the 
farm until her marriage to Philip N. Covell, 
of whom mention is made in the sketch of 
Chester F. Covell. • 

George P. Hogadone, the subject of this 
sketch, grew to manhood in the Covell family, 



was educated in the country schools, and at 
the age of twenty-one years was placed in 
possession of the original Hogadone farm, 
which he has ever since cultivated and lived 
upon. October 8, 1872, he married Miss 
Isabel Graham, a sister of Hon. Robert D. 
Graham, whose sketch will also be found on 
another page. She was educated in country 
and city schools, and was a teacher of Kent 
county for some time. To this marriage have 
been born six children, in the following order: 
Bertha, married to Bert Sliter, a druggist in 
Grand Rapids; May, who died in infancy; 
Anna, wife of Ted Weskey; Margaret, wife of 
Dr. Alfred Switzer, both of Grand Rapids; 
Bessie, a high school student, and Elwood, 
both at home. 

Mr. Hogadone is very domestic in his hab- 
its, and has never been awaj' from his farm 
more than a week at any one time. Half the 
place is devoted to general farming, and 
about fifteen acres to fruit, mainly peaches, 
and the farm contains 120 acres of as fine 
land as there is in Walker township. In 
politics he has always voted with the repub- 
lican party, and has been a delegate to con- 
ventions and served in several township offices. 
Both he and his wife are members of Har- 
mony grange, both being identified with its 
work, Mrs. Hogadone being local lecturer for 
some years, her efforts being to arouse .greater 
interest in those great questions that have 
bearing upon the interests of human life. She 
is a member of the Unitarian church in Grand 
Rapids, and is a close student and reader of 
the master minds who have shaped the 
thoughts of thinking men. Both her husband 
and herself have ever been active in the 
school, he having been a director for fourteen 
years, being succeeded by Mrs. Hogadone, 
who is now serving her fourth year, and has 
tried to advance the educational interests of 
the community. 



752 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 




OSEPH HOLBEN. ex-supervisor of 
Tyrone township, Kent county, Mich., 
and an ex-soldier of the Union army 
in the war of the Rebellion, was born 
in Stark county, Ohio, August 19, 1843, a son 
of Daniel and Catherine (Lautzenheiser) Hol- 
ben and the ninth of their family of seven 
sons and five daughters, of whom seven still 
survive, viz: Lydia, wife of Jacob Heximer, 
a merchant of Stark county, Ohio; Jacob, a 
farmer of Tyrone township; Solomon, carpen- 
ter and farmer of Elkhart, Ind. ; Joseph; Ben- 
jamin, who served in the Civil war, and now 
a resident of Kent city; William, a farmer 
of Hillsdale county; Catherine, wife of David 
Gibson, a farmer of Stark county, Ohio. 

Daniel Holben, the father, was born in Le- 
high county. Pa., December 29, 1804, settled 
in Ohio in his young days, and in Stark county 
received from his mother a gift of forty acres 
of land as a reward for his kindness to her in 
her old age. His death took place about the 
year 1887. 

Joseph Holben was reared a farmer, but, 
before he reached his majority, enlisted at 
Lewisville, Ohio, August 22, 1862, in com- 
pany I, One Hundred and Fifteenth Ohio vol- 
unteer infantry, under Capt. McConnell and 
Col. Luce; was assigned to the army of the 
Tennessee, served with Gen. Thomas and 
others for two years and ten months, when he 
received an honorable discharge, and so faith- 
fully had he performed his duties, and so true 
had he been to all the trusts reposed in hifn, 
that he was awarded the following letter of 
recommendation, which speaks for itself: 

Headquarters Department of the Ohio, \ 
Inspector-General's Department, Cin- > 
cinnati, Ohio. April 27, 1864. ) 

To Whom It May Concern: 

This is to certify that the subscriber has 

known private Joseph Holben, One Hundred 

ai d Fifteenth Ohio volunteer infantry, for the 



past ten months. He has been on duty in 
this city as orderly or messenger for the late 
Col. Henry VanRensselaer, assistant inspect- 
ing-general, U. S. A., and it gives me pleasure 
to testify, of my personal knowledge, to the 
faithful manner in which he has always per- 
formed his duty. He is a person of good 
moral character and correct habits, honest in 
all his dealings, and a man to be trusted in 
any position he may be called to fill. 
Respectfully, 

Charles A. Gould, 
Capt. and Act. Asst. Adj. -Gen. U. S. Vols., 

Dept. of the Ohio. 

On his return to Ohio Mr. Holben engaged 
in various persuits, and May 30, 1S67, married 
Miss Lydia Speelman, to which union were 
born seven children, four still living, as fol- 
lows: Ettie, wife of Elmer K. F'ield, a native 
of Kent county, Mich., and to them has been 
born one son, Cyrus W. ; Charles A. , a farmer 
of Tyrone township, who married Miss Jane 
Fonger, and has three children, Jessie, Fern 
and Ada Grace Wealthy; Alma A., who is wife 
of Leonard Coalter, and has had four children, 
three of whom are living — Frank, Clyde and 
Elsie May; Clara E., still at home with her 
parents, and attending school and is in the 
sixth grade. Mrs. Holben was born in Stark 
county, Ohio, December 2, 1844, a daughter 
of Conrad and Susan (Brown) Speelman, 
parents ot five children, beside Mrs. Holben, 
viz: Valentine and Henry, of Stark county, 
Ohio; Catherine; Saunders, of Caldwell county. 
Mo., and Mary Ann, wife of Ezra Packer, of 
Montana. The father was a native of 
Pennsylvania, was reared a farmer, and was 
still young when he settled in Ohio, and both 
; he and wife are now deceased. 

Mr. Holben came to Michigan in 1S75, 
and has here risen to prominence as a repub- 
lican. He cast his first presidential vote for 
Lincoln, and has been selected by his fellow 
republicans to represent them in several dis- 



I 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



rss 



trict and county conventions, and has also been 
elected to every office of any importance in 
the township, and in 1892 was elected for the 
first time as township supervisor, during which 
term the court house at Grand Rapids was fin- 
ished. Since then he has been twice elected 
to the same office. As a member of the coun- 
ty board of supervisors, he served on several 
important com'ittees, inchiding that on claims 
of which he was chairman, and during his third 
and last term was chairman of the committee 
on roads and bridges. He has also served two 
terms as township treasurer, and one term as 
highway commissioner. He also favors the 
selection of the best teachers possible in the 
public schools and in holding the latter up to 
the highest standard. 

When Mr. Holben began life in Tyrone 
township, he purchased eighty acres of land, 
the greater part of which was unimproved and 
in the brush, the timber having been cut off, 
but he was very industrious and enterprising, 
converted the brush land into a rich farm, and 
added to it until he became the possessor of 
300 acres, and has been able to present his 
children who reside near him with a farm 
each. In his society relations Mr. Holben is a 
member of Casnovia lodge, No. 349,1.0. O. F. , 
and Mrs. Holben is a member of Laurel lodge, 
No. 65. Both are also members of the Mac- 
cabees — he of tent No. 554, at Casnovia, and 
she of Casnovia hive. No. 330. In social cir- 
cles Mr. Holben and his family are quite prom- 
inent, and their high standing is due to their 
personal merits and not to the mere possession 
of wealth. 

\I>LTIN A. HOLCOMB, whose bi- 
ography is herewith presented, is 
one of the great army of patriots 
to whom the country is indebted for 
their heroic defense of the national Union in 
the dark days of the Rebellion. He is also 




one of the few survivors of the romantic exodus 
to the California gold fields in 1850; and since 
1854 has been an honored citizen of Kent 
county, Mich., in the development of wliich 
he has borne no inconsiderable part. 

Mr. Holcomb is a native of Ohio, born 
on the 27th day of January, 1826, in Portage 
county, a son of Garvin and Candace (DeLong) 
Holcomb, of Connecticut and Vermont, re- 
spectively. He remained under the parental 
roof until his eighteenth year, at which time 
he began learning the trade of wagon-making, 
becoming proficient in the same after a three 
years' apprenticeship. During that period of 
service he received by way of remuneration 
the sum of $130, from which he was obliged 
to clothe himself, and of what was left he laid 
by a smaH sum as a nucleus for future capital. 
After learning his trade, he worked for some 
time as a journeyman in Ravenna, Ohio, from 
which place in the spring of 1850 he started to 
California, making the journey to that distant 
part of the continent via the isthmus of Panama 
and going into the mines of Calaveras county. 
He continued his search for gold with fair 
success until 1854, in the fall of which year he 
returned east and located in Kent county, 
Mich., purchasing 160 acres of land in the 
township of Bowne, for which he paid the sum 
of $5 per acre. His land was covered with a 
dense growth of timber, beech and maple 
predominating, to remove which and fit the 
soil for cultivation was a task requiring many 
years of hard labor. Addressing himself to the 
task before him, Mr. Holcomb at once began 
his attack on the forest monarchs, and, with 
such help as he could hire, an eighty-acre tract 
was within a few years cleared and prepared 
for tillage. In the meantime he erected his first 
dwelling, a small frame structure, 16 x 20 feet 
in dimensions, and in this he and his family 
lived until a larger and much more comfortable 
residence was built in 1869. 



754 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



When the war cloud gathered over the 
country and the stabiHty of the government 
was threatened by the formidable hosts of 
secession, Mr. Holcomb nobly responded to 
the call for volunteers. He enlisted, in 1S62, 
in company I, Twenty-sixth Michigan infantry, 
v/ith which he shared the fortunes and 
vicissitudes of war in many noted campaigns 
and on numerous fields, until honorably 
discharged in the winter of 1865. Mr. Hol- 
comb's service was mainly confined to the 
Virginia campaigns, and his command also 
aided in quelling the New York draft riots in 
1864. He participated in the Mine Run cam- 
paign, and during part of 1864 was in Han- 
cock's corps, arm}' of the Potomac, and saw 
bloody service at Spottsylvania Court House, 
the Wilderness, and many other battles which 
made history during that dark and trying 
period. At the battle of the Wilderness he 
was with the right in " the bloody angle," 
where more men fell in the same length of 
time than in any other engagement of the 
war, and it was here that he performed an 
act of bravery that should place his name 
upon the scroll of honor. 

In the heat of the conflict, single-handed 
and alone, he effected the capture of a battery 
by killing the lead horse, thus checking the 
advance of the guns and holding the driver at 
the point of a bayonet until assistance ar- 
rived. The men who manned the guns soon 
surrendered, and in a few minutes thereafter 
Mr. Holcomb received a shot in the right 
leg below the knee, disabling him and neces- 
sitating his retention in the hospitals at Wash- 
ington, and York., Pa., for some months. 
When sufficiently recovered he returned to 
Detroit, where, September 11, 1865, he re- 
ceived his discharge. From that city he 
made his way home on crutches, and from 
the effects of the wound received in- the 
bloody fight he has always been a sufferer. 



and no doubt will continue to be until his 
final discharge at the end of life's conflict. 
For this and other disabilities Mr. Holcomb is 
the recipient of a liberal pension from the 
government, but no financial consideration 
can ever compensate him for the strength 
and vigor which were so nobly sacrificed upon 
the altar of duty. 

Since the war Mr. Holcomb has given his 
attention to agricultural pursuits and stock 
raising, in both of which he has met with 
success and financial profit. He was united 
in marriage, February 7, 1849, to Miss Phi- 
lancia Patchin, of Geauga county, Ohio, who 
died after a happy married life of thirty years' 
duration. Mrs. Holcomb did well her part in 
building and maintaining a home for her loved 
ones, and during her husband's absence in the 
army managed the farm and looked after the 
interest of the family with zeal and ability 
most commendable. The following are the 
names of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Holcomb. George Brooks died at the age of 
eighteen; David D., who farms the home 
place; Emily C, wife of William K. Morgan, 
of Lowell; and Candace C. , wife of George H. 
Tucker, of St. Joseph county, Mich. 

From 1864 to 1896, Mr. Holcomb was an 
ardent supporter of the republican party, but 
in the latter year voted for Bryan and free 
silver. He was the republican candidate for 
the legislature in 18S4, but went down in the 
universal overthrow of the party that year, 
although he made a gallant fight and more 
than carried the strength of his party. He 
is an intelligent student of political questions 
and has the courage of his convictions, de- 
nouncing party measures which he considers 
inimical to the poblic good. 

In early life Mr. Holcomb was a great 
hunter and displayed remarkable skill in hand- 
ling a rifle. Many deer fell before his unerring 
aim when the country was new, and he stil 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



r55 



takes much pleasure with the gun and rod, by 
means of which he passes many pleasant hours. 
Mr. Holcomb is a member of post No. 339, 
G. A. R., at Freeport, Mich., and stands high 
in Masonry, belonging to Lowell lodge. Hooker 
chapter. No. 73, and Ionia commandery. No. 
II. He has attended two triennial conclaves 
at Washington, D. "C. , and he also accom- 
panied his commandery to the conclave held 
in Chicago. He is the only Sir Knight in the 
town of Bowne, and distance alone prevents 
him attending every meeting of his command- 
ery. Mr. Holcomb has contributed liberally 
of his means to the cause of religion, assisting 
in the erection of a number of houses of wor- 
ship, and for several years he was a leading 
spirit in the Farmers' alliance movement. In 
no sense has he been a place seeker, although 
frequently solicited by his fellow-citizens to 
accept of^cial positions. With the exception 
of his candidacy for the general assembly re- 
ferred so and four terms as townshiptreasurer, 
he has steadily refused the honors and emolu- 
ments of office, preferring to devote his time 
and attention to his farm and home, where he 
finds his greatest and most satisfying pleasure. 
He is a worthy representative of a worthy an- 
cestry, a patriot, an intelligent man of affairs, 
and a gentleman of the old school, and it is 
with pleasure that this notice is accorded a 
place in- these pages devoted to Kent county's 
representative citizens. 




[LLIAM O. HOLMES, the present 
supervisor of Tyrone township, 
Kent county, Mich., and a re- 
spected farmer, was born in Lu- 
zerne county. Pa., May 26, 1861, the second 
in a family of four sons and one daughter born 
to Albert N. and Julia (Dorsheimer) Holmes, 
four of which children are still living, viz: Will- 
iam O., the subject; Edith, wife of Jason Per- 



ham, druggist of Kent City; Frank, a practical 
pharmaceutist, of Sparta, and Andy Van, of 
Kent county. 

Albert N. Holmes was a native of Allegany, 
N. Y., was reared a farmer and was liberally 
educated. About 1865 he came to Michigan 
and settled on the farm now occupied by his 
son, William O., where he passed away, Jan-, 
uary i, 1884, in the faith of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. In politics he was a dem- 
ocrat, and of strong temperance proclivities, 
and was universally respected. Mrs. Julia 
Holmes is a native of Luzerne county. Pa., is 
now about sixty-eight years of age, is also a 
Methodist, and is passing her declining years 
with her son, William O., the subject of this 
sketch. 

William^O. Holmes has passed all his life, 
from the age of four years, on his farm in 
Tyrone township, and is a practical agricult- 
urist. His education was acquired in the com- 
mon schools, and this has' been augmented by 
careful and constant reading. He began life 
on his own account at his majority, with no 
capital, and has made a success of it. He was 
first married, April 24, 1887, to Miss Flora 
Ada Averill, a native of Muskegon county, 
Mich., and this union was crowned with one 
daughter, Mollie, in the seventh grade Kent 
City schools. Mrs. Holmes was born Novem- 
ber 23, 1865, and died October 28, 1890, and 
Mr. Holmes chose for his second helpmate Miss 
Anna Carlson, a native of Sweden, who came 
to America when eleven years old, whom he 
married January 24, 1894, and who has borne 
him two children — Ada and Edith. 

• In politics Mr. Holmes is a democrat in his 
predilections, but is not " offensively partisan " 
as he confines his party acts and vote to local 
matters. His sound sense and popularity led 
to his being elected as supervisor of Tyrone 
township in 1896, and his faithfulness to the 
interests of the town and county led to his re- 



r56 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



election in 1898 and re-election in 1899 — 
three terms. In the board of supervisors he 
has advocated public improvements in a gen- 
eral way, such as steel bridges, better roads, 
etc., and through his influence the highways 
of the township have already been put in fair 
condition. He is in favor of the best schools 
each district can afford and the employment 
of the best teachers available. Fraternall}', 
he is a member of Casnovia lodge, No. 349, 
I. O. O. F. , and his wife is a member of the 
Baptist church, and they are endeavoring to 
rear the children " in the way they should go." 
The home of Mr. Holmes is situated within a 
mile and a half of Kent City, and is kept in ex- 
cellent condition, and he and family are classed 
wdth the best residents of the township. 



Hi 



^iLLIAM SEXTON HOLMES, one 
of the most substantial farmers 
and well known citizens of Ada 
township, was born in Canada on 
the 14th day of October, 1847. His father, 
John Holmes, was born in England in the year 
1809. His mother, Martha E. (Sexton) 
Holmes, was also a native of England, both 
descended from worthy English families, and 
became the parents of ten children. In 1836 
they crossed the Atlantic and settled in Can- 
ada. There John Holmes, the father, be- 
came a farmer and was engaged in that voca- 
tion until his death, which occurred in 1867. 
The mother still resides in Canada. 

\\'illiam Sexton Holmes was reared on his 
father's farm and secured his education in the 
common schools. In early life he learned the 
carpenter trade, and for some years following 
was a successful bridge contractor. In 1872 
he located in Ada township, Kent county, Mich. , 
where for a number of years he carried on an 
extensive business as a contracting carpenter 
and also as a buyer and shipper of timber, and 



of late years has followed farming in connec- 
tion with his other business. 

On the 2 1st ot December, 1874, Mr. 
Holmes was united in matrimony to Miss Hen- 
rietta Qrlop, a daughter of Jacob Orlop, a na- 
tive of Albany, N. Y. This happy union was 
blessed by the birth of four children — Fred- 
erick J., Clara B., William S. and Jarvis E. 
By careful thrift and continued industry he has 
prospered and is now well to do. 

Mr. Holmes is a very popular man. He 
has been commissioner of highways for two 
terms, and for five years was a member of the 
Ada school board. In politics he is ever an 
adherent to the principles of the democratic 
party. Personally he is genial and compan- 
ionable, and because kindly disposed toward 
all, he holds the respect of the community in 
general. The esteem in which he is held in 
the community is inspired not alone by his 
material success, but by his upright character 
and life and record as a good citizen. 




ATTHEW HUNTER, a prominent 
agriculturist residing on section 
No. 20, of Lowell township, was 
born at Cottonworth, ten miles 
east of York, England, March 8, 1821. His 
father, Robert, died at the age of ninety-nine, 
lacking two months. He had come to Lowell, 
where he was well known while residing here, 
but returned to Canada, where he died. 

At the age of seven, Matthew Hunter came 
with his parents to America, and his seventh ■ 
birthday occurred on the ocean in an old sail- 
ing vessel bound from Hull to Quebec, making 
the voyage in five weeks, at that time a fast 
trip. His parents located near Geneva, N. 
Y., and in three years removed to Wayne 
county, where they remained until young 
Matthew reached his nineteenth year; thence 



/^ ^^UA^'- 01L<^^Z^ 



O^oMm^-u^ ^U,,iyt.^e^^ 




MRS. MATHEW HUNTER. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



761 



they went to Ontario, Canada, thirty miles 
east of Toronto, on the lake, where he lived 
for six years, and was at home until twenty- 
four years old, devoting his time and giving 
his earnings to his father. About one year 
later he embarked in the saw-mill business and 
stayed for seven years, two years for one firm, 
and five for another, being paid by the thou- 
sand feet. He saved his money and bought a 
new farm in Ontario, which one year later 
(1856) he sold and came to Kent county, 
Mich., and located on his present farm, then 
wild land with but little clearing, and no 
fencing e.xcept around twenty acres. He paid 
$12 per acre, has lived on the place for forty- 
three years, and it now comprises 104 acres. 
He has a fine two-story brick house, erected 
in 18S5, and one of the best in f\ent county, 
with many suitable improvements, all in good 
condition. Formerly he was a general farmer, 
but he is at present devoting a large part of 
his attention to fruitgrowing; he now has forty 
acres of peaches, three acres of plums, and 
also pears and quinces, and the industry has 
given very satisfactory results. He has been 
a successful grower of wheat, but owing to de- 
clining prices has let it give place to fruit cult- 
ure. In early days he grew fine peaches and 
supplied the State Horticultural society, held 
at South Haven, receiving $4 per bushel, for 
two jears. Mr. Hunter has been a member 
of the State Horticultural society for years, 
and his wife of Lowell Horticultural District 
society. He has been considered authority on 
fruit, and his reports are found on the state 
bcoks. He served as justice of the peace in 
the township, but refused further office. He 
was formerly a republican but is now a free- 
silver man, and is thoroughly in touch with 
the Bryan and Chicago platform. 

He was united in marriage at Whitby, 
Ontario, October 6, 1846, to Miss Mary 
Farmer, born at Coburg, Ontario, March 7, 



1829. They celebrated their fiftieth wedding 
anniversary, with the wife's mother, then a 
woman eighty-five years old, and the first of 
five generations present at the celebration. A 
photo was taken of that group, which con- 
sisted of Mrs. Hunter's mother, daughter, 
granddaughter.great-granddaughter, and great- 
great-grandson. 

The family of Mr. Hunter consisted of the 
following children: Robert C. Hunter, a farmer 
and fruit grower, residing at Colton, Oregon, 
forty miles south of Portland; William Grant 
Hunter, an agriculturist of Lowell township; 
Sarah Alice, wife of Charles Gibson, of I\ala- 
mazoo; James Peter, who died at two years of 
age; Ida Caroline, who died December 26, 
1890, at Cincinnati, Ohio, and was the wife of 
Eugene Sprague; John Emerson Hunter, M. 
D., of Lake City, Mich., and a twin brother 
of one who died in infancy; Willard M., who 
operates the home farm; Walter A., twin of 
Willard, and who died at nineteen years of 
age, February 23, 1884, having been killed 
near Buena Vista by a load of shingles falling 
upon him, which he had been hauling; and 
Ulysses, a farmer of Bowne township. 

Willard M. Hunter is of the firm of M. 
Hunter & Son, and operates the farm very suc- 
cessfully. His wife, Mrs. Edna (Cahoon) 
Hunter, is the mother of four children, viz: 
Kittie, Arthur, Ida and Werner. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hunter have been members of the Baptist 
church for forty-two years. He is a Mason at 
Lowell, lodge No. 90, Lowell chapter, No. "Jl, 
and also a member of the Cyclamen chapter, 
O. E. S., No. 94, also at Lowell. 

Mr. Hunter has often delivered addresses 
or read prepared papers before horticultural 
societies, local and state, showing that he is 
not an uneducated man. Mrs. Hunter is a 
lady of intelligence, and still showing, at the 
end of her seventy years, many traces of a 
rare youthful beauty. 



762 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



,m 



ILAS D. HORTON, one of the oldest 
living pioneers of Kent county, Mich., 
was born near Middletown, Orange 
county, N. Y. , October 4, 1828, and 
is a son of Warren and Harriet (Derby) Hor- 
ton, who were the parents of five children, of 
whom three are still living, viz: Silas D., of 
this sketch; Catherine E., the widow of Aaron 
Aber, of Paris township, and Daniel, a hard- 
ware merchant of Greenville, Mich. The fa- 
ther, Warren Horton, was born in Orange 
county in tSoi, and died on his farm, near 
Watkins Lake, in 1862. 

In 1849, Silas D. Horton came to Michi- 
gan and purchased 320 acres of land in sec- 
tion No. 7, Oakfield township, Kent county, 
covered with heavy oak timber. The sur- 
rounding country swarmed with Indians, who 
camped occasionally on Mr. Horton's premises, 
and wild animals were not infrequently seen 
prow-ling around the house in the daytime, and 
their howls were always heard at night. 
There was not a church in the township, and 
the settlers held their religious meetings in a 
log school-house at White Swan, the only one 
in the township. Grand Rapids was a mere 
trading post, and Cedar Springs, Sand Lake 
and Greenville were unknown. 

January i, 1856, Mr. Horton married Miss 
Phcebe Rowley, and to this union have been 
born six children, viz: \\'illis, who married 
Miss Lida Moore, and is a farmer of Oakfield 
township; Ella, wife of Eugene Wellman, 
whose sketch is given in full on another page; 
Edwin W., who has charge of the old home- 
stead, and is married to Emma Slavvsou. a 
native of Kent county, and has a little daugh- 
ter, Ruth; Mary, wife of Edgar Griswold, a 
merchant of Howard; Bert, married to Minnie 
Hotch, and farming in Spencer township, and 
Jennie, wife of Marion Miles, a farmer living 
near Grand Ledge, Mich. 

Mrs. Phoebe Horton was born in Steuben 



county, N. Y., February 25, 183-3, and died 
in Oakfield township, July 19, 187-4, and her 
remains lie interred in the Horton cemetery, 
where a beautiful monument has been reared 
to her memory. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Horton began their 
married life they had scarcely any capital, but 
mutually worked to secure a home worth hav- 
ing, the result being the elegant Horton estate 
of to day. In 1868 the present family man- 
sion was erected, which, with its environments, 
is the pride of the neighborhood. 

Although Mr. Horton denominates himself 
a Jacksonian democrat, he cast his first presi- 
dential vote for the whig candidate, Zachary 
Taylor, in 1848. He has never, however, had 
any ambition for holding public office. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of Greenville lodge, 
No. 86, F. & A. M., where he has affiliated 
thirty-five years. He has been liberal in his 
contributions to religious bodies, and has 
aided materially in the erection and support 
of the churches in his township. This hardy 
pioneer is now living in peace and comfort, be- 
loved by his children and honored by the en- 
tire population of Oakfield township. 




ILMOT B. HOUGH, for forty years 
a well-known resident of Spencer, 
Mich., is a native of Herkimer 
county, N. Y., born on the i6thof 
November, 1850, and the third in a family of 
three sons and four daughters born to Fayette 
and Harriet (Johnson) Hough, of whom four 
are living, viz: Josephine, wife of Arthur Con- 
ner, engaged in the oil business and residing 
in Belding, Mich.; Wilmot B. ; Guilford, a 
resident of Pontiac, Mich., in the employ of 
D. M. Ferry, the seed man; Ida, wife of Hugh 
Good, feed and general produce dealer, of 
Siou.x City, Iowa. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



763 



Mr. Hough's grandfather, John Johnson, 
on the maternal side, was a participant in the 
Mexican war. His father was a mechanic by 
trade, but was engaged for some time at IHon, 
N. Y. , as a gunsmith in the employ of the 
great Remington Gun company. In the year 
i860 he came to Michigan. "Indians were still 
numerous, and the greater part of the county 
was covered with solid forests. Upon his ar- 
rival he bought 160 acres of such land, and at 
once began clearing it. One of the first im- 
provements was a little hut, which Mr. Hough 
says "was just large enough to creep into," 
serving him for a temporary home. He was 
one of the earliest pioneers of the township, 
and has been an eye-witness of the rapid de- 
velopment of the county and cit}' of Grand 
Rapids. In his political affiliations he was a 
republican, having been before the birth of 
that party a whig. He served as township 
clerk and justice of the peace. He and his 
wife were respected members of the Baptist 
church, and passed off the stage of earthly liv- 
ing in Spencer township, Mr. Hough at the 
age of seventy, and she at fifty-nine years 
of age. 

Wilmot B. Hough was but a lad of nine 
years when he came with his parents to Kent 
county. He was educated in the common 
schools and the high school at Windsor, Vt., 
where his father worked in gunshops. He re- 
mained with his parents until he reached the 
age of twenty-three years, when he began life 
with a capital of $200. 

On January 9, 1S76, he wedded Miss Clara 
Otterbacher, a native of Spencer township, 
who bore him five sons and two daughters, 
viz: Gertrude, educated at the Ferris institute 
at Big Rapids, now wife of Lewis Williams, of 
Belding; Clyde, Ray, Stanley, Clare, Wilmay 
and Dewey. 

Mrs. Hough was a daughter of John 
and Rachel (Stryker) Otterbacher, and was 



born on the 4th of April, 1861. She received 
such an education as she was able to secure in 
the common schools and has proved herself 
a fond mother and a valuable and affectionate 
companion to her husband. Mr. and Mrs. 
Hough settled down on the farm in 1877 and 
are now owners of 140 acres of land, about 
100 in cultivation devoted to general farming. 
Politically, Mr. Hough is non-partisan, 
and in local elections casts his vote for the in- 
dividual regardless of the party. His first 
presidential ballot was for Gen. U. S. Grant. 
Officially he has served as treasurer of his 
township in 1891 and '92, and was elected in 
1899 to the office of township clerk. He has 
been officially connected with the public 
schools for eig,ht or ten years, and has worked 
for the best teachers and schools. Socially he 
is a member of Cedar Springs lodge, No. 213, 
F. & A. M., and of Evans tent. No. 784, 
K. O. T. M., and Evans grange. Mrs. Hough 
is also a member of Evans hive, L. O. T. M., 
and both hav« done their part in church work 
and benevolences. From the few events above 
we may conclude that they were persevering 
toilers. Ax was quickly followed by plow in 
the early development of our subject's farm, 
and soon bounteous harvests rewarded his 
labors. Industry and thrift have character- 
ized his entire life and have brought to him a 
well merited success. Such in brief is the his- 
tory of one who has long been an honored 
citizen of Kent county and who now receives 
the respect and veneration which should crown 
an honorable life. 



HARLES C. HOUSE, farmer and 
stock raiser, is a native of Plainfield 
township, Kent county, Mich., was 
born on the farm where he now lives 
on the loth day of May, 1857. His parents, 
Conrad and Mary Jane (Ireland) House, are 




764 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



both natives of the state of New York, the 
former born in 1824 and the latter in the year 
1830. Conrad House came to Kent county in 
1855, locating in the township of Plainfieid, 
where for some years he worked at the car- 
penter's trade, and later purchased a farm in 
section'-. 5 and 6 and engaged in the pursuit 
of agriculture, which he followed for twenty 
years, then lived retired at Belmont until his 
death on the 23d of November, 1896. His 
widow is still living at Belmont, being at this 
time one of the oldest residents of Plainfieid. 

Charles C. House is the third child born to 
the above parents, the others being Alonzo C. , 
a farmer of Plainfieid, and L.innie May, wife 
of Harry Cranmer. Charles C. was reared upon 
the home farm, his early years were spent in 
attending the district school and assisting his 
father, and he laid broad and well the founda- 
tion upon which his success in after life was 
built. \\'hen twenty-two years old he assumed 
the management of the paternal homestead, 
and later obtained a deed to the same from 
his father and is now the possessor of one of 
the best farms in his section of the country. 
The place consists of 140 acres, the greater 
part of which is under a successful state of 
cultivation, with modern buildings and other 
improvements, bespeaking the presence of a 
man of advanced ideas, thoroughly familiar 
with every detail of successful tillage. Mr. 
House believes in the dignity of farm labor, 
keeps well posted concerning all matters per- 
taining thereto, and few have met with as en- 
couraging success as he in general farming and 
stock raising. 

On the 14th day of March, 1880, Mr. House 
and Miss Tena Ecklesdafer were made husband 
and wife, which union has resulted in the birth 
of four children, two of whom are living, Eva 
May and Orin B. The father of Mrs. House, 
Earnest Ecklesdafer was, as the name indi- 
cates, a native of Germany, where his birth 



occurred about the year 1830. He left the 
fatherland when a small boy, spent the years 
of his youth and early manhood in various ' 
parts of the United States, and about 1866 be- * 
came a resident of Plainfieid township, Kent ' 
county, Mich., where he still lives, his present 
home being in section 22. His wife was born 
in Pennsylvania in the year 1837 and is also 
living at this time. Of the seven children four 
are living; Tena, Emma, Eva. and Frank, 
who operates the homestead. 

Ever since attaining his majority, Mr. House 
has been an earnest supporter of the republic- 
an party, casting his first presidential vote for 
James A. Garfield. Officially he has served 
the people of Plainfieid as township treas- 
urer, holding the position during the years 
1894 and 1895, and discharging its duties 
faithfully and well. Fraternally he is a mem- 
ber of the I. O. O. F. and the K. O. T. I\t., 
belonging to the lodges which meet at Mill 
Creek. Neither Mr. House nor his estimable 
wife subscribes to any religious creed, but are 
friends of the church and ever ready to e.\tend 
a helping hand to all its benevolent undertak- 
ings for the moral and spiritual advancement 
of the community. 

The home-life of Mr. House is agreeable 
in the full sense of the term, and, his standing 
in the neighborhood where all his life has 
been passed is that of an intelligent high-mind- 
ed and progressive citizen. His friends are 
legion andthe biographical history of Plainfieid 
township would be incomplete without this 
brief record of his life and work. 



EV. SAMUEL BLANCHER SMITH, 
D. D., of Grand Rapids township, 
Kent, county, Mich., was born in 
Lockport, N. Y., May 27, 1825. His 
parents. Rev. Daniel Smith and Sene 
(Blancher) Smith, were natives of eastern 






<i?>«>t,'Ot<,^-/' 




AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



167 



New York, and the latter was an elder in the 
society of Friends. In 1S26 they settled at 
.Vdrian, Lenawee county, Mich. He had been 
a minister of the society of Friends at Lock- 
port, N. Y. , and organized a similar society 
at Adrian — the first in Michigan. He was 
widely known in Michigan as a minister of 
that society, but later, in 1843, he became a 
Wesleyan Methodist, and so continued as a 
minister, till his death, at the age of sixty-one 
\ears. He was also an active and prominent 
anti-slavery worker. 

Rev. S. B. Smith passed his boyhood in 
Adrian, Mich., was educated in the Raisin 
institute, ordained in Wayne county, and at 
twenty-one years of age began to preach. 
For two years, from 1846, he rode circuit by 
horseback, organized many churches, and held 
great revival meetings, especially at Walker, 
Cannon and Grattan. 

His first work was in the Grand Rapids cir- 
cuit of the Wesleyan Methodist conference, 
with which he remained for si.xteen years, 
residing at Grand Rapids and Saline, later at 
Plymouth, Kalamazoo, Detroit and Coldwater. 
He was agent for the college of the church at 
Leoni, and traveled in Michigan and Indiana 
for the purpose of raising funds. Later, after 
his term as agent had expired, the college was 
changed to Adrian. He was a member of the 
board of trustees, before and after its removal, 
for several years. He then removed to Ohio 
and worked for the same church at Troy, in 
that State. After twenty years in that church 
he joined the Cincinnati conference of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, taking his 
congregation at Troy, Ohio, with him, and 
remained one year longer its pastor. From 
1867 he had been connected with the Method- 
ist Episcopal church at Franklin, Lockland, 
Springfield, Harrison, Charleston and Cincin- 
nati. He was presiding elder of the Ripley 
district four years, from 1881 to 1S85, and 



subsequently minister at Amelia, Boston and 
Georgetown. 

On closing his evangelical work he became 
a supernumerary in 1892, owing to his wife's 
ill health, but still remains with the Cincinnati 
conference. He was thus forty-six years in 
the active ministerial work, and he has not 
missed a session of the conference for fifty- 
two years. While actively engaged he 
preached every Sunda)', and sometimes three 
times on Sunday. He built several churches, 
and the Twin Valley (Ohio) college conferred 
the degree of D. D. upon him for his grand 
church work and influence. He is one of the 
original abolitionists and was, secretar}' of the 
first anti-slavery society in Michigan. 

In 1892 Rev. S. B. Smith returned to 
Grand Rapids, and in 1898 settled on his farm, 
which he had bought in 1850, and on which 
he had lived four years while on the circuit 
here. Except one, he has the largest apple 
orchard in Michigan, having set out forty acres 
in apples in 1852, and has grown as high as 
10,000 bushels of apples per annum. He has 
also twelve acres of peaches, and a great variety 
of other fruits. He is vice-president of the 
Grand Rapids Fruit Growers' association, and 
is also president of the Grand River \'alley 
Horticultural society. The former is devoted 
to looking after a market for fruit, and has 
brought in many buyers. It also has influ- 
enced railroad rates, and in many ways oth- 
erwise helped the fruit growers. He now has 
1 10 acres in the home farm and forty acres 
near the city. 

Mr. Smith married, in 1849, Miss Laura J. 
Bibbins, daughter of Rev. Samuel Bibbins, of 
Plymouth, Wayne county, but a native of New 
York. She died July 24, 1893, after forty- 
four years of happy wedded life. She had 
been an effective help in all his church work, 
as, having no children, she was usually with him 
and was widely known and beloved. She was 



768 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



blessed with culture and natural talents, partly 
displayed in creditable art work. 

Mr. Smith served as temporary chairman 
of the convention at Jackson, in 1854, that or- 
ganized the republican party, that being the 
the first convention the party ever had. A 
temperance man all his life, he was secretary 
of the first Washingtonian society near him, and 
has been active in all temperance movements 
since, having been in his later years identified 
with the prohibition party. 

Mr. Smith has many characteristics of the 
old-time circuit rider, toned down by modern 
pastoral work. Of unusual physique and with 
strong features, refined by study and by rub- 
bing against the myriad shades of human 
nature, he is a genial, whole-souled gentleman, 
broadened through his early efforts in church 
work and experience. 




NDREW W. (JACK) HOWARD.— 
For one-half a century has Andrew 
W. Howard been a citizen of Kent 
county, and an eye witness of the 
wonderful development of the county and the 
city of Grand Rapids. During the progress 
of the country he has been recognized, not 
only as a just, upright citizen, but numbered 
among the valiant heroes of Michigan, who 
went to the front with his service for the pres- 
ervation of his country's honor in her peril. 
Mr. Howard is a native of the city of 
Detroit, having been born at that place on 
the 1 2th of November, 1844. He was the 
second in a family of two sons and five daugh- 
ters born to Robert and Rebecca (Whitten) 
Howard, three of whom are living at the pres- 
ent, viz: Lucy, widow of Muritt Stocking, a 
resident of Grattan; Andrew W. , and Mary, 
wife of Wheeler Pond, an agriculturist, resid- 
ing in Oakfield. 

The father was born in Lincolnshire, 



England, October 10, 181 5, and is now living 
at Grattan at the ripe old age of eighty-four 
years. He emigrated to America when a 
young man of seventeen, and landed in New 
York, his objective point. He was a self- 
educated man, having acquired his training 
I through physical, as v>'ell as mental exertions. 
At his arrival in Michigan the state had just 
received admission to the union. 

The mother was a native of the same 
locality in England as the father, and died in 
Grattan May 15, 1896. 

Andrew W. Howard has also seen Grand 
Rapids at an early day when it was a 
new hamlet and teams were wont to 
mire down on Canal and Monroe streets, in 
the present city of 98,000 inhabitants. There 
were at that time no railroads in Kent county 
and the time of the building of the Detroit 
& Grand Haven is clear in his memory. He 
can well remember when the inhabitants were 
accustomed to ferry Grand river at Plainfield. 
He has often seen the west part of the town 
where the union depot now stands and the 
present site of the principal hotels when they 
were veritable bogs. 

Mr. Howard was but a lad when he came 
to Kent county with his father, and these re- 
markable changes have occurred during his res- 
idence there. His father bought a piece of 
unimproved land in Cannon, which presented 
the aspect of a wilderness. He afterward sold 
this farm and repurchased it and secured land 
in Grattan township where he has since made 
his home. Mr. Howard of this memoir was 
educated in the common schools and his trad6 
has been that of a miller. He operated the 
"Grattan Flouring Mills" for fifteen years, 
and also had charge of the Belding mill for one 
year and a half after his marriage, but on ac- 
count of his failing health was compelled to 
resort to an agricultural life. 

During the Civil war Mr. Howard enlisted | 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



769 



at Grattan in company D, First Michigan en- 
gineers and mechanics, December 19, 1863. 
His regiment was assigned to the army of the 
Cumberland and the work consisted of making 
bridges, tearing up railroad tracks and the 
erection of fortifications, etc. He was in the 
famous " Sherman's March to the Sea" and 
was under fire at the battle of Bentonville, N. 
C. During his career in the army he was 
never in the hospital or guard house, never off 
duty or home on a furlough, but served his 
ull time as a true soldier and received his hon- 
orable discharge at Nashville, Tenn., Septem- 
ber 22, 1865. He was present at the grand 
review at Washington, D. C, the greatest 
military pageant the United States has known 
in all her history. 

On the i6th of February, 1876, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Alice M. Unger, 
who bore him five sons and five daughters, 
eight of whom are living, viz: Roy, at present a 
member of the Masonic fraternity of Cedar 
Springs lodge, and a young man, who having 
completed the full course prescribed in the 
common school, has a remarkable and reten- 
tive memory, exemplary habits, and a liking 
for good educational books, such as works on 
history or mathematics; Lottie, who received 
a thorough education in the public schools and 
is at present the wife of William Sipple, Jr., 
an agriculturist of Nelson; Lucy, in the seventh 
grade at school; Frank E. and Anzie in school, 
and Harold, Helen and Claude, the happiness 
of home. 

Mrs. Howard was born in Oakfield town- 
ship, Kent count}', Mich., August 14, 1857, 
and was educated in the common school of 
that place. She was the daughter of Christian 
and Ann (Sowers) Unger, the parents of thir- 
teen children, five of whom are living. 

Mr. and Mrs. Howard began life together 
in Grattan, where he was a miller. In 1889 
they located in their present home which he 



had purchased two years previous. He is a 
man who has experienced toil and hardship, 
being $1,000 in debt at the start and now the 
owner of a beautiful estate with valuable im- 
provements and no mortgage nor debt. They 
have just completed the erection of a comfort- 
able two-story frame residence of eighteen 
rooms and attic. 

Politically Mr. Howard is a democrat but 
cast his first presidential vote for Abraham 
Lincoln while in the service. He has been 
chosen as delegate oftentimes to conventions 
to represent the citizens of his township. 
Ofificially, he was elected in 1883 treasurer of 
Grattan township and re-elected to fill the 
same office. Subsequently he was again called 
upon by his people to take the place of 
custodian of the funds of his township and was 
again re-elected, showing his popularity and 
the full confidence and trust his people place 
in him. Almost since the very inception of 
his residence in Spencer township he has been 
on the school board and manifests a high in- 
terest in education. As an executor of his 
office, he, as the i!)eople know, has been super- 
lative. In all business matters Mr. Howard is 
discriminating, sagacious and diligent, and his 
careful management and industry have un- 
locked for him the portals of success and 
brought out some of its rich treasures. He 
and his wife live in enjoyment, for both have 
many sincere friends who entertain for them 
the highest regard. 




ANIEL F. HOWARD, a much re- 
spected agriculturist of Grattan town- 
ship, was born in Vergennes town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., February 
28, 1859, and is the third of the eleven chil- 
dren — seven sons and four daughters — that 
graced the union of Daniel and Kate (Costello) 
Howard, and of these eleven six still survive, 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the eldest of whom is Daniel F. ; John is a 
farmer of Bovvne township; Kate resides in 
Vergennes township with her mother; James 
also lives on the old homestead; William and 
Thomas are also farmers in Vergennes town- 
ship. All these children were confirmed in 
the Catholic church by Bishop Borgess. 

Daniel Howard, the father of this family, 
was born in county Cork, Ireland, in 1822, was 
educated in his native country, and in 1840 
embarked on a sailing-vessel at Liverpool for 
New York, where he arrived seven weeks later 
after a somewhat tempestuous voyage, and 
from that city came direct to Detroit, Mich., 
and found employment on the Michigan Cen- 
tral railroad as a contractor. Some years 
later he purchased 100 acres of wild land in 
section No. 5, Vergennes township, Kent 
county, where the Indians were still freely 
roaming around. As the village of Lowell 
had not then been founded, his trading 
and milling point was Kalamazoo, which he 
reached with a two-wheeled cart. He was 
foremost among the founders of St. Patrick's 
parish, in which he aided in erecting the first 
Catholic church building. He was a democrat 
in politics,' was an industrious man and a 
model citizen, and died, well-to-do and highly 
respected, in 1874. His wife is also a native 
of county Cork, was born about 1829, was 
fifteen years of age when she came to America, 
and is. still living on the homestead, respected 
for her many excellencies of character bj' all 
who know her. 

Daniel F. Howard was reared to farming 
on his birthplace, was educated in the district 
schools, and remained on the homestead until 
about nineteen years of age. He began work- 
ing out at $13 per month, and when he had 
reached his majority had saved $200. He 
next spent about eleven years as a lumberman 
in Clare, Mecosta and Roscommon counties. 

February 12, 1889, Mr. Howard married 



Miss Mattie Byrne, of a very prominent family 
in Grattan township, whose genealogy will be 
found in the biographies of Mrs. Mary A. 
Byrne and Mrs. M. A. Lessiter, elsewhere in 
this volume. The marriage service was sol- 
emnized by Father James Crumlej', former 
pastor of St. Patrick's parish, and the union 
has been blessed with six children, five of 
whom are still living, viz: Louis M., who has 
attended St. Patrick's parochial schools under 
the charge of the Sisters of Mercy; Muriel E., 
a school girl in the parochial schools; Melvin 
\\'., in same schools; Ethel Mary and Thomas 
D. ; an infant, John Earle, has but recently 
been called away. 

Mrs. Mattie Howard was born April 14, 
1868, in Grattan township, and is a daughter 
of John and Mary A. (Weeks) Byrne. She 
was confirmed at the age of fourteen years by 
Bishop Borgess, was educated in the common 
and union schools of Grattan, and also for one 
year attended St. Mary's academy at Windsor, 
Canada. She is now a member of the Altar 
society of her church, is a genial lad_\', and has 
been a wise counselor to her husband in his 
business transactions and an able assistant in 
conducting his affairs. 

Mr. and Mrs. Howard began their married 
life on eighty-five acres of their present farm, 
and went in debt for the place to the extent 
of nearly $5,000. To-day they own 1S5 
acres of good land, well cultivated, and a 
comfortable dwelling, all the result of their 
own industry and perseverance. This was 
known as Talbot homestead, one of the first 
settled in Grattan township. 

In politics, Mr. Howard is a democrat and 
cast his first presidential vote for Grover 
Cleveland, but has never sought an office for 
himself, as he has preferred to devote his time 
and attention to his private affairs. He and 
wife are devout members of St. Patrick's 
parish, and contribute liberally toward its sup- 




FARMER FAMILY— Five Generations. 
See Page 761. 



I 



I 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



773 



port. They stand very high in the esteem of 
the people of the township and certainly de- 
serve . ae great respect which is paid them. 




1\VEN J. HOWARD, the popular and 
' vigilant supervisor of Vergennes 
township, the place of his nativity, 
was born March i i, 1857, and is the 
a family of six children^two sons and 
four daughters — born to Timothy and Mary 
(Driscoll) Howard, four of which children still 
survive, viz: Johanna, widow of John Walsh, 
late of Lowell, Mich., and has one daughter, 
Mamie Frances, who graduated in music from 
the Ursuline convent, at Windsor, Canada, and 
is now a teacher of music; Margaret, wife of 
Owen W. McGee, of Vergennes township and 
foreman of Mitchell Bros. 'lumber mill at Cad- 
illac; Mary, wife of Richard Bergin, formerly 
a teacher now a farmer in Vergennes town- 
ship, and Owen J., the subject of this sketch. 
Tiriiuthy Howard was born in county 
Cork, Ireland, about 1S19, and when nineteen 
years old came to America, landing at St. 
John's, N. B., after a tedious voyage of four 
months, and not a pound in his pocket. He 
had, however, an abundance of energy, and 
worked through Canada, New York and Ohio, 
on the canals, and arrived in southern Michi- 
gan jus when the Southern Michigan railroad 
was beaig constructed, found work on the 
same, secured a railroad land warrant, and 
entered eighty acres in section No. 8, Ver- 
gennes township, then a wilderness of hard- 
wood, and here he erected his log cabin. He 
then married Miss Driscoll at St. Patrick's 
church, Detroit, and later became one of the 
founders of St. Patrick's parish in I\ent coun- 
ty, and assisted in the erection of four Catho- 
lic churches in this parish, being a devout be- 
liever in the faith. He was very industrious, 
and in the summers worked his farm, and 



during the winters found work elsewhere, go- 
ing as far as the Welland canal, 340 miles 
away. He was thrifty, and ere his death, 
which occurred July 2, 1861, had acquired 160 
acres, all in Vergennes township. In politics 
he was a democrat. 

Mrs. Mary (Driscoll) Howard was also a 
native of county Cork, Ireland, was born in 
1825, and at the age of eleven years sailed 
from Baltimore harbor (the same port her hus- 
band had sailed from) with her brother, and 
landed at St. John's, N. B. She, also, was a 
devout Catholic and a lady of many christian 
virtues, and died December 9, 1887. Her 
remains lie interred beside those of her hus- 
band in St. Patrick's cemetery, where a mon- 
ument stands, sacred to their memory. 

Owen J.' Howard has been reared to 
agricultural pursuits and educated in the com- 
mon schools, and has also applied himself to 
the study of matters of practical use. He re-, 
mained with his mother until her death, caring 
for her filially, and February 11, 1890, mar- 
ried Miss Jennie E. Bergin, which union has 
been blessed with five children, \\z: Eugene 
Aloysius, who is in the fourth grade of the 
parochial school, under the charge of the 
Sisters of Mercy. Albert and Emmett, also at 
school, and Frank and Genevieve, both loo 
young for school attendance. Mr. Howard 
was confirmed at the age of ten years by 
Bishop LeFevre, and Mrs. Howard at fourteen, 
by Bishop Richter. 

Mrs. Jennie E. Howard was born in Lowell, 
Mich., March 10, 1869, and is the eldest of 
the eleven children — five sons and si.\ 
daughters — born to Jo'nn S. and Mary (McGee) 
Bergin, and seven of thesa children still sur- 
vive, namely: Frank, a married farmer of 
Vergennes township; Eva, at home in Lowell ; 
Mamie, who will graduate at Lowell in the 
class of 1900; Carl, Izene and Raymond, all 
at home. 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



John S. Bergin was born in Livingston 
county, Mich., rv°ceived a sound education at 
Detroit, and has passed his years up to date 
as a farmer and merchant; in religion he is 
Catholic, and in politics democratic. His 
wife is also a native of Michigan, and the two 
still reside in Lowell. 

Mrs. Howard was primarily educated in 
the common schools, then attended St. 
Joseph's seminary at Notre Dame, Ind., in 
1884, and St. Mary's academy at Windsor, 
Canada, in 1886 and 1887. Her studies were 
confined to the English branches, oil painting 
and painting in water-colors. She is a lady 
of that sunny nature which makes the home 
circle heavenly. Mr. and Mrs. Howard began 
their married life on the Howard homestead 
in 1890, on which, in 1882, was erected an 
imposing brick residence, which is one of the 
most stable and commanding in the township. 

Mr. Howard is a sound democrat, cast his 
first presidential vote for Winfield Scott Han- 
cock in 1880, and has always aimed to pro- 
mote the success of his party in what he con- 
siders to be the best policy for the benefit of 
the masses. He has been prominent in local 
politics, and in 1892 was elected treasurer of 
Vergennes township, filled the office most satis- 
factorily, and was re-elected in 1893. In 1894 
he was elected justice of the peace, held the 
office until 1898, and was then elected super- 
visor of the township, gave the utmost satis- 
faction in the performance of his duties, and 
was re-elected in 1899, being the present in- 
cumbent. He has always held the full con- 
fidence of the people and of his party, and by 
the latter has been frequently sent as delegate 
to its county and state conventions. He has 
also filled other positions of honor and trust, 
and is at present the administrator of a large 
estate in his township. 

Mr. Howard and wife are devout Catholics, 
and liberally contribute to the support of their 



church. Mr. Howard has been successful in 
life and has added to the old homestead until 
he now owns 240 acres in Vergennes township. 
His farm is of a clay-loam soil, adapted to the 
growth of all the cereals, fruits and edible 
vegetables, peculiar to the climate of southern 
Michigan. He and wife socially occupy a high 
standing and are greatly esteemed for T 
many excellent traits of personal character 



<m 



EVMOUR AND BARTON D. HUNT- 
ING, of Rockford, Algoma township, 
Kent county, Mich., are natives of 
Courtland village and fill prominent 
stations in the community in which they now 
live. They are sons of Isaac and Sarah A. 
(Shotwell) Hunting, early settlers of Court- 
land township and the parents of nine chil- 
dren, five sons and four daughters — of whom 
five are still living, viz: Seymour, of this 
sketch; David, a contractor, of Courtland 
township; Albert I., a graduate of the Rock- 
ford high school, and at present a machinist 
at Grand Rapids; Barton, of whom further 
mention will shortly be made, and Lura A., 
also a graduate from the Rockford high school 
and for a number of years a successful teacher 
in Kent county. 

Isaac Hunting, the father of this family, 
was born in Dutchess county, N. Y. , April 25, 
1837, was thoroughly educated, and for some 
years in his earlier manhood was a school 
teacher. He was married in his native coun- 
ty. In 1855 he came from New York direct 
to Courtland township, Kent county, Mich., 
the county being then but in the incipiency of 
its settlement, and here engaged in farming. 
He was one of those brave men who offered 
their services and their lives to their country 
in its hour of need, and enlisted March 6, 
1865, in company F, Seventh Michigan cav- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



I <o 



airy, and was elected corporal. In October, 
1S65, however, he was transferred to company 
B, First Michigan veteran cavalry, and was 
assigned to duty in the far west, where con- 
tests with the Indians were frequent and ard- 
uous, and where the rigors of the climate and 
the severity of the service shattered his once 
vigorous health and strength and eventually 
caused his death. He was honorably dis- 
charged March 10, 1866, when he returned to 
Courtland and resumed the peaceful pursuits 
of civil life. 

Politically, he was an ardent supporter of 
the greenback party and of the policy of Peter 
Cooper, the New York philanthropist. For 
several years he served his fellow townsmen 
as supervisor and also as treasurer, and was 
the recipient of their fullest confidence. He 
was likewise a warm supporter of the public 
school system and indefatigable in strengthen- 
ing and promoting it. His lamented death took 
place .April 28, 1879, and this was hastened, 
as already hinted, by the hardships he en- 
dured while in the army. His widow, also a 
native of New York, born March 9, 1839, re- 
ceived an excellent education in girlhood, was 
for some years a teacher before her marriage, 
and is now living on the old homestead in 
Courtland township. 

Seymour Hunting, alluded to in the open- 
ing paragraph of this article, and now promi- 
nent among the business men of Rockford and 
Kent county, was born April 29, 1863, and 
began his business life, as a grocer, in May, 
1 89 1, in association with F. O. Kelsey, with 
whom he remained until May, 1893, when he 
bought out that gentleman, and has since done 
business on his sole account, his trade being 
second to none in Rockford. He carries a full 
line of staple or standard groceries, which he 
purchases largel}- at Grand Rapids, and which 
are consequently always fresh and reliable. 
He also deals in the products of the locality, 



and during the fall of 1898 shipped 2.500 bar- 
rels of apples south and west, and his ship- 
ments of peaches and plums were proportion- 
ately large. His grocery stock invoices fully 
$3,000, and the volume of his combined trade 
reaches about $23,000 per annum. 

Mr. Hunting was joined in matrimony, 
March 21, 1889, with Miss Effie A. Jenne, 
daughter of Newton E. and Mary (Hedger) 
Jenne, one of the prominent families of Court- 
land township, and two children have come to 
bless this union, viz: Grace R., a bright little 
miss now si.\ years old, and Clyde N. 

In politics Mr. Hunting is democratic on 
national questions, but in local matters he 
supports the candidate best qualified, in his 
opinion, to perform the duties of the office to 
be filled. He cast his first presidential vote 
for Grover Cleveland in 1884, and has himself 
filled the office of village treasurer, and has 
served on the village board for the past five 
years. He is a warm friend of public educa- 
tion and believes in employing competent 
teachers, even though they have to be paid a 
higher salary than that paid to mediocre ped- 
agogues. Fraternally, he is a member of 
Rockford lodge. No. 246, F. & A. M., and also 
a member of Sons of Veterans post. No. 16. 
His business success has been secured by fair 
and square treatment of his patrons, and his 
business name stands without a blemish. He 
and wife move in the best social circles of the 
village, and they enjoy to the full the respect of 
their neighbors and the citi2ens in general. 

Barton D. Hunting, younger brother of 
Seymour Hunting, was born March 19, 1S73, 
and received a sound public-school training. 
His life has been passed in agricultural pursuits 
and in merchandizing. The year 1892 and 
a part of 1893 he passed in Cakes, N. Dak., 
as a salesman, and in the fall of 1893 he be- 
came interested in the jewelry trade. In 
October, 1897, he entered his brother's store 



776 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



in Rockford, Mich., as a salesman, but is at 
present traveling in the west. In politics Mr. 
Hunting is independent and votes for the man 
of his choice, regardless of party dictates, but 
is of Democratic proclivities and cast his first 
presidential vote for William Jennings Bryan 
in 1896. He is a member of Sons of Veterans 
post, No. 16, at Rockford, and is chancellor 
of Arbutus lodge, No. 48, Court of Honor, of 
the same village, and is altogether a highly 
esteemed young gentleman. He has shown 
his filial love by making strenuous, as well as 
successful, efforts to secure for his mother a 
pension, which was clearly her due, on account 
of the comparatively early death of her hus- 
band, which was the result, beyond cavil, of 
his exposure while in the service of his coun- 
try, and in these efforts, as in the general 
affairs of life, he has shown consummate ex- 
ecutive ability. He was two years ago wed- 
ded to Miss Pearl Sipples, of Courtland. 




EWIS GEORGE HUTCHINGS, a 
prosperous and well-known young 
farmer of Plainfield township, Kent 
county, Mich., is the second son of 
Robert M. and Mary A. (Gross) Hutchings, 
and was born October 20, 1866. He was 
reared on the old homestead, of which more 
maybe read in the sketch of Willis Hutchings, 
and remained with his parents until about 
twenty years of age, when, November i, 
1 886, he married Miss Almeda M. Long and 
began the battle of life in earnest. He first 
hired out to a neighbor for six months and 
then took his wife to Minneapolis, Minn., 
where he secured a situation as barn boss at a 
saw-mill. Two years later he returned to his 
old home in Plainfield, remained one year, 
and then rented a farm in Algoma township, 
which he cultivated three years; he ne.xt 



moved to an adjoining farm on the south,, 
which he also cultivated for three years, and 
then went to Newaygo county, to act as over- 
seer of a 1,000-acre farm in Ashland township. 
Four years later, or in the spring of 1898, he 
purchased the old homestead of 100 acres in 
Plainfield township, and this he makes his 
present home. 

Mrs. Almeda M. Hutchings was born in the 
village of Sparta, Kent county, Mich., March 
10, 1863, and is a daughter of Jacob and Mar- 
garet Fansler Long, the former a native of 
Ohio and the latter of Pennsylvania. She has 
blessed her husband with three children, Mazie, 
Bernice and Melbourne. Mrs. Hutchings is a 
most amiable lady and is noted ever\'\vhere 
for her qualifications as a housekeeper. Mr. 
and Mrs. Hutchings are not members of any 
church organization, but incline toward the 
doctrines of the Baptists; yet they are liberal 
in their contributions toward the support of 
church and school. In politics Mr. Hutchings 
upholds the democratic party, having cast his 
first presidential vote for Grover Cleveland in 
1888. He is an intelligent, hard-working man, 
thrifty as well as enterprising, and well de- 
serves the high esteem in which he is held by 
his neighbors. 



APT. STEPHEN K. IRISH, of 
Spencer township, Kent county, 
Mich., farmer, ex-sailor and ex- 
soldier, was born in Lorain county, 
Ohio, June 5, 1835, the fourth in a family of 
eight sons and one daughter, born to Nathan 
and Almira (Powers) Irish, of which family 
two only are now living — our subject and a 
brother, Andrew J., who still resides in Lorain 
county, and who is also a veteran of the war. 
The youngest brother, Edgar Harrison Irish, 
was, killed in the battle of the Wilderness. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



777 



C. j. Irish, another brother, also served in 
the same war. 

Nathan Irish was a native of \'ermont, 
born in 1800 and died at the age of sixty-six 
years. He was a millwright by trade, but for 
eight years was a sailor on the great lakes, 
and was a man of more than ordinary ingenu- 
ity, activity and bravery. 

Giles Irish, grandfather of Stephen K. , 
was a hero of the Revolutionary war and of 
the war of 18 12, and was present when Com- 
modore McDonough won his famous battle on 
lake Champlain. 

Nathan Irish lived at Piattsburg, N. Y., 
until after his marriage and then removed to 
Lorain county, Ohio. For many years he 
was a captain on the lakes, and imbued his 
sons with a love for seamanship. In politics 
he was first a whig, but at the birth of the re- 
publican party voted for John C. Fremont. 
His wife, also a native of Vermont, was born 
in 1S05 and died at the age of forty-five. She 
■was a devoted member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, was possessed of many womanly 
graces, and beloved by all who knew her. 

Stephen K. Irish attended the common 
schools till the age of thirteen years. His 
father was owner and master of a lake vessel, 
and as a boy Stephen went with him for about 
four years. He then went as a sailor and fol- 
lowed the lakes for about twenty years. He 
was wheelman on the Granite State, of the 
Northern Transportation line from Ogdens- 
burg, N. Y., to Chicago, 111., for two seasons, 
was mate for about three years, and for about 
fifteen years was captain, and well known 
among lake men as " Capt. Curly." About 
the year 1875 the vessel he was then in sank 
off Erie, Pa., and though all the crew were 
saved, two of the life-saving corps were lost in 
coming to their rescue. 

When the Civil war broke out he was mas- 
ter of the E. K. Kane, but he and nine other 



sailors offered their services to the government. 
Capt. Irish enlisted at Elyria in company I, 
Eighth Ohio volunteer infantry, and -took part 
in thirty-six actions. Among the first severe 
ones was that of Chancellorsville. In this 
battle the Eighth Ohio lost 300 men, and Mr. 
Irish was very badly wounded in his left leg 
by a fragment of shell, and still suffers, more 
or less, from the injury. Mr. Irish also took 
part at Antietam, and at Gettysburg the cap- 
tain of the company was killed, and Edgar 
Irish, who was in the company, bore the body 
from the field. Mr. Irish likewise fought in 
the second battle of Bull Run; at Bristol Station 
his cap was shot from his head; at the battle of 
the Wilderness his brother was killed and his 
own hand ^ was shattered. In this battle 
52,000 men of the Second army corps entered 
the fight and on the second day (May 6) there 
were but 20,000 left to answer roll-call. 

Capt. Irish, after being honorably dis- 
charged from the army, with a most creditable 
military record, returned to his home and first 
married, in i860. Miss Hattie Hoag, and 
to this union were born two children — 
Edgar B., a carpenter of Oakfield township, 
and Lottie M., wife of Watson Little, of 
Norv\alk, Ohio. She graduated from a 
ladies' seminary, near Ohio City, and has 
gained a fine reputation as an elocutionist. 
Mrs. Hattie Irish died in Ohio in 1878, and 
Mr. Irish next married Mrs. Sarah A. (Gra- 
ham) Hewitt, who was reared and educated in 
New York. 

In 1867, when Mr. Irish first came to 
Kent county, he purchased land in Nelson 
township, but ten years later bought forty 
acres in Spencer township. He has a beautiful 
summer resort on the southwest and south, 
shores of Lincoln lake, which is frequented 
by the residents of Grand Rapids, Rockford, 
Cedar Springs, and more distant places. He 
has nine first-class rowboats, and keeps on 



778 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



hand everything necessary for the use of 
lovers of piscatorial sport. 

In politics Mr. Irish is a republican, and 
cast his first presidential vote for Lincoln. 
Fraternally he is a charter member of Trufant 
post, No. 327, G. A. R. He is honored of 
his neighbors, and is popular with all his fel- 
low-citizens, as he is a generous, free-hearted 
man, and withal kind and jovial, having all 
the characteristics of one who has long been 
associated with messmates and comrades, on 
water and on land. 



EWTON E. JENNE. of Courtland 
township, Kent county, Mich., is a 
native of Genesee county, N. Y. , and 
is the eldest of the si.x children born 
to Lansing K. and Submit (Ashley) Jenne, his 
birth having taken place April 2, 1842, and of 
this family all are still living, with the excep- 
tion of Mrs. Submit Jenne, who died in Illi- 
nois in 1889. 

Lansing K. Jenne, now seventy-eight years 
of age, has devoted his life almost altogether to 
farming and stock breeding in his native state 
of New York, in Michigan, and in Illinois, and is 
now residing in Keithsburg, in the latter state. 
When he first settled in Kent county, Mich., 
the city of Grand Rapids claimed a population 
of 7,500 only, but twenty-five years later, 
when he left Michigan for Illinois, the popula- 
tion of the Valley city had reached four times 
that number. 

Newton E. Jenne was but twelve years of 
age when he came to Michigan with his par- 
ents. He received a fair public-school educa- 
tion, and he has passed all his life as a farmer, 
with the e.xception of two years, when he was 
part owner of the flouring mills at Rockford. 
Although he began his business life with 
scarcely an}' capital, he has, through good 



management, industry and judicious expendi- 
ture of his earnings, secured a competency. 

Mr. Jenne has been twice married; first, 
with Miss Mary Hedger, who bore him two 
children, viz: Effie, wife of Seymour Hunt- 
ing, whose biography appears elsewhere, and 
Fred N., a farmer of Courtland township. His 
second wife was Miss Emma L. Hedger, a sis- 
ter of the former. 

Mr. Jenne purchased his present farm of 
eighty acres in Courtland township in 1867. 
On this propert}- he has erected all necessary 
farm buildings, and, in fact, has redeemed the 
place from what was then, comparatively, -a 
waste or wilderness, and converted it into one 
of the most profitable farms of its size in the 
township. 

In politics Mr. Jenne is a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for Abraham 
Lincoln. In his fraternal relations he is a 
member of Rockford lodge. No. 246, F. & A. 
M. , and also of Edgerton tent. No. 684, K. O. 
T. M. Socially, his standing, and that of his 
family, is of the best. 




BRAM H. JOHNSON, of Oakfield 
township, Kent county, Mich., for 
over fifty years has been a citizen 
here, and has witnessed its wonder- 
ful development, including that of the beauti- 
ful city of Grand Rapids. 

He is a native of Schoharie, N. Y., was 
born on the i8th of December, 1837, the sec-, 
ond son in a family of seven children born toj 
Sabin and Phoebe (Wilsey) Johnson. Of five I 
living, A. H. Johnson, is the eldest; William' 
is a ranchman near Couerd' Alene, Idaho; Nel- 
son was a soldier in the army of the Potomac, 
and is now engaged in agriculture in Cannon 
township, Kent county, Mich. ; Marcus and 
Martin, twins, the former a farmer in Cannon 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



ro 



township, and the latter a mechanic living in 
Grand Rapids. 

The father was a native of New York, and 
died at the age of forty-nine in Courtland 
township, Kent county, Mich., where he had 
been a blacksmith and wagonmaker. He was 
a son of Joseph Johnson, who was a native of 
the Green Mountain state. Sabin Johnson 
came to this state via the Erie canal, lakes 
Erie, Huron and Michigan to Grand Haven. 

In that early day the county was almost 
an entire wilderness. Cedar Springs, Rock- 
ford, Sand Lake and the towns of northern 
Kent were not known. He first took up eighty 
acres of government land in section 22, upon 
which he erected a little board hut, which was 
his first habitation. There were no highways, 
school houses nor churches in the entire town- 
ship, which then contained but fifteen 
families. 

Mr. Johnson was an old-time whig, but at 
the birth of the republican party espoused its 
principles. Endowed with keen perceptive 
powers and sound judgment, he had prophe- 
sied the Civil war some twenty years before 
its outbreak. I^eligiously he and wife were 
members of the M. E. church. His wife was 
a native of Berne, N. Y. , and died at Rock- 
ford, Mich., at the age of si.\ty-si.\ years. 
Abram H. Johnson received such an educa- 
tion as could be secured in the pioneer schools, 
and still has a keen recollection of the old Ele- 
mentary spelling book and .English reader. 
Until twenty-one years of age he remained at 
home with his mother, where much responsi- 
bility rested upon his shoulders. Much of the 
time after fourteen years of age he worked out, 
his wages going to the support of the family. 
He was one of the brave men who went to the 
front when the country was imperiled, having 
enlisted in company A, of the Si.xth Michigan 
cavalry, at Grand Rapids, on the 14th of 
August, 1862. His regiment was assigned 



to the army of the Potomac, in what was 
called the Michigan brigade, under Gen. 
Custer. He took an active part in many 
of the severe battles, among which was 
Gettysburg. At Falling Waters the regi- 
ment lost heavily, Capt. Weber, of com- 
pany B, being numbered among the slain. 
Among the remaining battks in which 
he took part were those of the Wilderness, 
Cold Harbor and Petersburg. He was with 
Gen. Sheridan on his famous raid up the Shen- 
andoah valley when he devastated that beauti- 
ful country, which was the great source of sup- 
plies to the Confederate army. He engaged 
in the battle of Cedar Creek and Winchester, 
and was stationed at Five Forks, Va., when 
the joyful news reached the regiment that 
Gen. Lee had surrendered. His regiment par- 
ticipated in the great military review at Wash- 
ington, after which it was ordered west, where, 
at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., he was honorably 
discharged on the 21st of June, 1865. 

Mr. Johnson was married on the 6th of 
December, 1862, while waiting orders to go 
to the front, in Courtland township, to 
Fanny Bennett. They had one daughter, 
Jennie, who was educated in the common 
schools, and was an e.xcellent young lady of 
charming manner, the pride and dependence of 
her parents, and a grace to any community. 
She died September 26, 1S93, and her re- 
mains are interred in Oakfield cemetery. A 
handsome monument will be erected to her 
memory, to mark her last resting place. Be- 
loved by all who knew her the community has 
keenly mourned her loss, which has been to 
each friend a personal bereavement. 

Mrs. Johnson was born in Warrensburg, 
N. Y. , October 23, 1836, a daughter of Har- 
mon and Aviss (Dean) Bennett, and was a maid 
of fourteen years when she accompanied her 
parents to Kent county, Mich., where she at- 
tended the common schools. Both she and 



780 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



her husband can well remember when Grand 
Rapids was but a village, and a team would 
often mire on Canal street, near where Sweet's 
hotel now stands. At that time the sites of 
the Morton and Livingston hotels were cov- 
ered with small and insignificant buildings. 
Bear and deer were commonplace, and were 
often seen and killed bj' the settlers. 

Mr. Johnson has been a strong supporter 
of the republican party, and cast his first presi- 
dential vote for Abraham Lincoln. 

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are much interested 
in education and have advocated improvement 
in methods and instructors. They are church 
members of high standing, endeavoring to 
know and follow the mind of the Master. So- 
cially Mr. Johnson is a member of the L. C. 
Hart post. No. 247, G. A. R., at Harvard. 
In every relation of life his character has 
stood the test, and the regard of his fellowmen 
has been won by years of upright living, 
coupled with excellent personal attributes. 



HARLES PARISH, one of the most 
respected and thrifty farmers of 
Tyrone township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born near Markland, an 
estate in Ycrkshire, England, December i, 
1 85 I, the third in a family of three sons and 
one daughter, born to Joseph and Jane (Cash) 
Parish, of whom Charles and a sister, Mrs. 
Geo. K. Playter, are now living. 

Joseph Parish, father of subject, was born 
in Lincolnshire, England, September 2, 181 i, 
and was reared to agricultural pursuits. He 
was educated in the common schools, and for 
many years was an overseer of an estate in his 
native land. May 12, 1853, he and family 
sailed from Liverpool in a sailing-vessel, bound 
for New York, had a very stormy passage, and 
Mr. Parish also had the misfortune of losing 
all his wearing apparel by theft. From New 



York the family came to Michigan and located 
in Manchester, \\'ashtenaw county, where 
Mrs. Joseph Parish died at the age of about 
thirty-two years, and Mr. Parish returned to 
England, and March 19, 1857, married Miss 
Julia Moore, a native of Lincolnshire, with 
whom he returned to Michigan. To this union 
have been born four children, viz: William, a 
lumberman at Oconto, Wis.; Mary B., widow 
of John Holmes, formerly a pharmacist at 
Sparta; Leonard J., farmer and farrier at 
Kent City, and Frederick S., a farmer and 
lumberman, and living with his mother in Ivent 
City also. 

Mr. Parish, the father, died December 31, 
1893, ^ member of the Church of England, in 
politics a democrat, and socially a highly re- 
spected gentleman. His widow has a com- 
fortable home of her own in Kent City and is 
surrounded by a large circle of warm friends, 
and in the enjoyment of the society of those 
of her children who reside here. 

Charles Parish, the worthy subject, was an 
infant of eighteen months when his parents 
reached Washtenaw county, and he was 
there reared until fifteen years old, when 
his father purchased land in Jackson county. 
There young Charles went to work for a farmer, 
at $15 per month, and thus aided his father in 
paying off a mortgage of $100 on the new 
farm. His school advantages had been some- 
what meager, but he was a youth of close 
observation and learned the practical lessons 
of life with ease and without the especial use 
of books. He continued to make his home 
with his father until past his majority and was 
always an able assistant to him. 

Mr. Parish married, October 13, 1875, 
Miss Marian J. Van Driest, but to this union 
no children have been born. In their kind- 
ness of heart, however, they have adopted as 
their own a little boy and a little girl, the 
eldest of whom, George, is now in the fifth 




^ /tc^^ U c 



a 



/i 




i>>iyui o^yiyu 



\J(X/iyVQ'hj 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



r85 



f^rade of the Kent City schools, is dih'gent in 
his studies, and is a bright, obedient lad; the 
3'ounger, Gretchen, is just starting for school, 
has been as a sunbeam in the cozy and com- 
fortable home of her benefactors and has 
musical talent, vocal and instrumental. Mr. 
and Mrs. Parish will do what they can to 
properly educate their wards. 

Mrs. Marian J. Parish was born in Sheboy- 
gan county, Wis., December 6, 1855, and is a 
daughter of Peter and Mary Ann (Dearlove) 
Van Driest, who were the parents of two sons 
and four daughters, of whom two only are 
now living — Mrs. Parish and Martha P., the 
wife of Henry Benton, a merchant of Wayne 
county, N. Y. Peter Van Driest, father of 
^^rs. Parish, was born in West Chapelle, Hol- 
land, March 4, 1 821, is a cooper by trade and 
is still living in the enjoyment of all his fac- 
ulties. His wife was born in Cliff, England, 
July 24, 1827, and they were married at 
Rochester, N. Y., August 20, 1846. 

In October, 1875, Mr. and Mrs. Parish 
came to Kent City with only thirteen cents in 
their possession, the clothes on their backs 
and something more in their trunks, but no 
furniture. Mr. Parish found work by the day 
in the Grand Rapids Stove works in the vil- 
lage, labored diligently two years, and was 
then able to purchase forty acres of land with- 
in a half-mile of Kent City, of which twelve 
acres only had been cleared, and for this land 
he traded, as part payment, one acre and a 
small house he had previously owned in Kent 
City, gained through his industry. On the 
newly-purchased farm there was a little log 
cabin, and into this Mr. and Mrs. Parish 
moved in 1881, having spent the previous four 
years in Kent and Wexford counties, in which 
Mr. Parish worked two years each, as did also 
his faithful wife, in order to earn the money 
necessary to release the mortgage resting on 
his forty-acre farm. He found his place cov- 



ered with stumps, many of which he rooted 
himself, yet had to pay for the extirpation of 
1,900 others. From that time until this he has 
continued to make improvements, as is well 
attested by his excellent fruit orchards, cribs, 
outbuildings, fences, well, and beautiful mod- 
ern residence erected in 1893. This dwelling 
is two stories high, contains ten rooms, three 
closets and halls, a well-arranged basement 
and cellars, and the upper stories are beauti- 
fully finished in hardwood, while all the sur- 
roundings of the Parish mansion indicate taste, 
good management and thrift. Besides the 
homestead of forty acres, Mr. and Mrs. Parish 
own a fine farming tract of forty acres in sec- 
tion No. 33, and notwithstanding the fact that 
they began- life in Kent county, in 1875, with 
a capital of only thirteen cents, they are now 
in most comfortable circumstances and entirely 
free from debt. 

In politics Mr. Parish is a democrat and 
cast his first presidential vote in 1S76 for Sam- 
uel J. Tilden; fraternally, he is a member of 
lodge No. 361, I. O. O. F., at Kent City. He 
and wife attend the Baptist church and are 
liberal in their contributions to church pur- 
poses generally, and are classed with the most 
worthy residents of Tyrone township. 



HARLES F. JOHNSON, a greatly 
respected farmer of Sparta town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., was born 
in the province of Smoland, Sweden, 
about twenty- eight miles from the city of Jijn- 
ki.ping, the capital of the province, December 
12, 1846, and is the youngest of a family of 
six children born to John and Christine (Jo- 
hannos) Peterson. (In explanation of this 
incongruity, it may be here stated that, half a 
century ago, surnames were hardly ever used 
among the Scandinavian peasantry, the suffix 
" son " being attached, in the case of a male 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



child, to the christian name of the father, 
and the suffix "dotter," in the case of a fe- 
male; thus, a son of Peter is called Peterson, 
a son of John is called Johnson, and so on. 
In the present instance it will be perceived, 
the subject is a son of John, and the father of 
subject was a son of Peter.) 

Of the six children alluded to in the fore- 
going paragraph, five are still living, viz: 
Claus P., a married farmer, of Sparta town- 
ship; Hannah, wife of Charles Lindquist, a 
mechanic, still in the province of Smoland; 
Fredrika, married to John Lind, a farmer of 
Tyrone township, Kent county, Mich. ; John 
A., a mechanic in Grand Rapids, and mar- 
ried, and Charles F.,the subject of this sketch. 

John Peterson, father of subject, was born 
in Smoland province, September 13, 1802, and 
his wife in March, 1804. They were respect- 
able farming people, and died, respectively, 
December 13, 1871, and in 1S84, members of 
the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran church, and 
their remains now rest in peace in their native 
province. 

Charles F. Johnson was reared to farming 
and was educated in his native land, and until 
attaining his majority devoted his time and 
whatever money he earned to the use of his 
parents. He was a studious as well as a hard- 
working youth, and added greatly to his school- 
ing by reading and other self-instruction until 
he became what may be called liberally edu- 
cated. In 1869, in company with his brother 
Claus and the latter's family, he sailed from 
Gottenburg to Liverpool, England, via New- 
castle, and from Liverpool to New York, the 
trip across the Atlantic lasting fourteen days, 
a storm having been encountered when the 
steamer was eight days out and a sailor washed 
overboard. The steamer reached her berth 
at her wharf in New York about May 12, and 
from New York Mr. Johnson came directly to 
Kent county, Mich. , via Chicago, 111. Mr. 



Johnson first found employment here at farm 
labor, at $12 per month, worked for eight 
winters in the lumber region ot Kent and 
Newaygo counties, saved his earning, and thus 
prepared himself for the responsibilities of 
married life. 

April 7, 1S77, Mr. Johnson wedded, at 
Grand Rapids, Miss Sophia Fag, who has 
borne him five children, viz: Anna E., who 
passed the eighth grade in the district school 
in June, 1893, and is now a professional dress- 
maker; Ellen R., who has also passed the 
eighth grade and is now studying music; Mabel 
A., who completed the course of the common- 
school in June, 1898; Frederick A., in the sixth 
grade at school and particularly apt in mathe- 
matics; Hilda D., being the youngest, is of 
course the pet of the household. 

Mrs. Johnson, also a native of Smoland 
province, Sweden, was born October 28, 1852^ 
and is the only living child of the family of 
three sons and one daughter, born to Nels and 
Elizabeth (Peterson) Fag. Her parents died 
in their native land, the father in 1S69, when 
just preparing to emigrate to America. 

Mr. Johnson's first purchase of land was 
a tract of forty acres, for which he went in 
debt, as many others in his station in life 
did in those days, the owners of the land 
well knowing that the thrift and industry of 
the purchasers would enhance the value of the 
property and yield a better price in case of 
foreclosure. But Mr. Johnson was diligent, 
intelligent, and well understood agriculture, 
and soon paid up his indebtedness, and also 
paid for the many substantial improvements 
he has made upon the place, and is now in- 
dependent of the world. 

In politics 'Mr. Johnson is a strong repub- 
lican and is equally strong as an advocate of 
temperance. He has been connected with the 
school board for twelve years, and, encouraged 
by his amiable wife, has advocated the em- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



rsT 



ployment of the best teachers the board can 
afford to compensate. The family are mem- 
bers of the Swedish EvangeHcal Lutheran 
church, and are never behind-hand in con- 
tributing to its support. They are classed 
among the most respectable residents of Sparta 
township, where for thirty years Mr. Johnson 
has made his home, and has done his full 
share in redeeming it from a wilderness, com- 
paratively, and converting it into the bloom- 
ing orchard land and grain field that it now is. 




UGUST A. JOHNSON, senior member 
of the firm of C. A. Johnson & Co., 
the well-known mercantile house of 
Sparta, Kent county, Mich. , shippers 
of produce to the e.xtent of $90,000 to $ 100,000 
per annum, was born in Sweden December 4, 
1863, and is a son of Gustave and Johanna 
(Anderson) Johnson, who had a family of seven 
children. 

Gustave Johnson, the father, brought his 
family to the United States about 1S68, and 
immediately settled in Sparta township, Kent 
county, Mich., and engaged in farming. Au- 
gust A. Johnson received a practical common- 
school education, and until 1889 was engaged 
in agricultural pursuits; then he entered mer- 
cantile life in Sparta, and is doing the heaviest 
trade of any merchant in Sparta, if not in Kent 
county. 

October 7, 1S97, August A. Johnson mar- 
ried Miss Christine Bauman, a daughter of An- 
drew and Mary (Kemp) Bauman, of Ohio, and 
one daughter, Lucille, has graced this union. 
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are consistent mem- 
bers of the Lutheran church, and socially hold 
a very high position. In politics Mr. Johnson 
is a republican and is exceedingly popular with 
his party, which he has served two years as 
township treasurer, and as village trustee, of 
which office he is the present incumbent. He 



has also acted as president of the Young Men's 
Republican club, and fraternally is a Knight 
of Pythias, of Unity lodge. No. 134. 

Mr. Johnson is a director in the Sparta 
State bank, and beside the Sparta mercantile 
house, which is the heaviest fruit-shipping firm 
in the county, the firm conduct a branch con- 
cern in the village of Kent, that being run 
under the style of A. H. Saur & Co. 

C. A. Johnson, co-partner with August A. 
Johnson, was born in Sweden, March 15, 
1865, and is a son of Claus P. and Mary 
(Larson) Johnson, who have had born to them 
a family of si.x children, of whom four are 
still living. The father was reared a farmer 
and followed his vocation in Sweden until 
1869, when he came to America and at once 
settled in Sparta township, Kent county, 
Mich. C. A. Johnson was united in marriage, 
June 3, 1893, with Miss Esther Paterson, of 
Grand Rapids. He and wife are members of 
the Lutheran church, and mingle with the 
best social circles of Sparta and vicinity. 

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have two children — 
Lowell L. and Paul E. Mrs. Johnson was 
reared and educated in the county of Kent in 
the Swedish and English languages. 




DGAR R. JOHNSON, one of the best 
informed residents of Cascade town- 
ship, Ivent county, Mich., and an 
ex-teacher of merit and reputation, 
was born in Windham, near Catskill, Greene 
county, N. Y. , December 29, 1832, and is a 
son of Jonathan and Thankful (\\'olcott) 
Johnson. 

When Edgar R. Johnson was but two years 
of age, the family moved from New York to 
Ohio, and in the village of Fitchville, Huron 
county, that state, Edgar R. passed his early 
boyhood. He was educated in a graded school. 
At the age of nineteen years he taught school 



788 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



one term, and then clerked for a year. He had 
an uncle, Jefferson Johnson, who lived in Cas- 
cade township, Kent county, Mich., and in 1852 
the family were induced to come hither, and 
here located temporarily on a tract of land in 
the wilderness; but in 1855 removed to the 
farm now occupied by the subject which was 
heavily timbered and comprised eighty acres. 
As Jonathan Johnson was a tailor by trade and 
sickly beside, the land was paid for by his son, 
the subject, who passed his summers in clear- 
ing up the place, but found it pretty hard 
work, as he was more of a student than a 
woodman or farmer. On this place the mother 
died at the age of sixty-one years and the 
father at seventy-three. 

For sixteen winters after settling here, 
Edgar R. Johnson taught school, chiefly in 
Cascade and Ada. He had advanced scholars 
and taught algebra, astronomy and Latin, had 
large classes, sometimes having an attendance 
of fifty, and many of the pupils were older 
than himself, and he achieved a fine reputation 
as a teacher. In his earlier days as teacher 
he received $18 per month of twenty-six days, 
and " boarded round," but in the later days 
received $40, and from his earnings in this 
vocation he paid principally for the home farm. 
He has not made a failure at farming, although 
he does not claim to be an up-to-date agricult- 
urist, as he passed the greater part of his 
earlier days in study, the original intention be- 
ing to prepare himself for the medical pro- 
fession, but circumstances intervened to pre- 
vent his carrying out this design. That he has 
been somewhat successful as a general farmer, 
however, is shown by the fact that he now 
owns eighty acres of the homestead. 

In politics Mr. Johnson is a republican, and 
for years has filled township offices of more or 
less importance. Of these, for about twenty 
years he was supervisor, a longer time than any 
other person has served in that office in the 



township. As a member of the board of re- 
view, his services have been invaluable in car- 
ing for the interests of his people, and in every 
office he has filled he has had an eye to ad- 
ministering the affairs of the township effect- 
ually but economically. He has acted as del- 
egate for his party in various county, district 
and state conventions, and has always taken 
an active part in bringing about republican 
success. 

May 2 1, 1 86 1, Mr. Johnson was united in 
marriage with Miss Marion Holt, a native of 
Herkimer county, N. Y. , and a daughter of 
Henry and Mary (DeWitt) Holt, who came to 
Cascade when the daughter was but eleven 
years of age. Here both passed away, aged 
ninety-three and seventy-six, respectively. He 
had been active in township matters, a repub- 
lican, but not a politician. They were among 
the founders of the Baptist church at Ada and 
he was a deacon there for upwards of forty 
years. Mrs. Johnson was also a school teacher 
for several years in Kent county, and still owns 
a part of the Holt homestead. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Johnson no children have been born, but 
they have taken a child, Robert D. Fox, who 
came into the family when he was five years 
of age, and whom they have reared with all 
the affection and care they could possibly 
have bestowed upon^him if he had been their 
own. Robert, on reaching man's estate, mar- 
ried Miss Ada Wing, who gave birth to one 
child, Beulah Joy Fox, and who four weeks 
later passed away. Beulah is now two years 
old, and is the pet and joy of the household, 
her father still making his home with Mr. 
Johnson and operating the farm. 

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the 
Church of Christ at Cascade, in which he is 
elder. He had also served as superintendent 
of the Sunday school, .both having been work- 
ers therein for years. He is strictly a tem- 
perate man, has made his way in life through 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



789 



his own intelligent management, and to-day 
stands among the most respected and sub- 
stantial residents of Cascade township. 



RANK M. JOHNSON, editor and pro- 
prietor of the Lowell Ledger, pub- 
lished at Lowell, Kent county, Mich., 
has been a resident of the village 
since 1893, ^^"d now is among its foremost 
citizens. 

Mr. Johnson is a native of Lapeer county, 
Mich., was born December 8, i860, and is the 
fourth of a family of six children that graced 
the marriage of James S. and Mary L. (Parm- 
lee) Johnson. Of these six — four boys and 
two girls — all reside in Michigan, with the ex- 
ception of one son, Lee D., who is a mer- 
chant in Boston Mass. A daughter, Alice, is 
the wife of Maj. E. H. Browne, a graduate of 
West Point, and now of the Fourth United 
States infantry, who was in the Cuban war and 
is now in active service at Manila. 

James S. Johnson, the father, was born in 
Vermont about 1827, and is now living in Al- 
mont, Mich. His maternal ancestor in Amer- 
ica, Gregory Stone, came from England, in 
1636, in the good ship Increase. James S. 
was left an orphan at an early age, but has 
successfully grappled with the affairs of life. In 
1849 he caught the gold fever and crossed the 
plains to California, and on returning to the 
"states" settled in Lapeer county, Mich., 
engaged in lumbering and as a dealer in real- 
estate. For a time he was associated with his 
son, Frank M. ,■ in the publication of the Almont 
Herald. He possesses one of the best private 
libraries in Lapeer county, and is a frequent 
contributor to the press, liberality in religious 
belief and higher criticism being his favorite 
themes. Mrs. Mary L. Johnson was also a na- 
tive of Vermont, was born about 1829, and 
died in 1895. Her father, Danfiath Parmlee, 



was a major in the Vermont militia, and her 
uncle Oliver Parmlee was killed while assisting 
in defense of New Orleans in 18 14. 

Frank M. Johnson acquired his prelimi- 
nary education in the common schools, ad- 
vanced to the Almont high school, graduated 
with the class of 1880, and also attended the 
Flint high school. His taste for journalism 
early developed itself and his earlier lessons 
were begun in the office of the Flint Demo- 
crat as a typo. His first publication was the 
Almont Herald (in conjunction with his 
father), in which he was engaged two years. 
He then went to Mayville, Tuscola county, 
Mich., where he established the Mayville 
Monitor, which he conducted as a non-parti- 
san journal for six years. He then went to 
Bismarck, N. Dak., where he was employed 
in the Republican office on state work for 
some time, then returned to Michigan, and 
for about two years was employed by the 
Michigan Artisan Publishing company in 
Grand Rapids, then came to Lowell and 
founded the Ledger. This is a neatly-printed 
six-column quarto sheet, is independent in 
politics, and is devoted entirely to the inter- 
ests of the town and surrounding country. 
There had been two previous attempts made 
to establish the second journal at Lowell, but 
they were short lived. It was left for Mr. 
Johnson to accomplish this, and he has done 
it phenomenall}'. 

The Ledger office is one of the best equipped 
in the county, having a Campbell cylinder 
press capable of printing 1,000 copies per hour 
and a Champion job press, both run by elec- 
tric power, and a Reliance paper cutter, the 
job type is modern in face and embraces fonts 
of all the desirable styles, and thus Mr. John- 
son is prepared to execute work promptly, 
cheaply, and with metropolitan elegance. 
By a careful supervision of the columns of 
the Ledger and the use of a trenchant pen Mr. 



roo 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Johnson has run up his subscription list to 
i,ooo — an unusually large one for a rural 
journal. 

To the marriage of Mr. Johnson with Miss 
Myrtie Dickerson have been born seven chil- 
dren, four surviving, viz: Ola Minion, now , 
in the ninth grade of the Lowell school, with 
an inclination for elocution; Jamie, in the 
fifth grade; Rob Roy in the fourth, and Ruth. 

Mrs. Johnson was born in Almont, Mich., 
was a classmate with her husband and grad- 
uated in the same class with him, and se- 
cured a teacher's certificate. Her father was 
a native of Pennsylvania, but is now deceased, 
while her mother still survives. 

In politics Mr. Johnson is a democrat, and 
cast his first presidential vote for S. Grover 
Cleveland. Fraternally he is a Freemason 
and Maccabee, and socially he and family 
stand very high in the esteem of the residents 
of Lowell. 




HARLES M. EDISON, a successful 
fruit grower of Walker township, 
I\ent count}-, Mich., is the owner of 
a fine farm of eighty acres, about 
forty of which are devoted to fruit, set out with 
3,000 peach trees, 700 plum trees, 200 cherry 
trees and live acres of raspberries. Mr. Edi- 
son was reared on this farm, where he was 
born October 30, 1856. His parents were J. 
Russell Edison and Martha (Burritt) Edison, 
the father born in Canada and the mother in 
New York, but married in 1850 in Walker 
township, Kent county, Mich. The father 
came to Kent county in 1842 in company with 
his parents, Moses and Jane (Saxton) Edison, 
and settled on the farm where his grandson, 
Lafe Edison, now lives, one and a half miles 
west of the city, on Bridge street. Moses 
died a few years after coming, and his wife 
died at the age of eighty-si.\ years. 

J. Russell Edison resided here for sixteen 



years and married, in 1850, Martha Burritt, 
daughter of Henry Burritt, who came to Grand 
Rapids about 1845. Mr. Burritt had settled 
earlier at Cannonsburg, coming from New 
York about 1840. His father was a blacksmith 
in the city, at Crescent avenue and. Kent 
street, and the old residence still stands just 
north of No. 4 Engine house, and is still owned 
by the family. He died about the time of 
the war. Both J. Russell and wife are 
still living on the farm where he settled 
forty-nine years ago. He has improved all 
this place, which adjoins the old homestead. 
Both are well preserved, and in 1900 will cele- 
brate their golden wedding. Their family con- 
sists of two children — Mary, wife of Myron 
Livingston, of Plainfield, and Charles M., the 
subject of this sketch. J. Russell Edison has 
never been a politician, though he has held 
some township offices, as a matter of public 
duty and to oblige the republican party, of 
which he is a member. 

Charles M. Edison was educated in both 
county and city schools, also took a course in 
a business college, and before coming of age 
took charge of the farm, where he now has fine 
herds of Jersey cattle, while his dwelling is one 
of the finest in the township. Mr. Edison has 
attended all his party conventions, county, 
district and state, and has been especially act- 
ive in the state conventions. He is now 
deput}' oil inspector, and has been for the past 
two years, having been appointed by Gov. Pin- 
gree. His district covers Kent and Newaygo 
counties, and Lake Odessa, in Ionia county. 
He inspects all oil before unloaded from the 
cars into the tanks. 

Mr. Edison was married November 30, 
1 886, to Carrie B. Fox, of Strikerville. N. Y., 
and they have had born to them one son, Rus- 
sell L. Edison, born November 24, 1897. Mr. 
Edison is a Mason in York lodge, No. 410, and 
is one of the substantial, progressive men and 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



791 



useful and honored citizens of the township and 
county, treading closely in the footsteps of his 
revered father. 

Enns Edison was born at Port Burwell, 
Ont., June 21, 1S19, and is a son of Moses 
and Jane (Saxton) Edison. When Enos Edi- 
son settled on his present farm on the Alpine 
road, one mile north of the present city limits, 
it was wild land, oak openings, and had no 
house. He cleared up forty acres and erected 
some buildings. He spent some years off the 
place employed in farm work in Canada, Wis- 
consin and Michigan, till he was married in 
Walker township June 19, 1859, to Miss Mary 
Isabel Baily, formerly of New York and daugh- 
ter of William L. and Susan Baily. She came 
to Grand Rapids at fifteen or si.xteen years of 
age and died January 4, 1899, '"^ her sixty-first 
year. He then settled permanently on his 
farm and for forty years has devoted himself 
wholly to the farm, has it practically all im- 
proved, and has an orchard of about 5,000 
fruit trees on the place. 

Of his family of five children two are living, 
and three died in early childhood; those living 
are Jennie K., wife of Henry Gormley, resid- 
ing on the old homestead, and her children 
are, ^^'illiam, \\'innifred and Albert. John H. 
Edison lives on part of the homestead. His 
wife was Miss Myrtle Norton, and the children 
are named: Carl, Hadley and Edison. 

Mr. Edison is in religion a Methodist. He 
has donated land for building a Wesleyan 
church and has contributed to its building and 
its support. His social standing is with the 
best, and he is held in universal respect. 



OHN JOHNSON, one of the most 
respected foreign-born agriculturists 
of Sparta township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born near the city of 
Ji'nkiipping, province of Smoland, Sweden, 




January 13, 1843, and is the second in a fam- 
ily of nine children — four sons and five 
daughters — born to John and Anna H. (Carl- 
son) Johnson, of which nine six are still liv- 
ing, viz: Charles J., the eldest, a resident of 
Sparta, who was reared to farming in Sweden, 
but who is a natural mechanic and has worked 
at carpentering and blacksmithing, and is 
associated with his brother John; he is a 
republican in politics, and in religion is a 
member of the Swedish Lutheran church. 
John, the subject of this sketch, will be 
spoken of in full below. Hannah is the wife 
of Charles Lindberg, a gunsmith of Grand 
Rapids. Fredericka is married to John New- 
berg, a watchmaker by trade, but who con- 
ducts a fruLt orchard, and has been in one 
place for twenty-five years, having commenced 
work for Edward Dyke man and being the 
successor of R. D. Carstens. Anna Marie is 
the wife of Charles Nordberg, who for many 
years was a sailor on the Atlantic ocean and 
other seas, is now sailing the great lakes and 
was on Lake Michigan at the time the Alpena 
went down, and now makes his home in 
Walker township, Kent county. Martin G. 
was born November 10, 1859, in the province 
of Smoland, Sweden; he is an artist in oil 
portraits and landscapes, having studied three 
years in the Art Institute in Chicago, in which 
city and in Marquette he has executed some 
fine work, and at present has his studio in his 
brother's house in Sparta. He is educated in 
the Swedish and English tongues, in politics 
is a republican, and in religion an Evangelical 
Lutheran. 

John Johnson, the father, was born in 
Smoland December 9, 1802, left his native 
land in 1865 to join his children in America, 
purchased eighty acres of unimproved land in 
Sparta township, and erected a log house for 
his first home in the American woods. He 
was a sincere Christian and aided in the erec- 



792 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



tion of the Lutheran church in Sparta — the 
oldest in Michigan, and died in this faith in 
September, i88S, one of the most respected 
pioneers in the county. His wife was born in 
the same province with himself December 5, 
iSiS, and died a true christian April 27, 1897, 
in Sparta ' ^wnship. 

John Johi on, the subject of this sketch, 
was twenty years of age when he came to 
America. He had been liberally educated, 
was possessed of an inventive brain, and at 
the early age of fifteen years had begun to con- 
struct pipes for use in organs. He dutifull}' 
gave all his earnings to his parents until he 
attained the age of twenty years, when he left 
the port of Gottenberg, Sweden, for Ham- 
liurg, Germany, October i, 1S63, and at the 
latter city embarked on the " Hammonia" for 
New York, and reached this port after a some- 
what tempestuous voyage of twenty-one days, 
during which the vessel had her bulwarks staved 
in. He reached Grand Rapids November i, 
1863, whence he came to Sparta township, 
and, being poor, availed himself of an oppor- 
tunity to work as a farm hand at $16 per 
month. With a brother, he soon afterward 
made a contract to purchase an eighty-acre 
tract of unimproved land, for which they 
paid $100 down on account; but for a couple 
of years Mr. Johnson continued to work as a 
farm laborer, and later engaged in carpenter 
work, and in Sparta township. Mr. Johnson 
has since passed his life, with what success will 
be made apparent. 

July 22, 1883, Mr. Johnson married Miss 
Emma C. Beiglumb, and this union has been 
blessed with five children, in the following 
order: Agnes R., who is in the si.xth grade in 
the common school, has taken lessons in 
music, and exhibits an especial talent for this 
art; Alvid S. is in the fourth grade; Signe M. 
is in the third grade; Charles O. and Martin 
R. are not yet of school age. 



Mrs. Emma C. Johnson was born in the 
same province with her husband April 26, 
1 86 1, was confirmed and educated in her 
native land, and came to .\merica in June, 
1883. Her mother is yet living in Sweden, 
but her father is deceased. She has one 
daughter in Grand Rapids, one brother and 
one sister in Marquette, while another brother 
and a sister still remain in Europe. She is a 
loving and faithful wife and mother, doing all 
in her power to forward her husband's in- 
terests and to rear her children to industrious 
and virtuous habits. 

In politics Mr. Johnson is a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for Ulysses S. 
Grant. For si.\ years he has been connected 
with the public schools of his district having 
served among other capacities as chairman of 
the building committee when the present 
school building was erected in 1889, this 
school-edifice being one of the most beautiful 
in the county, and being a credit to the town- 
ship as well as to its builders. 

Being a fine mechanic, Mr. Johnson erected 
the organ in the Swedish church in Sparta 
township in 1881. He is, in fact, a pillar of 
this church and congregation, as he has been 
a deacon for twenty-seven years, the organist 
for twenty-si.x, and superintendent of the 
Sabbath school for eighteen years this be- 
ing the most prosperous Sabbath-school 
in the county. He has done most of 
the carpenter work on the present church 
building, and has always contributed largely 
toward the support. of the society in finances; 
he has been delegate to the synods or con- 
ferences of the Swedish Lutheran church on 
five different occasions, at Princeton, Rockford 
and Chicago, has been the pastor's strongest : 
support in many times of need, and has often 
officiated in his stead when duty has called the 
reverend gentleman elsewhere. Mr. Johnson 
and family are among the most respected 



* 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



793 



Swedish residents of Sparta, and are classed 
among the substantial and useful citizens of 
Kent county. 

Andrew E. Johnson ("deceased), brother of 
John Johnson, whose biography is given \n full 
above, was a resident of Sparta, was honored 
l)y all who knew him, and was recognized as 
an honorable, useful and stable citizen. He 
was born in Smoland province, Sweden, March 
27, 1849, the fifth of his parents' family, was 
educated in his native land and also at Swens- 
berg's Business college in Grand Rapids, 
where he took a full course. He was engaged 
in handling agricultural implements in all the 
territory contiguous to Sparta and was well 
known for his exemplary habits and upright 
dealing. He also was engaged largely in 
agricultural pursuits and was a successful and 
well-to-do farmer. 

In March, 1879, he married Ida Johnson, 
who was born near the city of jTinki'iping, 
Sweden, and to this marriage were born six 
children, viz: .'^nn A., who has completed 
the eighth grade in school work and has been 
trained in music; Ada V., who has finished her 
schooling, and was employed as bookkeeper in 
the general store of A. H. Saur cS; Co., Kent 
City; Clara F., in the si.xth grade at school 
and a classmate of Agnes Johnson, her cousin; 
David M. is in the fourth grade, Carroll E. in 
the third, and Augusta M. in the first grade. 

In 1896 Mr. Johnson established a general 
store in Gooding, Mich., and by fair dealing 
and courteous treatment of his patrons built 
up a large and profitable trade that promised 
much for the future, but he was seized with an 
illness that resulted in his untimely and 
lamented death May 19, 1899, he being a de- 
voted member of the Swedish Evangelical 
Lutheran church at Sparta and in politics a 
republican. He was very popular with all 
classes and his funeral was very largely at- 
tended, the ceremonies being held at the 

41 



church of which he was a member. Rev. J. A. 
Nozlin officiating, and no less than 127 car- 
riages accompanying the remains to their last 
resting place in the cemetery east of Lisbon. 
He was a kind and loving husband and father 
and a warm friend and a good and useful citi- 
zen, and the family, as well as the community, 
suffered a loss that can never be restored. 






ILLIAM S. JOHNSON is one of the 
best-known fruit growers in Can- 
non township, Kent county, which 
is said to be the center of the com- 
ing fruit region of the southern peninsula, and, 
being contiguous to Grand Rapids, commands 
fine advantages as a shipping point. He is an 
extensive grower of apples, peaches, pears 
and plums, as well as some varieties of the 
small fruits, and began this industry in 1889. 
His farm is located on section 30, and his post- 
office address is Chauncey, Mich. 

His apple orchard comprises about 150 
trees of the following varieties: Baldwin, 
Northern Spy, Ben Davis, Rhode Island 
Greening and Tolman Sweet. In 1896 he 
marketed 1,500 bushels, and in 1S98 about 
1,200 bushels. The soil of his fruit farm is a 
clay loam. A great deal of his fruit he mar- 
kets in the orchard, and the remainder in 
Grand Rapids. In 1890 he planted his first 
peach trees, 1,000 in number, of the following 
varieties: Hill's Chili, Barnard, Cheer's 
Choice, Early Michigan, Foster, Wheatland, 
and Orange Yellow. In 1893 he marketed 
this planting. In 1894 he planted 1,700 more, 
many of the same choice varieties as the for- 
mer planting, and the Hill's Chili bore in 1898. 
He is a practical fruit man, and believes in 
"spraying." Some of the 1,700 trees of the 
last planting are the Albertas, Gold Drop, 
Yellow St. John, Hale, Smock, Kalamazoo 
and Crosbv. These varieties are said to be 



794 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the best in flavor and keeping qualities, and 
the best marketable peach. His peach or- 
chard numbers 2,700 trees. 

Besides apples and peaches, Mr. Johnson 
has planted about 250 plum trees. In iSgohe 
set out 100 of the Lombard, Bradshaw and 
Genii. In 1894 he set out 100 more, all of 
the blue variety, and in 1896 he planted fifty 
more. In 1898 he marketed 200 bushels from 
his young orchard. In 1894 he set out 224 
pear trees of the following varieties: Bartlett, 
Kiefer and Garber, which promise to yield a 
good crop in 1899. In 1893 Mr. Johnson set 
out 240 grape vines, and in 1894, 260 more of 
the Concord, Niagara and Brighton varieties, 
which are great producers. He marketed, in 
1898, 300 pounds. He has about 500 cur- 
rant bushes of the red variety, and in 1897-98 
he sold about 50 cases. Of cherries he has 
fifty trees, and in 1897 sold twenty bushels. 
The highest price he ever received for apples 
was in 1898, and the lowest in 1897. Mr. 
Johnson resides seven miles southeast of Rock- 
ford and twelve miles from Grand Rapids; the 
roads leading to his home are of sand and 
gravel, which afford easy transportation, and 
his estate comprises 200 acres. 

Mr. Johnson is a native of old England, 
born in 1830, and was si.xteen years of age 
when he crossed the Atlantic alone, landed in 
New York, and the Empire state was his home 
until 1854, when he came to Kent county, 
Mich. Here his life has been spent as a farmer 
and fruit grower. He wedded Miss Mary E. 
Gordon, a native of Michigan, October 6, 
1855, and has been blessed with five children, 
viz: Herbert O., a fruit grower in Kent coun- 
ty; Freeman, also of Ivent county, and a 
blacksmith and farmer; Sarah, wife of John 
Cramer, a farmer of Cannon township; Edith, 
wife of Charles Miller, a resident of Cannon 
township, who was a student at Ypsilanti, 
Mich., and Drake university, of Des Moines, 



and teacher by profession; William A., with 
his parents and aiding materially in the man- 
agement of his father's affairs. Mrs. Johnson 
was born at Grandville, Kent county. May 25, 
1836, and is possibly the oldest person living 
who was born in Kent county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Johnson are members of the Free Will Bap- 
tist church, and have given liberally of their 
means for the advancement of their congrega- 
tion. They are classed amongst the best citi- 
zens of Kent count}', and are highly respected 
for their integrity and many excellent qualities 
as neighbors and citizens. 




B. JOHNSON, the very competent e.\- 
township treasurer of Tyrone town- 
ship, Ivent county, Mich., is a native 
of Finland, Russia, was born February 
17, 1854, and is the seventh in a family of 
nine children born to John and Louisa (Madi- 
son) Johnson, and is now the only survivor of 
the family. The father, who was a surveyor 
and farmer, died at the age of sixty-two years, 
in 1877, and the mother died when fifty-si.x, in 
1862, and both were members of the Lutheran 
church. Our subject was about sixteen 3'ears 
old when his father sold the home farm and 
settled in that part of Finland where the Swed- 
ish language prevailed, and was there educated 
by private tutors (as the father had been), and 
became master of both the Swedish and Finn 
languages. 

In July, 1874, J. B. Johnson came to 
America via Hull and Liverpool, England, was 
two weeks in crossing the Atlantic ocean, Au 
Sable, Mich., being his objective destination; 
but, on landing at Bay City, went to work in 
the plaster mines, being in debt for five dollars 
advanced him by his father as a part of the 
money needed to bring him to the United 
States. He did not, however, remain long in 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



795 



east Michig;an, as he passed his first winter in 
the United States in Muskegon count}-, Mich., 
about two and a half miles west of his present 
farm, in Kent county, and until 1885 was em- 
ploj'ed as a lumberman, and then purchased 
fifty acres of the farm he now occupies in Ty- 
rone township. 

December 25, 1879, Mr. Johnson married 
Miss Sophia C. Nelson, a native of \'este- 
golland, Sweden, to which union the follow- 
ing named children have been born: Carrie 
Matilda, who was a graduate of the Casnovia 
high school; John Edward, who has passed the 
eighth grade in the district school; Emma 
Louisa, in the sixth grade; Arthur Leroy, 
Ethel Irene and Gladys C. Carrie, daughter 
of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, was a bright and 
promising girl, who had finished the eighth 
grade of the public schools, and was ready to 
enter upon a higher plane of education, but 
was taken ill suddenly in June, 1899, and de- 
parted this life June 26, beloved by all who 
knew her. She was a dutiful and loving 
daughter, and her place in the family circle, as 
well as in the community, will be hard to fill. 

Mrs. Johnson was born September 3, 1858, 
a daughter of Nicholas and Louise (Kjellender) 
Nelson, who were the parents of four children, 
viz: Matilda, still in Sweden, but who visited 
her relations in America in 1898; Elizabeth, 
wife of Andrew Anderson, a farmer of Tyrone 
township; Frank, also a farmer of the same 
township, and Mrs. Johnson, who is the 
youngest. The father came alone to America 
in 1868, located on a farm at Croton, Neway- 
go count}-, Mich., and about, two years later 
btought over his wife and children. He died 
at his home in 1888, and his widow is now a 
resident of Tyrone township, Kent county, be- 
ing, as was her husband, a member of the 
Lutheran church. 

In politics, Mr. Johnson is a stanch repub- 
lican and cast his first presidential vote for 



Rutherford B. Hayes. He is the present 
treasurer of Tyrone township, has filled the 
office twice, having been first elected in 1897, 
and is also the present moderator of his dis- 
trict. No. 5, he and wife being consistent 
members of the Lutheran church. 

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are interested in 
fruit culture, and have 2,300 peach trees, 
seventy-five plum trees, and five acres set in 
apples. In 1896 they erected their present 
dwelling, one of the finest in the township. 
It is elegantly finished in hard wood, and is 
heated by a hot-air furnace throughout. This 
beautiful home is situated two and one-half 
miles northwest of Kent City and about a mile 
and a half east and north of Casnovia. This 
is the reward of the industry and good man- 
agement of Mr. Johnson, who has been will- 
ingly and ably assisted by his excellent wife, 
and although he came to America a poor man, 
he now stands among the solid and respected 
citizens of his adopted countrj'. 



,OF JOHNSON, a thriving farmer in 
section No. 25, Cascade township, 
Kent county, Mich., and an ex-busi- 
ness man, is a native of Sweden, 
was born May 16, 1855, and came to America 
in 1871, landing in New York November 25. 
His father, Abram Johnson, had come over two 
years previously, and Olof joined him at Mid- 
dleville, Mich. The father had been at the 
head of a distillery in Sweden, but on com- 
ing to Kent county bought a farm in Bowne 
township, on which he resided until just be- 
fore his, death at the home of his son, Mar- 
tin Johnson, in Caledonia, Mich., about two 
years ago, at the age of seventy-four years; 

Olof Johnson remained with his father until 
he had reached his majority, his earnings all 
being utilized to partly pay for the home farm. 



796 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



He first worked at lumbering, and then spent 
a year and a half as solicitor for the Common- 
wealth Life Insurance company of Grand 
Rapids, and traveled through much of the 
state, chiefly among the lumber camps, and 
at times took as many as 140 applications for 
insurance in one day, for which he received a 
commission of $3. 50 each, and of course saved 
a good sum of money. 

At twenty-eight years of age, May 12, 
1883, Mr. Johnson married, in Grand Rapids, 
Miss Ida Larson, also a native of Sweden, 
who came to the United States when twenty- 
two years old. He then rented a farm in 
Lowell township for five years, after leaving 
which he for two years conducted the Central 
hotel near the Union depot at Grand Rapids. 
In 1893 he bought his present farm of 110 
acres, then known as the Jonathan Thomas 
farm — and a tine body of land it is. 

November 17, 1894, Mr. Johnson lost his 
house by fire, but the insurance company re- 
fused to pay the amount of the policy — $1,500. 
Mr. Johnson brought suit in the circuit court 
and won the case, when the company carried 
it to the supreme court, where judgment of the 
court below was confirmed and Mr. Johnson 
was awarded over $f ,800 — but it had cost him 
a year and a half of litigation and expenses 
amounting to o\er $400. The point argued 
was, that the assessment made by the secreta- 
ry of the company was not in accordance with 
the policy, which provided that assessments 
were to be made by the board of directors, 
whereas, in this case, they were made by the 
secretary himself, without an order from the 
board, and therefore the policy became void; 
but both courts took a different view of the 
matter, rendered judgment accordingly, and 
the case is now a precedent. It required a 
man of just such nerve and determination as 
Mr. Johnson's to carry such a case through 
against such odds. He has since erected a 



handsome and commodious dwelling and made 
other improvements on his farm, making it 
one of the finest in the township. He is en- 
gaged in general farming and also breeds Jer- 
sey cattle, and is one of the most progressive 
farmers of Cascade. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have been born 
two children: Emma Olive and Arthur Will- 
iam. The family are members of the Lutheran 
church, in Grand Rapids, and in politics Mr. 
Johnson is a republican, and he and family are 
greatly esteemed by all their neighbors. 



URUM H. JOLES, a highly respected 
agriculturist of Spencer township, 
Kent county, Mich., and a valiant ex- 
soldier of the Civil war, is a native of 
Pennsylvania, was born December 8, 1S30, 
and is the second of nine children — seven sons 
and two daughters — that graced the marriage 
of James and Nancy (Vaughn) Joles. Those 
living are Hurum H. ; Almira, of Alaska, Mich. , 
and widow of Fajelte Mclntyre, who was a 
soldier of the Civil war; Alfred and Albert 
(twins), of whom the former was in the serv- 
ice during the war of the Rebellion and is now 
a farmer in Kent count}-, and the latter a farm- 
er in Mecosta county; Julia A., the youngest 
of the survivors, is the wife of Edward \\'illis. 
also an ex-soldier, who was terribly wounded 
in the head while in the service and is now liv- 
ing retired at Bliss, Emmet county, Mich. 

James Joles was also a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, was born about 1789, and died in Ivent 
county, Mich., at the age of eighty-six years. 
He had one brother, Harvey, who served in 
the war of 1812. James was reared a farmer 
and shoemaker, was quite liberally educated, 
and for a number of years was a teacher in his 
native state. He went to Canada, later re- 
turned to the Keystone state, and in 1833 came 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



797 



to Michigan, then having a wife and three 
children. Here he pre-empted i6o acres in 
Monroe county, on which he erected a log 
cabin. After clearing twenty acres he sold 
and bought 1 6o acres of govern nent land a few 
miles from Lansing in Ingham county. Six 
\ears later he settled in Orleans township, 
Ionia county, where he purchased three tracts 
of state land. In 1852 he purchased eighty 
acres near Whitneyville, Caledonia township, 
Kent county. He was then proprietor of a 
hotel in Ohio for a number of years, then re- 
turned to Caledonia and purchased a forty- 
acre farm, on which he passed the remainder 
of his life. In politics he was first a whig and 
then a republican. His wife, likewise a native 
of the Keystone state, was of German extrac- 
tion, and died in Kent county, when about 
sixty-six years of age. 

Hurum H. Joles was barely three years of 
age when brought to Michigan by his parents. 
He was practically educated by his father, 
who, it will be remembered, had been a school- 
teacher. Although of strong mechanical 
tendencies he was reared to agricultural pur- 
suits, and until he had attained his majority 
assisted his father on the new farms. 

June 30, 1852, he was united in marriage 
with Miss Sarah Collins, a native of New York, 
to which union was born a daughter, who 
died in infancy. To till the void thus created 
in their hearts and household, and prompted 
by a truly kind and humane impulse, Mr. and 
Mrs. Joles adopted a little girl. Adafy Olmstead, 
whom they tenderly reared and educated. She 
is now the wife of Edward Whitford, a car- 
penter and joiner at Belding, and is the mother 
of two children — Ethel May and Florence. 

Mrs. Sarah Joles was born December 10, 
1883, and is a daughter of Moses and Abigail 
(Meeks) Collins, who were the parents of five 
children, four of whom grew to maturity. 
Her father was born in New York, January 



18, 1805, was a farmer, and died in Ionia 
county, Mich., March 12, 185 1. She was 
about three years of age when brought by 
her pioneer father to Michigan, and here she 
was reared to womanhood, Indian children 
having been her early playmates. 

At Otisco, Ionia county, August 12, 1862, 
Hurum Joles enlisted in company B, Twenty- 
fifth Michigan volunteer infantry. The regi- 
ment was assigned to the army of the Tennes- 
see under Gen. Burnside; and during his 
service Mr. Joles took part in twenty-one ac- 
tions. His first fight was at Tebb's Bend, on 
Green river, Ky. ; the next was at Strawberry 
Plains, where his haversack was shot away; 
he took part at Mossy Creek, Loudon, and so 
on through the campaign from Tennessee to 
Atlanta, Ga., in the spring of 1864. He was 
in the battles of Rocky Face Ridge, Dalton 
and Resaca, and at the latter sustained a 
grazed wound in the right knee by a bullet and 
was struck over the head with a clubbed 
musket and still carries the scar. He had 
been detailed to the engineer battalion of the 
Twenty-third corps, under Capt. Poe, and 
ordered to the front to assist in building 
bridges, sinking rifle pits, and was thus in most 
exposed positions; Altoona Mountain, Kenesaw 
Mountain, Pine Mountain, Gulp's Farm, 
Chattahoochie, Rough's Ferry and Decatur 
all found him ever in action, and when the 
gallant Gen. McPherson fell, Mr. Joles was 
was only about sixteen rods distant, and helped 
to bear his body from the field. Many other 
battles occurred in which Mr. Joles took part, 
faithfully and bravely, doing his work until 
July 29, 1 864, when he was seized with typhoid 
fever and laid up in the hospital until the fol- 
lowing November. On recovering he joined 
in the march to the sea and with his regiment 
was at Salisbury, N. C, when the news of 
Lee's surrender came to hand. 

Mr. Joles participated in the grand review 



798 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



at Washington, D. C, in May, 1865, and was 
honorably discharged June 24. The Twenty- 
fifth Michigan went out 1060 strong, and, 
when mustered out, twenty-seven officers and 
351 privates answered the roil call. 

On returning home, near Belding, Ionia 
county, Mr. ]oles resumed his calling of 
farmer and continued to prosper. In 1882, 
he and wife visited California, expecting to lo- 
cate, but returned to Michigan, via San Fran- 
cisco and Portland, Ore. The same year, Mr. 
Joles purchased his present homestead of forty 
acres in section 27, Spencer township, and 
now has as pretty a little farm as there is in 
the county. 

In politics Mr. Joles is a republican, al- 
though he cast his first presidential vote for 
Franklin Pierce. He is a sincere Christian, 
and still has in his possession the little Bible 
that he carried all through his war service. 
He and wife enjoy the respect of the entire 
community, as their course through life has 
been such as not only to deserve friends, but 
to likewise be friends to all. 




DWARD H. JONES.— Success to 
some seems an elusive thing, but a 
failure usually results from a lack of 
some of the elements which may be 
acquired by all, — perseverance, energy, indus- 
try and resolute[ purpose. An analysis of the 
life records of the successful men shows that 
these qualities have been essential to their 
prosperity; and such is the case with Edward 
H. Jones, a leading and successful official and 
citizen of Oakfield, Mich. 

He was born in the Wolverine state April 
12, 1S47, the third of three sons and two 
daughters born to Thomas and Sarah Ann 
(Potter) Jones. Those living are William R. , 
a liveryman and veterinary surgeon, of Edmore, 
Mich. ; Abigail, widow of John S. Watson, of 



Oakfield township; Edward H.; Lorana, 
wife of Malachi File, an agriculturist of Mont- 
calm county, and Loren, who remained on 
the homestead where he died in January, 1872. 
Thomas Jones was born near the city of 
Hereford, England, May 4, iSio. His edu- 
cation was secured in the national schools, 
and he served a si.x-year apprenticeship to a 
cabinet-maker, becoming a skillful mechanic. 
Upon attaining his majority, he in 1831 came 
to America, and after a hazardous voyage of 
sixty-three days, landed in the city of New 
York almost penniless. He plied his trade at 
Toledo, Ohio, and Schenectady, N. Y., until 
1840, when at the latter place he wedded Miss 
S. A. Potter; they then lived in Jackson coun- 
ty, Mich., until 1849, when he located on 
one-quarter of section No. 21, of Oakfield 
township, and there resided until his death, 
March, 1879. He added till the homestead 
contained 240 acres, and it was among the 
best of the time. Mr. Jones was numbered 
among the honorable pioneers of the town- 
ship, his residence there of nearly fifty years 
entitling him to that distinction. He saw 
there raw plains and unbroken forests, Indian 
wigwams and wild beasts; the homes of the 
white settlers were log cabins, indicating that 
only the first steps toward civilization had 
been taken. Living thus on the frontier, he 
bore his part in the work of development from 
the earliest days, and was a prominent factor | 
in bringing about the transformation which has | 
made this one of the leading counties of the 
state, with its highly cultivated farms, thriv- * 
ing towns and villages, its school- houses, 
churches and all evidences that show the mark 
of progress and of culture. Mr. Jones in his 
political views was at first a whig, but later at 
the birth of the republican party he endorsed its 
policy. He was an official in the Baptist 
church, of which both he and his wife were 
esteemed members. 



I 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



799 



His wife was born in the state of New 
York on the 29th of July, 1S22, and died in 
Oakfield in February, 1822. The remains of 
both are interred in the Oakfield cemetery, 
where a beautiful stone marks their last rest- 
ing place. 

Edward H. Jones was a lad of only two 
years when he became a resident of Oakfield 
township, so, for almost half a century, he has 
been a citizen of Kent county, and has wit- 
nessed all the changes in the development and 
progress of the same. His educational 
advantages were those afforded by the com- 
mon schools, which at that time were very 
meager. He remained with his parents until 
his majority, with the exception of his serv- 
ice in the army. 

He enlisted in September, 1S64, in coni- 
pany B, Third regiment, Michigan volunteer 
infantry, at Grand Rapids, under Capt. Seth 
M. Moon, Col. Moses B. Houghton, and Lieut. - 
Col. John Atkinson. The regiment was 
assigned to the army of the Cumberland and 
ordered immediately to Nashville, Tenn., 
thence to Decatur, Ala., to check the opera- 
tions of Gen. Hood. The work of the com- 
pany was mainly that of picket and garrison 
duty; however, they were in active engage- 
ments at Decatur and Murphysborough. The 
news of the confederate surrender was 
received at Jonesborough, Tenn., with great 
e.xultation and rejoicing. In June they were 
sent to Matagorda bay, Tex. , where they 
were retained in looking after the interests of 
the government for eleven months. Texas still 
being under martial law, a force of troops 
was considered necessary. He was mustered 
out at Victoria, Tex., May 25, 1866, was hon- 
orably discharged at Detroit on June 15th of 
the same year. A miller by trade, Mr. Jones 
became the proprietor of the Oakfield flour 
and grist mill, which he has operated success- 
fully for nineteen years. 



He was first married on the 26th day of 
June, 1868, to Miss Elizabeth William?. Of 
their three children two survive, Addie M. 
and Thomas D. The former was for many 
terms a successful teacher in Oakfield, Mich., 
and in South Dakota. She is at present a 
copyist in the register of deeds office at Grand 
Rapids. The latter supplemented a common 
school education by a course at Rockford, 
Mich. He also is a miller, operating the flour 
and grist mill at Cannonsburg. 

Mrs. Jones was born in New York July 31, 
1852, and died on the 28th day of July, 1881, 
in Michigan. Mr. Jones next married, on 
April 14, 1884, Mrs. Almira (Unger) Davis. 
They have two daughters, Mabel R. and 
Myrtie E. 

In his political affiliations Mr. Jones is an 
uncompromising republican, and cast his first 
vote for Gen. U. S. Grant. He heartily en- 
dorses the policy and firmly supports the 
principles of his party, and is often seen in its 
councils, where he has shown a firmness and 
tenacity that more fully proves the soundness 
of his republican ideas. As an official he has 
been trustworthy, and is said by his friends to 
be a large hearted, good-natured gentleman, 
true to his friends and benevolent to all. 

He was township clerk for thirteen years 
and supervisor for four consecutive years from 
1888. Upon the resignation of his uncle, M. A. 
Potter, in 1891 he was appointed to the same 
position, and elected in 1893, '94 and '95, in- 
dicating the well merited respect and esteem 
of his constituents. The court-house was 
begun during his service on theboardof super- 
visors. He was justice of the peace for six 
years, and has been officially connected with 
the public schools of Oakfield for the long 
period of twenty-three years. 

In 1898 he erected his beautiful cozy resi- 
dence, an abode of good cheer and welcome 
hospitality to all. He and wife were prominent 



800 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



in the erection of the Union Chapel, where 
Sunday-school and preaching by any denomi- 
nation is held. 

Fraternally, Mr. Jones is an esteemed 
member of Greenville lodge, No. 96, F. & A. 
M., and L. C. Hart post. No. 247, G. A. R., 
at Howard. Both are members of Venus 
chapter. Order of Eastern Star, at Grattan. 
Known as upright and honorable in his life, he 
has won the warm regard of all favored with 
his acquaintance. 




OSEPH T. JONES, proprietor of the 
liver}', board and feed stable of Lowell, 
is the eldest in a family of six chil- 
dren born to Rev. Ira B. and Louisa 
(Harris) Jones, natives respectively of Canada 
and the state of Michigan. The elder Jones 
was reared and educated in the land of his 
nativity, and for many \ears has been an ear- 
nest minister of the gospel in various parts of 
Canada and the United States. 

Joseph T. Jones, for whom this sketch is 
prepared, first saw the light in Brantford, 
province of Ontario, Canada, on the 17th of 
August, 1854, and received his educational 
training in the country schools of his native 
county, growing to manhood's estate on a 
farm. From early manhood until within a 
comparatively recent date, Mr. Jones followed 
the old and honorable calling of tilling the 
soil, and belongs to that large and industrious 
class of 3'eomen who gain their principal edu- 
cation by keeping in close touch with nature 
and by practical contact with the world. In 
1898 he located in Lowell and engaged in the 
livery and feed business, which he has since 
conducted, meeting with encouraging success 
in the venture, and making for himself a repu- 
tation for fair dealing of which any man might 
feel well satisfied. He receives a liberal share 



of the patronage in his line and maintains a 
well-appointed establishment, keeping on hand 
ten head of fine roadsters and vehicles of the 
latest and most approved pattern. He is well 
known to the traveling public, and his courtesy 
in consulting the wishes of his many patrons, 
and his close attention to business, bespeak 
for him a prosperous future. 

Mr. Jones and Miss Sarah A., daughter of 
Nathan Blair, were united in the holy bonds 
of wedlock June 7, 1882, the issue of which 
union is one child. Earl D. Jones. In his 
political views Mr. Jones is a firm believer in 
the republican party, but is not a partisan. 



,m 



ALEM H. STEWART.— The philos- 
ophy of success in life is an interest- 
ing study, and affords a lesson from 
which others can profit. The occu- 
pation which Mr. Stewart has followed suc- 
cessfulh', and which has been known and hon- 
ored since the world began, is that of farming, 
and his 113 acres of land in Oakfield town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., is tilled in such an 
admirable manner that it yields an income that 
has placed him, though still a young man, in 
the ranks of the financially substantial citizens 
of Kent county. 

Mr. Stewart, familiarly known as the 
" Model Farmer," is a native of Oakfield 
township, and dates his nativity to March 29, 
1866. He was the only child of Joel and 
Maria (Van Vranken) Stewart. His father 
was born in the state of New York and died 
May 8, 1866, when Salem was in infancy. By 
trade he was a mechanic, but also to some ex- 
tent engaged in the occupation of a tiller of 
the soil. His father was a native of the land 
of thistles and heather, so Mr. Stewart has the 
blood of the canny Scot in his veins. His 
mother descends from one of the old Mohawk 




RESIDENCE OF SALEM STEWART. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



803 



Dutch families; in fact, she was born in the 
Mohawk valley October lo, 1821. She was 
reared and educated in her native state. 

Three brothers — Joel, Jess and David 
Stewart — were among the earliest settlers of 
Oakfield township, and they lived in the first 
frame house erected within its borders. Their 
mother was the first white woman to die in the 
town. After reaching maturity, Joel returned, 
it seems, to New York to secure his wife, who 
came to her western home in 1864. How- 
ever, their happiness was not of long duration, 
as she suffered the loss of her husband but two 
years later. She remained on the farm, and 
gave her whole thought to the education and 
training of her son. She survived to see him 
take an honorable position among his fellows 
and passed from earthly scenes at the old 
homestead April 21, 1888. She was a woman 
of great strength of character and business 
ability, to which a wide circle of warm friends 
give hearty attestation. 

The \'outh of Salem Stewart was quite sim- 
ilar to that of most country lads. The home- 
stead was rented for some years, so that he 
often worked for other farmers. He received 
such education as was offered in the White 
Swan school — the best school in the town — 
and at the age of twenty assumed control of 
the property left him by his father. Prosper- 
ity crowned his efforts and he added more land 
till the farm, now containing 1 13 acres located 
in the finest section of Oakfield, is one of the 
most desirable properties in the northeast 
part of the county. Its careful management 
and thrifty condition have gained for it the 
epithet of the "Model Parm." It commands 
the attention of every passer-by, because of 
the neatness and care in which it is kept, the 
careful painted buildings and cleanlj' appear- 
ance of the premises. He is now engaged in 
general farming and stock raising, and has pro- 
vided the estate with convenient buildings for 



his stock, and farming implements and fine 
cellars for the reception of vegetables, etc. A 
fine view of this farm is found on another page. 

On June 7, 1888, Mr. Stewart inarried Miss 
Georgie E. Cowan and two children bless this 
union, Clarence L. and Lloyd G. Mrs. Stew- 
art was born in Grattan township, Kent coun- 
ty, September 6, 1864, and is a daughter of 
Thomas and Margaret (Elkins) Cowan, who 
were the parents of three children, of whom 
besides Mrs. Stewart there is but one living, 
namely, Ella, the wife of James Richards, a 
farmer of Plainfield township. Mrs. Stewart 
was educated at Rockford, Mich. Her parents 
came from New York at an early date and 
figured among the pioneers of Kent county. 

In politics Mr. Stewart is a democrat and 
officially has been connected with the public 
schools for some three years. Both he and 
his estimable wife are attendants at and sup- 
porters of the Methodist church. 




ILLIAM JONES.— The social, po- 
litical and business history of this 
section is filled with the deeds and 
doings of self-made men, and no 
man in Grattan is more deserving the appel- 
lation than Mr. Jones, for he marked out his 
own career in youth and has steadily followed 
it up to the present, his prosperity being attrib- 
utable to his earnest and persistent endeavor, 
as well as to the fact that he always consist- 
ently tried to do as he would be done by. He 
is the owner of a well-improved farm of 124 
acres, and the admirable manner in which it is 
kept and the fine state of cultivation in which it 
now is, has been brought about by the efforts 
of Mr. Jones and the result has been very 
satisfactory. 

Mr. Jones was born in the township of 
Ada, Ivent county, Mich., on the 7th of Sep- 



804 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



tember, 1846, and is the second in a family 
of seven children born to James and Margaret 
(McCormick) Jones, viz: Ann, the wife of Pat- 
rick Corrigan, an agriculturist of Grattan 
township; \\'illiam; Michael, a farmer of Ada; 
Richard, a resident of Vergennes township; 
James, engaged in agriculture on the old home- 
stead; and May, the youngest, who resides 
with her mother on the homestead. 

James Jones, the father of William, was a 
native of county Donegal, Ireland, born in 
1 8 14 and died September 8, 1898. Until 
twenty-one vears of age he remained in his 
native land, where he received a limited edu- 
cation. At the above age he embarked at 
Belfast, and after a seven weeks' voyage 
landed at Montreal, Canada, whence he came 
almost the entire distance on foot, to Detroit, 
Mich., and for some time worked on old Fort 
Dearborn at that place, so conspicuous in the 
history of the Indian wars. He was also 
employed for a time at Kalamazoo, where he 
was married, and in April, 1845, came to Ada 
township, Kent county. Here he purchased 
160 acres of wild land, built a log cabin and 
began the life of a farmer. He is classed as 
a pioneer of that section, has seen the primi- 
tive farm implements replaced by mod- 
ern con\eniences, bear and deer grow e.x- 
tinct, the wonderful developments of Kent 
county and the progress of the now tiourrsh- 
ing city of Grand Rapids. Characterized by 
that independent spirit, that enterprise, push, 
industry and determination necessary to a 
successful career in any business, he came to 
Kent count)', a poor man, and ere his death 
was the owner of 410 acres of land. 

He and his wife were devout Catholics and 
identified with the organization of St. Patrick's 
parish in Grattan, always contributing 
liberally toward the support of their religious 
organization. He was a democrat of the in- 
vincible variety. His residence in Kent county 



covered more than half a century and he died, 
a friend to every one he knew. 

The mother of the subject was born in 
county Westmeath, Ireland, and dates her 
nativity to the year 1819. She resides now on 
the old homestead, living the life of a true 
Catholic, and though much enfeebled by age 
attends mass regularly. 

William Jones has passed his entire life as 
a citizen of Kent county. He received a some- 
what meager education in the district schools 
of his section and was early inured to hard 
toil, working up from a common laborer to be 
foreman of a lumber camp, where about 
twenty men were employed. Until the age of 
twenty-one he remained with his parents, to 
whom he gave his aid and wages, and at that 
age. with less than $25 for a capital, began 
life for himself, which he has made a decided 
success in all respects. 

On May 28, 1873, Mr. Jones was united in 
marriage to Miss Ellen Byrne, to whom seven 
children were born, two of whom are living — 
Claire and William E. The former was edu- 
cated in the public schools and then entered 
the Academy of the Sacred Heart, conducted 
by the Sisters of the Holy Cross, and located 
near Ft. Wayne, Ind. There she took a 
course in literature and music. She was con- 
firmed by Bishop Richter at the age of twelve, 
and is a member cf the sodality and the Sacred 
Heart societies. William E. also attended 
the common schools, was confirmed in 1S96 
by the same bishop, and is associated with his 
father in operating the farm. Three children 
died in infancy, and two, Annie and Margaret, 
died at five and two years, respectively, of 
diphtheria. 

Mrs. Jones was born in Grattan township, 
on the 2 I St of July, 1857, and was a daughter 
of William and Ann (Moran) Byrne. She re- 
ceived a good education and became a success- 
ful teacher for several terms in the Grattan 



AXD KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



805 



schools. A consistent Catholic, as to religion, 
she was confirmed at the age of thirteen. A 
woman of more than ordinary education, 
characterized by a kind and genial nature, she 
died on September 20, 1885, mourned by a 
a large circle of friends. 

Mr. Jones, in his political views is a stanch 
democrat and cast his first presidential vote for 
Horatio Seymour. In the official roll, he 
served as township treasurer and was re-elect- 
ed to that office three times subsequently. He 
also served as highway commissioner, and at 
present is a member of the board of review. 
A devout Catholic, as to religious views, he 
has ever been faithful to his belief and ever a 
consistent member of St. Patrick's parish. 




\SHINGTON JUDSON, of Byron 
township, Kent county, Mich. , and 
a native of the county, was born 
December 14, 1844, only seven 
years after Michigan was admitted as a state 
of the Union, and since childhood has wit- 
nessed innumerable changes that have wrought 
from the wilderness a land of elevated civiliza- 
tion and transformed the desert into one great 
region of advanced cultivation. He is the 
fourth of si.x children — three sons and three 
daughters — born to Edla and Nancy (Harman) 
Judson, and of these children there are four 
still living, viz: Caroline, widow of Rufus 
Dibble and a resident of Trowbridge township, 
Allegan county; Emeline, wife of Luther 
Clark, who was a soldier in the Civil war, and 
is now a farmer at Jamestown, Ottawa county; 
Washington, the subject of this sketch, and 
Lewis, a married farmer of Byron township. 
The father of these children was born near 
Cleveland, Ohio, about 1809, was reared to 
agricultural pursuits, was educated in the com- 
mon schools, and supplemented that education 



by devoting his spare moments to self-instruc- 
tion. He was a very industrious youth and be- 
gan his business life as a poor boy in Cuyahoga 
county, Ohio, and in early manhood walked 
from his native county to Michigan. He 
reached Grand Rapids when it was an insignif- 
icant hamlet, with but one log house, there 
worked for a Mr. Chubb on a farm for one 
year, and then, in 1836, located eighty acres 
of wild government land in section No. 8, By- 
ron township. His son, Washington, the sub- 
ject of this sketch, still has in his possession 
the original deed to this tract, executed No- 
vember 2, 1837, and signed by the then presi- 
dent of the United States, Martin Van Buren. 
The land was purely virgin, as not a stick of 
timber had- ever been cut from it, and the first 
habitation occupied here by Mr. Judson was a 
primitive log cabin, usual in those days, but he 
afterward developed a good farm from the 
forests with comfortable improvements. Among 
the other only settlers in 1836 were Nathan, 
Jerry and William Boynton, brothers, and John 
Harman and Harman Kellogg. 

In politics Mr. Judson was a democrat, but 
his farm occupied his attention rather than 
office-holding, and his devotion to his own in- 
terests met with its reward. He was a warm 
friend of the public-school system, and re- 
ligiously was a member of the Disciples' 
church, in the faith of which he passed away 
October 22, 1873. His wife, who traced her 
ancestry to the Puritans, was also a native of 
Ohio, and died May 25, 1856, at her home in 
Byron, also in the faith of the Disciples' church. 
Washington Judson well remembers the old 
log cabin built by his father, and in which he 
was reared to manhood. There was- but one 
schoolhouse in Byron township, and not a 
church, during his boyhood days, and at his 
birth there were not more than thirty families 
here. Byron Center was a quagmire, and 
where the Union depot now stands in Grand 



806 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Rapids was a swamp, not worth more than $i 
per acre. But that spot is now a great net- 
work of railroads running in all directions, 
carrying thousands of people each week and 
conveying millions of dollars' worth of the re- 
sources of Ivent county to the uttermost parts 
of the civilized world. Washington can re- 
member when he was first permitted to go 
with his father, with the ox-team, to the then 
Indian trading-post — which is now a city of 
nearly 100,000 inhabitants. Canal and Mon- 
roe streets, of that city, known by the pioneers 
as Grabb's corners and now the chief thorough- 
fares, were unpaved and filled with mud, with 
scarcely a brick building on either street, and 
not one of the great factories of to day was 
even dreamed of, nor was Campau square even 
given a thought. A little knoll, east of the 
site of the present Union depot, known as 
Whisky hill, has disappeared as if by magic; 
not a railroad existed in the place, but Indians 
lounged around in great numbers, to collect 
their annuities from the government agent. 

Mr. Judson, in his early farming days, 
used the old-fashioned four-fingered cradle and 
scythe in cutting grain, and the first threshing 
he ever did was with the primitive liail, the 
next was by tramping out the grain on the 
barn-t^oor with horses, in truly pioneer style. 

Mr. Judson received his education in the 
little frame school-house, known as No. 2. 
The first log school-house No. i, in the town- 
ship of Byron, had a row of windows m one 
end, and the seats were slabs, with pegs for 
legs; No. 2 was the pride of the township, yet 
its methods were primitive, and the birchen 
rod and dunce-block were among its appliances. 
Someof the early pioneer amusements consisted 
of taffy-pulling, apple parings, log rollings, etc., 
and concluded with a dance, such as the 
Virginia reel, fisher's hornpipe, and so on. 

Mr. Judson began laboring out at the age 
of fourteen years, at $7 per month, and his 



earnings he promptly turned over to his father, 
but at his majority had saved about $200. He 
became an expert shingle packer and spent 
about seven years in the shingle and lumber 
mills of Ottawa county. He was always 
industrious and active, and willingatall times 
to undertake any work that would net him an 
honest dollar. 

March 17, 1875, Mr. Judson wedded Miss 
Mary Mclvenney, and to this union have been 
born five children — two sons and three daugh- 
ters — of whom four are still living, viz: Rose, 
who has completed the eighth grade in the 
public schools, with a per centage of ninety; 
she has received instruction in music, and is 
also a member of the Rebekahs, Leah lodge. 
No. 17 r, at Byron Center and holds the office 
of vice-grand at the present time; Viola has 
passed the eight grade, has received instruction 
in music, and is now the wife of Henry Sadler, 
of Georgetown, Ottawa county; Mabel has 
passed through the same course of instruction, 
and Homer, now in the eighth grade, also 
assists his father on the home farm. 

Mrs. Mary Judson was born in Canada, 
August 16, 1850, and died in Kent county, 
Michigan, July 31, 1883. She was a daugh- 
ter of Samuel and Elizabeth Jane (Norris) 
McKenney, and was a little girl when brought 
to Michigan by her parents, of whom a sketch 
is given in full on another page. She was a 
model wife and mother, and although her 
married life was of short duration — ^but eight 
years — had always been her husband's faithful 
counselor and helpmate, and her departure 
was a sad loss to her husband and children, 
as well as to her neighbors, with whom she 
was a universal favorite. 

Mr. and Mrs. Judson began their matri- 
monial life on the Judson homestead, which 
Mr. Judson had purchased with his own earn- 
ings. All the improvements hereon he has 
himself made and has now a most excellent 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



807 



farm, with a clay-loam soil, adapted to such 
fruit, grain and vegetables as are usual to the 
latitude. 

On the melancholy occasion of the death 
of Mrs. Judson, at a regular meeting of Hal- 
cyon lodge, No. 244, I. O. O. F., held on 
Saturday, August 11, 1883, the following 
resolutions were adopted and presented to 
Brother Washington Judson: 

Whereas, Our Merciful Father in his in- 
finite wisdom has seen fit to afflict you by tak- 
ing from you your dearly beloved wife, Mary 
Judson, we would draw near to you with 
words of sympath}', and yet we know that no 
words can make amends for the great loss 
you have sustained; we deeply realize that 
expressions of condolence wholly fail to restore 
the loved and lost one, yet we hope that the 
heart-felt sympathy of sincere friends will not 
be deemed intrusions on your grief. There- 
fore, be it 

Rcsol^'cd, That the brothers of this lodge 
tender their heart-felt sympathy in this 3'our 
hour of affliction. You have lost a true wife 
and your children a devoted mother; no higher 
eulogy can be pronounced on any woman. 
We would ease your sorrow, and yet we know 
not how; we can only acknowledge that the 
affliction is God's will. Truly, the great cen- 
tral sun of your household has gone down, 
and we most truly and deeply sympathize with 
you in your affliction. Let us' hope, however, 
that in the golden summer of another life, 
children, mother and father will meet again in 
a sweet reunion where partings are no more. 
Though the days are dark now, spring will 
come again; thus we trust pleasant days will 
come for you and yours. Commending you 
to Him who does all things well, we remain 
yours in Friendship, Love and Truth. 

S. A. Felton, Rec. Sec. 

In politics Mr. Judson is democratic in 
sentiment, although he cast his first presiden- 
tial vote for Abraham Lincoln. He has held 
the office of township commissioner three dif- 
ferent times, having been the first to be 
elected to that position, after the law was 



changed for one man to hold the office instead 
of three. He has always been a friend of 
public education, and for twelve years was a 
school official, and has always had the full 
confidence of his party and the public at large. 

Fraternally, he is a member of Halcyon 
lodge, No. 244, I. O. O. F. , at Byron Cen- 
ter, and passed all the chairs, and also has 
acted as delegate to the grand lodge. 

Mr. Judson has been very public-spirited 
and liberal in promoting the advancement of 
Byron township, and has aided financially in 
the erection of four different churches in his 
immediate neighborhood, and the needy are 
never turned away empty-handed from his 
door. He and family are ranked with the 
better class of citizens of the township, and 
their personal merits have won for them the 
esteem of the entire community. 




RANKLLN B. KELLOGG, one of the 
most highly respected agriculturists 
of Nelson township, has been a resi- 
dent of Kent countj-, Mich., since 
1869, and is classed among the pioneers. He 
was born in Lorain county, Ohio, July 7, 1S47, 
the eldest of the two sons and one daughter 
born to Francis N. and Jerusha Ann (Cleve- 
land) Kellogg, and of these, Mr. I\ellogg and 
his sister, Mrs. Sophia E. Prentice, the latter 
a resident of Milwaukee, Wis., are the sole 
survivors. Francis N. Kellogg, also a native 
of Lorain county, Ohio, was born December 
22, 1822, was reared a farmer, also learned 
blacksmithing and wagonmaking, and about 
1854 came to Kent county, Mich., worked 
here at his trade for some years, finally went 
north and engaged in the jewelry business until 
his death, which occurred by drowning, No- 
vember 17, 1873. He was a gentleman of un- 
pretentious deportment, but gained many warm 



808 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



friends, was a true Christian and a member of 
the Free Will Baptist church, and in politics 
was a republican. Mrs. Jerusha Ann Kellogg 
was born in Ohio August 13, 1820, was of 
English descent, and died September29, 1854, 
a sincere Christian. 

Franklin B. Kellogg, at the age of seven 
years, was, with his sister, sent to Jefferson 
county, N. Y., a motherless boy, to be cared 
for by a good and kind old aunt — Mrs. Ma- 
rinda Brainard. With this good lady he re- 
mained until he had reached his majority, and 
under her Christian teachings were established 
the principles of honor, integrity and religion, 
which still embellish his character, and under 
her kind guidance was taught to read only the 
best of literature. In October, 1869, Mr. 
Kellogg came to Kent county, Mich., with no 
capital save a few dollars, a willing disposition, 
industrious habits and a pair of strong arms. 
What cash he had he invested in an eighty- 
acre tract in the vicinity of Cedar Springs, but 
this tract was almost covered with a dense 
growth of heavy timber, which, in course of 
time, he succeeded in clearing away. There 
was upon the place, however, a small log hut, 
which answered as a shelter until it caught fire 
while Mr. Kellogg was at work one day, and 
was destroyed. But he was not daunted, re- 
built and continued clearing, until to-day he 
owns the choicest eighty-acre tract in Nelson 
township. 

October 8, 1874, Mr. Kellogg was united 
in marriage with Miss Caroline Viola Hill, a 
native of Lorain county, Ohio, where she was 
reared until her twelfth year, when her parents 
emigrated to Juneau county. Wis. Her father 
is a native of New York state, is a farmer, and 
at the age of sevent3-two years he and wife 
are still living at Elroy, Wis., while of his 
family of twelve children, six only now sur- 
vive. Mrs. Kellogg is a most excellent lady, 
and has been a true helpmate to her husband 



in developing the home in Nelson township. 
Their present dwelling, which commands a 
splendid view, is located a mile from Cedar 
Springs, and is modern in construction and 
tasteful in appearance. In 1897 Mr. Kellogg 
erected one of the most substantial and ele- 
gant barns in the township, 50x36 feet, with 
sixteen-foot corner-posts, and capable of hous- 
ing all his stock and implements, together 
with at least fifty tons of hay. 

In politics Mr. Kellogg is a stanch prohibi- 
tionist, and is very ardent in his advocacy of 
the cause of temperance. He and wife are 
devout members of the Baptist church at 
Cedar Springs and contribute liberally toward 
its support. Thej' are active in Sunday-school 
work, and Mr. Kellogg has aided officially and 
financially in organizing the Fairchilds Sunday 
school, two and one-half miles north of Cedar 
Springs. He and wife are numbered among 
the most respected people of Nelson township, 
and their long residence here, added to their 
lives of truth and usefulness, fully entitles 
them to the high esteem in which they are 
held by their friends and neighbors. 




OSEPH E. KENNEDY, general hard- 
ware merchant at Caledonia, Kent 
county, Mich., and manufacturer of 
Kennedy's Automatic Acetylene Gas 
machine, which he put on the market in 1S97, 
under his own patents, was born in Mifflin 
county. Pa., April 11, 1864, a son of James 
and Elizabeth Kennedy, and was three years 
of age when his parents came to Gaines town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., and settled on a 
farm in the wilderness, with a log shanty as 
their first habitation. He remained with his 
parents until nineteen years old, and then 
made a trip through Missouri, Kansas, and 
other states. In February, 18S6, he began 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



809 



the hardware trade in Grand Rapids, built his 
present store in Caledonia the same year, and 
moved to it in November, i8S6. He now does 
a business reaching $65,000 per annum in this 
line. He has the record of having made the 
largest delivery of binders and mowers, 153, 
ever made in one day by any dealer. 

Mr. I\ennedy is also largely interested in 
agriculture, is secretary of the Caledonia Sheep 
Breeders' association, and is most active in 
the operations of the latter. He owns the old 
homestead in Gaines township and also two 
farms in northern Michigan, as well as prop- 
erty in Grand Rapids; he built the large brick 
block, with its public hall, in Caledonia village, 
besides man}' residences. 

Mr. Kennedy is a democrat in politics and 
has served as township treasurer of Caledonia; 
in 1898 he was candidate for sheriff of the 
county and ran ahead of his ticket 2,700 votes, 
but was defeated in the general landslide 
of that year. He has also been a delegate to 
county and state conventions, but does not 
consider himself to be tied to any party in case 
of corrupt or fraudulent practices. 

Fraternally, Mr. Ivennedy is a member of 
R. C. Hathaway lodge. No. 387, F. cS: A. M., 
at Caledonia, of which he has been the wor- 
shipful master, and of which he is a charter 
member; he is also a member of the Knights 
of the Maccabees. 

Mr. f\ennedy was united in marriage No- 
vember 19, 1893, to Miss Nellie Clemens, of 
Gaines township, and a daughter of Noah 
Clemens, and this marriage has been blessed 
with three children, born in the following or- 
def: Harry, Ruth and Nora. 

James I\ennedy, father of Joseph E., was 
born in county Antrim, Ireland, was of Scotch- 
Irish parentage, and was reared a carpenter; 
he worked in Glasgow, Scotland, and in Penn- 
sylvania, and died March i, 1874, aged seven- 
ty-four years. His widow makes her home 



with her children, of whom seven survive — 
four sons and three daughters. 

Joseph E. Kennedy is probably the most 
progressive business man in Caledonia, and 
has made money in every line in which he has 
been engaged. He is popular socially, fra- 
ternally and politically, and has the qualities 
of head and heart that make this popularity 
permanent. 

His acetylene gas machine is a wonderful- 
ly economic apparatus, is sold all over the 
United States, and should be found in every 
househo.ld. 




OHN KELLOGG, a prominent busi- 
ness man of Lowell, and a worthy rep- 
resentative of one of Michigan's first 
settlers, was born in Kent county 
September 24, i860. His father, Titus Kel- 
logg, descended from ancestors who settled in 
New York many years ago, left that state, of 
which he was a native, in 1844, immigrated 
to Kent county. Mich., and located in Ada, a 
short distance from the town of Lowell, 
where he was largely instrumental in clearing 
up and developing the county. The elder 
Kellogg has been throughout life an honest 
tiller of the soil, hardy, industrious, and a 
man of most exemplary character in the com- 
munity where he resides. His present home 
is in Vergennes township, but be is widely 
and favorably known beyond the limits of his 
own neighborhood. 

John Kellogg, of this review, is one of a 
family of three children, of whom two beside 
himself are living at this time. The mother's 
maiden name was Mary Gray. In his early 
youth he enjoyed but limited educational priv- 
ileges, attending during the winter seasons 
the common country schools and spending the 
rest of the year attending to the many labor- 
ious duties of farm life. The habits of indus- 



810 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



try thus fostered and vigorous physical health 
acquired by a life of activity, in close touch 
with nature, served well as a foundation for a 
subsequent career of success and usefulness. 
He spent the years of minority under the 
parental roof-tree and began life for himself 
as an agriculturist in Vergennes township, 
but thinking to better his condition at some 
other vocation, abandoned the farm after two 
years, and engaged in his present business in 
the town of Lowell in the year 1890. He 
began at first to handle fruit on a limited 
scale, but by strict attention to business and 
superior tact in managing, soon succeeded in 
greatly enlarging the capacity of his plant, 
and within a few years found himself at the 
head of one of the largest and most success- 
ful enterprises of the kind in Kent county. 
He erected his present plant, which has a 
capacity of 20,000 bushels of dried apples, 
or seventy-five barrels per da}', during the 
busy season, besides consuming 50,000 barrels 
of apples in the manufacture of cider, and 
shipping from sixty to seventy barrels of 
cider per day, together with twenty to twenty- 
five cars of green and evaporated fruit during 
each summer and fall. The already extensive 
business is constantly assuming larger propor- 
tions, and the reputation as a successful 
tradesman which Mr. Kellogg has earned is 
much more than local, as he is widely and 
favorably known in business circles of Michi- 
gan and other states. His start in his present 
enterprise was with but a limited amount of 
capital and no real practical experience, 
except the aid of a partner, whose interest he 
purchased within a short time alter embarking 
in the business. At the present time he is 
contemplating enlarging his plant about half 
its present capacity, in order to meet the in- 
creasing demands for his products, and from 
the outlook now, he bids fair to obtain the lead- 
ing rank in the business in the county of Kent. 



Mr. Kellogg is happily married and the 
father of one child, an interesting boj', Paul 
Kellogg, whose birth occurred on the 24th day 
of September, 1897. His wife, whose maiden 
name was Dell Sayles, daughter of Millard 
Sayles, is a fit companion for her enterprising 
husband, coming from one of the best families 
of Michigan and possessing many estimable 
traits of mind and heart. 

Mr. Kellogg has always manifested much 
more than passing interest in political affairs, 
wielding an influence for the republican party, 
of which he has been an ardent supporter 
ever since attaining his majority. W^hile 
never aspiring to official honors or seeking in 
any way public preferment, he is nevertheless 
public-spirited in all the term implies, and 
every enterprise having for its object the good I 
of the community finds in him a liberal 
and enthusiastic supporter. 

The foregoing is a brief outline of the 
life of one of Lowell's progressive, self-made 
men, young in years but old in the principles 
of true manhood, and it is with pleasure that 
this epitome is accorded a place among the || 
notices of prominent citizens of Kent county. 




ELSON KELLEY.— Nothing is truer 
than that good management, fair 
dealing and application to business 
will result in profit to the parties in- 
terested. Failure rarely ever comes unless as 
the sequence of negligence, rash speculation, 
or dishonesty. If the field of business be large 
and ripe for the harvest, active workers are, 
as a rule, rewarded with success. This is true 
in the case of Nelson Kelley, who has pursued 
the vocation of husbandry since he attained 
the age of twenty-one years, and the iji- 
telligence and ability shown by him as a pro- 
gressive tiller of the soil and a stock-raiser, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



811 



coupled with the interest he has taken in the 
advancement of measures for the good of Kent 
county, caused him long since to. be classed 
among the leading citizens of his section. All 
that he has achieved or gained has principally 
come as the result of his own efforts, and he 
deserves much credit for the determined way 
in which he faced and overcame difficulties. 

Mr. Kelley is a native of Michigan, was 
born in Gainers township, Kent county, in 
which he still resides, on October 15, 1849, 
and is the third in a family of four sons and a 
daughter born to Charles and Emeline (Clark) 
Kelley, four of which children are now living, 
viz: Adeline, the wife of Freeman Brewer, a 
manufacturer and a resident of the city of 
Grand t^apids; Frank, engaged in the vocation 
of farming, and living with his brother Nelson; 
Nelson, the subject of this sketch, and Fred, 
deputy sheriff of Kent count}', with residence 
at Grand Rapids. 

Charles Kelley was born in Vermont in 
18 I 2, and died in 1870. His parents removed 
to New York when he was a small boy, and re- 
sided in that state until he had attained his 
majority. He received a common-school ed- 
ucation, and after arriving at the age of twen- 
ty-one years located in southern Michigan ere 
the state was admitted to the union. There 
for many years he, with much success, pursued 
agriculture; there his brother in 1839 located, 
and there the father some years before had 
settled. Charles Kelley was one of the first 
settlers of his section and the deed for his tract 
of land is still in the possession of the Kelley 
family, bearing the date of execution. May i, 
1S39, and the signature of President Martin 
Van Buren. At the time of his location in 
Gaines township, which name he was instru- 
mental in adopting, there were only three fam- 
ilies in it, whose representatives were Alexan- 
der Clark, Orson Cook and Alexander Bouck; 
Grand Rapids was only a trading post with 

42 



some three stores. Canal street, the largest 
thoroughfare of to-day, was then a swamp or 
mud-hole, not to be traversed by team or wagon. 

For about forty years Charles Kelley was 
a resident of I'Cent county, where he lived in 
his little log cabin enjoying the frequent visits 
of the red men who passed his dwelling in 
groups of twenty-five or thirty, on their way to 
Grand Rapids, and oft engaging in the chase 
and slaughter of the deer, which, during his 
early residence in the section, was a prominent 
constituent of food. Politically, he was a 
whig at first, and later became a republican. 
In the official line he served as supervisor of 
his township during the war of the Rebellion, 
executed the duties of such station with credit 
to himself and township, and secured for him- 
self the high esteem and respect of his fellow- 
citizens. The mother of Nelson Kelley is a na- 
tive of New York, horn in Seneca county in 
1824, and now, at the age of three-quarters of 
a century, lives with her son Nelson, who, 
with filial effort, endeavors to alleviate the 
afflictions of accumulated years. 

Nelson Kelley was reared in Kent county, 
of which he has been a citizen for half a cent- 
ury and wherein for as many years he has 
followed the vocation of agriculture and stock 
raising. Educated in the common schools of 
Michigan, he, at twenty-one years of age, 
took charge of the old homestead, which is 
now in his possession. On October 26, 1871, 
he was united in marriage to Miss Martha 
Rosenkrans, and one child has been born to 
bless the union — Herbert by name — who was 
educated in the common schools, and who has 
a future of promise as a business man. Mrs. 
Ivelley was born in Kent county on, June i, 
1851, being a daughter of Magee and Sarah 
(Ivnapp) Rosenkrans, the parents of ten chil- 
dren, five of whom now live, viz: Julia, the 
widow of William Webster, who resided in 
South Dakota; Jephtha, a carpenter and joiner 



812 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



by trade and a resident of Olewein, Iowa; 
Mary, the widow of Benjamin Giiden, who 
lived at Grand Rapids; Ella, wife of Jonathan 
Worley, mechanic of Grand Rapids, and Mrs. 
Kellev. Her father, a native of New Jersey 
and of the Mohawk Dutch parentage, came 
to Michigan at an early date. He was 
born in iSo6 and died in Gaines township, 
Kent county, at the age of eighty-five years. 
A pioneer of Kent county, he there learned 
the trade of carpenter, and for a number of 
years engaged in that vocation; his later' days 
were spent as an agriculturist. He was a 
prominent politician of his day and very stanch 
in the support of the republican party. Mrs. 
Kelley's three brothers were participants in 
the Rebellion, Samuel having died from the 
effect of hardships undergone in the war. Her 
mother was a native of New York state and 
died at the age of seventy-two years; she was 
very devout in her connection with the Bap- 
tist society. 

Mr. Kelley, in his political predilections, is 
a firm republican, his first presidential vote 
having been cast for Ulysses S. Grant. He 
was selected by his people as delegate to 
county and senatorial conventions. Officially 
he held the office of township treasurer for 
four years, and was elected supervisor of 
his township, which important office he held 
for eleven terms, during which he discharged 
the duties of his station most faithfully, and 
won the high confidence and esteem of his peo- 
ple. Mr. Kelley, by his noteworthy influence, 
has done much to advance the educational 
facilities of his section by acting as an advo- 
cate of the most competent instructors. 

The worth of the Kelley family is prac- 
tically demonstrated by the large and beauti- 
fully kept tract of land in their possession. 
Mr. Kelley's estate, together with what his 
brother owns, comprises 200 acres of the 
finest land tilled by people far advanced in the 



science of agriculture. The benevolence and 
charity of Mr. Kelley are also worthy of notice. 
In the support of all good religious causes and 
enterprises he has ever been an important fac- 
tor, has been deeply interested in the welfare 
and advancement of his section, and in all the 
relations of life has been found true and faith- 
ful to the trust reposed in him and the obliga- 
tion resting upon him. 



RED B. BANKS, musician and director 
of the Grand Opera orchestra, was 
born in the city of Grand Rapids on 
the 24th day of August, 1871. He 
received his educational training in the cit}' 
schools, graduated from the high school and 
entered upon a course of instruction in violin 
music under Prof. Lawson, one of the tal- 
ented Niolinists of Grand Rapids. He re- 
mained with that gentleman one year and then 
became a student of Prof. Wilber Force, 
under whose careful instruction he continued 
for six years, making rapid progress in both 
theory and practice, during that period, and a 
part of the time playing in the Grand Opera 
orchestra. Upon the retirement of Prof. 
Force, in 1896, Mr. Banks became leader of 
the orchestra, a position for which his talents 
well fitted him to fill, and which he has since 
retained to the satisfaction of every member 
of that superb organization. During the last 
three seasons, Mr. Banks has played first 
cornet in the Wurzburg band at the Pavilion, 
Reed's lake, a popular summer resort under 
the management of the Consolidated Street 
Railway company of Grand Rapids. On sev- 
eral occasions, during the last few years, he 
has appeared in the Schubert club of this city 
in their concerts, playing the violin, and he 
has also been importuned at different times to 
join traveling troupes touring the county, all 
of which he has seen fit to decline. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



813 



Mr. Banks comes of a musical family, his 
father, William H. Banks, a cabinetmaker of 
this city, being a musician of note, as are all 
members of his family. In 1891 William H. 
Banks organized a band composed entirely of 
members of his awn family, and played the 
season at Harbor's Point, a well-known sum- 
mer resort on Little Traverse Bay, Lake Mich- 
igan. In the band the father played the 
cornet; his wife, Mrs. Inez Banks, the tuba; 
Jean M., Norman M. and Alice, played alto 
horns; Elizabeth, B flat cornet; Roy W., bari- 
tone, and William H. Banks, Jr., the drum. 
This organization, unique in its make-up, at- 
tracted much attention, and where it gave a 
concert had large and appreciative audiences. 
Norman M., Alice and William H. Banks, Jr., 
still live in Grand Rapids with their parents 
and are leaders in the musical circles of the 
city. While all are musicians of a high order, 
Fred B. is the one member of the family 
whose fame has brought him into prominent 
notice of the leading musical men and women 
of the state. As a citizen Mr. Banks is also 
popular, occupying a prominent place in the 
social as well as the musical world. He was 
married November 5, 1895, at Paw Paw, 
Mich., to Miss Frances E. Thomas, the ac- 
complished daughter of Frank C. Thomas, of 
that place. Mr. and Mrs. Banks reside at No. 
104 " Hermitage," and their home in a favor- 
ite resort of the musical people of the city. 




ARSHALL H. LAMOREE, D. D. S. , 
of the firm of M. H. Lamoree & 
Co., the well-known dental firm of 
No. 65 Monroe street. Grand Rap- 
ids, Mich., is a native of Mexico, Oswego 
county, N. Y., was born August 27, 1865, and 
is a son of John J. and Elizabeth (Hadley) 
Lamoree, also natives of the Empire state. 
The father practiced law in the city of Oswego, 



N. Y. , most of the active years of his business 
life, although for eighth or ten years after the 
close of the Civil war he was employed in the 
United States secret service. He is still a 
resident of Oswego, having re-rijarried, as the 
mother of Dr. Lamoree, the subject of this 
sketch, died when the latter was but fourN'ears 
of age. The doctor is the only son of the 
family still living, and has but one sister. Miss 
Elizabeth, a teacher in New York city. 

Dr. Lamoree received a collegiate educa- 
tion at Oswego, but had begun the study of 
dentistry in boyhood. After graduating at 
Oswego, N. Y., he attended the Philadelphia 
(Pa.) Dental college, from which he was grad- 
uated in 1887, and immediately came to Mich- 
igan. Fon a few months he practiced in 
Jackson, and then for two years at Oswego, 
this state, and in 1890 settled in Grand Rap- 
ids. Here he practiced alone until 1894, 
when his patronage had so increased that a 
division of labor became necessary, and in that 
year he formed his present partnership with 
Dr. J. W. Beard, also a practical dentist, and up 
to date they have together done the leading 
strictly dental business of the city of Grand 
Rapids and its environs. 

The marriage of Dr. Lamoree took place 
in Otsego, Mich., in March, 1890, to Miss Lena 
Strutz, a native of Germany, but who came to 
America in childhood. The marriage has been 
crowned by the birth of one daughter, Mildred, 
now si.x years of age, and a bright sunbeam 
ever gleaming about the house. The doctor 
and wife attend the Congregational church, 
and are nowise niggardly in their contributions 
toward its support; in their social relations 
their station is of the most pleasant character. 

The doctor is, like thousands of other 
genial sojjIs, a member of the B. P. O. E., 
and also a K. O. T. M., and a member of the 
Grand Fraternity, while politically he is a 
stanch republican. 



814 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 




APT. PATRICK KELLY, a gallant 
ex-soldier of the late Civil war and 
now a highly respected fanner of 
Grand Rapids township, Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., was born in Clonmei, county Tip- 
perary, Ireland, March 15, 1843, is a son of 
Philip and Bridget (Slattery) Kell)', and is a 
splendid specimen of physical perfection, 
standing six feet two inches in height, and 
weighing 230 pounds. In 1850 the family 
came to the United States and located on a 
farm in Livingston county, Mich., where they 
resided until 1856, when they removed to 
Grand Rapids, where the parents died, each 
over seventy years of age. 

Patrick Kelly learned the carpenter's trade 
in Grand Rapids, and worked at this calling 
until September 13, 1861, when he enlisted 
in the Fourteenth Michigan infantry and was 
at once appointed first color-bearer. Before 
the war had closed 2,100 men were enrolled 
in this regiment, and among other achieve- 
ments it captured seven regimental flags, three 
artillery flags, one cavalry flag and 2,700 pris- 
oners, and took part in forty-six engagements, 
being with Gen. Thomas at the time of John- 
ston's surrender. 

The Fourteenth reached the front soon 
after the battle of Shiloh, and took part in 
the siege of Corinth, and in June, 1862, Color- 
bearer Kelly was commissioned second lieuten- 
ant. In May, 1863, he was promoted to first 
lieutenant at Franklin, Tenn., for meritorious 
conduct and bravery before the enemy in each 
instance. In 1864 the regiment veteranized, 
and after a brief furlough Lieut. Kelly entered 
the Atlanta campaign. At Jonesboro the regi- 
ment captured eight guns and 400 .prisoners, 
including two generals and thirty-two regi- 
mental officers. In North Carolina, in Feb- 
ruary, 1865, Lieut. Kelly was promoted to 
the captaincy, although he had practically 
commanded his company since June, 1862, 



and led it in all its engagements, and had the 
full confidence of Col. Misner. At Averys- 
boro, N. C, one of the latest battles of the 
war, Capt. Kelly had his skull fractured by a 
musket ball while leading a charge, but up to 
this time had never been absent from his 
company. After the close of the war, Capt. 
Kelly returned to Grand Rapids and purchased 
his present farm, which comprises 160 acres 
and is devoted principally to fruit growing. 

The captain was married in Grand Rapids 
in January, 1852, to Miss Bridget Cluen, but 
this lady was called away July i i, 1896. The 
marriage was blessed with ten children, of 
whom eight are still living, and of these, 
Philip J. aids his father in growing his forty- 
six acres of peaches and fourteen of plums. 

Capt. Kelly has acted with the republican 
party since 1864, and has been intrusted with 
several offices, being very popular with the 
voters. He has served as commissioner, jus- 
tice of the peace, and for three years as deputy 
oil inspector; in 1890 he was enumerator of 
the census, and has been appointed to fill the 
same office for the census of 1900. He has a 
wide acquaintance with public men, and with 
them is as popular as he is in his immediate 
community. In every sphere in which he has 
moved in life he has fully done his duty, from 
which he was never known to shrink under any 
circumstances. 




OHN KINNEY, postmaster and general 
merchant at Kinney, on the G. R. & 
I. R. R. , seven miles northwest of 
Grand Rapids, in Walker township, 
and also a farmer, was born on the same 
farm where he now lives and on which Kinne}' 
station stands, November 30, 1854. His par- 
ents, Patrick and Catherine (Farrell) Kinney, 
were both natives of Ireland, he of Kilkenny, 
and she of Westmeath. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



815 



Patrick Kinney came to the United States 
the first of the family, and worked on the Erie 
canal in New York state; then came to Michi- 
gan, took up government land in Barry coun- 
ty, and next came to Grand Rapids. He la- 
bored on the old Sweet's, mill, and secured 
his first land in 1844 — eighty acres — then in a 
wild state. He erected a log shantj' later, and 
lived here four or five years. He worked out 
for others, and thus helped improve several 
farms. He also improved quite a nice home 
farm, which he and his brother, Richard, 
operated together. 

Patrick Kinney married, about 1850, Cath- 
erine Farrell, who was a widow on coming to 
America in company with her brother, Michael 
Farrell, and was the mother of two children, 
one surviving. She died December 2, 1899, 
in her ninety-fourth year. 

Patrick Kinney died December 22, 1882, at 
the age of eighty years. To their marriage 
there were born three children, viz: Ellen, a 
Sister of the Holy Cross, known as Sister 
Alphonso, of Notre Dame, Ind.; Catherine, 
who died a child of fourteen years, and John. 
Of the two children of Mrs. Kinney by her 
first marriage, the son went away and has 
not been heard from of late; the daughter, 
Ann, married Daniel McGrain and died at 
about fifty years of age. Richard I\inney, 
brotjier of Patrick Kinney, died at about sev- 
enty years of age, and his family live in Grand 
Rapids. 

John Kinney, the subject, passed his boy- 
hood on the farm, and took possession of it on 
becoming of age, still operates it, and has ad- 
ded to it until it now contains 180 acres. Kin- 
ney station, on his land, is named in his honor. 
He started his store in 1887, and has had an 
excellent line of trade, as he is one of the most 
accommodating men in the county. The farm 
is devoted to dairying and to horse-breeding, 
the horses being of the Percheron breed, and 



many of his fine animals have taken premiums 
at the county and state fairs. He has recently 
erected a new residence on his farm. 

In politics Mr. Kinney is a democrat. He 
was township treasurer in 1885-86, was elected 
supervisor in 1887. and held that office for 
eight successive 3'ears. During that time there 
were several actions against the township for 
damages — being the first of such cases in 
the state — and these he carried through the 
courts to a decision in his favor in the supreme 
court; two other such suits were brought, and 
he carried both to a final settlemsnt. He 
served on the board at the building of the new 
court house and county farm house — the latter 
costing $35,000. He has frequently been a 
delegate to" conventions of the democratic 
party for the county, district and state, has 
served on the county committee, and is a mem- 
ber of that committee at present. 

Mr. Ivinney was married February 5, 1894, 
to Miss Rose Downs, daughter of Michael and 
Hannah (Farrell) Downs, of Ada township, 
where she was born July 4, 1874, and this 
marriage has been blessed with two children, 
Mary and Ellen. All the family were reared 
in the Catholic church, and Mr. Kinney and 
wife are members of St. James parish at Grand 
Rapids. Mr. I\inney enjoys all the sports, has 
played base ball, etc., and is one of the most 
popular residents of his township, as well as 
one of the most respected. 




EORGE B. KRAFT, a leading farmer 
in section No. 5, of Caledonia town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., was born 
in Waterloo county, Ontario, Canada, 
July 26, 1848, was educated in a common 
school, which he attended in the winter sea- 
sons only, and was reared on the home farm 
until twenty years of age; he then made a visit 



816 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



to Pennsylvania, there met his second cousin, 
Miss Mary Jane Kunkel, a native of Union 
county, and November 15, 186S, was united 
v;ith her in marriage. 

John Kraft, grandfather of George B., was 
born in Anspach, Prussian Germany, August 
14, 1 77 I, came to America in 1806, landed in 
Philadelphia, Pa., whence he went to Lan- 
caster county, in the same state, and later 
emigrated to Waterloo county, Canada West, 
where he was married February 7, 1808, and 
where his death took place in 1844. His wife, 
whose maiden name was Magdalena Bechtel, 
was born February 19, 1789, in Lancaster 
county, Pa., and after marriage went to Can- 
ada West, where she died, in Waterloo coun- 
ty (now in Ontario), November 17. 1866. Her 
ancestors were natives of Switzerland, and 
were among the first settlers in Pennsylvania, 
but the date of their coming is unknown. 

George Kraft, father of George B. Kraft, 
was born in Waterloo county, Ontario, Feb- 
ruary 16, 1809, was a son of John Kraft, and 
was married in Ontario to Esther Bingamop, 
who was born in Montgomery county. Pa., 
September 30, 1810. 

John Bingamon, father of Mrs. George 
Kraft, was born in Pennsylvania, March 15, 
1783, his grandfather having come from near 
Geneva, Switzerland, in 1730. John Binga- 
mon married in Pennsylvania, in 1805, Hannah 
Bergay, and in 1825 also emigrated to Water- 
loo county, Canada, with a large party of 
others. Hannah Bergay's ancestors were na- 
tives of Saxony, Germany, came to Pennsyl- 
vania in 17 17, and there lived until their emi- 
gration to Canada West. 

In the spring of 1869, George B. Kraft 
came to Michigan and purchased his present 
farm of 160 acres in Caledonia township, of 
which farm fifty acres had been cleared and 
improved with a log house and barn; the re- 
mainder was a forest of birch and maple, and 



this he at once proceeded to clear off, and now 
has ninety acres under a high state of cultiva- 
tion. His farming is general in its character, 
but he has 1,300 peach trees on his place, to- 
gether with fruit trees of other varieties in 
lesser numbers, grows hay to a considerable 
extent, and keeps about ten cows, dairying 
being quite a feature among his industries, and 
the farm being well adapted to stock growing. 
He has a beautiful little lake, covering about 
fifteen acres, on his premises, and this is 
strictly private property, not having been 
recognized by government surveyors. 

In politics, Mr. Kraft was originally a re- 
publican, but the strong advocacy of that party 
of a high tariff led to his becoming a democrat 
in 1884, with which he has ever since worked 
strenuously. He has taken active part in 
many of the conventions of the latter, and is 
very popular in its ranks as well as with its 
leaders. He has been its nominee for the 
state legislature, but, his district being strong- 
ly republican, he failed of election, although 
he gave his opponent a very close call, and 
would probably have triumphed, if he had 
personally entered upon the campaign. He 
favors free-silver coinage, according to William 
Jennings Bryan's policy or doctrine, and has 
strong hope of its ultimate adoption. 

Religiously, Mr. Kraft was reared a 
Mennonite. But his ideas are somewhat ad- 
vanced, and he takes exception to that part of 
its doctrines or teachings which excludes its 
members from taking an active part in civil 
government, although it permits its members 
to vote at elections; and he holds that it is the 
duty of every citizen to identify himself to 
some extent with politics and exert himself in 
promoting such affairs as will lead to a higher 
civilization. In the church proper there is some 
dissension on this point and perhaps other 
matters, and Mr. Kraft has united with the 
I liberal or advanced branch, but, as yet, this 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



817 



has not erected a house of worship. The 
fundamental religious principles are, however, 
fully maintained by both bodies. 

Mr. Kraft holds the belief that if there were 
more true followers of Christ (not more church 
members) in legislative and congressional halls, 
the people would not have to contend with 
combinations, trusts and bribery, and corrup- 
tion, as at present; and therefore thinks it 
wrong for any church to debar its members 
from holding public office. For a long time 
Mr. Kraft was connected with Sunday-schools 
as teacher, but for the past two years, owing 
to the illness of his wife, has not been able to 
attend to these duties. He was also a mem- 
ber of the Patrons of Husbandry and was active 
in the interests of the farmer and laboring man 
as long as the order had an existence in his 
locality, his opinion being that the farmer and 
laboring man constitute the backbone of any 
country — not gold and silver. 

To the marriage of Mr. Kraft have been 
born twelve children, of whom eight still sur- 
vive, viz: Emma May, wife of John Studt, of 
Caledonia; Milton, who began teaching at the 
age of twenty-one years, still follows the vo- 
cation in Ivent county and makes his home 
with his parents; Mary Ellen, wife of Lewis 
Herman; Lydia, who was also a teacher for 
some time, still retains her home with her 
parents, and is an exceptionally bright young 
lady; Allen, a school boy; Cleveland, Irving 
and Jennie are still at home. Of the deceased, 
Esther died when two months old, Aaron at 
eight years, George Garfield at six years, and 
one in infancy, unnamed. 

In 1886, Mr. Kraft's parents came from 
Ontario and located in Caledonia township 
where they passed the remainder of their 
days, the father dying at the age of eighty- 
nine years, and the mother at eighty-four. 

The farm of Mr. Kraft is very productive, 
and the golden tribute of his abundant harvests 



fully compensates him for the labor bestowed 
upon their production. As a citizen, he is 
among the most highly respected in the town- 
ship, and as an agriculturist he stands at the 
head of all engaged in the calling for a circuit 
of many miles. 



EORGE LaBARGE is a worthy, intel- 
ligent and enterprising citizen of the 
village of .Ada, with the business in- 
terests of which he is conspicuously 
identified, and he is also one of the represent- 
ative farmers of the township of Ada. His 
father, Francis LaBarge, was one of the many 
substantial men whom the Empire state fur- 
nished to -Michigan, and the mother, whose 
maiden name was Caroline Tyler, was also a 
native of New York. Francis LaBarge in early 
manhood went to Canada, where he learned 
the carpenter's trade, about 1842 located in 
Grand Rapids, Mich., where he followed his 
chosen vocation until his death in 1883. 
George LaBarge, a member of a family of 
four children, was born in the city of Grand 
Rapids, August 8, 1845. He attended the 
public schools at intervals during his minor- 
ity, spent the greater part of his youth and 
early manhood on a farm, and at the age of 
twenty-two years engaged in business for him- 
self as a grocer in Grand Rapids, an enterprise 
which proved more than ordinarily successful, 
and in which he continued until 1898, when he 
purchased a farm in Ada township which he 
has since superintended. 

In the meantime Mr. LaBarge opened a 
general grocery house in the town of Ada, and 
is at present engaged in the mercantile trade 
in connection with his agricultural interests, 
both of which have proved satisfactory under- 
takings, yielding him a liberal income. Mr. 
LaBarge carries a well assorted stock of gen- 
eral merchandise, pays corsiderable attention 



818 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



to buying and shipping produce of all I<inds, 
and by close attention to business, and losing 
no endeavor to please his customers, he has 
built up a large and lucrative business which is 
continually on the increase. His farm is also 
well cared for, and it is no compliment to class 
him with the wide-awake and prosperous agri- 
culturists of his township. 

Mr. LaBarge is happily married and the 
father of three bright children, namely: Nel- 
lie R., Georgia A. and Carrie N. His wife, to 
whom he was united in the bonds of wedlock 
November i, 1872, was Miss Margaret Lein- 
setter, a lady of sterling worth, possessing 
many noble qualities ot mind and heart. 

Mr. LaBarge is a republican in politics, 
belongs to the Odd Fellows fraternity, and is 
a liberal contributor to the Baptist church, to 
which his wife belongs. He is a gentleman 
of substantial worth and occupies a high place 
in the estimation of his fellow citizens of Ada 
arid elsewhere. Recognizing the fact that in- 
dustry is the key which unlocks the portals of 
success, he has found the reward of earnest 
labor, and the prosperity he has earned is well 
merited. He is recognized as a progressive 
public-spirited citizen, true to every duty de- 
volving upon him, and his record, since be- 
coming a citizen of Ada, is without blemish. 




HAUNCY PATTERSON, an old pio- 
neer of Cascade township, Kent 
county, Mich., was born in Seneca 
county, N. Y., April 21, 1823, and 
of his parentage an account will be found in 
the sketch of Miner Patterson, of Paris town- 
ship, printed on another page of this volume. 
Chauncy Patterson came to Michigan in 
1828 with his parents, who first located in 
Washtenaw county, where his father, Robert, 
died in 1831. In 1836 he accompanied his 



brother, Jacob, to Kent county, the latter hav- 
ing purchased land in 1835, where the East 
Paris school-house now stands. Chauncy soon 
went to Grand Rapids, where he met A. H. 
Wansey, of South Division street, with whom 
he lived two years, being permitted to attend 
school during parts of two winters. He then, 
at sixteen years of age, returned to his 
brother's and assisted his brother Miner to 
erect the latter's house. He then hired out, 
at $14 per month, to a man named Vander- 
pool, who lived near the present fair grounds. 
He proved to be about the meanest man in 
Kent county, for when Chauncy had faithfully 
worked si.\ months his pay was withheld, and 
was recovered only by a lawsuit. 

At the age of eighteen years he purchased 
forty acres of land in Cascade township, in 
the same section in which his present farm is 
situated. While he lived with Mr. Wansey 
that gentleman gave him a calf, and Chauncy 
bought another to replace one given him by 
his mother, which calf bad died. When these 
had become two-year-old steers he traded 
them, adding $10 in cash, for the forty acres 
alluded to. The ne.xt year he added another 
forty-acre tract, of which eight had been 
cleared. He made his home with his mother 
and brother Miner, but continued to work out, 
and, as he could, worked on his own place. 
His work for others was the only kind to be 
had — that of clearing off land — and at this he 
and Miner worked almost constantly. He be- 
caine expert with the ax, and at one time cut 
six acres in twenty-one and a half days, which 
was considered to be quite a feat. He built a 
log house, 20x26 feet, of hewn timber, and it 
was then considered to be about the best in the 
neighborhood. 

Chauncy Patterson was married, on Christ- 
mas day, 1845, to Miss Sarah Dickson, daugh- 
ter of Daniel and Nancy Dickson, who came 
from Canada to Kent county, Mich., when she 



I 




MRS. CHAUNCEY PATTERSON. 




CHAUNCEY PATTERSON. 



I 



AND KENT' COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



821 



was eleven years of age, and settled where I. 
Dickson Davis recently lived, at Bowne Sta- 
tion. This was the event of the season, and 
everybody was invited, there being no one left 
out in the cold to charivari the young couple. 
Mr. Patterson, with his bride, in April moved 
into his own house. He continued to add to 
his own possessions; for the equity in the forty- 
acre tract he now lives upon he traded a horse 
and a cutter, chopping twenty-one acres of 
timber to pay off the mortgage. 

He added another forty-acre tract adjoin- 
ing, for which he traded his ox-team and ten 
bushels of wheat, agreeing to pay, in addition, 
$60 in cash, when he would raise that amount. 
The team was unhitched from the plow, al- 
though it was the first day's plowing for corn, 
and with the wheat was turned over to the 
seller. For the $60 he gave his simple word; 
and when his crop of wheat was sold that word 
was redeemed. Another yoke of o.xen was 
now necessary; and as he had $25 left in half- 
dollar pieces, he sought a man who had two 
teams, of which he bought one, paying fifty 
coins, and e.xchanging a cow. It took the bet- 
ter part of a day to find the oxen, which were 
running loose in the woods. With this team 
and a horse he continued his farming. From 
the forest he eventually developed one of the 
best farms in the township. In 1861 he paid 
$1,500 for eighty acres, sixty of which were 
improved with good barns, etc. He once 
owned about 400 acres; but some of this was 
given to his children as they became of age. 
When not sharing with them his own land he 
bought for them farms elsewhere; one, how- 
ever, receiving a good portion of the home 
farm as his share. 

Mr. Patterson has been a hard-working 
man, but he has worked intelligently. He was 
successful in raising cattle, making single sales 
to the value of $800 or $900. He also grew 
large quantities of wheat, for which he has re- 



ceived as high as $3 per bushel. He sold one 
load of wool for $1,135 — the largest income 
from one load of produce ever taken from 
the village of Cascade. 

Mr. Patterson is a republican in politics, 
but cast his first presidential vote for Henry 
Clay, the whig candidate, in 1844. As a re- 
publican, he has attended the conventions of 
his party and worked for its success; but still 
has had little time to attend to public affairs, 
though he has served for many years as a 
school director. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Patter- 
son are six in number, and named, in order of 
birth, as follows: John M., of Grand Rapids; 
William H., of Cascade township; Chauncy 
Irving, farming near his father's home; George 
Martin, also of Cascade township; Ida May, 
wife of Fred R. Shear, and Nellie M., wife of 
William Eardly, who operates the home farm. 

In his early days, Mr. Patterson had a 
neighbor named William DeGolia, and with 
him Mr. Patterson became associated for four 
years in handling stock. DeGolia was a great 
trader, and instilled much of this science of 
trading into Mr. Patterson, and this tuition 
served the latter a good purpose for many a 
titne later in life. A warm place still exists in 
Mr. Patterson's heart in memory of Mr. De- 
Golia, who was, indeed, a man of many ster- 
ling qualities. 

The first dollar earned by Mr. Patterson 
was when, as a boy of thirteen years, he rode 
a horse for a neighbor in plowing corn among 
the stumps. His pay was a dollar bill, which 
he held so tightly in his hand that it was wet 
through with perspiration when he arrived 
home. "The boy was father to the man," as 
the poet Wordsworth expresses it, as not a 
dollar has since passed through his hands that 
has been uselessly expended. A little, wiry 
man, but possessing indomitable will and per- 
severance, few men have done more to pro- 



822 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



mote the civilization and to improve the town 
than Chauncy Patterson. Of late years 
he and his wife have lived more at ease and 
have traveled somewhat, visiting the Pacific 
coast and other sections. Their present resi- 
dence was recently built and is fitted with 
many conveniences not dreamed of when he 
first settled on the farm. After giving each 
child a farm, he and wife have ample left to 
carry them to the end, which will be mourned 
by all, it is true, but their memory will live, 
cherished and beloved, as long as Cascade 
township shall endure. 



RANKLIN W. LACEY, blacksmith, 
and one of the most successful 
mechanics of Ada, was born at Rock- 
ford (then called Lappenville), Kent 
county, Mich., May 30, 1S58. His father, 
John I. Lacey, was a native of New York 
state, where he learned and followed the 
blacksmith's trade, later locating his place of 
business at Rockford, Mich., in i860. Here 
for nearly thirty years he worked as a black- 
smith and general repairer until his death, 
which occurred in Kent county, in the year 
1889. The mother of Franklin W. Lacey 
was Katie (Gray) Lacey. She was a native of 
Germany and became the mother of five chil- 
dren. The greater part of her life was spent 
with her husband and family in Michigan, 
where she survived her husband two years, 
dying in the year 1891. 

Franklin W. Lacey was sent to the com- 
mon schools, where he acquired a liberal 
education. As a preparation for his life work 
he learned the trade of a blacksmith. He was 
engaged in this vocation one year in Pine Lake 
and a year at Cedar Springs, and for a period 
of seven years was associated with Edward R. 
Joyce at Cannon, and finally located in Ada 
township in the year 1890. 



Mr. Lacey is himself probably one of the 
most expert mechanics of Kent county. The 
superior workmanship and thorough reliability 
of his products have given his business a 
marked impetus from its very inception in 
Ada. At present he has an income of about 
$1, 500 per annum. 

His character is one which commands the 
respect and esteem of all with whom he has 
dealings, and he is known as one of the alert 
and progressive business men of the village, 
and as one whose success is the reward of well- 
directed efforts and unflagging perseverance. 
He has just completed a good substantial 
blacksmith shop, and has a very comfortable 
residence adjoining the same, surrounded by 
large grounds. 

He was first united in marriage to Miss 
Minnie Thomas, to which union two children 
were born — Lou and Nina. He was married 
to his present wife November 9,. 1890, Miss 
Nettie Wheeler becoming the bride. 

Fraternally, Franklin W. Lacey is a mem- 
ber of the Maccabees; politically, he is a stanch 
adherent to the principles of democracy. 




OHN M. KRAFT, for many years well 
known as an upright and industrious 
agriculturist of Sparta township, 
Kent county, was born in Ottawa 
county, Mich., July 28, [861, and is the third 
in order of birth of the ten children — six sons 
and four daughters, resulting from the mar- 
riage of Conrad and Elizabeth (Ritz) Kraft, 
and of these ten there are eight still living, 
viz: Katie, wife of John Schwartz, a farmer 
of Chester township, Ottawa county; John 
M., the subject of this sketch; Henry, a mar- 
ried man and a farmer of Alpine township, 
Kent county; Lena, wife of Henry Schwartz, 
of Chester township, Ottawa county; Lizzie, 
wife of Menne Schafer, of Hopkins township. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



8-23 



Allegan county; Martin, married and living on 
the old homestead, Ottawa county; Conrad, 
a merchant at Gooding Station, Mich., and a 
married man, and Amelia, with her parents 
on the homestead. These children were all 
educated in the Lisbon (Ottawa county) high^ 
school. 

Conrad Kraft was born in Hesse-Cassel, 
(Germany, in October, 1S34, and when of age 
sailed from Bremen, landed in New York, and 
thence came as far west as Ohio, where he 
tarried for two years, in Butler county, and 
from there came to Ottawa county, Mich. He 
was a poor man at the time, but by hard 
work and close attention to farming, has 
gained a comfortable competence, and now 
owns 180 acres of well-tilled land, free of 
debt. He and wife are members of the Ger- 
man Evangelical Lutheran church, and Mr. 
Kraft has liberally aided, in the way of finan- 
cial contributions, in the erection of two 
church edifices for the use of this religious 
society, chieiiy in 1898, to the new brick 
church building, which was constructed in his 
town at a cost of $11,000. He was one of 
the trustees of this church, and his son, John 
M., of this sketch, was a member of the build- 
ing committee. In politics Mr. Kraft is a 
stanch democrat. 

Mrs. Elizabeth Kraft is also a native of 
Hesse-Cassel, was born May i, 1833, and 
embarked for America the same time her 
husband set sail for this country, and here they 
were married. 

John M. Kraft was reared a stock breeder 
and fruit grower, and his attention in horti- 
culture was especially directed toward peaches, 
apples and plums. He was confirmed in the 
Lutheran church at the age of thirteen years, 
and was graduated from the Lisbon (Qttawa 
county) high school. Until he attained his 
majority he gave all his services and earnings 
to his parents and then began his business life 



minus capital, with the exception of that which 
was found in his willing mind, strong arms, 
industrious habits and skill in his calling. 

April 14, 1887, Mr. Kraft wedded Miss 
Minnie R. Wagner, the ceremony being cele- 
brated in the German Evangelical Lutheran 
church, at Lisbon, by the Rev. O. H. Schmidt, 
and his marriage has been blessed with five 
children, viz: Augusta L. , now in the fifth 
grade of the German school, and bright in her 
studies, Clara L., in the fourth grade; Roland 
C; Earnie, who died April 22, iSgg, when 
nearly two years old, and Matilda E. 

Mrs. Minnie R. Kraft was born in Chester 
township, Ottawa county, Mich., October 2, 
1869, and is a daughter of Peter and Augusta 
(Witt) Wagner, the only other child of her 
parents being Mary L. , wife of John Schneider, 
a prosperous farmer of Alpine township. Mr. 
and Mrs. Peter Wagner were born in Germany, 
and now reside in Conklin village, Ottawa 
county. Both were reared to farm life, and 
in the faith of the Lutheran church, and have 
liberally contributed to the erection of the 
church-edifices already alluded to. 

When Mr. and Mrs. John Kraft began their 
married life, they rented land for a year, and 
then went in debt for eighty acres on section 
No. 16, Sparta township, but they worked 
mutually together, he on the farm and she in 
the household ; they cleared off their indebted- 
ness and made it one of the best cultivated 
farms of its dimensions in the township of 
Sparta. This excellent farm, however, Mr. 
Kraft rented early in 1900, joined his brother, 
Conrad J., embarked in general merchandise 
and produce dealing in Gooding, and took up 
his residence in that village. 

In politics Mr. Kraft has been a democrat 
ever since he has been entitled to a vote. His 
first presidential vote was cast forGrover Cleve- 
land, and he has not yet seen occasion to 
change his party affiliations, and officially is 



824 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



serving as a school director, favoring the em- 
ployment of the best teachers the school funds 
will afford. 

Mr. and Mrs. Kraft are devout members of 
the German Lutheran church at Lisbon, and 
are free in their contributions toward its sup- 
port. They are respected for their good citi- 
zenship, their kindly feelings and their many 
excellent traits of character, and they are 
rearing their children in such a manner as to 
qualify them to become good and useful mem- 
bers of society. 




AMES LADNER.— A lifetime of hard, 
earnest endeavor in pursuing the occu- 
pation of the husbandman, coupled 
with the strictest integrity, honesty of 
purpose and liberalit}' in all directions, has re- 
sulted in placing Mr. Ladner among the truly 
respected and honored citizens of Grattan 
township, Kent county, Mich. 

Mr. Ladner was born at Land's End, Corn- 
well, England, on the 20th of June, 1845, and 
is the fifth in a family of ten children born to 
James and Jane E. (Chirgwim) Ladner. Si.\ 
of the family, all natives of England, are now 
living, viz; William, an agriculturist residing 
at Big Rapids, Mich.; Herbert, of like occupa- 
tion and a resident of the same place; Eliza, 
widow of William T. Madden, of Evart, 
Mich. ; Francis, engaged in farming m Cannon 
township, Kent county; James; and Thomas, 
a resident of Oklahoma. 

James Ladner, Sr., a carpenter by trade, 
was born in Cornwell, England. He was well 
educated, industrious, and in every respect a 
man of much worth. In the year 1851 he 
concluded to come to America, and accord- 
ingly embarked from Liverpool, whence, after 
eight weeks' voyage, he landed at New York 
city and immediately came to Cannon town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., when this country 



was yet practically wild. Indians were then 
numerous and there were no systematic roads 
or highways. He died at the age of seventy 
years, a democrat politically and religiously 
an Episcopalian, but with Methodist church 
connections in later years. The mother was 
born in Cornwell, England, and died in Kent 
county, Mich., in 1877. 

James Ladner, in connection with his 
brother, engaged as a lumberman and con- 
tractor, and at one time had 300 men in their 
employ. In the contracting business he was 
engaged for twenty-one winters, and being 
careful and economical he saved his monej' 
until he became one of the independent men 
of the day. 

On April 17, 1877, Mr. Ladner wedded 
Miss Maggie J. Roe, to which union a son and 
daughter have been born, viz: Clayton J. 
and Lida May. The former completed the 
course prescribed in the grammar schools and 
became a student of Ferris institute at Big 
Rapids, Mich. Here he took a business course, 
with the intention that his should be a com- 
mercial life. The latter died at the age of 
three years and six months. 

Mrs. Ladner is a native of Livingston 
county, Mich., born June 11, 1842, being a 
daughter of Patrick and Catharine (McCabe) 
Roe. Her parents were natives of Ireland, 
the father being one of the first settlers of 
Livingston county, Mich., coming four years 
before the state was admitted to the Union. 
He was a devout member of St. Patrick's 
Catholic church, and died at the age of ninety- 
one years. The mother, now aged eighty- 
two, and of remarkable mental and physical 
preservation, makes her home with her daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Ladner. She is also a devout Catholic. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ladner began married life on 
a lOO-acre estate, which then presented a very 
uncouth and ill-improved appearance, being 
an old, worn-out farm and one of the earliest 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



825 



settled in Grattan township. The owner has 
since erected an attractive modern home and 
enhanced the value of the property in other 
ways, now owning in all i8o acres of fine land. 
Though never having aspired to official 
station, Mr. Ladner is, nevertheless, a stanch 
supporter of the republican partj'. For some 
years he has been prominently identified with 
the schooling interests of his district Socially 
he is a member of Grattan lodge. No. 196, F. 
& A. M., and also of the Maccabees tent, No. 
398, at Lowell, Mich. 




OHN ADRIAN VERKERKE, a well- 
known lawyer and official of Grand 
Rapids, was born in the Netherlands, 
June 30, 1857, a son of John F. and 
Wilhelmina (Vant-Laf) Verkerke, of French 
and German extraction. 

John F. Verkerke brought his family to 
America in 1866, and August 24th of that year 
settled in Grand Rapids, where the father en- 
gaged in gardening until his death, January 10, 
1897, his wife following him to the grave Feb- 
ruary 8, of the same year. Of the twenty 
children born to these parents, John A., whose 
name opens this article, is the only one now 
living in America. The parents were Protest- 
ants in religion, and in politics the father was 
a republican. 

John Adrian Verkerke was nine years of 
age when brought by his parents to Grand 
Rapids, and here he received his education, 
graduating from the high school at the age of 
seventeen years. He then entered the Dygert 
Bros' printing house as an apprentice, and nine 
years later resigned as their foreman, and be- 
gan traveling as salesman for the Valley City 
Engraving & Printing Company, and this oc- 
cupied his time for two years. For the follow- 
ing two years he was a partner in the firm 



known as Verkerke, Taylor & Hinsdill, printers, 
and then sold out. January i, 1893. he be- 
came deputy county clerk, and has creditably 
filled the position ever since. In 1893, also, 
he was elected alderman from the Eleventh 
ward of Grand Rapids, and still holds his seat. 
In 1893 he became an ardent student of the 
law, pursuing his studies at his office and at 
home, and in 1896 was admitted to the bar bj' 
Judge Adsit. 

December 28, 1876, Mr. Verkerke was 
joined in wedlock, in Grand Rapids, with Miss 
Mamie VanBrack, who was born in this city 
June 6, i860, a daughter of Adolph and Celia 
(Rutgers) VanBrack, and this union has been 
blessed with six children, viz: Frederick J., 
Cana J., Chester A., William H., Laverne E. 
and Irene P. Mr. and Mrs. Verkerke are 
members of the Reformed church, and Mr. 
Verkerke is a Mason, a Knight of Pythias, a 
Forrester and a Modern Woodman. In poli- 
tics he is a republican. The family stands 
high in the esteem of the public in general, as 
well as select social circles, resides in its ele- 
gant home at No. 107 1 Oakdale avenue, and 
Mr. Verkerke owns, beside, an addition to the 
city at the east end, known as Verkerke's 
addition. 




ILLIAM LAMBERTSON, one of 
the honored ex-soldiers of the 
Civil war and a highly respected 
resident of Spencer township, Kent 
county, as well as a representative farmer, is a 
native of Oakland county, Mich., was born 
April 16, 1847, and is the tenth of a family 
of eleven children — seven sons and four daugh- 
ters — that graced the marriage of Jacob and 
Betsey (Cramer) Lambertson, and of these 
children, four of the sons are living in Kent 
county, viz: Theron, a veteran and farmer of 
Spencer township; Archibald, a three-year 



826 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



veteran, also in Spencer township; William, 
the subject of this sketch, and Charles, a 
farmer of Grattan township. 

Jacob Lambertson was born in New Jer- 
sey, was reared a farmer, and was married in 
his native state, and then for a number of 
years resided in the state of New York, 
whence he came to Michigan, and first lo- 
cated in Oakland county, but several years 
later, in 1855, removed to Spencer township, 
Kent county, where he purchased 200 acres 
of land — 100 acres from the government, the 
deed for which is still in possession of the 
family. When he came here the country 
throughout Spencer township was a complete 
wilderness, and Indians roamed at will, as 
well as deer, many of the latter being killed 
on the uncleared farm. 

In politics Jacob Lambertson was a whig, 
but on the expiration of that party became a 
democrat, and died in 1885, on his farm in 
Spencer township, at the good old age of 
eighty-three years. His wife, also a native 
of New Jersey, died in Spencer township at 
the age of about sixty years. 

William Lambertson was about eight years 
of age when he came with his parents to 
Spencer township. As he had to toil hard, 
his opportunities for attending school were 
limited, but he availed himself of the few 
that did exist. Until seventeen years old he 
assisted on the home place, and then, at 
Grand Rapids, in February, 1864, enlisted 
in company F, Twenty-first Michigan volun- 
teer infantry, under Capt. Croll, and was or- 
dered to Chattanooga, Tenn., to enter the 
command under Gen. Thomas. He was as- 
signed to the engineers and mechanics' corps, 
and his first duty was rendered in assisting 
in the construction of bridges across the 
Tennessee river at Chattanooga. Thence he 
was sent to Lookout Mountain, where his 
company was employed on picket duty about 



six months. His next service was rendered 
in the pursuit of the rebel Gens. Hood and 
Forrest through Alabama, which service lasted 
about two weeks, and here Mr. Lambertson 
experienced the greatest hardships and priva- 
tions known to the soldier's life, the hard 
marching being extremely fatiguing and wear- 
ing on the system. 

On returning from this raid, the Twenty- 
first Michigan started with Sherman on the 
march through Georgia to the Atlantic ocean, 
but on reaching Dalton, Mr. Lambertson was 
found to be ill with typhoid fever and was left 
behind to recuperate. After six weeks' con- 
finement in the barracks, he was sent with the 
convalescent to Bridgeport, Ala., and remained 
there about four months in the spring of 1S65, 
and until the welcome news came of the sur- 
render of Gen. R. E. Lee. Then came orders 
for the troops to concentrate at Washington, 
D. C, and thither they were hurried to take 
part in the grand review by the victorious 
Union generals and magnates of the nation. 

Mr. Lambertson, after the grand review, 
was transferred from the Twenty-first to the 
Fourteenth Michigan volunteer infantry and 
sent to Louisville, Ky., the design being to 
send the troops to Texas to fight the Indians, 
although their term of enlistment had expired; 
but orders came to disband the troops, and 
Mr. Lambertson received an honorable dis- 
charge July 18, 1865. He had served faith- 
fully and well, was never arrested nor placed 
in the guard house, and had endured the hard- 
ships of a soldier's life with patience and forti- 
tude. After all his suffering he is now allowed 
a pension of $6 per month, whereas it should 
be double that amount or more. 

Mr. Lauibertson has been twice married. 
To his first union, m 1866, with Miss Ellen 
Hunter, was born one child, Ella, who is now 
the wife of Cyrus Wallington, a farmer of 
Montcalm county, Mich. Mrs. Lambertson was 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



827 



called to the Beyond in 1873, and Mr. Lambert- 
son next wedded, March 15, 1879, Jennie 
Laverty, who was born in Ada township, Kent 
county, Mich., May 26, 1842, the fifth in a 
family of three sons and five daughters, born 
to Henry and Permelia (Lindsey) Laverty. Of 
these children six are still living — four in Kent 
county. William Henry is a farmer of Cline, 
Beaver county, Okla. T., and Harvey Edmund 
is a resident of Salina, Kans. 

The father, Henry Laverty, was a native 
of New Jersey, and died at the age of eighty- 
six years in Spencer township, Kent county, 
Mich. He had resided some years in New 
York, and on coming to Michigan first lived in 
Jackson county, whence he removed to Grattan, 
then to Ada township, Kent county. In poli- 
tics he was a republican, and in religion he and 
wife were devout Methodists. Mrs. Permelia 
Laverty was also a native of New Jersey, and 
passed away in April, 1862, at the age of fifty- 
two years. 

Mrs. Jennie Lambertson was a child of 
five years when her parents located in Grattan 
township. She received a sound public-school 
education, and became one of the most success- 
ful teachers in Ionia, Kent and Montcalm 
counties, teaching about twenty-five terms, 
winter and summer, consecutively, two terms 
being in her home district after her marriage. 
Mr. and Mrs. Lambertson are Seventh Day 
Adventists in their religious faith, being mem- 
bers of the Trufant church, in the northern 
part of Spencer township. They have both 
been teachers in the Sabbath-school, and have 
contributed liberally of their means to the sup- 
port of the school and church. 

It was in the spring of iS79^that Mr. and 
Mrs. Lambertson came to reside in Spencer 
township, and here they have since been 
greatly respected as upright. Christian resid^ts. 
In the fall of 1894 they erected their comforta- 
ble farm residence. Mrs. Lambertson's father 



was the owner of this property, but she, du- 
ring her noble career as a school teacher, 
contributed greatly toward its improvement, 
as well as to the care of her venerable father 
in his declining years; and Mr. Lambertson 
has found in her a truly valuable and willing 
helpmate. 

In politics Mr. Lambertson was originally 
a democrat and cast his first presidential vote 
for Horatio Seymour, but latterly he has sup- 
ported the republican policy, and he and wife 
are earnest advocates of the cause of temper- 
ance. They are classed among the better citi- 
zens, are ardent friends of the public schools, 
and desire to have the township attended by 
the best and most competent teachers that the 
school fund will justify employing. 




AMES F. LAMOREAUX, a well- 
known, popular, and prosperous 
farmer, dairyman, and raiser of live 
stock in Plainfield township, Kent 
county, Mich., is native here, and was born 
January 8, i860, the eldest child of Florance 
A. and Louise E. (Patton) Lamoreaux. The 
second child born to these parents was named 
Frederick A., but is now deceased; the third, 
George P., is a resident of Walker township; 
the fourth is Sarah Eliza, wife of Thomas 
Hice, also of Walker township; the fifth, Hud- 
son, is deceased, and William, the sixth, is a 
farmer, and Walker township is also his home. 
Florance A. Lamoreaux, the father of the 
above family, was born in the state of New 
York in February, 1832, and was brought by 
his parents, Andrew and Emma Lamoreaux, 
to Michigan in 1846. When he began work on 
his own account he simply acted as a laborer 
in the lumber trade, but it was not long be- 
fore he was promoted to the position of gen- 
eral foreman. Some years later he purchased 
a farm in Walker township, Kent county. 



828 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



which is still his home. His wife is likewise 
a native of New York, was born in 1839, and 
when young was brought to Michigan by her 
parents, Lyman and Sarah Patton. She was 
a teacher for years, from the time she was 
sixteen years old. 

James F. Lamoreaux started his business 
life as an employee of Mrs. H. Savage, widow 
of Hunter Savage, of Spring Lake, Ottawa 
county, with whom he remained for two years. 
He next formed a partnership with his brother, 
Frederick, in the dairy business, which part- 
nership lasted about four years, when James 
purchased his brother's interest in the business 
and the farm of ninety acres. He keeps 
about twenty Jersey and Durham cows, 
devoting the farm largely to producing milk. 
He has lately planted some 1,300 peach trees 
on a part of the farm that is adapted to fruit. 

June 13, 1888, Mr. Lamoreaux married 
Miss Lizzie G. Neal, a native of Grand Rapids, 
born February 22, 1867, and the only child of 
Lucius Judson and Rachel A. (Powers) Neal. 
Lucius J. Neal, a well-known mechanic, was 
born in Tecumseh, Lenawee county, Mich., 
in. 1839, came to Kent county about 1854, 
and now resides with Mr. and Mrs. Lamoreaux. 
Mrs. Rachel A. Neal was born in Grand 
Rapids about 1841, and died October 8, 
1869, her remains being interred in the Fulton 
street cemetery. Mr. Neal was a veteran of 
the war of the Rebellion, as he enlisted in 
May, 1 86 1, in company B, Third Michigan 
volunteer infantry, took part in many severe 
battles, such as those of Yorktown, Williams- 
burg, Fair Oaks, Glendale, Malvern Hill, 
Spottsylvania and Gettysburg, and numerous 
others, and after four and one-half years of 
glorious service was honorably discharged in 
November, 1865. The marriage of Mr. and 
Mrs. Lamoreaux has been graced by the 
birth of two children, James Neal and Hazel 
Louise. 



In politics Mr. Lamoreaux is a democrat 
and cast his first presidential vote for Grover 
Cleveland. He has served his party in con- 
ventions and was once its candidate for town 
treasurer. In his societary relations he is a 
member of Progressive lodge, No. 450, I. O. 
O. F., and of Mill Creek tent, No. 745, K. O. 
T. M., and was a charter member in each. 




FNRY LAMPMAN, a prominent agri- 
culturist residing in section No. 25, 
Lowell township, was born in Bath, 
N. Y. , July II, 1 84 1, and came to 
Grand Rapids when a boy eight years of age. 
His parents, Richard and Emiline H. (Chase) 
Lampman, were both from the above named 
state. The father, a harness and saddle 
maker by trade, settled in Ada township, four 
miles north of Ada, where he located upon a 
new farm in 1849, with an old log cabin as his 
first home. Here he lived until he was able 
to erect a frame house and then sold the 
property, removing to New York, where he 
became captain of a steamboat on the Hud- 
son river. 

At that time young Henry Lampman was 
twelve years old and lived with his uncle, L. 
F. Chase, until he enlisted at the age of nine- 
teen in company D, First engineers, under 
Col. Innes, September 23, 1861, with which 
he served four years in the army of the Cum- 
berland. He was with Sherman on his march 
to Savannah, and then returned to Nash- 
ville, Tenn., where he was discharged Sep- 
tember 30, 1865. During part of his service 
he was detailed as quartermaster sergeant, 
and for some time was engaged in the con- 
struction of bridges, pontoons, forts, etc. He 
had a great deal of night work to do and waSj 
always in advance of the army, except dur- 
ing engagements, when he fought in the ranks. 
Some of the principal actions in which he 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



829 



took part were Mill Spring, Lavergne or Stone 
River, siege of Corinth and Mission Ridge 
(where he was located one year). At Brown's 
Ferry, where he was laying a pontoon bridge, 
a shell passed so close to his head that he felt 
the concussion. When Lee surrendered Mr. 
Lampman's corps had reached Raleigh, N. C. , 
and when the news of President Lincoln's 
assassination came to hand it was again on 
the march. His regiment was the first to 
enter Washington, D. C. , on the second day 
of the grand review, in which he took part. 
He served his country faithfully for four years, 
was never in a hospital or guard house, nor 
was he ever taken prisoner. 

After the war Mr. Lampman worked for 
his uncle, and bought his present tract of land 
in 1866, paying $850 for sixty-si.x acres, all of 
which was wild land. In procuring this he 
went $400 in debt and built a good log house. 

January 3, 1869, Mr. Lampman was united 
in marriage to Miss Kate Beardsley who was 
born January 29, 1845, in Albany, N. Y. , and 
took her at once to his new home in the 
woods, which, by additions made since that 
time, now contains ninety acres, of which 
sixty-five are in a good state of cultivation. 
At times he was compelled to work for his 
neighbors to earn a livelihood and to secure 
teams for use upon his farm, for it was four 
years before he was able to procure a team of 
his own, and then went $150 in debt for a 
team of oxen. He then worked upon another 
farm to get money enough to begin the oper- 
ation of his own. 

Mr. Lampman is now engaged in general 
farming and is a breeder of fine Durham cattle. 
In his political predilections he may, in local 
politics, be classed as a non-partisan. 

Mrs. Lampman is a dailghter of Leonard 

and Gertrude (Lamphar) Beardsley, of New 

York. Her father died when she was a child 

and at three years of age she was brought to 
43 



Grand Rapids, where her mother married H. 
T. Judson and later moved to Cannonsburg, 
where Mrs. Lampman resided until her mar- 
riage. She attended high school at Grand 
Rapids and taught for two terms in Kent 
county. 

Mr. Lampman has one of the finest and 
best appointed country residences in Kent 
county, with a well-arranged barn and other 
good improvements. His is a model farm and 
is the reward of his diligence, industry and 
perseverance. His family consists of Carrie 
E., wife of Bert Hartwell of Cannonsburg; 
Gertrude I., who completed the eighth grade 
with an average of ninety-four per cent, and 
Clara Loretta, both of whom are living at 
home with their parents. Miss Lora is in the 
ninth grade of Lowell high school and is also 
taking instrumental music lessons. 

Mr. Lampman and family are members of 
the Methodist church at South Lowell, of which 
he is recording steward and they have helped 
erect three churches. Fraternally he is 
identified with the Lowell lodge of Masons, 
No. 90, and stands high in the esteem of his 
friends for his many excellencies of character, 
and his worth is widely recognized. 




ILLIAM H. LANDIS, M. D., one of 
the most successful practitioners of 
medicine and a skillful surgeon of 
Kent City, Mich., is a native of 
Shelby county, Ohio, was born February 23, 
1858, and is the eldest of the family of six sons 
and four daughters born to John and Ellen 
(Dye) Landis, of which children there are nine 
still living — six yet wMth their parents, viz: 
Alice A., lienjamin F., Robert F., Harry A., 
John H., and Mary E. Of these, Robert 
F. graduated in i8g8 from the Woodland 
(Mich.) high school, and the others have 
passed through the common schools. George 



830 



.THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



W. Landis, the next in order of birth to the 
doctor, is a graduate of the state normal school 
at Ada, Ohio, is married, and is a pharmacist 
at Ann Arbor, Mich. Flora is the wife of 
Frederick Walcott, overseer of the felt boot 
works, at Hastings, Mich. 

John Landis, the father, was born near 
Dayton, Ohio, January 21, 1834, and is a 
farmer by vocation. In March, 1864, he en- 
listed in company E, of the One Hundred and 
F"orty-seventh Indiana volunteer infantry, at 
Portland, Ind., served in the army of the Po- 
tomac until the close of the struggle, and was 
honorably discharged at Harper's Ferry, Va. 
In politics he is a warm republican and voted 
for Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, Harrison and 
McKinley. Fraternally, he is a royal arch 
Mason, and is also a member of the Blue lodge, 
No. 304, at Woodland, Mich. His wife is a 
native of Miami county, Ohio, was born Sep- 
tember 20, 1836, was educated in the common 
schools, and is a lady of most pleasant address. 

Dr. William H. Landis was but three years 
of age when his parents removed from Ohio to 
Portland, Ind., where they resided until 1884. 
He was educated in the common and high 
schools of that city, and then for a year and a 
half read medicine and surgery under Dr. C. 
S. Arthur, an e.x-surgeon of the Civil war. 
September 6, 1882, he entered Starling Med- 
ical college at Columbus, Ohio, from which he 
graduated in 1885, in a classof thirty-six mem- 
bers. In 1885, also, he began practice in 
Woodland, Mich., and there continued until 
1888, when he went to Chicago and practiced 
on the West side about six months, and then 
located in Como, Ind., and while there had 
the misfortune of losing his drug store and 
many of his surgical instruments in a confla- 
gration. 

In 1 89 1 Dr. Landis came to Michigan and 
located at Clarksville, Ionia county, where he 
practiced until August 25, 1897. The same 



3'ear he returned to Chicago and took a post 
graduate course at the West side Clinical 
school, and April 25, 1898, settled in Kent 
City, Mich. Here he has met with a success 
commensurate with his skill and professional 
knowledge, his practice extending into Solon, 
Algoma, Sparta and Alpine townships, as well 
as into Newaygo aud Muskegon counties. 

Dr. Landis married, October 19, 1886, 
Miss Sadie Wray, a native of Clarion county. 
Pa., born August 17, 1858, and a daughter of 
J. L. and S. C. (Corbett) Wray, whose family 
of one son and three daughters all reside in 
Chicago, with the exception of Mrs. Landis, 
who was educated chiefly in the ladies' semi- 
nary at Delaware, O. To the marriage of 
Dr. and Mrs. Landis have been born two sons 
and one daughter, of whom one son has been 
called away. The daughter, Mary Bell, is in 
the fourth grade of the Kent City schools, and 
has developed quite a talent for music, and 
the surviving son, Charles W., is in the third 
grade. 

In politics Dr. Landis is a republican, and 
while a resident of Montgomery county, O., 
cast his first presidential vote for the lamented 
Garfield, and he also represented his party 
there in the county convention. Fraternally 
he is a member of the Masonic lodge, No. 395, 
at Lake Odessa; of Kent chapter. No. 106, R. 
A. M., at Sparta; of Harmony lodge, No. 146, 
I. O. O. F.,at Freeport, and of the K. O. T. 
M., No. 612, at Clarksville, and is past com- 
mander of this tent. In Kent City he is phy- 
sician of Tyrone tent. No. 361, and he is also 
the local examining physician for the fol- 
lowing well-known life insurance companies: 
The New York Life, the Massachusetts 
Mutual, the New York Mutual and the Knights 
Templar Indemnity of Chicago. The doctor 
has been a member of the American Medical 
association, keeps himself well supplied with 
standard medical journals and is always 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



831 



abreast of the progress made in his profession. 
His office and laboratory are equipped with 
everything needful to the practice of surgery 
and medicine. He is affable in his demeanor 
and cheerful in the sick-room, and he and 
wife are in high favor with the best social 
circles of Kent City. 



,m 



\MUEL LANGDON, prominent as a 
farmer of Paris township, Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., and president of the Kent 
county Mutual Fire Insurance com- 
pany, was born in Wethersfield, Wyoming coun- 
ty, N. Y., January 22, 1832, and is a son of 
Benjamin F. and Dorothy (Charles) Langdon, 
both of whom where natives of Maine, but 
reared in New York state, where they were 
married. 

Paul Langdon, grandfather of Samuel, was 
educated in Harvard university, of which his 
father was president, and the same who, his- 
tory relates, offered up prayer for the success 
of the American troops just before the battle 
of Bunker Hill, although he was himself of 
English descent. Paul Langdon graduated 
before he was eighteen years of age, and took 
part in the battle alluded to above. He was 
later in the ordnance department of the con- 
tinental army, throughout the Revolutionary 
war. After peace had been declared, Paul 
went to Maine and established the Fryeburg 
academy — so intimately associated with 
Daniel Webster's early career. He afterward 
settled in New York, where he taught private 
school, for, though he lacked in knowledge 
of the practical affairs of the world, he was 
renowned as a scholar. 

Benjamin F. Langdon died in 1848, and at 
the age of sixteen years Samuel took charge of 
the home farm, and managed it until of age. He 
had attended private and country schools, but 
continued his studies at home after parting 



with his instructors. At the age of eighteen 
he began to teach, taught each winter for five 
terms, and then, in 1853, decided to come to 
Michigan. On reaching this state he settled 
on 120 acres of openings in Kalamazoo coun- 
ty, which he mainly cleared himself. He also 
taught five or six winters; but in the meantime, 
two years after his arrival, married, October 
20, 1855, Miss Emily Wood, in New York, to 
which state he had returned for that purpose. 
In October, 1866, after eleven years of mar- 
ried life, his wife was called away, leaving two 
children, viz: William H., who is a farmer at 
Hubbardston, Ionia county, and Minnie J., 
wife of C. H. Munshaw, of Paris. 

In 187 1, Mr. Langdon secured his present 
farm of 150 acres, near Bowne station, it be- 
ing then known as the Windsor farm. It is 
well improved and mainly devoted to general 
farming, though fifteen acres are devoted to an 
apple orchard of considerable value. The 
same year he married Miss Amanda Tallman, 
a resident of Michigan, who died ten years 
later, without issue. February 8, 1888, he 
married Mrs. Minnie M. Cole, widow of Marion 
Cole. She was born in Canada, bore the 
maiden name of Munshaw, was of German de- 
scent, and has borne Mr. Langdon one child, 
Anna D., now nine years of age. 

When that great organization, which had 
for its object the betterment of the conditions 
surrounding the farmers of America, the 
Patrons of Husbandry, came into existence, 
its basic principles were of so broad and noble 
a character that the best minds of the country 
were attracted to it. Mr. Langdon, who had 
long recognized the importance of closer rela- 
tion among the agricultural masses, at once 
became an important factor in the growth and 
organization of the order. He and a few other 
wide-awake men organized the Paris grange, 
No. 19, the first in Kent county, and was 
honored by his fellows with the position of 



832 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



master. He, taking no half-hearted interest 
in the new movement, assisted in establish- 
ing other similar bodies in the count}', culmi- 
nating in the Pomona (or county) grange, in 
which he was a leading spirit. 

His ability and worth were soon recognized 
and he was chosen a member of the executive 
committee of the state grange, where his co- 
adjutors were among the ablest men of the 
state. Much was done to improve the condi- 
tions of the farmer, not only to benefit him 
financally.but also to emphasize the importance 
of the grange as a social center. While filling 
that responsible position he continued to advo- 
cate by pen or in public address the advantages 
of the order, until he saw it assume a most im- 
portant position, its influence being now keenly 
felt in almost every hamlet, and, it might be 
said, at almost every fireside throughout the 
Wolverine state. 

In 1 88 1, he was made president of the 
Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance company, of 
Kent county, and his management of its 
affairs has been so characterized by sound 
judgment ^and splendid executive ability that 
he has since been repeatedly re-elected, still 
serving, after nearly twenty years of constant 
devotion to its interests. Much has been 
done for Kent county farmers by this organi- 
zation, which has existed most successfully for 
thirty-four jears, despite the prophecies of 
many who have antagonized it and its objects. 
It now shows risks on its books of nearly 
five millions of dollars on farm property ex- 
clusively. It has been conducted on an eco- ■ 
nomical basis, its average expense of manage- 
ment being about $2 per thousand insurance. 

Mr. Langdon was a democrat in his earlier 
years, but his study of economic questions re- 
sulted in his joining with the greenback forces. 
He was elected supervisor, by a union of va- 
rious elements, for three consecutive years. 
Ever a temperance man, when the prohibition 



party assumed an important place and influ- 
ence, he was identified actively with it; only, 
however, when the great question of financial 
legislation became paramount, to join the free- 
silver forces, having taken that ground years 
before as the only logical conclusion possible 
from the history of financial legislation. 

when spiritualism took a strong hold on 
thinking minds nearly fifty years ago, Mr. 
Langdon espoused the cause, as it met and con- 
formed to his own ideas of progressiveness. Its 
teachings have only emphasized the reasonable 
views he had already held on human life, and 
he soon found they accorded to every phase 
of human existence. There is progression in 
everything; and this idea applied to everyday 
affairs, led him into the work of public life 
and other subjects already mentioned. He is 
not, however, a member of any religious or- 
ganization. He has always been public spirited 
and useful as a citizen, and has freelj' con- 
tributed of his means toward the promotion 
of all projects designed for the public good. 




ICHOLAS LARSEN, one of the most 
respected of the foreign-born citizens 
of Spencer township, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of Denmark, was 
born February 28, 1848, within one-half 
mile of the town of Hjoring, in Jutland, 
and is the ninth of the fourteen children — 
four sons and ten daughters — of whom four 
only have come to the United States — Mr. 
Larsen; his sister, Wilhelmina, who is the 
widow of Mr. Christensen, late of Lilley Junc- 
tion, Newaygo county, Mich. ; Mary Christina, 
of Utah, and Martin D. , who settled in Kan- 
sas and died two years ago. 

The father of Nicholas Larsen was born in 
1 80 1 and by calling was a farmer, was well 
educated, and was a soldier in the Danish 
army, serving as a cavalryman, and was 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



833 



wounded in the shoulder while in the service. 
He died November 14, 1864, a member of the 
Lutheran church; his wife was born in 1806, 
and died in that faith in September, 1864. 
Nicholas Larsen received a good education 
in 'the common schools of his native land, 
which he attended until nearly twelve years of 
age, and then began to work out for small 
wages. At the proper age, he entered the 
Danish army, in which he more than once en- 
listed, and at the age of twenty-five years 
started for America to lay the foundation of 
his future fortune. At Copenhagen he took 
steamer for Hull, England, where he took the 
railroad for Liverpool, and thence came by 
steamer to New York, having been detained 
at Liverpool nine and one-half days; he was 
also nine and a half days crossing the ocean, 
and from New York he came direct to Michi- 
gan. On reaching Greenville, Montcalm coun- 
ty, he had one Danish penny in his pocket, 
but no knowledge of the English language. 
He was willing and an.xious to work, and his 
first labor was done on the farm of the 
widow Griffiths, at Fair Plains, for $16 per 
month. He was next employed in the same 
class of work at different points, and in tim- 
ber regions, in mills, and at Trufant village, 
and finally came to Spencer township, Kent 
county, worked on the forty-acre tract adjoin- 
ing his present homestead; he also worked in 
the lumber camps for a Mr. Rasmussen for 
four and a half years, and saved some money. 
Mr. Larsen was now prepared to take to him- 
self a life-companion, and on October 31, 
1878, at Greenville, he married Miss Helena 
Patre Andreasen, and to this union have been 
born two children, viz: Christena Marie, who 
was a student in the high school at Greenville 
in the winter of 1S98-99, and is also a mem- 
ber of the Lutheran church; Chris. Julius, 
the second born child, is in the sixth grade in 
the district school, is very industrious in his 



school work, and has also been confirmed in 
the Lutheran church. 

Mrs. Helena P. Larsen was born in North 
Sleswick, Denmark, September 16, 1845. She 
was well educated in her native land, where 
her parents died, and at the age of twenty- 
seven years came to the United States, via 
steamer from Hamburg, was eighteen days 
crossing the ocean, and May 4, 1872, reached 
Buffalo, N. Y. , and in 1877 reached Green- 
ville, Mich. She has one brother, Jacob 
Andreasen, who has been a traveler over 
almost the whole world, and was in Alaska 
when she last heard from him. A sister, Kate, 
widow of T. Firthing, resides in Chicago, III. 

Mr. and Mrs. Larsen first purchased for 
$700 eighty-eight acres in Spencer township, 
and their first home was a little frame shanty. 
They now own 127 acres of fine land; all the 
improvements on the place have been made 
by Mr. Larsen hims'elf, and it is now one of 
the best farms in northeast Kent. He has had 
a valuable assistant in his industrious wife, and 
his children have also willingly and ably aided 
him. Great credit is due Mr. and Mrs. Larsen 
for their energy and industrious and econom- 
ical habits, and the rapid progress they have 
made in the race of life and the acquisition of 
a handsome and comfortable home. 

In politics Mr. Larsen is a republican, and 
cast his first presidential vote for R. B. Hayes. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Larsen are ardent friends 
of the public-school system, with which Mr. 
Larsen was connected in days gone by, and 
their religious devotions are offered at the 
Lutheran church in Montcalm county, two and 
a half miles from their home, of which they 
are members, and to the support of which 
they liberally contribute, as well as to the 
Sunday-school. Fraternally Mr. Larsen is a 
member of the Danish Brothers' society at 
Greenville. 

Mr. and Mrs. Lirsen are among the best 



834 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and most respected Danish residents of Spen- 
cer township, and bear the highest possible 
reputation for integrity, Mr. Larsen's word 
being held " as good as his bond." Through 
his integrity and his industry he has risen 
from the obscurity of a poor Dane, with one 
penny in his pocket on his arrival in Michigan 
in 1873, to the position of one of the most 
substantial and independent American citizens 
of his county in 1899. 




.AMES R. LARAWAY, deceased, once 
one of the most prominent of 
the residents of Cascade township, 
Kent county, was born in Salem, 
Washtenaw county, Mich., June 23, 1837, a 
son of Hiram and Mary (Teeple) Laraway.and 
died in Cascade township March 16, 1S96. 
James R. Laraway was an infant when 
brought to Kent county by his parents, who 
settled on the farm on which he was reared 
and on which he passed almost his entire life. 
Lewis Cook, the first settler in Cascade town- 
ship, came in 1836, and Hiram Laraway, his 
brother-in-law, having also married -a Miss 
Teeple, immediately followed, but did not 
remain long, as he was dismayed by the pros- 
pects occasioned by the panic of 1837, and 
returned to eastern Michigan, but in 1839 or 
1840 started back to Cascade, but lost his 
way in the woods of Ada township and was 
frozen to death. He left a widow with three 
sons and one daughter, viz: Lydia, who was 
married to Peter Lawyer, lived in Grand 
Rapids, and died in middle age; William, a 
stone-cutter, died in Grand Rapids at the age 
of fifty; John H., a mason by trade and who 
has remained a bachelor, resides in Cascade, 
and James R. is the deceased subject of this 
sketch. The mother of these children was 
fatally injured by a fall from a cherry-tree on 



the homestead, her death occurring in 1S69. 
The three deceased children died of paralysis. 

James R. Laraway early assumed the care 
of his mother and the homestead, as his elder 
brother early left his home in order to learn a 
trade, James filially caring for his mother 
until her sad end. His first suit of clothes, 
and his first pair of boots, were bought with 
money earned by working out, but after that 
his time was devoted to the care of the home 
place. This at first, comprised forty acres, 
but he handled it so successfully that it was 
increased to 180. He cleared off most of the 
place with his own hands, set out a large 
peach orchard, which proved to be very prof- 
itable, and was ^ an active member of the 
grange, of which his wife, son and daughter 
also are members. He was also an ardent 
supporter of the church of Christ at Cascade. 

Mr. Laraway married, October 8, 1S63, 
Miss Sallie A. Patterson, daughter of James 
and Nancy (Davis) Patterson. Her old home 
was opposite that of her uncle. Miner Patter- 
son, in Paris township, where her parents 
lived until her mother's death. Her father 
died in Cascade with his eldest son, Robert, 
at the age of eighty-five years, one month and 
one day prior to the death of her husband. .\ 
brother of Mrs. Laraway, Robert Patterson, 
was the old landlord of the Cascade hotel 
and recently died at her home, she having 
cared for him nearly two years. The other 
relatives of Mrs. Laraway are two sisters, 
viz: Rachel Jane, wife of Hiram Stark- 
weather, of Lenawee county, and Josephine, 
married to Robert Carleton, of Grand Rapids. 
To Mr. and Mrs. Laraway were born two 
children — Odessie, wife of Everell Austin, of 
Lenawee county, and J. Clyde, a lad of six- 
teen years, at home. Mrs. Laraway has con- 
ducted the farm since her husband's death, 
mainly by hired help. The' place is a hand- 
some one, with a fine natural fish pond on it, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



835 



and the dwelling, erected by Mr. Laraway, is 
neat and substantial. Here Mrs. Laraway is 
respected by all who know her. 

Mr. Laraway was a republican, but never 
sought office. He was strictly temperate and 
had the faculty of making warm friends, who, 
with the family, sincerely mourn his loss. 



USTIN LAUBACH, a well-to-do young 
farmer of Plainfield township, Kent 
county, is a native of Wright town- 
ship, Ottawa county, Mich., was 
born July 28, 1869, and is a son of Benjamin 
and Mary (Bishop) Laubach, whose children 
were born in the following order: Austin; 
Benjamin; Grace, a teacher in the Sibley 
street school in Grand Rapids, and Myrtle, 
wife of Benjamin Jones, a farmer of Plainfield 
township. 

Benjamin Laubach, the respected father of 
the above-named children, was born in Penn- 
sylvania, October 8, 1823, came to Michigan 
about the year 1856, and located on a farm in 
Wright township, as mentioned above, wrought 
out a comfortable home from the primitive 
wilderness and lived thereon until 1887, when 
he removed to Grand Rapids. Later he pur- 
chased the present home of Austin Laubach, 
where he resided a few years. He has since 
lived retired. His wife, a most intellectual 
woman, was born in Ohio, June 29, 1837, and 
although she received but a common-school 
education, was able to teach school several 
years before her marriage. 

Austin Laubach began his business life at 
the early age of twenty-three years by going 
to California. He was employed there as a 
bookkeeper two years, when, his health fail- 
ing, he returned to Michigan. 

March 14, 1895, Mr. Laubach entered into 
a happy matrimonial alliance with Miss Becca 
Waddell, who was born in Plainfield township 



June 24, 1875, and who is the eldest child of 
George and Susan (Miller) Waddell, a most 
respected family of Plainfield township. This 
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Laubach has been 
blessed by the birth of two children, Carroll 
and Eleanor. He received the farm from his 
father in 1896 and has since devoted his at- 
tention to its operation. It contains eighty- 
two acres, largely devoted to growing fruits. 
Politically Mr. Laubach is a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for Benjamin 
Harrison. He was chosen town clerk soon 
after attaining his majority, resigning to go 
west. He was again elected in 1896, and has 
been thrice re-elected, now filling the position. 
Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic 
lodge at Rockford, and although he and wife 
are not members of any religious organization 
they are liberal in the use of their money in 
promoting any and every moral work that 
comes under their notice. As residents of 
Plainfield township they are most highly re- 
spected, and for their personal merits none 
stand more favorably in the public esteem. 



ALVIN THOMPSON, deceased, was 
born in the state of New York, but 
in early manhood came to Michigan. 
He married, soon afterward, Miss 
Drusiila White, also a native of New York 
state, but this lady died about 1861. His sec- 
ond wife, who still resides in Grand Rapids, 
was Mrs. Jane Harbaugh, and whose maiden 
name was Bush. 

He was a pioneer settler of Courtland, his 
son, John, now residing on what was his home- 
stead for so many years. He knew the vicis- 
situdes and hardship of frontier life, but with 
close application to his own affairs, coupled 
with judicious management, he accumulated a 
handsome competence. He made a valuable 
farm of 240 acres, and was considered one of 



836 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the most substantial men of the community. 
He held it due his children that some assist- 
ance be given them when it was most needed, 
so did not wait till the close of life, but dealt 
liberally with each, at a time he could enter 
into the enjoyment of their beneficence, Polit- 
ically he adhered to the old-time Jeffersonian 
democracy, and while not obnoxious to others 
in his views, held tenaciously to what he 
deemed the best position on questions of pub- 
lic policy. 

Calvin Thompson passed away in March, 
1876, and from the Rockford Register, of April 
19, the following obituary notice is extracted: 

The deceased was an old and highly es- 
teemed resident of Kent county, and his death 
is deeply lamented by a large circle of rela- 
tives and friends. He was one of fourteen 
children, eight sons and si.x daughters, half of 
whom are dead, three brothers and three sis- 
ters being with him in the upper life. 

His earthly career was marked by many 
vicissitudes. Six times, previoas to his own, 
the hearse has borne from his door the remains 
of some dear one; thus a wife and five chil- 
dren were laid side by side in the space of ten 
years. He leaves a wife, two sons and one 
daughter to mourn his departure. 

The funeral services were held at the M. E. 
church in Oaktield, and the address was deliv- 
ered by Mrs. M. J. Kutz, from his last words, 
"Here I go, over the river." 

He was well read in not only political and 
historical, but in general literature. He early 
recognized the great benefits to the farmers in 
the principles of the Patrons of Husbandry, 
and entered heartily into the cause. He took 
a most active part in the organization and con- 
duct of the grange, and even at his death was 
serving as master of White Swan grange. The 
beautiful ceremony of the order was ob- 
served at the burial, which was conducted by 
the grange. 

The services were solemn and beautiful, 
and very suggestive of the deep respect felt 



for the departed brother. Death heeds not || 
usefulness or worth, but takes from our midst 
the brightest and best. 




OHN THOMPSON, of whom a portrait 
is given opposite, is one of the most 
progressive agriculturists of Courtland 
township, is a native of Kent count}', 
was born April 1 8, i 847, and is the eldest of si.x 
children — five sons and one daughter — born to 
Calvin and Drusilla (White) Thompson. He 
was reared on the farm where he now resides, 
received a common-school education, and has 
been a stock-raiser and farmer all his mature 
years. 

Mr. Thompson was united in the bonds of 
matrimony March 6, 1873, with Miss Anna 
Goss, a native of Kent county, and to this 
marriage has been born one child only — War- 
ren — who was educated in the district school 
and at the Ferris Industrial college of Big 
Rapids. The bent of this young man's mind 
is toward agriculture, and he is now a valuable 
assistant to his father. Mrs. Thompson was 
born in Cannon, Kent county, April 2, 1855, 
a daughter of Darius and Sophia (I^lackstone) 
Goss. Her father was born in Vermont, and 
her mother in Massachusetts. They were 
married in the state of New York, and shortly 
afterward came to Kent county, Mich., where 
the father passed away, April 30, 1880, and 
where the mother is still living, a remarkably 
well-preserved old lady of eighty-five years. 
Of the seven brothers and sisters of Mrs. 
Thompson, five are still living, viz: John, 
for many years a popular teacher in this coun- 
ty, and who is now engaged in mining and 
dairy farming at Longmont, Colo. His wife is 
Ellen Olcott, a former pupil of his at Grattan; 
Orren L. resides near Grand Rapids, is a 
farmer, and married to Mary M. Miller; Percy 
D., who married Lillie Crystal, is a miner and 




JOHN THOMPSON. 




RESIDENCE OF JOHN THOMPSON. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



841 



farmer at Loveland, Colo.; Benson O. is a 
farmer of Courtland township, Kent county, 
Mich. ; Lorany is the wife of Edgar Weller, a 
farmer of Cannon township, Kent county. 
The two deceased sisters were Ellen L. , who 
was the wife of Sears Johnson, and Emma J., 
■who was married to Dwight Weekes — both of 
Cannon township. 

Mr. Thompson was the owner of eighty 
acres only at the time of his marriage. The 
homestead now contains 300 acres, and he has 
a second farm of eighty acres in the neighbor- 
hood. He has just erected one of the most 
beautiful modern residences in the county, 
built on the colonial style of architecture. The 
lower story is finished in quarter-sawed white 
oak. The entire building is warmed by a hot- 
air furnace, and illuminated with the popular 
acetylene light. This fine dwelling, erected at 
a cost exceeding $3,000, commands a capital 
view of the surrounding country. His barns 
and out-buildings are all built on the same 
liberal scale with the residence. A view of 
the premises may be seen on another page of 
this work, and its owner is justly entitled to 
feel due pride in them. 

Mr. Thompson is a democrat, and in 1868 
cast his first presidential vote for Horatio Sey- 
mour. He sees in democratic principles the 
eleinents of perpetuity of our liberal institu- 
tions; while departure from them endangers 
the republic. He is an ardent friend of the 
public schools and served as district treas- 
urer for over twenty years — a fact strongly 
indicative of his interest in the system. In 
their religious worship Mr. and Mrs. Thomp- 
son, while not communicants, are attendants 
and liberal supporters of the various con- 
gregations of the neighborhood. They are 
also members of the Columbian club, a social 
body organized in 1893 for the purpose of 
promoting friendly intercourse, good feeling 
and intellectual improvement among its mem- 



bers. The Thompson family are among the 
most respected people in the county and de- 
serve the high esteem in which they are held. 



l-iYN LEENTVAAR (deceased), late 
proprietor of Meadow Brook farm of 
Grand Rapids township, Ivent county, 
Mich., was born September 5, 1832, 
in the village of Rysoord, in the south part of 
the Netherlands, Europe, and came to Amer- 
ica in 1879. He had married, at twenty-six 
years of age. Miss Marie Visser. He began to 
farm at once, ran a dairy, grew flax and pre- 
pared same for spinning. 

On coming to the United States Mr. Leent- 
vaar had considerable means, and started by 
renting part of theComstock farm, on which he 
engaged in the dairy line and supplied milk to 
the city. He then bought a thirty-five-acre farm, 
and later, in 1888, bought the old Gilbert farm 
on the Piainfield road, four miles from the city 
hall of Grand Rapids. This is a farm of 170 
acres, for which he paid $10,000. It is widely 
known as Meadow Brook farm, where are kept 
thirty-five to forty cows. He gave the matter 
his personal attention as long as he lived. His 
death occurred suddenly April 3, 1898, of heart 
disease, and was entirely unexpected. He 
had lived over forty-one years with his wife, 
who survives him. 

He first became a citizen of Ivent county, 
and was from the start a democrat till the last 
campaign, when he stood by the gold standard. 
He was a member of the Holland Unitarian 
church. Grand Rapids, of which he was a 
trustee. He had become attached to Amer- 
ican institutions, was a lover of good horses 
and racing, and he made the breeding of fast 
horses one of the leading features of his farm. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Leent- 
vaar were named in order of birth as follows: 
Josie, wife of William Timmers, dairyman, of 



842 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Grand Rapids; Marie, wife of D. Fanderstell.on 
a dairy farm near Raids Lake; John and Peter, 
operating the old farm; Jennie, wife of N. G. 
Van Kuelen, stockholder in and bookkeeper 
for Dennis Bros.' Knitting factory, and Cora, 
at home. The Leentvaar farm is one of the 
fine farms in the township and is properly 
handled by the sons. 

Mr. Leentvaar was one of the best known 
Holland citizens that ever lived in Kent 
county, and was a man of many sterling qual- 
ities. Quick to see and readv to appreciate 
American institutions, he inculcated the idea 
of a free government into the children, who 
have not been slow to imbibe the lessons 
taught by their venerated father. 




OYAL H. LEMP, one of the most 
prosperous and enterprising young 
farmers of Algoma township, Kent 
countj', Mich., was born here October 
I, 1875, the younger of the two children that 
blessed the union of Adam and Ruth E. 
(Straight), Lemp his brother Charles having 
a 120-acre farm in the vicinity. 

Adam Lemp was born in Germany May 5, 
1837, came to Michigan in 1857, and pur- 
chased a tract of land in section No. 17, Al- 
goma township, at that time a wilderness, de- 
void of any sign of civilization, but before 
many years had passed he had cleared away 
the timber and had as handsome a farm as was 
to be found in the township. Here he passed 
the remainder of his life, and died Septembsr 
22, 1898, an honored and wealthy citizen. 
Mrs. Adam Lemp was born in Ohio July 11, 
1837, and is now making her home with her 
son. Royal H. 

Royal H. Lemp began making his own liv- 
ing at the age of sixteen years, by hiring out as 
a farm hand, and thus led an independent life 
until the death of his father, when he became 



heir to his present homestead, consisting of 
eighty acres, sixty-five being in cultivation. 
January 20, 1895, he married Miss Ellen 
Schiedel, daughter of Samuel and Barbara 
(Adam) Schiedel, and born in Algoma town- 
ship December 7, 1878. Samuel Schiedel was 
born in Canada about the year 1849, and. al- 
though the record of the date of his coming to 
Kent county has been lost, it has generally 
been fixed at i860. He is still living on his 
farm in Algoma township, but his wife, who 
was born in Germany, died here in 1887, her 
remains being laid to rest in the M3ers ceme- 
tery in Sparta township, where a fine monu- 
ment has been erected to her memory. 

Royal H. Lemp, in politics, is an earnest 
republican and cast his first presidential vote 
for Maj. Mclvinley, the present incumbent of 
the office. He is a member of the Algoma 
grange, and although neither he nor his wife 
is a church member, both are among the fore- 
most in performing beneficial deeds and stand 
very high in the esteem of their neighbors. 




RS. MARGARET A. LESSITER.— 
This worthy woman has been a 
resident of Kent county, Mich., 
for fifty-four years and now, at the 
age of fifty-nine years, is still in the enjoy- 
ment of good health, is very intelligent, and 
retains her mental faculties to a remarkable 
degree. She is possessed of more than ordi- 
nary executive ability, and has ever been 
interested in the welfare of her section and 
noted for her kindness of heart and many 
noble impulses. 

A representative of one of the most prom- 
inent families of Grattan and Oakiield town- 
ships, she is a native of Sylvan township, 
Washtenaw county, Mich., having been born 
on the 5th of May, 1840. The familj- con- 
sisted of eleven children, four sons and seven 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



843 



daughters, of whom seven are survivors, viz: 
Ambrose A., the eldest, a traveling salesman 
for the Kalamazoo Celery company, and a 
resident of Grand Rapids; Alphonso R., a 
resident of Louisiana, where he is engaged as 
a mechanic; John I., one of the prosperous 
agriculturists of Grattan, Ivent county, Mich. ; 
Mary A., widow of John Byrne, whose biog- 
raphy is presented elsewhere in this volume; 
Mrs. Lessiter; Henrietta, wife of Peter Mc- 
Cauley, a farmer of Oakfield township; and 
Celestia, who married Horace Jakeway, a 
prominent agriculturist, whose home is at 
Lake View, Mich. 

The father of Mrs. Lessiter, John P. 
Weeks, sprang from English ancestry and was 
born in New York state, November 7, 1807. 
Until his majority he remained in his native 
state, where he received both a common and 
a college education. He was a relative of 
Ethan Allen, of historic fame, and spent a 
number of years in the former's state. In 
1S27 he came to the state of Michigan when 
it was an unbroken wilderness, the trip being 
made by stage and by foot. In Washtenaw 
county red-men were numerous and the story 
of bloody scalping parties colored the tales 
of the early travelers. During several years 
prior to his marriage he taught school, and 
after the union removed upon a little farm of 
eighty acres, located near Chelsea, Mich. In 
June, 1845, Mr. Weeks came to Grattan, 
which was then a part of Vergennes township 
and was known as Flat River county. Here 
he took up 320 acres of government land, 
under the administration of President Polk, 
and there resided until his death. In politics 
Mr. Weeks was first a whig and a strong 
abolitionist, but later, at the birth of the re- 
publican party, he espoused its principles. 
His religious choice was the faith of the 
society of Friends, of which he was a mem- 
ber, as was his wife, Phebe Young (Beakes) 



Weeks. He died a highly esteemed gentle- 
man and worthy citizen. 

The mother was a native of Mamakating, 
N. Y. , was born February 18, 1818, and died 
at the age of eighty years, in Oaktield town- 
ship. A beautiful bronze monument marks 
the last resting place of herself and her hus- 
band in the Mesen cemetery in Grattan. 
Graved on the stone sacred to their memory is 
the following beautiful and appropriate verse, 
an extract from Gray's Elegy: 

Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid 

Some heart once pregnant with celestial fire. 

Hands that the rod of empire might have swayed. 
Or waked to ecstacy the living lyre. 

Mrs. Lessiter was a girl of five years when 
she became a resident of Kent county, where 
she was reared and passed her married life. 
She came when the county was new and edu- 
cational facilities were very meager. Accord- 
ingly, a greater part of her training was re- 
ceived from her father. In addition to this 
she for some time attended the village school 
at Smyrna, Ionia county. 

On the 27th of October, i860, the subject 
was united in marriage to Henry Lessiter, and 
they reared a family of children who are 
among the most honored citizens of Grattan 
and Oakfield townships. The four survivors 
of the original family of five are: John Al- 
bertus, one of the prosperous agriculturists of 
Oakfield township; Earnest Elwood, a young 
enterprising merchant of Grattan; Minnie A., 
the wife of George Whitten, a scion of one of 
the old pioneer families of Grattan, and Will- 
iam J., who is living upon the old homestead 
with his mother and is engaged in stock rais- 
ing and general farming. He was born on the 
farm where he now lives, December 5, 1874. 
In politics he is a stanch democrat and is one 
of the well-thought-of young men in the town- 
ship of Grattan. 

Henry Lessiter was a native of Wiltshire, 



844 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



England, bcrn in October, 1830, and died Sep- 
tember 4, 1892. When ten years of age he 
came with his parents to America, embarking 
at Liverpool and ending his journej' in Oak- 
land county, Mich. Here he began on the 
lowest round of the ladder of life, by working 
for wages as a day laborer. They built a little 
three-roomed frame house on their heavily 
mortgaged farm, which, ere the husband's 
death, had been cleared of the debt and in- 
creased to 160 acres. 

Mr. Lessiter was always a firm democrat 
politically, and took prominent part in all 
rallys and political celebrations, being very 
skilled as a musician, and was leader of the 
brass bands of the time. In social relations 
he was a charter member of the Grattan 
grange, as is also his wife. In his native Eng- 
land he was of the Episcopalian faith, but 
later in life was identified with the Baptist 
church. He was a man who enjoyed the 
esteem of all who knew him as an honorable 
and inteJligent citizen. 

Mrs. Lessiter is now living on her beautiful 
estate, one of the most valuable, homelike and 
comfortable in the township. She is a con- 
tributor to the home papers and has been for 
thirty-five years. Her writings are sparkling 
and bright, and are given a prominent place 
in the page. A devout member of the Baptist 
church, and having been the same for twenty- 
seven years, she is a liberal donor to all worthy 
causes. Honorable in all her connections, 
friendly and genial in her social relations, she 
is at all times a courteous, estimable woman, 
whom to know is to respect. 

John Albertus Lessiter, son of the lady 
whose biography appears above, has shown 
intelligence and ability as a progressive tiller 
of the soil, and the interest he has taken in 
the advancement of measures for the good of 
his section have caused him to be classed 
among the leading citizens of his township. 



Mr. Lessiter was born at the old homestead in 
Grattan township, Kent county, Mich. His 
education was secured in the union schools in 
Grattan, and he remained with tiis parents un- 
til twenty-si.x years of age, within that time 
teaching three terms of school. On April 12, 
1 838, Mr. Lessiter was united in marriage to 
Miss Kate A. Richardson, and one little daugh- 
ter has blessed this union, namely, Bernice 
Laura, the joy of the home. 

Mrs. J. A. Lessiter is a native of Greene 
county. 111., born August 9, 1865, and is a 
daughter of John A. and Jane S. (Silkward) 
Richardson. She was third in a family of 
four children, of whom three are now living, 
viz: Olive A., the wife of Jason Scott, an 
agriculturist of Grattan; Mrs. Lessiter, and 
John E., a salesman o. Detroit. 

Her father is a native of New York state, 
born in May, 1831. His life has been that of 
a merchant. He received a common-school 
education and came at an early day with his 
parents to Michigan, where his father con- 
ducted the first shoe-shop in Hastings. 
About twenty years of Mr. Richardson's 
life was passed in the state of Illinois. 
In politics he was a true democrat. 
His wife was born in Louisville, Ky., and is 
now living in Grattan aged si.xty-six years. 

Mrs. Lessiter spent ten years of her life in 
Illinois and there began her primary educa- 
tion. In 1875 her home was transferred to 
Kent county, Mich., where she completed the 
eight grades in the common schools and spent 
one year in the high school at Belding. She 
became a successful educational trainer in 
Courtland and Grattan townships, and is 
characterized by that sympathizing, genial and 
serene nature which brightens up a home. A 
member of the Ladies' Aid society of the 
Baptist church, she is also identified with the 
Grattan grange and is a member of the Order 
of the Eastern Star, No. 107, at Grattan 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



845 



Center, of which she was secretary for six 
years. 

Mr. Lessiter and his wife began married 
life on a little mortgaged farm of eighty acres, 
and now own a beautiful farm of 230 acres, a 
reward of their intense energy. The estate is 
furthermore improved with a fine house, barn, 
and other outbuildings. 

Mr. Lessiter is a firm supporter of demo- 
cratic principles and dropped his initiatory 
presidential vote for Grover Cleveland. He 
was for four years connected with his home : 
schools, serving in the capacity of an inspect- I 
or. Fraternally he is identified with the fol- 
lowing social organizations: Grattan lodge, 
F. & A. M., No. 196; the R. A. M., No. 79; 
the Grattan grange, and the Foresters, No. 
1 96, at Grattan Center. 

Earnest E. Lessiter, brother to the last- 
treated subject, and a young and enterprising 
merchant of Grattan Center, was born on the 
old homestead on the 4th of December, 1868. 
In the union schools at Grattan Center he re- 
ceived his primary education, and in addition 
to this took a course in the West Michigan 
Business college at Grand Rapids, with the 
class of 1890. In January, 1891, Mr. Lessiter 
went into the mercantile business at Grattan 
by purchasing a half interest with M. Byrne in 
a store of general merchandise, drugs and sun- 
dries. A little afterwards he bought Mr. 
Byrne's interest and continued until 1894, 
when he consolidated with George Whitten, 
and for three years the "Grattan Mercantile 
company" was widely known. At the end of 
that time he bought out his partner's share and 
has since controlled the entire business. In 
June, 1898, he erected a commodious building 
for his business, with large French plate glass 
front, and now carries a full stock of dry goods, 
shoes, rubber goods, drugs, oils, and staple 
groceries. 

On December 20, 1893, Mr. Lessiter mar- 



ried Miss Kitty J. Huntley, to whom one 
daughter was born, by name Ketty Lynette. 
Mrs. Lessiter was a native of Michigan, born in 
1875, and educated in the schools of Petoskey. 
She was a daughter of Adelbert C. and Lucena 
(Close) Huntley, and was deeply mourned at 
her call from this life on May 17, 1895, 
eighteen months after her marriage. 

Mr. Lessiter is very firm in his support of 
the democratic party. He was elected to the 
office of township clerk in 1892 and re-elected 
in 1893. In 1896 and 1897 he held the station 
of school inspector of the Grattan schools, 
and in 1897 and 1898 served as township 
treasurer, all of which testify to the confidence 
and esteem in which he is held by his people. 
During the administration of President Cleve- 
land, he was appointed postmaster of Grattan. 
Socially, Mr. Lessiter is connected with the 
following fraternities: Grattan Masonic lodge. 
No. 196, of which he is senior deacon; the 
Fortuna K. of P. lodge at Belding, Mich. ; the 
Foresters, No. 986. at Grattan; the Ancient 
Order of Gleaners and the Order of the East- 
ern Star at Grattan. 

Mr. Lessiter is an enterprising merchant, 
and holds a high place among his fellows. He 
has always been deeply interested in the wel- 
fare and advancement of his county, and in all 
the relations of life has been found true and 
faithful to the trust reposed in him and the 
obligations resting upon him. His early life 
has been well spent, and he commands the re- 
gard of men, by reason of his sterling qualities 
of mind and heart. 



ORAN LEWIS, a highly-respected and 
thrifty farmer in section No. 13, Cas- 
cade township, Kent county, Mich., 
and one of its pioneers, was born in 
LaCove, Lower Canada, on Lake Champlain, 
and not far from Montreal, December 15, 




846 



THE CITY OF GRAND. RAPIDS 



1822, and is a son of Samuel and Lucy (Looni- 
er) Lewis, the former of whom was born in 
Dutchess county, N. Y., and the latter in Ver- 
mont. The Lewis family is of Welsh de- 
scent, and is connected with one of the sign- 
ers of that famous document, the Declaration 
of American Independence. 

As a boy, Loran Lewis worked on the 
home farm and in the lumber woods, and 
after reaching maturity built a steam saw-mill 
in Essex county, Ontario, which he operated 
until he lost $12,000 by fire, when he rebuilt, 
but sold the second mill, and in 1857 came to 
Cascade, Mich., and secured a farm. In 1861, 
he purchased his present tract of land, which 
then comprised 130 acres of heavy timber which 
he burned off, and so realized nothing from 
the lumber; but he has wrought out a fine 
farm, 120 acres of which are improved. For 
a time, Mr. Lewis operated a small mill at 
Whitneyville, but to his farm he has given his 
chief attention. He was the first to introduce 
Jersey cattle into his neighborhood, has been 
a very successful breeder of the same, and has 
made butter making a specialtj'. 

The marriage of Mr. Lewis took place at 
Dundas, Ontario, Canada, December 13, 1843, 
to Miss Elzada Smith, who, after fifty-three 
years of happy married life, died in July, 
1896, the mother of the following children: 
Joseph, of Bowne township; James, of Cas- 
cade, who operates twenty acres as a nursery; 
Merritt, of Washington, D. C. ; Emma, wife of 
Oren Ford, of Lowell; Phebe, wife of Charles 
Peet, of Bowne; George, a farmer, butcher 
and cattle dealer, of Lowell; Lucy, wife of 
James Taylor, of Grand Rapids; Frances, wife 
of William Cooper, of the same city; Mary E., 
who died at the age of two years; Loran, a 
mechanic in Lowell, and Ezra, who died when 
sixteen years old. The third born of the 
above named children, Merritt, lost a leg in 
the battle of Gettysburg and came home deaf; 



for twenty years he was a clerk in the land 
office at Lansing, and has been for the past 
seven years a clerk in the pension office at 
Washington, D. C. 

In politics Mr. Lewis is independent, and 
votes for the candidate he thinks to be best 
qualified to fill the office sought. As a citizen 
and pioneer he is universally respected, and 
his life has been such as to render him deserv- 
ing of the high respect in which he is held. 




OHX D. LEWIS, M. D., the oldest 
practicing physician and surgeon in 
Ada township, Kent count}', Mich., 
was born in the state of New York, 
November 24, 1S46, and is a son of Martin 
and Mary (Durksick) Lewis, who were the 
parents of seven children. The father, also a 
native of the Empire state, was a millwright 
by trade and is now deceased. 

Dr. John D. Lewis received his primary 
education in the common schools, later at- 
tended the Whitestone seminar}', where he 
was prepared for college, and then entered the 
university of Oswego, N. Y. , from the medical 
department of which he graduated in 1871; in 
the meantime he read medicine constantly 
under Dr. James Churchville, of Utica, and in' 
1882 supplemented his medical education by 
taking two courses in the Bellevue Hospital 
college of New York city. 

In 1884 Dr. Lewis located in the southern 
part of Michigan, where he followed his pro- 
fession two years, and then, in the winter of 
1886, settled permanently in Ada township, 
with headquarters in the village of Ada, and 
now stands at the head of his profession, be- 
ing, as has been said, the oldest and most ex- 
perienced physician and surgeon in the town- 
ship, and well known in the townships adja- 
cent, to which he is frequently called to exer- 



A 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



847 



cise his acknowledged skill in relieving and 
curing the afflicted. 

Dr. Lewis was joined in matrimony, in his 
native state, in December, 1864, with Miss 
Clara Mason, a daughter of A. H. Mason, and 
this marriage has been blessed with nine chil- 
dren — four sons and five daughters. 

Beside the high regard in which Dr. Lewis 
is held as a professional man, both he and 
wife are held in the highest esteem for their 
many personal merits, and their long residence 
in the township has placed them and their 
family at the head of the social community. 



PZORGE A. LINK, editor and publisher 
of the Cedar Springs Democrat, is a 
native of Solon township, Ivent 
county, Mich., was born November 
8, 1870, and is the younger of the two sons of 
Alonzo and Abigail (Hutchins) Link, the 
elder son being now deceased. 

Alonzo Link, the father, was born in the 
city of Philadelphia, Pa., October 24, 1833, 
and emigrated to Brantford, Canada, in 1852. 
He received a liberal education and in early 
manhood was a ship carpenter, but the major 
portion of his life was passed in lumbering. 
He came to Kent county, Mich., in 1866, lo- 
cated near Cedar Springs, was employed in the 
lumber trade until 1870, and then associated 
himself with Newton & Gaze in sawmilling. 
In 1872 the plant was destroyed by fire, and 
thereby Mr. Link lost $500. It was imme- 
diately rebuilt, however, to be again destroyed 
in 1873. In 1879 he formed a partnership with 
James Johnson, under the firm name of John- 
son & Link, and prospered until 1884, when 
the town of Cedar Springs was almost utterly 
consumed by a conflagration. He then passed 
three years in Carlton county, Minn., with 
Clark & Scudder, lumber dealers, then re- 
turned to Michigan, and for three years was 



engaged in the manufacture of shingles in 
Howard City, Montcalm county. Notwith- 
standing his heavy misfortunes through fire, 
■he was, on the whole, quite successful as a 
business man. 

In politics Alonzo Link was a democrat, 
and fraternally was for twenty years a member 
of lodge No. 213, F. & A. M., at Cedar 
Springs. He was liberal in his financial aid 
to all religious organizations, but his procliv- 
ities were toward the Congregational church. 
He died universally respected February 4, 1895, 
leaving to his son the priceless heritage of an 
untarnished name. 

Mrs. Abigail Link was born in London, 
England, April 18, 1843, and was but eleven 
years of age when brought to America by her 
parents, who located in New York state. She 
was educated in the common schools, but has 
greatly improved her mind by extensive read- 
ing and is one of the most respected residents 
of Cedar Springs, where she makes her home 
with the subject of this sketch, and attends 
the Congregational church. 

George A. Link was educated at the Cedar 
Springs high school. He is associated in the 
publication of the Democrat with J. E. Goul, 
chairman of the board of supervisors of Kent 
county. The journal was founded in October, 
1890, is a six-column quarto, is a fine speci- 
men of typography, has a weekly circulation 
of 800, is one of the best-edited papers in 
Kent county, and in politics is independent. 
Attached to the newspaper office is a complete 
job department, from which is turned out work 
equal, in many respects, to that of some of the 
best metropolitan offices devoted especially to 
job work. 

February 3, 1891, Mr. Link was united in 
marriage with Miss Flora E. Kasco, a native 
of Kent county, born September 16, 1869, 
well educated, and for several years a success- 
ful school-teacher and now a valued assistant 



848 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



to her husband in journalism. To this happy 
marriage have been born three children — Hugh 
F. , Muriel F., and Dorrice A. Mr. and Mrs. 
Link are consistent members of the Congre- 
gational church in Cedar Springs and stand 
very prominently in the leading social circles of 
the town. In politics Mr. Link is a sterling 
democrat, and cast his first presidential vote 
for Grover Cleveland. Fraternally, he is a 
member of tent No. 476, K. O. T. M., of 
Cedar Springs. 




[LLIAM LIVINGSTON, the oldest 
living white man that permanently 
settled in Plainfield township, Kent 
county, Mich., was born in Kingston 
(Ontario), Canada, March 16. 1816, the third 
son in a family of eleven children, of whom 
Silas and Elizabeth ( Truesdell ) Livingston were 
the parents, and of whom four still survive. 

Silas Livingston, father of subject, was 
born in 1779 at Livingston Manor, Sullivan 
county, N. Y., the ancestral home of the fam- 
ily prior to the Revolutionary war and long 
afterward. After changing his places of resi- 
dence several times, he came to Michigan in 
1834 and located in Oakland county, but 
three years later came to Kent county and set- 
tled on section No. 23, Plainfield township. 
Here he resided a number of years, and then 
made his home with a sister, a short distance 
south, where he died in November, 1863 — the 
last immediate member of that illustrious fam- 
ily whose name was immortalized as one of 
those attached to the IJeclaration of Inde- 
pendence — Philip Livingston, his uncle. Mrs. 
Elizabeth (Truesdell) Livingston was a native 
of Connecticut, was born about 1781, and 
died in Wayne county, Mich., about 1850. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Livingston were in early 
life members of the Methodist church, but in 



her later years Mrs. Livingston affiliated 
with the Mormons. 

William Livingston, the subject proper of 
this biography, was reared to farming, and this 
has been his occupation nearly all his life. In 
1835, however, he engaged in the lumber busi- 
ness in Plainfield, supplying square timber for 
bridges and buildings, and in 1839 purchased 
the farm of eighty acres on which he still re- 
sides. Of this farm, twenty acres were open 
prairie land and sixty in heavy timber, but all 
is now clear and highly cultivated. In those 
days the inhabitants of this section of the 
country were the red men as a rule, and the 
white man an exception. 

Ma\' 13, 1838, Mr. Livingston was united 
in marriage, on the farm where he has since 
resided, with Miss Margaret Miller, daughter of 
George Miller, and this union resulted in the 
birth of ten children, four of whom are still 
living, viz: John, bookkeeper for a Chicago 
wholesale house; George, who was a soldier, 
and soon after the war went to California and 
was at Fort Wrangle, Alaska, when last heard 
from ; Fred is a salesman in a Grand Rapids rub- 
ber house, and Myron, the youngest, operates 
the old homestead. His wife is Mary Edison, 
daughter of Russell Edison, a resident of 
Walker township. 

In politics Mr. Livingston is a rigid repub- 
lican and has been ever since the organization 
of the party, but prior to that time he had 
been a whig and cast his first presidential 
vote for William Henry Harrison. He has 
filled nearly all the offices in the township, 
and has ever been faithful to the party and 
earnest in the discharge of all the trusts that 
have been placed upon him. Fraternally he 
became an Odd Fellow upwards of fifty years 
ago. He is honored as the oldest settler of 
Plainfield, but not for that alone, as his per- 
sonal merits have won for him the esteem of 
all, and in this esteem Mrs. Livingston also 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



849 



has a large share. He is the only survivor of 
sixteen men who met in April, 1838, in a log 
house, near his present home, and organized 
Plainfield township, then embracing what are 
now Cannon and Algoma townships. 



RSON E. LOCKE, a substantial farmer 
as well as successful financier of Kent 
county, with his home in section No. 
17, Wyoming township, was born in 
Newburg, Ohio, November 15, 1834, and is a 
son of William N. and Abigail. (Withey) Locke, 
who came to Michigan in the fall of 1845, and 
made their home with a daughter in Alpine 
township, until the following spring, and then 
settled in Paris township, and were among its 
earliest pioneers. Mrs. Abigail Locke, who 
was born and reared in \'ermont, was inured 
to the life of a rugged country and lived to be 
eighty years of age on the Paris township 
homestead. His wife died, aged eighty-four 
years, while living with a daughter in Allegan 
county. Of the nine children born to these 
parents, two only are now living — Sarah, wife 
of Alfred Brainard, and Orson E. , the subject 
of this sketch. 

Orson E. Locke was about twelve years of 
age when his parents settled in the wilderness 
of Paris township, and here he was reared to 
all the hardships of pioneer life. In those 
days there were no roads, no settlements, no 
schools, but Indians were numerous and game 
of all kinds abounded. At the age of fifteen 
he went to Grand Haven, where he was eni- 
ployed in skidding logs, and at the age of 
twenty had the misfortune to break a leg. 
While this was in process of healing he seized 
the opportunity to secure something of an ed- 
ucation, his previous knowledge having been 
acquired from his observation of men and 
events, and from the dictates of his naturally 

good conmion sense. 

44 



March i, 1859, Mr. Locke married Miss 
Lovinia Gray, a native of the state of New 
York, and who accompanied her parents, 
James and Rebecca, to Kent county at the age 
of twenty. They settled on the present home- 
stead, where they lived until his death. Mrs. 
Gray, living with her children, in her ninetieth 
year, is a woman well preserved and of a 
cheerful disposition. To this marriage have 
been born three children, namely; Clarence 
E. , of Grandville, who married Miss Emma 
Coats, and has fonr children — Lovinia, Fay, 
Florence and Orson; Fred H., who is assistant 
manager of the Stafford Furniture company of 
Muskegon, and Eliza, who is a professional 
bookkeeper. 

In politics Mr. Locke was formerly a whig, 
but is now a republican, and takes an active 
interest in the management of local affairs. 
Although not desirous of public office, he is a 
factor with his party, who invariabl}' seek his 
advice in matters of moment and give good 
heed to his advice. Although Mrs. Locke is 
a devout member of the Episcopal church, 
Mr. Locke holds himself aloof from all soci- 
eties, religious and otherwise, feeling that he is 
strong enough to stand alone and does not 
need, like many others, to be bolstered up. 

Mr. Locke's farm contains fifty-three acres, 
lies close to the village of Grand\'ille, and is 
one of the best improved in the township. 
The place formerly belonged to his father-in- 
law, but at his death in July, 1879, Mr. Locke 
thought it wise to buy it, he having had the 
management of it for some time previously 
and well knowing its value. But this is not 
the only property that Mr. Locke owns, as he 
has several farms in different parts of the 
county besides other valuable real-estate, not- 
withstanding the fact that he began life in 
somewhat different circumstances. He has 
made nearly all he has by his enduring in- 
dustry, sound judgment and executive ability. 



850 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and beside the respect that is paid him for the 
possession of these admirable traits and that 
which ever attends the man of wealth, he is 
admired for the patriotic pride he takes in the 
growth and prosperity of the count}' of Ivent, 
in which he has passed so many years of his 
useful life. Among other important positions, 
he for six years has served as superintendent 
of the Grandville gravel road, which passes 
close to his home. 




D. LOCKWOOD, one of the most 
respected farmers of Nelson town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., has had 
his home here since 1886 and is 
recognized as one of the most progressive 
agriculturists of the township. He was born 
in Monroe county, N. Y. , about twelve miles 
from the city of Rochester, November 28, 
1832, and is the eldest of the family of four 
sons and two daughters born to Daniel M. 
and Eunice (Lord) Lockwood, of whom Mr. 
Lockwood, the subject of this sketch, and his 
3'oungest brother, William McK., are now liv- 
ing, the latter being a resident of Oakland 
county, on the parental homestead near Clyde, 
Mich., and engaged in agricultural pursuits. 
Daniel M. Lockwood was born in Rens- 
selaer county, near the city of Troy, N. 
Y. , was a farmer, and after several migra- 
tions settled in Oakland county, Mich., 
in 1835, coming via Detroit and leading his 
only cow behind the covered wagon that 
contained his family, in true pioneer style. 
On his arrival he entered 1,000 acres of gov- 
ernment land in Highland and Rose town- 
ships, and made his home in the then wild 
country, among the Indians and a few white 
settlers, until his death at the age of forty- 
seven years. He and wife were devoted mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, of 
which he was a class-leader, and in the early 



days his house was made a welcome home to 
all the itinerant preachers of his faith. Fra- 
ternally he was a Freemason until a certain 
Morgan attempted to make a disclosure of the 
secrets of that order. His grandfather was a 
soldier of the Revolutionary war, and was 
owner of a large tract of land on Long Island, 
N. Y., and also on Manhattan Island, in the 
city of New York proper, and his heirs still 
claim an interest in the property on which 
Trinity church now stands. Mrs. Eunice 
Lockwood was born in the Quaker settlement 
near Saratoga Springs, N. Y., and died Feb- 
ruary 10, 1867, at the age of about sixty-six 
years, a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. 

M. D. Lockwood, the subject of this mem- 
oir, was but three years of age when he was 
brought to Michigan by his parents. He was 
reared in Oakland county to agricultural pur- 
suits until he reached his majority, when he 
engaged in partnership with his brother, T. 
W. Lockwood, in the hardware business at 
Holly, Mich., but at the end of ten years pur- 
chased his brother's interest and continued 
ten years longer in trade on his sole account, 
after which he retired from mercantile life. 

Mr. Lockwood has been twice married, 
and bv his first wife, Adelia, he became the 
father of two children, viz: Edsell D., who 
was educated in the Holly public schools, is 
married, is the father of two sons and one 
daughter, and is doing a prosperous tinsmith 
and hardware business at Ortonville, Mich. ; 
he is a republican in politics, and he and wife 
are members of the Free Will Baptist church; 
Myron A., the second born, who was also edu- 
cated in the Holly schools, is now a farmer of 
Spencer township, Kent county, is married 
and has one daughter. 

After eleven years of happy matrimony 
Mrs. Adelia Lockwood was summoned to a 
still happier home, and in due course of time 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



851 



Mr. Lockwood married Lucina, a sister of 
his first wife, who has blessed him with one 
son and one daughter, of whom the elder, 
Perry M., a carpenter by trade, makes his 
home with his parents, and the younger. May 
Blanche, received her education in the 
Holly high school, and has been a successful 
teacher in Kent county. Mrs. Lucina Lock- 
wood was born in Rensselaer county, N. Y. , 
July lO, 1845, but early came to Michigan and 
was educated in Oakland county. 

In the fall of 1886 Mr. and Mrs. Lock- 
wood came from Oakland to Kent county and 
settled in section No. 12, Nelson township, 
their farm of 160 acres being then but little 
improved, but since that time they have con- 
verted it into one of the most productive and 
most profitable agricultural tracts in the town- 
ship. Although the old log cabin which was 
their first habitation on this farm still stands, 
their present dwelling, erected in 1S91, has 
but few equals in neatness and beauty in the 
neighborhood, being surrounded with flowers 
and neatly-trimmed shrubbery. The substan- 
tial barns and other farm buildings, although 
a year older than the dwelling, are still fresh 
and neat in appearance. 

The parents of the two ladies whom Mr. 
Lockwood married, were Alonzo and Mary 
(Hanchet) Lockwood, who had a family of 
four sons and five daughters, seven of whom 
are still living. Of these survivors Ella is the 
wife of George French, a locomotive engineer 
at Saginaw; James, a married man, is a farmer 
at Watertown, Clinton county, Mich. The 
others still reside in Oakland county. The 
father of Mrs. Lockwood was born in Renssel- 
aer county, N. Y. , August 9, 18 18, and is still 
living in Highland, Oakland county, Mich., 
stout and strong for a man of his years, hav- 
ing been reared as a stone and brickmason as 
well as an agriculturist. Both he and wife are 
devout members of the Baptist church, in 



which he has been a deacon for many years, 
and to which they contribute liberally. His 
wife was born in Connecticut, July ii, 1820, 
and is still active and lively for a lady of her 
years, her progenitors having been noted for 
longevity. 

Perry M. Lockwood, the elder child born 
to the second marriage of M. D. Lockwood, 
has traveled extensively throughout the Pacific 
and the southern part of the United States, 
and through his natural habit of observing 
things closely has acquired a great deal of 
knowledge that he would not otherwise been 
master of. Although born with a tendency 
toward mechanism and endowed with in- 
genuity, he has made medicine a subject of 
study, and by attending one course of lectures 
on that science could now win a diploma that 
would entitle him to the privilege of practicing. 

M. D. Lockwood cast his first presidential 
vote for John C. Fremont at the birth of the 
republican party, and to that party he still 
adheres. While a resident of Clinton county, 
where he once resided for eleven years, he 
served one term as justice of the peace. In 
religion he and wife are devout Methodists, 
and hold membership in the M. E. church at 
Sand Lake, in the Sunday-school of which 
Miss Blanche is a teacher. The family stand 
among the foremost of Nelson township's citi- 
zens and enjoy the respect of all. 



HARLES H. LOOMIS, postmaster of 
Sparta, Mich., and a well-known 
and popular hardware merchant, is 
a native of Vermont, was born April 
25, 1853, and is the only child of Henry and 
Anna M. (Blair) Loomis, also natives of the 
Green Mountain state, but who, soon after 
marriage, settled in Michigan, where the 
father became an extensive dealer in lumber, 
which occupation he followed until his death. 



852 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



which occurred in December, 1863. The 
mother still survives. 

Charles H. Loomis received a sound com- 
mon-school education which well qualfied 
him for the active duties of life, and his first 
business venture was in the drug trade, vvhich 
he began in Sparta in 1875, ^-nd in which he 
prosperously continued until 1884, when he 
sold out his stock of dru}=;s and chemicals and 
in 1885 embarked in the hardware trade, in 
which he has met with marked success and 
which he still continues to prosper, as he is 
not only affable and accommodating to his 
patrons, but also keeps on hand a stock suited 
to the requirements of all, 'including heavy 
builders' and shelf hardware, and a thousand 
and one trifling, yet essential articles in con- 
stant demand by even the ordinary house- 
keeper, and valued at $6,000 or $8,000. 

In July, 1897, Mr. Loomis was appointed 
postmaster of Sparta, vice A. Betterly, re- 
moved. In this office he has given every sat- 
isfaction to the public, as well as to the post- 
office department, as he is as equally polite and 
obliging in his administration of this public 
office as he is in the conducting of his private 
or mercantile business. 

In July, 1876, Mr. Loomis was joined in 
matrimony, at Johnson, Vt., with Miss Mary 
Heath, daughter of M. O. Heath,, a native of 
Vermont, but of late a resident of Michigan. 
Mrs. Mary Loomis was born in Johnson, Vt., 
July 17, 1857, and is now the happy mother 
of three boys, viz: Henry M., Clarence B. 
and C. Alden. The family attend the Baptist 
church, to the support of which they freely 
contribute, and to the precepts of which they 
strictly adhere. 

In politics Mr. Loomis has ever been an 
ardent republican e\'er since he became en- 
titled to exercise his franchise, and in local 
politics has wielded quite a potent influence. 
Fraternally he is a Mason, Knight of Pythias 



and a Forester, and socially with Mrs. Loomis 
mingles with the best families of his township. 
He owns a pretty home in Sparta, where a 
hearty welcome is ever extended to his many 
warm friends. 



EORGE EADY. — Prominent among 
the representative business firms of 
the x'illage of Rockford, Mich., may 
be found that of William C. Love- 
lace and George Eady, of Lovelace & Ead\', 
the record of which is herewith presented. 

Mr. Eadj', the senior member, was a native 
of Long Melford, Suffolk county, England, and 
was born May 18, 1861, being the third child 
of Walter and Hannah (Chatters) Eady. His 
parents are both natives of England and are 
still living in their native land. 

George Eady began life for himself when 
but fifteen years of age by leaving the parental 
roof and taking up his abode with a lawyer, 
where he resided for a period of three years. 
He then departed for London, and after a few 
years' residence at that place set sail for Amer- 
ica, landing at Boston, Mass , in the year 
1878. Not satisfied with Boston, he remained 
but a short time, at the end of which he re- 
moved to Salem, Mass., remaining a period of 
six years, thence going to Manchester. Mass. 
After living there for six years and perceiving 
his ill health, he decided to leave the seashore, 
and after considerable roaming, making his 
residence here and there, he finally located at 
Rockford, Mich., in the spring of 1899. Here 
he purchased the interest of Mr. Keene}-, of 
the firm of Lovelace & Keeney, produce deal- 
ers, and is now engaged in such work. The 
new firm is enjoying a good business in its line, 
i. e. , buying and selling the farmers' produce, 
dealing in farming implements, and gives em- 
ployment to a number of hands during the 
greater part of the year. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



853 



On January 12, 1890, he was married at 
Lynn, Mass., to Miss Elizabeth Balster, a 
native of Frome, England, born in the year 
1 86 1. This union was graced with but one 
son, who is yet in infancy. 

Mr. Eady is a supporter of the republican 
part}-. Neither he nor his wife is an active 
member of any church, but are ever ready to 
assist in a good cause. 

William C. Lovelace, the junior member 
of the firm of Lovelace & Ead\-, is a native of 
Newaygo, Mich., and was born October 31, 
1 867, being the first child born to Henry D. and 
Lydia (Brown) Lovelace. His father was a na- 
tive of Illinois and was born in the year 1839. 
He came to Michigan in the year 1865 and first 
located in Ottawa county, where he remained 
for a period of three years, at the end of which 
he left for California, where he lived for about 
two years, and again came to Michigan and 
lived at his old Ottawa home for about ten 
3'ears. He then left for Tennessee, and hav- 
ing spent two years there returned to Michigan 
and located at Rockford, his present home. 
His mother was a native of Canada and was 
born in the year 1849. She came to Michigan 
with her parents and here she first met her 
husband. 

\V. C. Lovelace began life for himself 
when twenty-two years of age by entering into 
the produce business, the occupation in which 
he is now engaged. His many years of expe- 
rience has afforded him a good knowledge of 
the business and he is now in a position where 
he is doing well financially. On January 12, 
1892, he was married to Miss Bertha C. June, 
a native of Rockford, Mich,, born in the year 
1S74, and a second child of Hanford and Min- 
nie (Dunbar) June. 

Her father was a native of New York and 
was born in the year 1837. He came to Rock- 
ford about the year 1859 and lived here until 
his death in 1887. Her mother was a native 



of Grand Rapids and was born in the year 
1 85 1. After her husband's death she again 
married, and now bears the name of Mrs. 
Thomas Ivinson. Mr. and Mrs. Lovelace are 
the parents of three children, Hanford, Mar- 
guerite and Hollis, all young and residing at 
home. In his political views, Mr. Lovelace is 
a supporter of the republican party. Socially, 
he is a member of the I. O. O. F. lodge at 
Rockford, and officially is a member of the 
Rockford common council. 




\NIEL C. LYLE, late of Cedar 
Springs and one of the successful and 
influential attorneys of Kent county, 
was born on Prince Edwards Island, 
February 23, 1843, and died at his residence 
in November, 1898. His parents were Dan- 
iel and Elizabeth Lyle, the former being Eng- 
lish by birth, while the latter was a native of 
Prince Edwards Island. 

Daniel lost his mother when but seven 
years old, and while but yet a small boy he 
accompanied his father to the United States. 
In 1866 he located in Van Buren county and 
worked as a farm hand, using his earnings to 
attend school at Dicatur. He was for a tims 
in Ann Arbor schools, teaching, however, dur- 
ing the winter of 186S-9. He bacame a stu- 
dent in the law office of Judge Lawtin at Paw 
Paw in October, 1870, and completed the law 
course in the law department of the state uni- 
versity, from which he was graduated in the 
class of 1872. Soon after he was admitted 
to practice in the supreme court, and in the 
United States court. 

He began his practice at Cedar Springs 
and his personality was of such an affable na- 
ture that he soon had a large clientage. En- 
tering keenly into the spirit of the new com- 
munity, he was soon foremost in almost every 
enterprise that was intended, financial or social. 



854 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



to advance its growth and civilization. Great 
industries, such as are incident to extensive 
lumbering operations, were then and for years 
thereafter in full operation. Many important 
questions on land titles and mill interests had 
to be solved and ample scope was thus afford- 
ed to test the ability of the rising attorney. 
He entered heartily into the investigation of 
points involved, and no labor or thought was 
spared to untangle the manj' legal perplexities 
arising. He, being careful and methodical in 
life and profession, soon acquired a reputation 
for exactness that was the envy of many older 
attorneys. An incident is told illustrative of 
this: An attorney asked the court to dismiss 
a case through irregularity of the papers. The 
judge asked who prepared them. "D. C. 
Lyle," was the answer. " They are all right," 
he rejoined; "During the years he has prac- 
ticed before this court, I never knew any ir- 
regularity in any of his papers." 

By dint of perseverance, tact, and a quick 
appreciation of the better side of men's lives, 
he won a justified confidence that he repaid 
with the service of rectitude and honorable ad- 
vocacy. His counsel was to avoid litigation 
rather than to encourage it. He took deep 
interest in local improvements and pinned his 
faith to Cedar Springs. He was often solicit- 
ed to remove to the larger city, to whose bar 
he would have been an ornament, but he ever 
refused, preferring to remain among the citi- 
zens who, to a man, felt pride in his well 
earned reputation. 

His efforts secured the T. S. & M. R. R. 
and made arrangements for right of way for 
many miles in either direction. He was the 
attorney for that road and attended to its busi- 
ness. He was instrumental in the organiza- 
tion of the Cedar Springs Union Fair associa- 
tion, and was a stockholder and director for 
years. He also made liberal investments in 
the town, and had much faith in its future. 



Weighing e\'ery legal proposition with 
judgment, he was safe in counsel, and was 
held in the highest esteem by others of his 
profession, as well as with all with whom he 
came in contact. He never forgot the aspira- 
tions of his own youth, and ever had a ready 
sympathy and helpful mind for the younger 
generations, who had risen within the sphere 
of his influence. 

Mr. Lyle wedded Miss Emeretta I. Corey 
November 5, 1874. Two children graced this 
union — Roy C. and Ernest C. (deceased.) 
Mr. Lyle's home life was ideal, and friends 
found there a sympathy and geniality that was 
an inspiration. In his home and personal life 
he cultivated a refinement and generous hos- 
pitality. His life offers many lessons to the 
youth of the community. 




OY C. LYLE, though one of the 
3'oungest of Cedar Spring's business 
men, has already won a respect 
and confidence that accords him a 
prominence unusual in one of his years. 
•He is the only surviving son and child of the 
late respected and highly honored Daniel C. 
Lyle and wife, a biography of whom is found 
elsewhere in this work. He was born in the 
village where he now resides the 25th of Sep- 
tember, 1875. He was principally educated 
in the home schools, competing the high- 
school Latin course in the "Columbian" 
class of 1893. This was immediately suc- 
ceeded 'oy a few months' experience as an 
employee of the World's Fair at Chicago. 
Here his wide acquaintance with conspicuous 
men began, and the experience proved quite 
beneficial to him. He next took a business 
course in McLachlin's Business college at 
Grand Rapids. His natural ability and apt- 
ness had already drawn attention, and he was 
tendered a position as floor messenger in the 



M 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



855 



state legislature during the session of 1895. 
The friendship already existing between him 
and Hon. William Alden Smith had been 
cemented, that gentleman taking him to 
Washington as clerk during the winter session 
of congress, 1895-96. He was again appointed 
to a position at the regular and special ses- 
sions of the Thirty-ninth Michigan legislature, 
and so ably fulfilled all the duties that he be- 
came a favorite with many of the legislators. 
At the close of the special session of 1898 
Senator Lawrence introduced a resolution 
commendatory of his efficiency and faithful- , 
ness. His life-long desire, as it was that of 
his parents, was for him to have the advan- 
tage of a full course in the State university. 
He had prepared himself for admission, when 
his plans were overthrown by the premature 
death of his father. He was compelled to 
assume charge of his father's affairs, and he 
was thus required to take up the serious bur- 
dens of life without the advantage of that 
classical preparation for which he had so 
fondly hoped. However, his mentality was 
of such caliber that he set himself to such 
study and self-cultivation as would at least 
partially compensate for the want of collegiate 
training. He is a student by inclination, and 
there is hardly a branch of belles-lettres, his- 
tory or science into which he has not delved. 
His library is stocked with standard authors 
of all departments of knowledge, the sciences 
probably being most fully represented. His 
father had designed him to follow in his own 
footsteps in the legal profession, and gave him 
considerable training in the technicalities of 
the law. 

He is found to be an invaluable adjunct to 
the firm of Stuart & Barker, of Grand Rapids, 
who continue the e.xisting practice of his 
father, and, in fact, he has charge of the gen- 
eral business of the office at Cedar Springs. 
In addition to his office work and the conduct 



of the Lyle estate and other business enter- 
prises, his services have been given somewhat 
to literary work as correspondent for several 
of the leading newspapers of the state. 

Being thrown so much in the companiorli- 
ship of public men, his mind was naturally 
drawn to the political history of our country, 
as well as to politicians themselves. His in- 
terest in this direction has grown with years, 
and we find him now one of the most active 
young republicans of Ivent county. He is a 
member of the Lincoln club, and also of the 
Young Men's Republican club at Grand Rapids, 
Mich. He has already been heard during 
active campaigns, and with his being familiar 
with public men, political measures and plat- 
forms, coupled with the necessary general in- 
telligence in party leaders, it is not out of the 
bounds of reason to predict a future for him 
in which his friends may feel proud. 

He is a member of both the Masonic, Odd 
Fellows and Modern Woodmen of America 
fraternities, as well as other societies, not only 
fraternal, but of a general social and literary 
character. He is one who by every citizen of 
Cedar Springs is deemed worthy of commen- 
dation, and whose assistance and co-operation 
is sought to insure the success of any local 
function. 




EREMIAH LYNCH, prominent as a 
lawyer, farmer and fruit grower, was 
born on section 31, \\'alker township, 
Kent county, Mich., October 23, 
1853, and here he still resides. His parents, 
Patrick and Ellen (Sullivan) Lynch, were na- 
tives of county Cork, Ireland, were there mar- 
ried, and came to the United States in 1830, 
first locating in Coeymans, Albany county, 
N. Y., where the father operated a stone 
quarry nine years, and then brought his family 



856 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



to Michigan, in 1842, and purchased from the 
government the farm now occupied by his son, 
Jeremiah, the subject of this sketch. Of this 
tract he improved 120 acres, doing nearly all 
the work himself, and here he passed away 
December 23, 1882, at the age of seventy- 
seven years, his wife dying December 16, 
1898, in her eighty-eighth year. The family 
comprised nine children — three sons and six 
daughters — but one of each sex died young, 
and John, at the age of twenty-five years, was 
killed at the battle of Water Mill Spring, Ga., 
April 2, 1862, while serving in McCook's di- 
vision, as a member of the Second Michigan 
cavalry. 

Jeremiah passed his boyhood on the home 
farm, attending the neighboring school in the 
meanwhile. He then studied law in the office 
of Burlingame & Rogers, at Grand Rapids, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1884, before 
Judge Montgomery. He practiced for a time 
in the city, and then went to Ironwood, in the 
upper peninsula of Michigan, giving exclusive 
attention to the law while there. After his 
father's death he returned and took charge of 
the farm, abandoning office work in order to 
concentrate his attention upon his farm inter- 
ests. However his love for professional work 
was pronounced, and he again returned to 
Ironwood in 1888, where he at once se- 
cured a handsome and lucrative practice. 
He was there married July 17 of that year to 
Miss Elen Kinney, of Fond du Lac, Wis. Her 
companionship was, however, deprived him, 
as she died April 15, 1890, yielding her own 
young life soon after giving birth to a daugh- 
ter, who was but twenty-three days old at her 
mother's death. This sad event destroying his 
home, he again relinquished practice and re- 
turned to the farm, where he placed his infant 
child in charge of his venerable mother, while 
he resumed the management of the farm. The 
little girl was devotedly attached to its grand- 



mother, whose every exertion henceforth 
seemed to be for the interest of the child; and 
at her own death knew she left behind a youth- 
ful mind well fitted by nature and training to 
be a fit successor to its own sainted mother. 
Although Mr. Lynch keeps up his 
study of the higher branches of the law, 
and continues to skillfully handle com- 
plicated cases in court, he has made his 
profession subordinate to his interests in 
horticulture. He is now growing thirty 
acres in fruit, chietfy peaches, and has the rep- 
utation of marketing the finest yet seen in 
Grand Rapids. He has studied the subject of 
fruit culture from a scientific standpoint, and 
his deductions have been borne out by the re- 
sulting facts — in spite of theories held by 
many old practical growers. Beside the law, 
Mr. Lynch has given much time to the study 
of political economy, as well as controversial 
politics, and is frequently found in the coun- 
cils of the democratic party, of which he is an 
influential member. He has never aspired to 
political honors, although he has filled the of- 
fice of township clerk as a matter of public 
duty. Although the science of horticulture 
has gained in him a valuable acquisition, the 
legal profession has lost in a measure an able 
and accomplished brother of the fraternity, 
through his attention to the former. ' His de- 
votion to the profession was marked by a clear 
insight into not only the fundamental prin- 
ciples of law, but also into the nicer intricacies 
of knotty legal questions. Possessed of a nat- 
ural oratory cultivated with care, and with a 
mastery of language handled with effective 
rhetoric, his appearance before the court or 
jury ever attracted many admirers, and won 
for him numberless compliments. He acts in 
all things from matured conviction, and in 
consequence has won the respect and confi- 
dence of everybody wherever he has had his 
abode. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



857 




ORGAN LYON.— For nearly seven- 
ty years the Lyon family have been 
identified with the state of Mich- 
igan, and over a half century of that 
period the name appears in connection with 
the local history of Kent county. They came 
from rugged New England ancestry, and the 
traits of high character there fostered were 
transplanted to this western country, where 
numerous descendants still live and prosper. 

Morfjan Lyon, late a prominent citizen of 
Lowell, and one of the representative business 
men of Kent county, was born in Norwich, 
Chenango county, N. Y. , in October, iSio. 
He grew to maturity amid the rural scenes of 
his native state, and received a liberal educa- 
tion, _thu3 early fitting himself to discharge 
faithfully and intelligently the duties of a long 
and well spent life. About the year 1835, Mr. 
Lyon, in the vigor of young manhood, decided 
to try his fortunes in what was then known as 
the Far West, Michigan, and emigrated to the 
county of Livingston, where he purchased a 
large tract of land and engaged quite ex- 
tensively in the pursuit of agriculture. Sub- 
sequently, about 1837, he chose Vergennes 
township as his home, became in tmie the pro- 
prietor of a large estate and one of the most 
prosperous farmers of I\ent county. His 
identification with agricultural interests con- 
tinued many years, and, in addition to large 
holdings in various parts of the county, he also 
succeeded in accumulating valuable real estate 
in Lowell, upon which have been made some 
of the best improvements in the town, includ- 
ing among others a large and handsome busi- 
ness block, now used for stores and offices. 

Mr. Lyon possessed business acumen of a 
high order, and his judgment was seldom if 
ever at fault in any of the various enterprises 
in which he was engaged. Extremely careful 
in his methods, he seldom found himself in 
error, and his neighbors and friends learned to 



rely upon his judgment and be governed by 
his advice in matters of business requiring wise 
counsel. His large property was acquired not 
by speculation, but by judicious application 
and well directed industry, and the material 
result of his well spent lite represented at the 
time of his death an estate variously estimated 
at from $50,000 to $65,000. 

Mr. Lyon's .first marriage was solemnized 
with Miss Mary Purple, daughter of Isham 
Purple, who bore him three children, namely: 
Matilda, James A. and Emily. Some time 
after the death of his first wife, Mr. Lyon 
married her sister, Louisa Purple, by whom 
he had one child, Mary, wife of Omer Adams. 
Mrs. Lyon's family were all New England 
people, natives of the state of Connecticut. 

Mr. Lyon was a straight-out democrat in 
his political belief and contributed much to 
the success of his party, having for many years 
been a potent factor in its councils in Kent 
county. He was a liberal contributor to all 
public and private enterprises for the good of 
his town and county, and enterprising' in every 
sense in which the term implies. 

This excellent citizen was called from the 
scenes of the earthly life April i, 1893, leav- 
ing, beside the large estate already referred 
to, a priceless heritage in the way of reputa- 
tion, to which his descendants point with 
great satisfaction. He was a Mason of high 
degree, a believer in religion, and his daily 
walk and conversation were those of the in- 
telligent and high-minded gentleman of the 
old school. 

Omer Adams, son-in-law of Mr. Lyon, is 
one of the leading citizens of Lowell and an 
extensive agriculturist. He early learned the 
mason's trade, at which he worked for a num- 
ber of years, and still follows that vocation 
occasionally in connection with his farming 
interests. He was married to Miss Lyon, in 
February, 1871, and is the father of one child. 



858 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Cora L., wife of John F. Crum, a well known 
engineer, living in Lowell. 

It is proper, in this connection, to state 
that few, if any, in Kent county, are as widely 
known in musical circles as Mr. Adams. He 
possesses talent of a very high order and has 
earned an enviable reputation as a musician. 



RANK McARTHUR, one of the most 
enterprising and progressive agricult- 
urists of Grattan township, Kent 
county, Mich. , is a native of Cuyahoga 
county, Ohio, was born January 5, 1846, and 
is the eldest of the eight children that graced 
the marriage of Giles and Harriet E. (New- 
comb) McArthur, of whom further mention will 
be made at the close of this sketch. 

Frank McArthur was but four years of age 
when brought to Michigan by his parents, and 
here he has been reared to manhood. His 
school education was somewhat limited, but 
his self-instruction has aided in acquiring the 
practical education which has carried him so 
successfully through life. He remained with 
his parents until he was twenty-live years old, 
giving them his entire time and labor. On his 
twenty-first birthday, his father presented him 
with $100, which was the capital with which 
he began his business life. 

January 16, 1871, Mr. McArthur married 
Miss Sarah Jane Howard, and this union was 
blessed with four children, viz: Effie, who 
was educated in the common schools, was her- 
self a successful teacher in Kent county, is now 
the wife of Peter Elkins, an engineer at Mill 
Creek, Mich., and is the mother of two daugh- 
ters; Howard G.; Ray and Vera. 

Mrs. Sarah Jane McArthur was born in 
Cannon township, September 20, i S48, and 
for over a quarter of a century shared the joys 
and sorrows of life with her husband; she was 
his faithful helpmate and counselor, and when 



called from earth, July 5, 1898, the loss was a 
bitter one to the father and children. Her re- 
mains lie interred in the Grattan cemetery, and 
a beautiful marble stone marks her last resting- 
place. 

Mr. and Mrs. McArthur began their mar- 
ried life as renters in Oakfield township, 
and there, also, they made their first purchase 
of land — a tract of eighty acres — for which 
they went in debt $2,200, with ten percent 
interest per annum; but within ten 3ears they 
cleared off the entire obligation, sold their 
farm, and purchased 103 acres in section No. 
3, Grattan township, later adding forty acres. 

In politics Mr. McArthur has always been 
a democrat, cast his first presidential vote for 
Horatio Seymour, and in national matters has 
supported the principles of his party ever since. 
In 1893 he was elected supervisor of Grattan, 
and was re-elected in 1S94. He is a warm 
friend of the public schools and believes it to 
be sound policy to employ the best instructors, 
consistent with the amount of money the pub- 
lic is willing to pay them. 

Fraternally, Mr. McArthur is a member of 
lodge No. 196, F. & A. M., at Grattan Cen- 
ter, and has been a member of the fraternity 
since he was twenty-one years of age. As a 
citizen, Mr. McArthur is prominent and re- 
spected, and he has done his full share in pro- 
moting the prosperity of Grattan township. 

Giles McArthur, father of Frank McArthur, 
and a pioneer of Oakfield township, was born 
in Portage county, Ohio, January 26, 1821, 
the seventh of the five sons and six daughters 
that constituted the family of Rial and Almira 
(Sprague) McArthur, and of these he is the 
only survivor. The family is of Scotch origin, 
and the founders in this country were three 
brothers — Peter, John and Alexander — who 
early landed in New York and thence went to 
Canada, and from them descend the McArthurs 
of the northern and northwestern states. Rial 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



859 



McArthur was born in Vermont in 1789, and 
died about 1877. He received a collegiate 
education and was a surveyor and civil engin- 
eer. He was conspicuous in the military 
history of Ohio, and was employed by the 
government as a surve3'or of roads and the 
boundaries of the Western Reserve. In 18 12 
he raised a company of soldiers in Portage and 
Summit counties, of which he was elected 
captain, and fought under Gen. \V. H. Harri- 
son at the mouth of the Maumee river, and 
rose from the rank of captain to that of 
colonel. He was a Freemason, and was the 
founder, by proxy, of the second' Masonic 
lodge in Michigan under Gen. Lewis Cass. In 
religion he was first an Episcopalian, but died 
a Universalist, and his remains were interred 
near Akron. His wife was a native of Massa- 
chusetts, and her death took place in Summit 
county, Ohio; her remains rest beside those of 
her husband, and a monument of fine work- 
manship marks the spot. 

Giles McArthur lived in Portage county 
until thirteen years old, then in Cuyahoga 
county until nineteen. He remained with his 
parents until of age, and February 5, 1844, 
married Miss Harriet E. Newcomb. He then 
came to Michigan with his brother, Eric, and 
first bought forty acres of land in what is now 
Oakfield township, at si.xty-seven cents per 
acre. Giles then returned to Ohio for his- 
bride, whom he brought to the wilderness. 
Their first home was a neat log cabin, one of 
the best in the township; they improved their 
land, resided on it four years, then sold and 
bought 120 acres in section No. 32, and their 
first home here was also a log cabin. Indians 
were numerous, but friendly. The implements 
used on the farm were rude, of schools and 
churches there were none, still their pioneer 
life was happy. The deed to this farm is dated 
May I, 1S51, and is signed by Millard Fill- 
more, then president of the United States. 



To this marriage of Mr. and Mrs. McArthur 
have been born eight children, of whom six 
are still living, viz: Frank, of Grattan town- 
ship; Jane, widow of Nelson Rich, of Grand 
Rapids; Rial V. , superintendent of the Masonic 
home. Grand Rapids; Emma, wife of William 
Spicer, a commission merchant at Belding, 
Mich.; Julia, married to Dr. M. H. Pasco, 
Grand Rapids; and Lewis E., in charge of his 
father's farm. He is a member of Grattan 
lodge. No. 196, F. & A. M., of which he was 
the worshipful master four years. In politics 
he is a democrat and cast his first presidential 
vote for Stephen Grover Cleveland. 

Miss Harriet E. Newcomb was born in 
Leroy, Genesee county, N. Y. , December 11, 
1824, and has now been married fifty-four 
years, in all of which she has ably and faith- 
fully aided her husband in the toils and cares 
of pioneer life, as well as shared with him the 
joys and comforts of their mutually earned 
competence. 

Mr. McArthur is a democrat in politics and 
cast his first presidential vote for Franklin 
Pierce, but has never sought office for himself. 

Mr. and Mrs. McArthur are benevolent in 
impulse, are gracious to rich and poor alike, 
and are universally honored for their many 
good deeds and venerated because of the many 
years they have devoted to the transformation 
of the wilderness into the abode of an exalted 
and cultivated population. 




O. McCUTCHEON, D. D. S., of 
Sparta, Kent county, Mich., is a 
native of New York, was born July 
28, 185S, and is a son of James and 
Sarah A. (Sincot) McCutcheon, whose family 
consisted of three children. The father was 
a farmer in his native state of New York and 
on coming to Michigan continued to follow his 
calling in Newaygo county until his death. 



860 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



which occurred January ii, 1887, the mother 
having died in August, four years previously. 

Dr. McCutcheon was reared a farmer, and 
was educated primarily in the common schools 
of his native state. His professional educa- 
tion was acquired through a three-year course 
at the Indianapolis Dental college, and on re- 
ceiving his diploma in March, 1890, he settled 
in Sparta, Mich., where his professional work 
has been of so satisfactory a character that he 
has since remained here. He thoroughly 
understands the details of his art, is an expert 
as an extractor of decayed and aching teeth, 
is an adept at crown and bridge work, the 
crucial test of the true dentist's skill, and has 
won for himself a' reputation that any odon- 
tologist might well be proud of. 

Dr. McCutcheon was joined in marriage 
to Miss Anna Cook, a daughter of Smith Cook, 
and this marriage has been blessed with four 
children, named, in order of birth, as follows: 
Olney J., Leon C, Vera and Oswall K. Mrs. 
McCutcheon and her children attend the 
Baptist church, and live fully up to its creed. 
The doctor, in his politics, is a stanch dem- 
ocrat, but has never been an office seeker. 
Fraternally he is a member of the K. O. T. 
M., and socially he stands as high in the 
esteem of the residents of Sparta as he does 
as dentist before the general public. 




:EM0NT THOMPSON is one of the 
most progressive farmers of Courtland 
township, and represents one of its 
pioneer families. As the history of a 
county or state is best told in a record of the 
lives of its more prominent citizens, a full 
biography of this family is herewith given. 

Almon Thompson, father of Fremont 
Thompson, was born in Chenango county, 
N. Y. , in 18 17, and was reared a carpenter 
and joiner. In 1836 he came to Michigan and 



located in what is now Jackson county, the 
state not being admitted to the Union until 
January, 1837, Andrew Jackson being then 
president of the United States. In 1844 he 
came to Kent county, and after working at his 
trade for some time, purchased a tract of 160 
acres of unimproved land in section No. ^6, in 
Courtland township, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his life. Indians in those days 
were numerous in this township, and with 
these Mr. Thompson did considerable trading. 
There were no roads, and the ox-cart, with its 
body raised. four or five feet from the ground, 
threaded its way through the virgin forest in 
conveying the family to church. Six or seven 
yoke of oxen, hauling an enormous plow, were 
used for breaking the soil, the farming imple- 
ments were of a primitive pattern, and many a 
day was passed by Mr. Thompson in swinging 
the old-fashioned four- fingered cradle, from 
early morn until after sunset, in cutting the 
ripened grain. But he was a man of energy and 
industry, and consequently prospered. His first 
habitation here was a small frame, in which 
only one-half of the floor was laid, and it was 
minus window-sashes and door, ingress and 
egress being had through unprotected aper- 
tures, which later were properly fitted up. 

In politics Almon Thompson was a demo- 
crat, and took an active part against " Tippe- 
canoe and Tyler, too," in the famous " hard 
cider " campaign of 1840, in which campaign 
however, the whigs triumphed and seated Will- 
iam Henry Harrison in the presidential chair. 

To the marriage ot Almon Thompson and 
Miss Sarah Davis were born two sons and one 
daughter, viz: Augusta, now the wife of 
Jacob Weaver, a brick-mason and contractor, 
of Belding, Mich. ; Fremont, whose name 
opens this biographical notice, and Arista A., 
who resides in Rockford, Mich. Mrs. Sarah 
(Davis) Thompson was born in Madison coun- 
ty, N. Y. , in 1S22, was liberally educated and 





^ 




^P'l^Vt^^iA./^Ty^ 




RESIDENCE OF FREMONT THOMPSON. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



865 



taught the first school opened in Oakfield 
township. She was called away November 19, 
1 89 1, and was followed to the grave by her 
husband, who died in Belding June 5, 1893. 
The remains of both now rest side by side in 
White Swan cemetery, where a beautiful 
monument, sacred to their memory, has been 
reared by their children. Mr. Thompson was 
greatly respected throughout life, was always 
moral and devoutly religious, his life having 
been one that youth may safely pattern after. 

Fremont Thompson, the subject proper of 
this memoir, was born in I\ent county, Mich., 
October 6, 1850, and remained under the 
parental roof until after reaching his majority. 
He was first united in marriage to Miss Addie 
Davis, and to this union was born one child, 
Edna, who was educated in the public schools 
and is now an inmate of her father's home. 
Mrs. Addie Thompson passed away in 1881, 
and for his second helpmate Mr. Thompson 
selected Miss Emma Thompson, a native of 
Delaware county, Iowa, and this union has 
been blessed with two sons and three daugh- 
ters, viz: Ray B., Roma, Hazel, Hattie and 
Maurice F. 

Mrs. Emma Thompson was born April 25, 
1856, and is a daughter of Albert and Margaret 
(Darrah) Thompson, who were the parents of 
eight children- — all daughters. Albert Thomp- 
son, a native of Chenango county, N. Y., settled 
in Iowa in 1846, and there his death occurred 
June 25, 1891, at the age of sixty-eight years. 
He was a firm friend of all public educational 
projects, and was himself a school-teacher for 
many years. His widow was born in Susse.x 
county, N. J., in 1828, is now seventy years 
old, and is still enjoying fairly good health. 
Of the eight daughters born to these parents 
all became teachers — an unusual occurrence — 
and but one of the eight has passed into the 
Valley of the Shadow of Death. Mrs. Emma 
Thompson graduated from the high school at 



Manchester, Delaware county, Iowa, and was 
for several years one of the most successful 
teachers in her native county. 

Fremont Thompson is a solid democrat 
and cast his first presidential vote for Horace 
Greeley in 1872. He has been elected by his 
party, with whom his is very popular, to the 
office of township treasurer, and in 1896 was 
elected justice of the peace, having filled his 
first office to the full satisfaction of the public 
and now performing the functions of the second 
with equally happy results. 

When Mr. Thompson began the activities 
of life on his own account he was the possessor 
of but 120 acres of land, but now owns 230 
acres, all in Courtland township, and this fact 
is a commendable evidence of his good 
management, energy and progressiveness. In 
1893 he erected a fine two-story dwelling, 
62 X 26 feet, at a cost of about $3,500. This 
elegant home is finished in hard wood on both 
floors — the better rooms with red oak — and the 
entire building is heated by a furnace located 
in the basement. The family is held in the 
highest esteem by their neighbors, and their 
home is the abode of good will, cheerfulness 
and unlimited hospitality. 



EORGE R. McARTH UR.— The 
stranger driving south from the thriv- 
ing village of Harvard through Oak- 
field township, passes through a 
well improved and fertile section of the town; 
and if at all observant is impressed with the 
excellent condition of the farms, most of 
which are furnished with buildings and other 
improvements of a high grade, indicative of 
thrift and enterprise. None of these show the 
intelligent conduct to a greater extent than 
that of which the gentleman whose life we 
are now considering is the proprietor. This 



866 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



fine farm, lying in section i8, indicates in its 
every appointment a business management 
and oversight which if applied to other lines 
of enterprise would surely result in merited 
success. 

George R. McArthur was born in Otisco, 
Ionia county, April 14, 1861, and is -the 
youngest of the three children of Eric and 
Eunice (Ring) McArthur, of whom the eldest 
is Mrs. James Snyder, whose husband's biog- 
raphy will be found in full on another page; 
Ida v., the second, is the wife of Calvin P. 
Snyder, who is also personally treated in this 
volume, and George R. 

Eric McArthur was born near Cleveland, 
Cuyahoga county, Ohio, about 1S13. Through- 
out life he was a farmer and died in Otisco 
about 1863; he was of Scotch extraction, of 
great strength of character and a member of 
the Baptist church. His wife was also a 
native of Ohio and died in Courtland in 1S76, 
holding to the same faith. 

When George R. McArthur was but three 
years of age his mother, who had become the 
wife of Jacob Snyder, brought her family to 
her husband's home in Courtland, where 
James Snyder, her stepson, now lives. Here 
his boj'hood was passed, receiving a rudiment- 
ary training in the common schools and in his 
youth he became familiar with ordinary farm 
duties. He remained with his stepfather, 
Jacob Snyder, until after his mother's death, 
when he was about seventeen years of age, 
from which time until attaining his majority 
he worked for others. 

Mr. McArthur married Miss Libbie E. 
Moore, March 14, 1883, and to this union one 
child, Clare L. , was born February 25, 1890. 
He was a bright little boy, gave promise of 
possessing rare intelligence, and filled the 
measure of his parents' happiness, but was 
called away September 24, 1893. 

Mrs. Libbie E. McArthur was born in Oak- 



field, November 27, 1862, and is a daughter 
of William Lewis and Margaret (Smith) Moore, 
who were the parents of four children : Geo. S. , 
a mechanic of Grand Rapids; Delmer H,, who 
has been a school-teacher, and is now mana- 
ger of the Greenville Implement companj-; 
Libbie E. , now Mrs. McArthur, and Lida M., 
wife of Willis Horton, a farmer of Oakfield, 
and a descendant of the pioneer of that name. 

William Lewis Moore, father of Mrs. Mc- 
Arthur, was born in Tompkins county, N. Y., 
February 25. 1826. He is a pioneer of Kent 
county, having been hdre since the days of 
the Indians. He is still living in Oakfield 
township. When he came here he brought 
almost all he possessed in a goods box, 
among other things being an old table, which 
Mrs. McArthur yet retains as an heirloom. 
Mr. Moore is very prominent in his township, 
as may well be imagined, as he is one of those 
who have redeemed it from the wilderness, 
and throughout a long residence has become a 
friend of almost every one in the town. His 
wife was also a native of New York, born 
August 5, 1835, ^nd died March 19, 1886. 
Their daughter, Mrs. McArthur, was well edu- 
cated in the common schools, and was grant- 
ed a teacher's certificate. 

Mr. and Mrs. McArthur began their wedded 
life on the Snyder farm, Courtland township, 
working it on the "share" system. In January, 
1884, they purchased their present farm of 
eighty acres in section 18, of Oakfield, 
assuming an indebtedness of $1,400. 

Their first home was part of a little 
log cabin, \vhich stood on the site of their 
modern farm residence. This was erected 
in 1895, and is a beautiful structure, two 
stories in height, finished in red oak, and is 
an ornament to the neighborhood, as well as 
the abode of hospitality. The interior shows 
the tasteful care of the true housekeeper, and 
its surroundings indicate the attention of a 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



867 



careful and thrifty proprietor. Tiie land is 
a sandy loam, suited to the cultivation of po- 
tatoes, beans, wheat and the other cereals 
grown in this vicinity and is utilized to the 
production of large crops of each. 

In national politics, Mr. McArthur is a 
democrat, but in local matters votes for the 
men best fitted, in his opinion, to fill the 
necessary offices. Both he and wife are ar- 
dent friends of public education and favor the 
employment of the most competent teachers. 
Fraternally he is a member of Oakfield tent, 
No. 890, K. O. T. M. They freely contribute 
to the promotion of all projects designed for 
the public good, and are among the most 
public-spirited, and respected residents of 
Oakfield township. 




ILLIAM J. McCarthy.— The call- 
ing of the farmer has been known 
and honored from the earliest ages, 
and as a usual thing, men of hon- 
orable and humane impulses, as well as those 
of energy, thrift and honesty, have been "pa- 
trons of husbandrj'. " In William J. McCarthy 
these attributes are pronounced, and he is now 
in independent circumstances. 

Mr. McCarthy, of Grattan township, Kent 
county, Mich., is a native of the county and 
state in which he now lives, and was born 
July 12, i860. He is the youngest of ten 
children born to Dennis and Ellen (Fitzgerald) 
McCarthy, of whom there are si.x survivors, 
viz: Margaret, the wife of Patrick Duley, an 
agriculturist of Barry county, Mich.; Charles, 
a railroad conductor, residing in New Cane)', 
Texas; Dennis, a resident of Grand Rapids; 
Catherine, wife of Patrick Walsh, a merchant 
of East Jordan, Mich.; Ellen, the wife of Peter 
j. Hawley, of Hastings, Fla. , and William J., 
the subject of this sketch. 



Dennis McCarthy was a native of Cork, 
Ireland, and was born on the 29th of Novem- 
ber, 1 81 8. In his 3'outh he was hungry for 
intellectual food, and his father, desiring to 
thoroughly educate him, sent him to the 
famous Trinity college, Dublin, from which 
he graduated in the classics at sixteen years of 
age. Having passed his boyhood upon the 
seaside, there was early developed in him a 
desire to visit some foreign land, to sail far 
across the sea to the free land of America, and 
there seek a home and lay the foundation for 
his future existence. Accordingly, at the age 
of twent\'-two, accompanied by his mother and 
two elder brothers, William and John, he em- 
barked at Liverpool, England, and after seven 
weeks on the Atlantic landed at New York 
harbor. From there they went to Canada, 
and thence to Ohio, where the boys engaged to 
work on the old Miami canal, extending from 
Cleveland to the Ohio river. Thej' also as- 
sisted in laying the first railroad in the state 
of Michigan, running from Jackson to Detroit. 

Being a man of intelligence, Dennis 
McCarthy became an excellent surveyor, and 
at the time of the admission of Michigan to 
the union as a state he became desirous of 
establishing here his future home. In 1843 
he was sent by a prominent man from Mar- 
shall to Grand Rapids to select 520 acres of 
land, part of which afterward became his 
own estate, the remainder being the property 
of his brothers. He then went to Washtenaw 
county, there was married in April, 1844, and 
returned to become a citizen of Grattan. 
William McCarthy has now in his possession 
the old deed for his father's estate, bearing 
date of July 21, 1843, and it is considered by 
the owner an excellent souvenir of the old 
pioneer days. 

At the time Mr. McCarthy established his 
home in Grattan township the country was a 
wilderness, there being not a sign of improve- 



868 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



ment. Mr. McCarthy lived in a log cabin and 
the Indians oftentimes passed his door. He 
deserves much credit for aiding in the trans- 
formation of the wild forest into blooming 
fields and fine dwellings. Skillful in the use 
of tools, he became a fine carpenter and a 
blacksmith, known far and wide for the excel- 
lent products of his shop on his farm. Mr. 
McCarthy was the first settler in his section, 
having come before Grattan township received 
its name. Being a highly educated man, he 
was sought by all for advice, and people came 
to him for all classes of legal instruments. 
Politically he was a stanch adherer to demo- 
cratic principles, and held all the prominent 
offices in his township. In religion he was a 
devout Catholic, and, together with his brother, 
was a prime factor in locating and building St. 
Patrick's church. Mr. McCarthy died Feb- 
ruary 18, 1891, at the old homestead, and his 
funeral cortege was one of the longest ever 
witnessed in the parish. The funeral oration 
was delivered by Rev. Father James Crumley, 
the resident priest. 

The mother of William McCarthy, of this 
biography, is now living at the old age of 
eighty-one years, having been born in Ireland, 
in September, 1818. She has been a consist- 
ent Catholic all her life and makes her home 
with her son William, on the farm where she 
has lived for fifty-six years, and where she was 
the first permanent lady settler. 

William J. McCarthy was reared to agri- 
cultural pursuits on the farm of his father in 
Grattan. He was confirmed at the age of nine 
years by Bishop Borgess. His education was 
begun in the district schools and finished by a 
course of a year and a half in the commercial 
college at Hastings. He claims, however, 
that most of his practical educational training 
was received from James Cox, a district 
teacher and now a resident of Grand Rapids. 

On January 18, 1894, Mr. McCarthy was 



united in marriage to Miss Anna Hefferan, who 
has borne him two children, Mary \'eronica and 
Eileen Monica. Mrs. McCarth}' was born in 
Cannon; was educated in the common schools 
and also the Catholic Ladies' seminary at Mon- , 
roe, Mich. She then became a teacher and f 
taught in the Parnell, Talbot (Cannonsburg 
Union), Chase and Knapp schools. For a year 
she kept books for Herpolsheimer at Grand 
Rapids, and also for Giles & Co., at Lowell. 
Mrs. McCarthy displays talent in pencil sketch- 
ing and is also skillful in the use of crayon and 
oil paints. She was confirmed by Bishop 
Borgess at the age of twelve years, and has 
ever been a devout Catholic. 

William J. McCarthy is a firm believer in 
democratic principles, having cast his first 
presidential vote for Cleveland, but, having 
devoted his whole attention to agriculture he 
has not had time to hold office. 

Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy stand high in re- 
ligious circles and contribute liberally to the 
support of the church, while socially they 
mingle with the best people of the township, 
by whom they are very highly esteemed. 




OHN McCarthy, well-known as a 
pioneer and successful agriculturist of 
\'ergennes township, Ivent county, 
Mich., is a native of Cloyne parish, 
count}- Cork, Ireland, was born March 27, 
1836, and is the eldest of a family of seven 
children — three sons and four daughters — 
born to Charles and Mary (Barry) McCarthy, 
and of these children four are residents of the 
United States, viz: Eliza, wife of Thomas 
Trainor, a farmer at Mendota, 111.: Maggie, 
wife of John Callahan, an emplojee of the 
Michigan Central railroad company at Mason, 
Ingham county, Mich., and James, a farmer in 
Bowne township, Kent county. Charles Mc- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



869 



Carthy and wife both died in Ireland, in the 
faith of the Cathohc church. 

John McCarthy, about 1854, embarked on 
the three-masted sailing-ship West Point, at 
Lis'erpool, and after a voyage of seven weeks 
and three days landed in New York, in com- 
pany with 900 other passengers. He had two 
shillings, English inone}-, in his pocket, and 
from New York went to Middletown, Conn., 
where he hired out as a farm hand, at $12 per 
month. From Connecticut he came to Kent 
county, Mich., where his cousin, Dennis Mc- 
Carthy, was located, having borrowed $10 
from an uncle to aid in paying fare, etc. Here 
he began work as a farm hand during the 
summer, and in the winter worked in the lum- 
ber regions; he also passed two winters on the 
Mississippi river, working on the levees one 
winter in cutting cordvvood on island No. 98. 
The winter of 1860-61 he spent in St. Louis, 
Mo., when the excitement preceding the out- 
break of the Civil war ran very high; he was 
employed there as a watchman for a short 
time, and then went up the Tennessee river 
on a steamboat, as far as Florence, Ala., and 
then returned to Michigan and resumed work 
as a farm hand, and it will thus be seen that 
Mr. McCarthy knows what hard knocks mean. 

November 27, 1862, Mr. McCarthy mar- 
ried Miss Bridget Doyle, in St. Patrick's 
church. Rev. Father Reives officiating. This 
marriage has been blessed with eight children, 
viz: Mary, now the wife of Edgar Byrne, 
an employee in a freight office at Chicago. 
Mrs. Byrne was confirmed by Bishop Borgess, 
graduated from the Lowell high school, and 
for nine years was a teacher in ICent county. 
Charles, the second child, was also confirmed 
by Bishop Borgess, was educated in the com- 
mon schools, is a mechanic by instinct, is mar- 
ried, and now resides in Dry Run, Ark., being 
employed as engineer in a large lumber plant; 

Michael is a progressive young farmer of Ada 

45 



township, married Miss Anna Lally, and both 
he and wife were confirmed by Bishop Borgess; 
Anne was confirmed by Bishop Richter, at 
thirteen, was educated in the common schools, 
is a member of asodality of St. Patrick's parish, 
has a taste for music, and is still with her par- 
ents; John was confirmed by Bishop Richter 
when twelve years old, is a young man of ex- 
emplary habits, and is still at home; Thomas 
is now in his fifth year of study, preparing 
for the priesthood at St. Gregory college, 
Cincinnati, Ohio; he had passed two years at 
the college of the Assumption at Sandwich, 
Canada, and one year at McLaughlin's Com- 
inercial college at Grand Rapids; James has 
finished the common-school course, has studied 
three years in the parochial school and aspires 
to a higher education; Laura is the youngest, 
is a lovely girl, has fin'sheJ her public-school 
course and has attended St. Patrick's parochial 
school, is a member of the sodality, has a taste 
for music, and she, James and Thomas were 
confirmed by Bishop Richter. 

When Mr. and Mrs. McCarthy began life 
together they lived one year on the Doyle 
homestead, and then moved to a seventy-eight- 
acre tract in Vergennes township. This farm 
was badly run down, and they went in debt 
$t,ooo beside. Since then, they have added 
to the place until they now own 200 acres, 
and when they bought their last eightj'-acre 
tract, again went in debt, and this time for 
$3,000. Besides erecting a pretty country 
residence and commodious out-buildings, all 
of which are a credit to the township, Mr. and 
Mrs. McCarthy to-day stand free from in- 
debtedness — a rare example to the younger 
population of what industry, good sense and 
strict integrity can do. Mrs. McCarthy has 
always been a wise counselor to her husband 
and a willing assistant. She was born in 
Vergennes township, October 8, 1842, a 
daughter of Michael and Mary (Lester) Doyle. 



870 



THE CITY OF GRANT? RAPIDS 



She was confirmed by Bishop LeFevre, at the 
age of twelve years, in the first church erected 
in St. Patrick's parish, 

Michael Doyle was born in county Carlow, 
Ireland, about 1804. He came to America in 
a sailing-vessel, landing in Quebec after a 
voyage of five weeks, and there spent three 
years as a raftsman on the St. Lawrence river; 
thence he went to Connecticut and worked in 
a slate quarry, and was there married. He 
then came to Michigan, lived in Washtenaw 
county a year, and then came to \'ergennes 
township and purchased forty acres of wild 
land; his first habitation was a little log cabin, 
and Mrs. McCarthy can well remember when 
Indians would pass the cabin door. There 
were no highways, but deer could be seen 
roaming everywhere, and Mr. McCarthy also 
remembers similar scenes of his infancy. Mr. 
Doyle died on this farm in 1869. The father 
of Mrs. McCarthy was among the first settlers 
of this region and aided in the building of three 
different churches. He was a devout Catholic 
in religion, and in politics was a democrat. 
His wife was born ui Thurles, county Tipper- 
ary, Ireland, about 1815, and when eighteen 
years old sailed for America; she was seven 
weeks crossing the Atlantic, and thought she 
might never see land again. There are three 
members of the Doyle family now living, viz: 
Mrs. McCarthy, wife of the subject of this 
sketch; Ellen, who attended a business college 
in Grand Rapids one year, is now the wife of 
William Gentleman, a v\holesale grocer of 
Omaha, Neb., and is the mother of one son 
and three daughters, and Thomas, general 
manager of the large lumber plant at Dry 
Run, Ark., is married, and is the father of 
three sons and two daughters. 

In politics Mr. McCarthy is a democrat and 
cast his first presidential vote for George 
Brinton McClellan. Mrs. McCarthy is a 
member of the Altar society of St. Patrick's. 



She and husband have aided in building four 
churches, are alwaj'S liberal in their contribu- 
tions to church funds, and socially stand witb 
the best people of Vergennes township. 



EORGE W. McCONNELL, of Spar- 
ta, and for half a centurj' a resident 
of I^ent county, Mich., and there- 
fore classed among its pioneers, is a 
native of Warren, Trumbull county, Ohio, 
and is the eldest of the six children — two sons 
and four daughters — born to Thomas H. and 
Elizabeth S. (Spangenberg) McConnell, but of 
this family of si.K there are three only now 
living, viz: George W., the subject of this 
memoir; Sarah S., wife of Frank La Preze, 
a farmer of Tyrone township; and Daniel W., 
married, and an e.x-soldier of the Civil war. 

Thomas H. McConnell, the father, was 
born near Philadelphia, Pa., in 1S15, and 
was reared a mechanic, but had not quite 
reached his majority when he removed to 
Trumbull county, Ohio, and there married, 
August 16, 1842. In the spring of 1846 he 
went by team to Cleveland, Ohio, there took 
a vessel for Detroit, Mich., thence by stage 
reached Battle Creek, and next Grand Rapids, 
where there were a grist-mill and a few little 
stores, but no bridge; neither was there a rail- 
road in the state; but it will be remembered 
that the Wolverine state had been admitted 
to the Union only nine years previously. He 
then hired an ox-team from Clark Brown, an 
early pioneer, to convey him to Alpine town- 
ship, Kent county, where he rented a house, 
but the next year came with his father-in-law 
to Sparta township, erected a log house with 
shake roof, puncheon floor and stick and mud 
chimney, and here they lived about a year, 
when Mr. McConnell built for himself a little 
c'abin on an eight\-acre tract of forest land 
that he had purchased for $75, which sum was 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



871 



equivalent to $ioo in state scrip. This cabin, 
like their former one, was of logs, with the 
usual stick and clay chimney, and the cooking 
was done on the primitive hearth. Deer and 
other wild animals were often seen roaming 
over the farm among the trees, and frequently 
came almost to their doorway. The ox-team 
was the only beast of burden or draft animal 
for either road or field. 

The year 1846 also saw the organization of 
Sparta township. There were more offices to 
be filled, however, than there were competent 
men to fill them, and in some cases one man 
held two official positions. The site of Sparta 
village was then in the wilderness, the mail 
was brought from Grand Rapids on foot 
through the woods, and Tyrone township was 
then known as Town No. 10. To-day Sparta 
is a thriving village of 1,200 inhabitants. 

Mr. McConnell worked diligently at clear- 
ing off his farm and in bringing it under culti- 
vation until 1862, when he enlisted in the 
Tenth Michigan cavalry, was assigned to the 
army of the Tennessee, and while in the serv- 
ice of his country died of fever at ICnoxville, 
Tenn. In politics he was an old-line whig, 
and well remembers the "Tippecanoe and 
Tyler, Too," and William H. Harrison and 
"Old Hickory" (Jackson) campaigns. He 
was often a delegate to party conventions. 
His wife was born in Weston, Pa., in 1817, 
and died in 1S66, a member of the Methodist 
church. 

George W. McConnell was born July 15, 
1843, and was but three years of age when 
brought by his parents to Michigan. His edu- 
cation was chiefly self-acquired, and he gave 
his services to his parents until he had attained 
his twentieth year, at the close of which he 
presented them with $50 of his hard-earned 
savings — about all he had. He then began 
the battle of life with hardly any cash capital; 
but he was physically strong and possessed of 



determination to make life a success. He 
passed the winters of his earlier working years 
as a- lumberman, until about thirty-two years 
old, when he married, June 15, 1875, Miss 
Sarah E. Longcore, and to this union has 
been born one child, Mary E., who is now in 
the eighth grade of the public school, and has 
a taste for music. Mrs. McConnell was born 
November 26, 1843, in Alleghany county, 
N. Y. , a daughter of Richard and Naomi 
(Downing) Longcore, agricultural people and 
the parents of three sons and seven daughters, 
of whom one son and four daughters still sur- 
vive. Mrs. McConnell is a lady of excellent 
education, and for twenty-eight terms was a 
school teacher in her native county, and in 
Newaygo, Kent and Montcalm counties, Mich., 
and proved to be a model wife and mother. 

In 1880 Mr. McConnell purchased his 
present farm of 160 acres in No. 8, Sparta 
township, where he has made all the visible 
improvements — and, no doubt, all the invisible 
improvements — remodeling the residence, the 
barns and other out-buildings, and making it 
one of the most productive and profitable 
farms of the county. 

In politics Mr. McConnell is a free-silver 
democrat and an admirer of William Jennings 
Bryan, the standard-bearer of the party. Mrs. 
McConnell is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church at Sparta, and both have liber- 
ally contributed to its support. Mr. and Mrs. 
McConnell are warm friends of the public 
school system, and both strongly advocate the 
advisability of the establishment of a high 
school in the township, for obvious reasons — 
chiefly that the resident tax-payers, of which 
he is one of the largest, may have the benefit 
of their children being transferred from the 
common to the high school at the lowest cost, 
and thus at the same time pay for the services 
of the best teachers at the best salaries. 

Mr. and Mrs. McConnell are among the 



872 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



most respected residents of Sparta township, 
and his life of half a century here, without a 
blemish upon his name, well entitles him to 
the esteem in which he is universally held. 




ALTER C. McCRATH, supervisor of 
Grand Rapids township, was born 
on his present farm April 30, 185 i, 
and is the youngest of the six chil- 
dren born to James and Ellen (Wood) Mc- 
Crath, natives of Scotland. 

James McCrath was born in February, 
1808, came to the United States in early man- 
hood, and died on the present homestead 
October 10, 1897. His wife was born near 
Glasgow, in February, 18 18, and came to 
America at the age of fourteen years, her par- 
ents having died in Scotland during her early 
childhood. She was reared in Detroit by a 
family named Davidson, who brought her to 
America, and was married in that city to Mr. 
McCrath, November 19, 1836. Mr. McCrath 
was a stonecutter and stonemason, and after 
coming to America worked in Massachusetts 
and Detroit, Mich., and in 1836 came to 
Grand Rapids with a party of other masons to 
lay the foundation for the Sweet grist mill, the 
first erected in the city and which stood on the 
present site of Berkey & Gay's furniture 
factory. He worked here that summer and 
then returned to Detroit, married, and moved 
to Lapeer county, where he resided until 
1842, then returned to Grand Rapids and re- 
sided in the city until 1S50, and then settled 
on the farm now occupied by his son, Walter 
C., three miles east of Division street, on East 
Bridge street, and comprising lOO acres. He 
did not engage in practical farming himself, 
but hired the work done and continued to fol- 
low his trade for twenty years, and helped 
build St. Mark's Episcopal church, the old 
Dutch Reformed church at the corner of 



Bridge and Ottawa streets, and other stone 
buildings. 

In politics Mr. McCrath was a republican, 
and for some years served as highway com- 
missioner. In religion he was first a Congre- 
gationalist, but in his latter years united with 
the Reformed church; fraternally he was a 
Freemason, having joined the order in Scot- 
land, and was a charter member of Grand 
River lodge. No. 34, and at his death was the 
last surviving charter member.. He retained 
his faculties intact until his last breath, and 
died an honored man. He preceded his wife 
to the grave some months, her death occur- 
ring May 7, 1899. Six children are left to 
mourn their departure, viz: John W. ; Eliza- 
beth J.,, wife of Charles Stewart, of Grand 
Rapids; Lyman J. and Charles F., of Paris 
township; Lewis T., in Grand Rapids, and 
Walter C, the subject of this sketch. 

Walter C. McCrath lived on the home 
farm until seventeen years of age. when he 
passed one year in Atlanta, Ga. , then clerked 
one }ear in a grocery in Grand Rapids, and in 
1875 took charge of the home farm. Decem- 
ber 30, 1874, he married Miss Ella, a daugh- 
ter of James and Louisa (Kemp) Ewing, and 
born near the present home. Her parents 
were natives of New York, and in 1836 came 
to Michigan, lived a year near Flint, and in 1S37 
came to Kent count}', where Mr. Ewing had pur- 
chased land. He began clearing, but soon 
found that he was working on another man's 
premises, and had to do the work over again 
on his own, when it had been fully identified. 
Here he lost his wife at the age of forty-one 
years. He then married Mrs. Alice Welfare, 
whose maiden name was Moss, and who now 
lives in Grand Rapids, Mr. Ewing having died 
in 187C, at the age of sixty-three years, on the 
farm which still remains in the family. To 
Mr. and Mrs. McCrath have been born five 
children, viz: Maude F., Lyman J. (who 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



878 



died when three years old), G. Frederick, 
Chester A. and Charles E. The McCrath 
farm now comprises 125 acres, and also a part 
of the old Ewing estate. 

Mr. McCrath is a stanch republican', has 
filled all the minor township offices in a most 
able manner, and is now serving his third term 
as a member of the board of supervisors. 
Fraternally he has been a member of Grand 
River lodge, F. & A. M., for twenty-five years, 
and is also a member of the Fruit Growers' 
association. Socially he and family occupy 
a high position and enjoy the esteem of all 
their neighbors. 




HARLES McCARTY, the most e.\- 
tensive dealer in groceries and gen- 
eral produce in Lowell, I-ient county, 
Mich., was born in Canada, May 19, 
I S46, and is a son of John and Sarah (Vande- 
carr) McCarty, the former of whom was a 
native of Ivochester, N. Y. , was a farmer, and 
from New York went to near Brantford, Can- 
ada, where he resided several years, and in 
1849 came to Michigan, settled in Keene town- 
ship, Ionia county, and there was engaged in 
agricultural pursuits until his death, which oc- 
curred in October, 1888. 

Charles McCarty, the subject proper of 
this sketch, was but three years old when 
brought to Michigan by his parents, with whom 
he remained, assisting on the home farm until 
fourteen years old. His education was of the 
most meager description, as far as schools are 
concerned, and his present rich store of knowl- 
edge is self-acquired through his contact with 
the world. His first business experience was 
under his brother, N. L.. a merchant at 
Lowell, Mich., whom he served as a general 
utility boy and clerk, at $8 per month, until 
seventeen years old, when he enlisted in 



the First Michigan engineers and mechanics, 
under Col. Ennis, of Grand Rapids, and served 
valiantly and faithfully until the close of the 
Civil war, and during his service was under 
Gen. Sherman in his famous march to the sea 
and in all the fierce engagements that took 
place between Atlanta, Ga., and the surrender 
of Johnston, and later took part in the grand 
review at Washington, D. C, in May, 1865. 

On his return from the war to I\ent county 
he worked as a farm hand one year, and was 
otherwise employed until i86g, when he re- 
entered the employ of his brother, and at the 
end of twelve years was able to purchase a 
half-interest in the business. Four weeks 
later, his -brother died, and he purchased the 
remaining half for $2,400, his reputation hav- 
ing become so good that he was able to raise 
that amount on his own paper. His business 
prospered, and he promptly discharged his 
obligation. In the meantime, however, John 
Young, of Grand Rapids, had become a part- 
ner, but this partnership lasted si.\ months only, ' 
as Mr. McCarty bought Mr. Young's share in 
the business for $2,800. 

March 27, 1899, Mr. McCarty opened his 
store in Lowell, under the firm-name of Charles 
McCarty & Co., his partners being Charles 
H. Alexander and Frank Taylor, who had re- 
spectively been in Mr. McCarty 's employ as 
clerks eighteen and sixteen years. They car- 
ry a stock of groceries, for retail purposes, 
valued at $5,000 to $7,000, and produce val- 
ued at $3,500, and are the heaviest mercan- 
tile firm in Lowell; Mr. McCarty is also ex- 
tensively engaged in farming, owns 1,800 
acres of land, and his total transactions reach 
a value of $100,000 annually. He is likewise 
a director in the Lowell State bank, and is 
vice-president and director in the King Milling 
company, who operate two mills in Lowell, 
His credit in the banks both at Grand Rapids 
and Lowell is unlimited, and as a business 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



man his name has never been impeached or 
his integrity in any way questioned. 

In connection with his extensive grocery, 
he uses three distinct warehouses, which are 
constantly packed with wool, beans, potatoes 
and every variety of country produce, he be- 
ing one of the largest buyers in the county 
of Kent and one of the heaviest shippers, 
particularly of potatoes and fruit. 

At the age of twenty-three years Mr. Mc- 
Carty married Miss Alice Sayles, daughter of 
Chapin and Eliza (Gardner) Sayles, of Cana- 
da, who were parents of fifteen children, five 
of whom are physicians. Mr. and Mrs. Mc- 
Carty have seven children born in the follow- 
ing order: William E., Bertha A., Bessie M., 
Leon J., DeaneC, Paul S. and Charles H. 
The family attend the Baptist church, and 
Mr. McCarty is a member of the F. cS: A. M. 
lodge, No. 90; Hooker chapter, No. y^: R. A, 
M. ; and the Mystic Shrine. He is likewise an 
Odd Fellow, and a member of Joseph Wilson 
post, No. 8y, G. A. R. He is a stanch re- 
publican in politics and cast his first presiden- 
tial vote for Ulysses S. Grant. 

Socially Mr. and Mrs. McCarty stand 
very high with their neighbors and the elite of 
Lowell, and are as highly esteemed for their 
many merits as individuals as is Mr. McCarty 
for his enterprise and progressiveness as a 
man of business. 




XDREW McDonald, a well-known 
and respected citizen of Spencer 
township. Kent county, Mich., and 
a meritorious ex-soldier of the Civil 
war, was born in New York Tuly 22, 1840, the 
second of the six children of Andrew and Ann 
(Moore) McDonald, viz: James, a farmer of 
Freeport, Barry county, Mich. ; Andrew, the 
subject of this sketch; Eliza, wife of John 
Powers, a blacksmith and wagonmaker of Big- 



Rapids; John, a farmer of Portland, Ore.; 
Peter, also a farmer of Portland, and Mary, 
wife of Edward Devine, of Grand Rapids. 

Andrew McDonald, the father, was born 
in county Meath, Ireland, and at the age of 
twenty years came across the ocean in a sail- 
ing vessel, and found work on a farm now 
within the limits of the city of New York. He 
married in that city, where two of his children 
were born, and in 1842 came to Kent county, 
Mich. Mr. McDonald purchased eighty acres 
in Vergennes township for $30, but later sold 
twenty acres for $40. Like all the early 
pioneers, he underwent many hardships, but 
he lived to the ripe old age of eighty-two 
years. His first little home in Vergennes 
township was closed with a door of boards 
nailed together, with no hinges, and one morn- 
ing some Indians came to the place for some- 
thing to eat. Their dog knocked down the 
crude door and injured young Andrew, an in- 
dication that it provided but a slight protec- 
tion against an invader or even the weather. 
Mr. and Mrs. McDonald were devout Cath- 
olics, and in that faith the father died in Ver- 
gennes township and the mother in Montcalm 
county, Mich., their remains being interred in 
the Catholic cemetery in Grattan township, 
Kent county. 

Andrew McDonald, the subject of this 
sketch, was but eighteen months old when his 
parents settled in Kent county, and his school 
attendance covered a space of three months 
only. His services were required on the 
pioneer farm, on which he remained until his 
enlistment, August 9, 1S62, at Lowell, in 
company B, Twenty-first Michigan volunteer 
infantry, under Lieut. Fox, rendezvoused at 
Camp Sigel, at Ionia, and was placed under 
Capt. James Kavanaugh and Col. Stevens. 
Thence the regiment was sent to Nashville, 
Tenn,, where Col. William B. McCreary, of 
Flint, Mich., was placed in command, and the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



875 



regiment assigned to the army of the Camber- 
land. Mr. McDonald was first employed in 
detail work, in which his assiduity gained for 
him the high esteem of his superiors. 

The first battle in which Mr. McDonald 
participated was that of Chickamauga. At 
three o'clock, Sunday morning, September 20, 
1863, the army, including company B, met at 
Widow Glenn's house and at sunrise formed 
into line of battle, while he and twenty-four 
members of company B were sent through 
wheat and cornfields to act as skirmishers. 
At ten o'clock the rebels came upon thein in 
force and they were compelled to fall back, 
while the bullets fell fast and thick, to Widow 
Glenn's house, and for two hours supported 
six pieces of artillery, on the way thither. 
The fight lasted until one o'clock in the after- 
noon, many of the artillerists and their horses 
were killed and they nearly lost their battery. 
This was a Rebel victory, although it is termed 
a draw in history. The Federals here lost 
16,000 men. In order to reach the scene of 
action, the Twenty-first Michigan, si.\ty miles 
away, was ordered to be in readiness at bugle- 
call, the men were awakened by a touch on 
the shoulder, and underwent forced marches 
all that day, all next day and night, all next 
day till four o'clock in the afternoon, and 
reached the field in an almost famished con- 
dition, to open up the battle, and this is a 
specimen of some of the hardships that Mr. 
McDonald had to encounter as a soldier. 

For nearly a year Mr. McDonald was en- 
gaged in building hospitals, pontoon bridges, 
and a bridge across the Tennessee river, and 
in the latter part of September, i S64, the 
troops were ordered to concentrate at Atlanta, 
Ga. The city was fired November 15, 1864, 
and on the i6th the army started on its march 
for Savannah. On this march of 200 miles 
the boys suffered a great deal, hunger not 
being the least, to stay the pangs of which 



they at times picked the meat from the heads 
of dead cattle. The siege of Savannah was 
another ordeal of fire, and a piece of shell 
struck Mr. McDonald's shoe, and came very 
near tearing it from his foot. The siege lasted 
from December ii until December 22, 1864, 
when a; great many of the Rebels came over 
and gave themselves up, and others made 
their way across the Savannah river and 
escaped into the interior, leaving twenty-seven 
spiked cannon behind. The Federals then 
occupied the city until January 20, 1865. and 
the next move was toward Sister's Ferry, 
where they were swamped on account of the 
heavy rains, were forced to unload their 
wagons and to carry their material through 
water waist deep; the empty wagons were 
then backed. 

On March 19, 1865, came the terrific bat- 
tle of Bentonville, N. C, the last of the war, 
with 12,000 Federals against 40,000 Confeder- 
ates and the former, of course, met with 
disaster. 

Mr. McDonald had for some time been a 
member of the pioneer corps and was engaged 
in the heavy labor of repairing roads, bridges, 
etc., and was with the boys near Raleigh, N. 

C, when the joyful tidings was received of 
Lee's surrender. The" arm}', under Gen. Sher- 
man, continued its march on to Washington, 

D. C, and took part in the grand review. 
Mr; McDonald later visited the president's 
house, saw Secretary Seward and other noted 
personages, and received an honorable dis- 
charge June 8, 1865. He had served as a 
brave and faithful soldier all through his en- 
listment, was at home on furlough only once, 
and had never been in the guard-house or even 
reprimanded. For five years after his return 
home he worked at various occupations. 

June 13, 1870, Mr. McDonald married Miss 
Catherine Roddy, in Grand Rapids, and seven 
children have blessed this union, viz: Mary; 



876 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Elsie; Miles, a motorman in Grand Rapids; 
John, a student at St. Francis college, at Mil- 
waukee, W^is. ; Luella is a Sister of Mercy at 
Big Rapids and is known as Sister M. Gerard; 
Laura and Maggie. 

When Mr. McDonald commenced his mar- 
ried life in Grand Rapids he had but one 
dollar, which he had earned digging potatoes, 
and he and wife remained in the city one year; 
thence they removed to Sand Lake, in 1871, 
and kept boarders in the lumber regions, hav- 
ing purchased a small lot on which they erected 
a modest shanty. Mr. McDonald continued 
to labor at various kinds of work and at team- 
ing in the woods until 1S77, when he pur- 
chased forty acres in section 6, Spencer town- 
ship, with no improvement whatever. Their 
first home was a little board shanty, and for 
the land they even went in debt, and all the 
present improvements, including their com- 
fortable modern dwelling, is the result of their 
own industry and frugality. 

Mrs. McDonald was born in county Mayo, 
Ireland, in September, 1843, a daughter of 
Peter and Mary (Muldoon) Roddy, who had a 
famil}' of two sons and six daughters. Mrs. 
McDonald was educated in the common schools 
of county Majo, and at the age of twenty 
3'ears came to America, and two of her sisters 
are also in the United States. 

In politics Mr. McDonald is a democrat 
and cast his first vote for George B. McCiel- 
lan, while in the army. In 1889 he was 
elected highway commissioner; in 1894 he was 
appointed postmaster of Cioud by President 
Cleveland. 

Mr. McDonald is a member of the M. H. 
Whitney post. No. 50, G. A. R. , at Sand 
Lake, a membership which his gallant army 
service and honorable discharge from the ser\- 
ice entitle him. In religion Mr. and Mrs. 
McDonald and family are devout Catholics, 
and are members of St. Clair parish, Mont- 



calm county, under the pastorate of Rev. 
Father Whelan, to the support of which they 
most freely contribute. They are classed 
among the most diligent and useful residents 
of Spencer township, and are certainly well 
deserving of the high esteem in which they are 
universally held. 




LBERT E. WILSON, one of the most 
prominent agriculturists of Alpine 
township, Kent county, Mich., is a 
native of Hinkley township, Medina 
county, Ohio, was born January 17, 1847, a 
son of John Cleveland and Julia Ann (Mar- 
quette) Wilson, and is the eldest of their 
family of eight children. 

J. Cleveland \\'ilson, the father, was born 
in the state of New York in 181 1, early emi- 
grated to Ohio, where he resided until Novem- 
ber, 1865, when he came to Kent county, 
Mich., and located on a farm in section No. 
19, Alpine township, on which he lived eight- 
een years, and then removed to section No. 
34, where he passed the remainder of his life, 
dying in 1897, one of the most highly re- 
spected citizens of the township. His wife, 
also a native of New York, was born in 1823, 
but never came to Michigan. 

Albert E. Wilson passed his early days on 
the Ohio homestead, aiding his father in his 
agricultural pursuits until seventeen years of 
age, when, fired by the military aidor of the 
times, he enlisted in defense of his country's 
flag in battery A, First Ohio h'ght artillery. 
His first ser\ice was with Gen. Sherman in 
the Atlanta campaign, from which he was 
transferred to the command of Gen. George 
H. Thomas, and with him went to look after 
the Rebel general. Hood. From Huntsville, 
Ala., they had a retreating fight toward Nash- 
ville, Tenn., where took place one of the 



1 




ALBERT E. WILSON. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



879 



severest battles of the campaign, battery A 
taking an active and conspicuous part. Tlie 
commaud was so reduced that it was left at 
Nashville, where it remained until the follow- 
ing July. The battery was originally com- 
posed of six guns but through constant hard 
fighting the number was reduced to four, and 
many men and horses were lost, and Mr. Wil- 
son was himself wounded in the hand, but not 
seriously, at the battle of Spring Hill. At 
Nashville in July, therefore, he was honorably 
discharged, and returned to his father, who 
in the meantime had come to Michigan. 

Leaving his father's farm in 1S71, Albert 
E. Wilson made a prospective tour through 
the western states, and after traveling quite 
extensively finally located in Chicago, where 
he found employment as a civil engineer, a pro- 
fession in which he had become quite proficient 
several years before. For some time he was 
in the employ of a railroad company, locating 
the road between the towns of Newaygo and 
White Cloud, Mich., and subsequently ac- 
cepted a position as salesman in a boot and 
shoe house in Grand Rapids, continuing in 
the latter capacity for a period of eight years. 
Becoming dissatisfied with indoor life and the 
necessarily slow returns of a clerkship, Mr. 
Wilson concluded to abandon the same, ac- 
cordingly purchased a farm in section No. 19, 
Alpine township, and engaged in the more 
satisfactory aud remunerative calling of agri- 
culture. He lived on his original purchase 
about nineteen years, but disposed of the 
place at the end of that time, when he se- 
cured the old homestead by inheritance, and 
this has since been his home. 

Mr. Wilson's 460-acre farm is a model 
place, highly cultivated and containing many 
valuable improveuients, including a handsome 
dwelling, supplied with all the modern appli- 
ances of convenience and comfort. On the 
place he has 3,000 trees, peaches and apples, 



and keeps twelve to fifteen men constantly 
employed. 

On September 30, 1873, Mr. Wilson was 
united in marriage to Miss Helen Augusta 
Wright, of Alpine township, where her birth 
occurred in the month of March, 1848, on the 
farm where she now resides. She is the eldest 
of five children born to Solomon and Jane 
Elizabeth (Cooper) Wright, natives of New 
York. Solomon Wright was born in Wayne 
county, N. Y. , in the year 1S18, came to 
Michigan in 1839, and selected a farm in sec- 
tion No. 32, of what is now Alpine township, 
Kent county, purchased what is now Mr. 
Wilson's home, and improved the place with 
the present commodious dwelling, which is one 
of the best in the township, and finally retired 
to Paris, Mich., where his death took place in 
1884. His wife was born in the county of St. 
Lawrence, N. Y. , in 1820, came to Michigan 
with her parents, and now lives with her 
daughter, Mrs. Wilson, on the old homestead, 
where so many years of her married life were 
passed. Mr. and Mrs. \\'ilson are the parents 
of five children, whose names are as follows: 
Clare E. ; John Lyman; William Howard; Ira 
E. and Shirley, all of whom, with the excep- 
tion of William H., are still at home. 

Politically Mr. Wilson is a member of the 
republican party; he cast his first vote for 
Ulysses S. Grant and has never faltered in his 
allegiance to the political faith which he be- 
lieves to be for the best interest of the country. 
He and wife are active members of the Alpine- 
Walker Congregational church, which stands 
on land donated from his farm. They are 
foremost in every good work, and to them is 
the congregation with which they are identified 
largely indebted for much of its prosperity. 

From early life Mr. Wilson has been largely 
dependent upon his own resources, and that 
he has attained an active and honorable posi- 
tion in life is due to his unfaltering fidelity and 



880 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



his promptness in meeting every obligation, 
together with the well directed industry which 
has marked his career from early childhood. 
He has many admirable qualities which com- 
mend him to the regard of all, and the commu- 
nity has many citizens who are proud to claim 
him as a friend. 



i:\T McDONALD,the popular livery 
man of Cedar Springs, Mich., so well 
known to the traveling public as well 
as the residents of the northern part 
of Kent county, is a native of Plimpton town- 
ship, province of Ontario, Canada, and was 
born July 22, 1856, the eldest in a family of 
four sons and two daughters that consti- 
tute the offspring of Alexander and Mary Jane 
(Cook) McDonald — the other five being Alex- 
ander, of Cedar Springs; Martha, widow of 
James DeCou, of the same village; James, an 
agriculturist of Sand Lake, Mich. ; Bert, pro- 
duce dealer, also of Sand Lake, and Min- 
nie, employed in the silk works at Belding. 
Alexander McDonald, the father, now a 
resident of Cedar Springs, was born near Dunn- 
ville, Canada, July 3, 1837, and is a son of 
one of the pioneers of the present New Do- 
minion, whose father, in turn, was a native 
of the Highlands of Scotland. Alexander be- 
gan his business career at the early age of ten 
years, at the annual compensation of $25, as 
a farmer's lad, with the additional privilege of 
attending school three months each year. 
From farming he drifted into lumbering, and 
so eked out his life in Canada until 1 866, when 
he came to Kent county, Mich., and pur- 
chased an eight3'-acre tract of forest land in 
Nelson township, which he has increased to 
120 acres, converting the wilderness into a 
productive and profitable farm and improving 
this with all necessary buildings for farm pur- 
poses. But in 1896 all his improvements were 



destroyed by fire, yet, nowise disheartened, he 
has replaced them all, and now enjoys an in- 
come therefrom in peace and comfort, and 
makes his home in Cedar Springs, in close 
proximity to his children. His estimable wife, 
however, was called from his companionship 
in 1S87, and bitter, indeed, was the loss. 

Levi McDonald, the subject proper of this 
biographical notice, reached Kent county, 
Mich., at the age of ten years, and until eight- 
een years old passed his life in farming and 
lumbering. He chopped wood, when mar- 
riage was prospective, in order to raise the 
funds necessary to purchase a cook-stove, and 
October 6, 1876, wedded Miss Sarah A. Bar- 
rett, who has borne him two children — Lena 
G., who graduated from the Cedar Springs 
high school in 1S98, and is now a student in 
the Muskegon Business college, where she 
will graduate the present year — 1899; Elvin, 
the second born, is a student in the eighth 
grade at the Cedar Springs school, and will 
graduate with the class of 1903. His inclina- 
tions trend toward business life. Mrs. Sarah 
A. McDonald is a native of Kent county, 
Mich., was born October 6, 1859, and is a 
daughter of Smith M. and Mercy M. (Briggs) 
Barrett, both now^ deceased. 

Mr. McDonald first engaged in the livery 
business about 1873, in partnership with 
David Walker, at Sand Lake, and this co- 
partnership was maintained ten years. He 
then devoted three years to farming, after 
which he came to Cedar Springs and re- 
engaged in the livery business. His barns con- 
tain an excellent line of rigs, comprising two 
carriages, six single rigs, one two-seat pleasure 
cutter, four single-seat cutters, several trucks, 
and ten as fine driving horses as maybe found 
in Kent county. 

In politics Mr. McDonald is a republican 
and cast his first presidental vote for Ruther- 
ford B. Hayes, and he has himself served as 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



881 



constable twelve or fourteen years, still hold- 
ing that position, and is now a member of the 
town council. In his fraternal associations, 
he is a member of Sand Lake lodge. No. 249, 
I. O. O. F., and in his business relations has 
been so affable and square in his transactions 
as to win the esteem of all who have deal- 
lings with him and socially he and family are 
honored by all who know them. 




RS. ELIZABETH J. McKENNEY, 
one of the most prominent ladies of 
Byron township, Kent county, 
Mich., and well knownas one of 
the early settlers, is possessed of remarkable 
activity for a lady of her advanced years, she 
having been born i 30 miles east of Windsor, 
Canada, April i, 1825, and this mental and 
physical activity is due, in a great measure, to 
her amiable disposition and equable temper. 
Mrs. McKenney is Jthe eldest of seven chil- 
dren—four sons and three daughters— that 
resulted from the marriage of Ebenezer and 
Sarah (McKenney) Norris, and of these children 
there are four yet living, besides Mrs. Mc- 
Kenney, namely: Nancy Maria, wife of James 
White, of Oakland, Cal. ; Ann Eliza, married to 
David Irwin, a farmer of Byron township; 
Judson, engaged in the same calling in the 
same township, and Lorenzo, a farmer in 
Clay county. Ebenezer Norris, the father of 
the above-named children, was born and 
reared in the state of New Jersey, served in 
the war of 1812, and died when his daughter, 
Elizabeth J., was quite young; his wife, Sarah, 
was a native of New York, and it was not until 
after marriage that they located in Canada. 
Mrs. Elizabeth J. McKenney was reared 
and educated in Canada, and on reaching the 
years of womanhood and discretion was pleased 
to accept as her husband Samuel McKenney, 



to whom she was married November 13, 1847, 
and to whom she bore six children — three 
sons and three daughters— but of these there 
are now only two living — Judson and Junius. 
Of these two a life-sketch of Judson is given 
in full in the closing paragraph of this sketch, 
and Junius is a prosperous farmer of Byron 
township, and prosperous because he is in- 
dustrious and enterprising. 

Samuel McKenney, the deceased husband 
of the lady whose name opens this biographical 
notice, was born in Monroe county, N. \., 
November 30, 1816, and died February 27, 
1876. In the early years of his life he was a 
salesman, but later became an agriculturist. 
In the fall of 1854, he and wife came to Byron 
township and bought eighty acres of partially 
improved land, on which there was a little frame 
shanty that served them as a habitation for 
the time being. There were no roads, save 
trails tramped out by Indians in their passage 
from their villages or camps to their trading 
posts, such as even the present city of 
Grand Rapids then was, and these red men of 
the forest frequently passed by the door of the 
McKenney dwelling. There were about fifteen 
acres of the farm cleared out from the woods, 
but eventually Mr. McKenney transformed the 
the whole place into a profitable farm, although 
he had only the primitive agricultural imple- 
ments of that early day to work with. On 
this place Mr. McKenney erected the first barn 
ever put up in Byron township, and also grew 
the first apples. There were two schools in 
that vicinity, but not a church; the village of 
Byron Center had not then been dreamed of, 
and the first postoffice was named Buck Creek. 
Mr. McKenney added to his land through 
his industry and skill as an agriculturist, and 
eventually possessed 300 acres of good farm- 
ing land. Having through these virtues earned 
a competence, he yielded to his natural im- 
pulse and tendency toward charity, and will- 



■882 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



ingly aided all enterprises that had the welfare 
of the community in view. In politics he was 
a democrat, and held the full confidence of tlie 
voters in his neij^hborhood who held the same 
political views, and by them was elected col- 
lector of taxes — a position he held for eighteen 
years — and his accurate accounting for the 
money collected resulted in his election as 
treasurer of the township. In reHgion he was 
a sincere Methodist and was a trustee of the 
church of which he was a member. So devoted 
was he to his faith, that he aided financially 
in the erection of the two churches in Byron 
Center, and in the death of the excellent 
Christian the community lost a member who 
can never be replaced by an equal. 

Mrs. McKenney's dwelling is the most 
beautiful in the township, and on thepld home- 
stead she is passing her declining years in 
peace and comfort, surrounded by many warm 
friends and her children and grandchildren. 
She is wonderfully well preserved for a lady of 
her years, and her kind and genial disposition 
makes her beloved by all her neighbors, who 
delight in her conversation and enjoy her 
pleasant companionship. 

Judson McKenney, to whom allusion has 
been made in a foregoing paragraph, was born 
near \\'indsor, Canada, May 15, 1853, and is 
a son of the late Samuel McKenney and his 
wife, Mrs. Elizabeth J. McKenney, of whom a 
life-sketch is given in full above. He was ed- 
ucated in the common schools and has been 
reared to agricultural pursuits and stock rais- 
ing, and has passed his life since infancy in 
Byron township, K.ent county, Mich. Febru- 
ary 2, 1885, he married Miss Clara S. Gould, 
who was born in Hillsdale county, Mich., 
March 23, 1863, a daughter of Nelson and 
Sarah (Haven) Gould, who were parents of 
four sons and five daughters — all residents of 
Michigan, with the exception of three, viz: 
George, a landlord at Eyota, Minn. ; Endress, 



who is married and resides in La Crosse, Wis., 
and Emmet, a mechanic at Chicago, 111. Mrs. 
Clara S. McKenney has been a resident of 
Kent county since a child and was here edu- 
cated in the common schools. 

Judson McKenney is a democrat and cast 
his first presidential vote for Samuel J. Tilden 
in 1876. He has represented his party in 
county conventions, and has served two consec- 
utive terms as township treasurer — indicative 
of the confidence reposed in him b\' his fellow- 
citizens. Mr. and Mrs. McKenney are both 
ardent friends of the public schools, and Mr. 
McKenney, although a heavy tax-payer, but 
with no children to educate, was largely in- 
strumental in causing the erection of the tasty 
brick school-house in district No. i, which 
speaks well for his generosity toward the 
cause of the education of the masses. 

Fraternally, Mr. McKenney is a member of 
Halcyon lodge. No. 244. I. O. O. F., and has 
passed all the chairs, and Mrs. McKenney of 
Rebekah lodge. No. 171, of which she has been 
an officer. They have aided liberally toward 
the erection of both churches of Byron Center 
— the Methodist Episcopal and Adventist — and 
have contributed to all other benevolences 
worthy of their consideration. Their farm 
comprises 120 acres of clay-loam soil, adapted 
to the cultivation of all the products peculiar 
to the southern peninsula of Michigan. They 
are kind and benevolent in disposition, and 
have adopted as their own a little girl, Hattie 
Wolfe, who was born in Ottawa county, and 
whose parents were called away when she was 
but four years of age. She has been reared 
with tender care, has received a good practical 
education, including instruction on the organ 
and piano, and she is herself a teacher of these 
instruments. She fully appreciates the kind- 
ness of Mr. and Mrs. McKenney and her pleas- 
ant home, and does all in her power to recip- 
rocate their affection and love. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



883 



UNIUS McKEXXEY, a prosperous 
farmer of 'Byron Center, Kent county, 
Mich., is the second son of Samuel 
and Elizabeth (Norris) McKenney, 
and was born in Belmont, Canada, May 21, 
1854. He was but a child when brought to 
Michigan by his parents, and here he was 
educated in the common schools and reared 
to farming. 

October 31, 1876, Junius McKenney mar- 
ried Miss Dora E. Brudi, the result of this 
union being five sons and four daughters, of 
whom the following named still survive: 
Ernest, who graduated in the class of 1897 
from the Byron Cenier public schools, and 
has a tendency for railroading; Stanley, who 
graduated in 1900; Valma, now in the eighth 
grade and taking lessons in music; Ora E., in 
the seventh grade; Hazel, in the same; Vera, 
in the sixth, and Duane, in the third grade. 

Mrs. Dora E. McKenney was born in Kent 
county March i, 1859, and is a daughter of 
John and Mary (Felling) Brudi, who were the 
parents of one son and five daughters, of 
whom four daughters are yet livmg. Mr. Brudi 
was born in Germany, came to America when 
a young man, was shipwrecked ofT the coast of 
Rhode Island, but happily reached shore in 
safety. He was poor, but very industrious, 
and was a natural-born mathematician. On 
reaching Byron township he was able to pur- 
chase a tract of land in the wilderness, and 
was classed among the pioneers. His first 
dwelling here was of the old-fashioned style, 
but this he remodeled and repaired ; he cleared 
up his land, cultivated it thoroughly, and 
prospered. In politics he was a democrat. In 
religion he was a Lutheran, and in this faith 
he died in 1882, honored by all who knew him. 
him. His wife, who was also a native of Ger- 
many, is still living. 

Mrs. McKenney was educated in the com- 
mon schools, passed through the entire cur- 



riculum and secured a certificate qualifying 
her as a teacher. She has been a valuable 
helpmate to her husband, and is most highly 
respected wherever she is known. 

In politics Mr. McKenney is a democrat, 
with strong temperance proclivities. His first 
presidential vote was cast for Samuel J. Til- 
den, but he has never been an office-seeker. 
He and wife are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church at Byron Center, about 
three-quarters of a mile west of which vil- 
lage they have their cozy residence and well- 
improved farm, the latter giving every indica- 
tion of thrift and care. They rank with the 
better class of the residents of Byron township 
and enjoy the esteem of all. 




ETER McLEAX is one of the oldest 
residents of the township of Ada and 
few people of Kent county are as 
widely and favorably known as he. 
He is descended from sterling Scotch ancestry,, 
and although in his eighty-fourth year is still 
hale and hearty, possessing in a marked de- 
gree his faculties, physical and mental, and 
bids fair to reach the advanced age of his 
father, who departed this life after rounding 
out eighty-six years. Mr. McLean's family 
for many generations was characterized by re- 
markable longevity, a number of his ancest- 
ors, including his grandmother, having been 
centenarians. 

Daniel McLean, who was born in .Argyl- 
shire in 1777, grew to manhood on his native 
heath and then came to the United States 
about 1800, locating in what is now Livings- 
ton county, N. Y. , then the county of Gene- 
see, where he lived the life of a tiller of the 
soil until his death in 1863. His wife, whose 
family name was Elizabeth McGregor, bore 
him eight children, among whom was the sub- 
ject of this sketch, whose birth occurred in the 



S84 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



countj' of Genesee, N. Y., on the i ith day of 
December, 1815. 

Peter McLean, of this sketch, received a 
good education in the schools of Caledonia, N. 
Y. , and for a period of eighteen years followed 
the profession of teaching. In 1839 he re- 
moved to Jackson, Mich., where he continued 
to teach and where he made his home until 
1843, at which date he became a resident of 
Kent county, and continued to teach for four 
winters. He took up a tract of government 
land in Ada township, of which he was one of 
the first permanent settlers. This land was- 
at the time just as nature made it, covered 
with a dense forest growth, the greater part of 
which was in due time removed and the soil 
fitted for cultivation by the strong arms of Mr. 
McLean, who worked early and late in order 
to prepare a comfortable home for himself and 
his posterity. He added to the original pur- 
chase from time to time, and as the years went 
by succeeded in accumulating a large landed 
estate, which increased steadily in value until 
tinalK' it became one of the wealthiest and 
most prosperous farms of the county. He 
followed agricultural pursuits until advancing 
age compelled him to cease active labor, and 
since 1882 has been living a life of retirement, 
enjoying the fruits of his many years of indus- 
try and thrift, and the rest of which only those 
who have battled long and successfully with 
the world know how to appreciate. 

Mr. McLean was united in marriage in 
Jackson county, December 19, 1839, to Miss 
Margaret Holcomb, of New York, a union 
blessed with the birth of four children: Daniel 
W., who was a soldier in the Civil war, died 
in 1896, aged fifty-eight years; Edgar B. died 
when thirteen years old; Eliza and Nancy M., 
both married. The mother of this family died 
December 25, 1884, after nearly sixty years of 
married life. 

Mr. McLean has served as a member of 



the board of supervisors, is a representative 
democrat of the old school, and, regardless of 
political affiliation, is highly respected and 
honored by all who know him, which of course 
means the entire population of his own and 
adjacent townships. Inheriting the strong 
physique and admirable mental and moral 
traits of his rugged ancestry, having lived a 
temperate life in which have been exemplified 
the principle of the Golden Rule, and possess- 
ing in full measure the love and confidence of 
hosts of neighbors and friends, it is the hope 
and prajer of all that he may yet be allotted 
many years in which to complete his journey 
to the silent land. 



R.ANKLIN McNITT, for almost half a 
century, has been a resident of Ivent 
county, Mich., and the changes he 
has witnessed during these five dec- 
ades have been marvelous in the extreme. 
He was born in Niagara county, N. Y. , August 
9, 1827, the thirteenth in a family of sixteen 
children — nine sons and seven daughters — that 
once completed the family of Benjamin and 
Rebecca (Rice) McNitt, but of whom one only 
is now living, Franklin. 

Benjamin McNitt was born in Sullivan 
county, N. Y. , December 19, 1781 (eighteen 
years before the death of George Washington), 
and was a son of a native of Scotland, who 
fought in the colonial war with the French and 
Indians. Benjamin was a hero of the war 
of 1 81 2, and politically was a great admirer of 
Andrew Jackson. He accumulated consider- 
able property and died in Cayuga county, 
N. Y., December 21, 1851, a member of the 
Presbyterian church, and his wife, who was 
born in Cayuga county in 1789, died in that 
county in 1843. 

Franklin McNitt passed the first twenty- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



885 



five years of his life in his native state and 
then lived a few N-ears in Ohio, where he mar- 
ried, September 19, '1852, Miss Martha Smjth, 
a native of Sandusky county. This niarriag;e 
has been graced with eight children, born in 
the following order: Alice F. , who graduated 
at the age of fifteen years and at that young 
age began teaching; she is now the wife of J. 
K. Harrison, a merchant of Lisbon, Mich., and 
is the mother of two sons and one daughter. 
Henry A. McNitt, the second child of Franklin 
and wife, was educated in the Lisbon graded 
schools, for some time taught school himself 
in Tyrone township, Kent county, and Cas- 
novia township, and also in the state of 
Nebraska, where he married Miss Addie 
Pontzius, and is now the father of four chil- 
dren; he now resides in Trent, Muskegon 
county, Mich., and by occupation is an agri- 
culturist. Clara J. is the third child born to 
Franklin; she was educated in the Lisbon high 
school, also in Muskegon, Kent and Ottawa 
counties, and now resides in Northviile, Wayne 
count}-, widow of William P. Sessions and the 
mother of two children. Edith L. , the fourth 
child of Franklin McNitt and wife, is the wife 
of George S. Chubb, also an agriculturist, who 
makes his home in Grand Rapids to avail him- 
self of the educational advantages there 
afforded to his two daughters, Agnes and 
Lynne, who will graduate from the high school 
in the class of 1899, Mrs. Chubb having also 
been a teacher in Ottawa county. M. Seward, 
the fifth child, was educated in the Lisbon 
high school and also at the Grand Rapids 
Commercial college; he was for a number of 
years a merchant of Byron Center, where he 
now owns a large evaporator and is also en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits; he married Miss 
Flora Bacon, who has borne him two children, 
Roland and Reginald DeKovan; Dora M., the 
sixth child, who graduated from the Lisbon 
high school, has taught successfully in Kent, 



Newaygo and Muskegon counties, and is now 
teaching in Ottawa county. Eva L., the sev- 
enth in order of birth, is the wife of Prof. C. 
C. Freeman, who has for eight years past been 
principal of the Lake Odessa schools; she 
was graduated from the Lisbon high 
school in the class of 1887, and for sev- 
eral years was a teacher in Kent county. 
Verner E., now at home in charge of the 
farm, graduated from the Lisbon high school 
in the class of 1891, with a percentage of 
ninety-five in the entire curriculum, including 
arithmetic, grammar, geograph}', bookkeep- 
ing, pliysical geography, elementary algebra, 
physiology. United States history, science of 
arithmetic, civil government, plane geometry, 
general history, rhetoric, and also English 
history — the latter not in the course proper. 
He was giVen a teacher's certificate, but has 
preferred to adhere to agriculture. 

Mrs. Martha McNitt was born September 
12, 1830, and is a daughter of David and 
Hannah (Ames) Smith, the former a native of 
New York and the latter of Vermont, and of 
their family of ten children, three sons and 
Mrs. McNitt still survive; of these Reason is a 
farmer of Sandusky county, Ohio; Harrison is 
a farmer of DeKalb county, III., and Charley 
I. is a millwright of Toledo, Ohio. October 
I, 1855, Mr. and Mrs. McNitt came to Mich- 
igan and purchased 160 acres of timber land 
in Wright township, Ottawa county, where ten 
acres were cleared and twenty acres in slashes. 
They remained there five years, when Mr. Mc- 
Nitt traded his place for 160 acres of timbered 
land in Boone township, where he lived in a 
log cabin two and a half years; he then sold 
and purchased in Sparta township, Kent 
county, 1 10 acres, thirty only of which were 
cleared. He has lived in a log cabin in this 
township, has seen deer and bear in abund- 
ance, and Indians passing in large numbers to 
and from the trading post of Grand Rapids, 



886 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



which village of 6,000 he has seen grow- to a 
city of over 98,000 population. There were 
then no railroads in the countj', an3 Mr. 
and Mrs. McNitt came here by stage-coach 
from Kalamazoo. He has seen Canal street 
in the city when it was a perfect mud-hole. 
Great honor is due to these worthy pioneers, 
who left their comfortable homes in the 
east to come to the wilds of Michigan to carve 
out beautiful and prosperous homes and fit the 
country for the abode of civilized man. Lis- 
bon, in Ottawa county, now an old town and 
great business center, with three schools, saw- 
mills, good stores and four stages per day 
through from Sparta, was nothing at that 
time; the highway in front of Mr. McNitt's was 
and is the state road and a great thorough- 
fare for freight and traffic, was then used by a 
few travelers, and he has seen Sparta town- 
ship develop from a wilderness into one of 
the finest townships in the county, and in 
bringing about this desirable condition of 
affairs he has done his full share, both in 
Lisbon and Sparta, having been the originator 
of the new cemetery at Lisbon and the found- 
er of the Lisbon graded schools. 

Mr. McNitt cast his first presidential vote 
for Martin VanBuren, and he also voted for 
Lincoln and Garfield, and was one of the 
brave men that Michigan sent to the front dur- 
ing the Civil war. He enlisted in company 
E, Fifteenth Michigan volunteer infantry, at 
Grand Rapids, served under Gen. William 
T. Sherman, and was at Hart's Island, Long 
Island sound, with his company, when the 
joyful tidings came to hand that Gen. Robert 
E. Lee had surrendered. He also took part 
in the grand review at Washington, D. C. , and 
was honorably discharged .\ugust 15, 1865. 

Mr. McNitt has led a religious and upright 
life and materially aided in the erection of the 
Baptist church at Lisbon. He, wife and 
family, are amongst the better class of resi- 



dents of Sparta township and stand on a verj- 
high plane in social circles, enjoying the un- 
feigned esteem of the entire population. 



1863. 



D. McQueen, veterinary surgeon 
and proprietor of a feed and liver}' 
stable in Lowell, was born in Port 
Dover, Ontario, on the 28th of June, 
He is a son of Alexander and Margery 



(Sidway) McQueen, the parents of three sons 
and four daughters. The father was born in 
Port Dover, June 15, 1839. He began life as 
an agriculturist, and is now the proprietor of a 
hotel and livery barn. He is the parent of 
seven children, two of whom are dead — Eliza- 
beth and Susan — and five living, viz: Alex- 
ander D., Bruce D., Libbie, Essie, and E. D. 
McQueen. 

E. D. McQueen was reared at Port Dover, 
Ontario. He attended the Port Dover high 
school and graduated from both the Chatham 
Business college and the Ontario Veterinary 
college in 1S88. He at once began the prac- 
tice of his present profession at Lowell, Mich., 
on the 13th of September, 1888, where he 
has followed his profession ever since. 

He was married on the ist of October, 
1890, to Miss Mattie M. Perrin, daughter of 
William P. Perrin, and two little sons have 
been born to this union: Edmon Perrin and 
Bruce Alexander. 

In March, 1893, Dr. McQueen purchased a 
livery and feed stable, to which he has since 
devoted a part of his attention. He is now 
the owner of one of the best livery stables in 
the city, and has a large and prosperous busi- 
ness. In politics Dr. Mc(Jueen is a democrat, 
and stands prominently in favor of his party, 
but so far has never sought official positions, 
preferring to devote his attention to his busi- 
ness interests. 

Mrs. McQueen is a respected member of 



I 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



887 



the Congregational church and a devout Chris- 
tian. Socially the family are highly esteemed, 
and Dr. McQueen bears a first-class reputation 
as an industrious,- temperate and upright gen- 
tleman, and because of his skill in his profes- 
sion, and tact in business, he stands eminent 
among men and enjoys the esteem of a large 
circle of warm-hearted friends and the cor- 
dial respect of liis neighbors. Fraternally 
he is a member of the F. & A. M. lodge, No. 
90, also the ICnights of the Loyal Guards, at 
Lowell, Mich. 



UTHER KNOWLTON MADISON, 
formerly a resident of I\ent county for 
half a century, dying November 11, 
1896, though never specially prom- 
inent in public life, had probably as wide a 
circle of friends as any man who lived in the 
town of Grattan, of which he was a pioneer. 
He was born April 16, T824, at the old- 
fashioned New Hampshire \illage of Hill, 
Merrimac county, lying a few miles north of 
Concord, and on the Pemigewasset river, which 
flows from the never-failing springs of the 
White mountains. His parents were Luther 
K. and Rebecca (Holt) Madison, both of 
whom represented ancient New England fam- 
ilies, who have not been lacking in the pro- 
duction of men somewhat eminent in the his- 
tory of our nation. Col. Luther K. Madison, 
as he was known from connection with the 
militia organizations of both his native and 
his adopted states, was a man of large capac- 
ity and popularity. The records of his old 
home repeatedly mention him as filling those 
various local offices such as selectman or rep- 
resentative to the general court and shows 
him to have stood in highest esteem among 
his fellows. 

When the subject of this sketch was 
yet an infant in arms, he was brought across 

46 



the Green mountains by his parents, who 
established themselves at the then growing 
young city of Rochester, N. Y. The first 
directory of that city, published in 1828, 
gives Col. Madison as a hotel proprietor and 
dealer in produce. The Erie canal had 
just been completed that far, and he became 
identified with its traffic, then assuming im- 
mense proportions. The completion of the 
canal to Buffalo afforded easy access to 
the west. The tide of emigration being then to 
Michigan, he in 1830 joined the flood and for 
a time was in business in Detroit, soon, how- 
ever, settling at Utica, Macomb county, where 
for many years he conducted a popular hos- 
telry. He remained at Utica until toward the 
close of life, when both he and wife joined 
their sons in Grattan, where he died Sep- 
tember 15, i860, in his si.xty-eighth year, 
having survived his companion, who preceded 
him on the 8th of June, 1856. They were 
laid to rest in a spot selected by themselves, 
overlooking the beautiful lake that bordered 
their son's farm; but when that home passed 
into other hands their bodies were transferred 
to the cemetery at Grattan, several of their 
descendants having since been laid beside 
them. Their children were Rebecca, Mary 
Eleanor, Custus, Brooks W. B., Luther K., 
and Elizabeth, the latter being the only sur- 
vivor at the close of the century. 

Luther K. Madison was married August 31, 
1845, to Lydia Wickwire, and in 1846 accom- 
panied his brother Brooks to Grattan, securing 
land of the government that is embraced in 
the old homestead, now owned by his son, 
Cass B. His first habitation was the usual small 
log house, with mud and stick chimney, home- 
made in its every appointment, even to its 
doors, or shelves on pegs for the accommoda- 
tion of the household ware. He would often 
shoot deer without leaving his own dooryard; 
thus, with the forest affording abundant game 



888 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and honey, the lakes supplying fish in profusion, 
there were many comforts, and what would 
now be considered luxuries, to offset the many 
disadvantages of pioneer life. In a few years 
he had cleared a valuable farm and erected the 
house still standing near the village. His busi- 
ness was almost wholly confined to agriculture, 
though the bent of mind was more to commer- 
cial pursuits. His latter years, after the death 
of his companion, July 22, 1882, were largely 
passed at his village home, though he made 
several trips into Dakota, where some of his 
children lived. Always a democrat, he was 
outspoken in expression of opinion and cared 
little who was cut by his biting sarcasm. He 
was grand master of invective, and woe be- 
tide the unfortunate one who aroused his aver- 
sion. He was equally strong in his likes or 
dislikes; was an ardent friend or defiant enemy. 
There was little that was soft or pliable in his 
nature, but much of the rugged, sturdy char- 
acter of the Pilgrim ancestry. However, he 
was at his best when, in company with con- 
genial spirits, the hours would pass in jest or 
repartee, in which he was an adept, or possibly a 
game of "Old Sledge'' would afford the means 
of a tightening of the bonds of friendship. 

In early life he had often taken part in 
private theatricals, and his portrayal of 
Falstaffian character never failed to please. 
The writer of this memoir recalls the first 
dramatic presentation he ever saw, its principal 
scenes being indelibly impressed upon mem- 
ory's tablets mainly through his admirable 
rendition of the principal part. He knew 
Shakespeare as few, even of professedly well 
read readers, know him; and in every emer- 
gency of life was ready with an apt quotation 
that seemed to come to him without an effort 
of memory. His own thoughts often sought 
expression in rhyme that in many instances 
breathed true poetic spirit. His was a spirit 
not be tied to earth by the drudgery of daily 



toil but aspired to a closer touch with nature 
in her tenderer moods. He recognized the 
hand of the Great Maker of all in every blade 
of grass or waving bough; but was not tied to 
man-made creed in his religion, which was as 
broad as time and as deep as eternity. 

His rougher aspect was not all on the out- 
side, for he never forgave an injury or forgot 
a wrong; but the better side showed a heart as 
tender as a baby's and a sympathy not tram- 
meled by conventionality. 

But once in a generation does a single com- 
munity have such a man, who was cast in a 
distinct mold. He was far from perfect; but 
the better far outweighed the worser na- 
ture. It took years to know him, and often 
his friends who thought they knew him best 
were farthest from a true conception of his 
character. 

Though destiny had shaped for him a lim- 
ited course and his aspirations were circum- 
scribed, so that he filled but a humble 
sphere, his influence survives him and the 
world is better by his having lived. 




DWARD O. MAINS, attorney and 
counselor at law, at Lowell, Kent 
county, Mich., is one of a family 
of eight children born to J. and 
Mary (Ball) Mains, and dates his birth from 
the 15th day of January, 1868. The father, 
a native of New York, and a farmer by occu- 
pation, was born on Grand Isle in the year 
1838, and with his wife is still living. 

Edward O. Mains was reared to manhood 
on his father's farm in Calhoun county, Mich., 
and in common with the majority of country 
boys received his educational training in such 
schools as the country afforded. 

While still young he manifested a strong 
desire for the law and determined to devote 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



889 



his life to the profession. At the age of 
twenty-two he entered the office of Mains & 
Mains, Albion, Mich., where he made rapid 
progress in his legal studies, and in due time 
was admitted to the Calhoun' county bar by 
Judge Clemens C. Smith. Edward O. Mains 
began the practice of his profession at Albion, 
where he maintained an office for a period of 
six months, and then located in Lowell, where 
his energy and well-known legal attainments 
have gained for him the favorable notice of 
the public and a patronage professionally and 
financially encouraging. Mr. Mains is the pos- 
sessor of a large, valuable and remarkably well 
assorted law library, and, suffice it to say, he 
spends much time in persuing his many volumes 
and adding to his store of legal learning. He is 
a careful student, well-grounded in the profes- 
sion, and possesses the ability to apply skill- 
fully legal principles to cases in which he is 
retained as counsel. His practice embraces 
a wide range of business in the courts of Kent 
county, and he is considered a safe and judi- 
cious counselor, numbering among his clients 
some of the best people of the city and com- 
munity in which he lives. 

Mr. Mains has for years been a careful 
student of political questions, and prior to the 
campaign of 1896 acted in harmony with the 
republican party. After an intelligent and 
exhausting investigation of the financial ques- 
tion which formed the political issue of that 
year, his views underwent a radical change, 
and while not in harmony with every plank 
of the democratic platform, he is inclined to 
accept the free coinage of silver, as the logical 
way in which our monetary problem may be 
satisfactorily solved. 

Mr. Mains was united in marriage Novem- 
ber 9, 1887, to Miss Bell C. Curtis, of Ionia, 
Mich., daughter of Sheldon R. Curtis, a union 
blessed with the birth of three children, viz: 
Curtis E., Grace L. and Oral. 



B.MALCOLM, M. D., is a well-known 
physician and surgeon of Kent county, 
who for a period of thirty years has 
successfully practiced his profession in 
the city of Lowell. He is one of a family of 
seven children born to James H. and Elvira 
(Fairchild) Malcolm — the father a native of 
Scotland and the mother of Canada. 

James H. Malcolm was taken to Canada 
by his parents when three years of age, grew 
to manhood there, and for a number of years 
was one of the leading lawyers of the do- 
minion of Canada. He also acquired some 
distinction in the military service of the war 
of 1837, during the progress of which he took 
part in several campaigns and participated in 
a number 'of the most hotly contested battles. 
He died in Canada in the year 1869; his wife 
preceded him to the grave, departing this life 
in 1847. 

Dr. I. B. Malcolm was born in Canada, 
and in the common schools acquired his ele- 
mentary education. Before attaining his ma- 
jority he taught several terms of school, and 
in 1864 entered the Eclectic Medical college, 
of Philadelphia, where he pursued his profes- 
sional studies for a period of three years, grad- 
uating in the fall of 1867. The year following 
his graduation Dr. Malcolm spent at his old 
home, practicing and studying, and in 1869 he 
located in Lowell, where he has since remained, 
his pronounced ability and the close attention 
which he has given to his business having, in 
the meantime, enabled him to build up a very 
large and lucrative practice. 

The doctor is a close student of his profes- 
sion, and his progressive spirit prompts him 
to keep in close touch with the advancement 
which is being continually made by the repre- 
sentatives of medical science. Neglect of 
patients can never be charged to his account, 
and in the performance of each day's duties 
he finds inspiration and strength for the labors 



890 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



of the next. These sterhng quahties of the 
successful physician have not only brought him 
a large practice, but have won him the confi- 
dence and commendation of the profession, 
and he holds marked pres'tige among the med- 
ical fraternity, not only of Lowell, but of other 
populous centers of Ivent county. The doctor 
is a politician of influence in Lowell, a leader of 
the democratic party, but in no sense an 
aspirant for the honors or emoluments of office. 
He has a beautiful and comfortable home, 
presided over by his wife, whose maiden name 
was Abbie Odell, daughter of Orlando J. 
Odell, of New York, but for some years 
a citizen of the county of Kent. Dr. and Mrs. 
Malcolm have been blessed with two children, 
both daughters, I^elle and Freda. 




ISS RAE MALCOLM.— In civiliza- 
tion the greatest prosperity is at- 
tained by adaptation to the en- 
vironments necessitated by the in- 
creasing density of population and taking ad- 
vantage of opportunities which in former 
years did not present themselves to the young 
man or woman now standing on the threshold 
of life, with the great world beckoning them to 
participation in its affairs. In previous years 
woman at best was considered as man's help- 
mate, a little inferior to the liege lord in the 
domestic economy, with all avenues to useful- 
ness in the learned professions and the ma- 
jority of ordinary vocations closed against her. 
With the dawn of a new era a change mighty 
and well nigh universal has been ushered in, 
and now all avenues in secular and religious 
life have been thrown wide open to her, with 
the word " welcome " on every threshold. She 
has not been slow to seize the opportunities 
thus presented, and to-day she is found repre- 
sented in nearly all of the learned professions, 
besides occupying positions in the commercial 



and industrial world which for ages man alone 
was deemed competent to fill. 

The thriving town of Lowell, keeping pace 
with cities and villages of the great west, has 
its full complement of intelligent and refined 
ladies occupying positions of trust and profit, 
and others managing enterprises, the success 
and prosperity of which depend altogether 
upon their sagacity and executive ability. 

Among these may be enumerated the 
young lady whose name introduces this bio- 
graphical sketch, who for some time has been 
proprietress and personal manager of the 
Lowell Art studio, one of the successful busi- 
ness enterprises of the town. 

Miss Rae Malcolm is one of the ten chil- 
dren born to James and Elizabeth (Stephens) 
Malcolm, the father a native of Canada, born 
on the 23rd day of August, 1828. James Mal- 
colm in his youth learned the carpenter and 
millwright trades, both of which he followed 
for a number of years in his native country, 
but later, on becoming a resident of Michigan, 
turned his attention to agricultural pursuits 
and was one of the prosperous farmers of Kent 
county. Elizabeth Malcolm, a woman of 
many virtues and most exetnplary life, after 
rearing well her large family, and doing nobly 
her part in promoting the interests of her hus- 
band, was called away by death on the 4th 
August, 1 888. 

Rae Malcolm was born and reared in the 
county of Ottawa, attended the public schools, 
and, while still young in years, determined to 
prepare herself for life's conflict and not to be 
dependent upon any one's bounty for main- 
tenance. Accordingl}-, she began the study of 
photography in all its branches in the well- 
known art studio of O. A. Gillett, of Grand 
Rapids, where, by close application and de- 
termination to succeed, she made substantial 
progress and soon earned the distinction of be- 
ing one of the most skillful and competent op- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



891 



erators in that city. Possessing natural abili- 
ties as an artist and thoroughly in love with 
the profession, Miss Malcolm was not long. in 
coming to the front, and immediately after 
completing a full apprenticeship of nearly six 
years, opened her present studio in Lowell in 
1S97. Since locating here she has obtained a 
liberal share of patronage in her line, and by 
reason of turning out first-class work is rapidly 
growing in public favor as an artist of excep- 
tional ability. Her work is her own best 
recommendation, and there is every reason to 
bespeak for her a future of great promise. 

October 18, 1899, Miss Rae Malcolm was 
united in marriage with Thomas A. Murphy, a 
merchant of Lowell and a native of Kent 
county. He received his business education at 
Swensberg's Business college, in Grand Rapids, 
and was reared in the faith of the Catholic 
church, to the faith of which he is a firm ad- 
herent. 

Mrs. Murphy will continue the practice of 
her art, and will still be found by her many 
patrons at her neat and tasty studio, and will 
still hold her enviable position in the social 
circles of Lowell, where she has so many warm 
and influential friends. 



HARLES M. MANN, a well-known 
stock-raiser and agriculturist of 
Courtland township, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of New York city, 
although he was reared to manhood in Onta- 
rio county, N. Y. He was born April 24, 
1839, and is the only child of Martin J. and 
Diadama (Cronk) Mann. His father was born 
in Connecticut about 1799 and was a wagon- 
maker by trade. His life was spent mainly in 
New York, where his death took place in 1841. 
His wife was born in New York in 1S07, and 
she survived her husband for upwards of thir- 
ty years, dying in 1870. 



Charles M. Mann lived in Ontario count)', 
N. Y., until the spring of 1868, when he came 
to Michigan, and purchased eighty acres of land 
in Courtland township, Kent county. Prior 
to his coming he had married, September 17, 
i86r. Miss Adaline Hand, who was born Jan- 
uary I, 1845. She is the daughter of Rich- 
ard and Elzina(Lusk) Hand, who were the par- 
ents of three children: Lucy, now the wife 
of Charles Brooks, a farmer of Monroe coun- 
ty, N. Y. ; Elzina, and Jennie, wife of George 
Morgan, a farmer of the town of Cannon, 
■ Kent county, Mich. Mrs. Mann is a lady of 
liberal education, having attended besides the 
common schools, the Pennfield (N. Y.) sem- 
inary and having taught in the Empire state 
for some time previous to her marriage. Her 
father, who was a native of New York, was a 
fruit grower by vocation and in politics a re- 
publican. He died in 1850, at the age of 
forty-eight years. Her mother died in Kent 
county, Mich., in February, 1896, but her re- 
mains lie interred beside those of her husband, 
in the state of New York. Of the four chil- 
dren born to Mr. Mann and wife two only are 
now living, viz: Evelyn, now at home, and 
Martin, who assists his father in the conduct 
of the home farm. 

When Mr. Mann began life in Courtland 
township he had, as has been stated, but 
eighty acres of land; his farm now contains 
160 acres, excellently improved with fine resi- 
dence and barns, all indicating thrift and pros- 
perity. He has been successful as a breeder 
of Merino sheep, having begun this special in- 
dustry in 1885 with one ram and three ewes. 
His flock now numbers 120, of which ten rams 
and fifty ewes are registered. He has thor- 
oughly informed himself on sheep breeding by 
experience and observation and by reading the 
standard authorities on the subject. He has 
for years been a subscriber to these reputable 
journals, the Chicago American Sheep Breeder 



892 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and Grower, and the Michigan Farmer, the re- 
sult showing in the excellence and fine quali- 
ties of his flocks. He is much interested in 
fruit growing, and in his orchard are about 
2,000 peach trees, embracing the following 
choice varieties: Gold Drop, Crosby and Al- 
berta; also about 450 bearing plum trees. 

In politics Mr. Mann is a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for Abraham 
Lincoln in i860. He has twice served the 
township as supervisor, leaving the office with 
a reputation as a safe man to attend to the 
public business. He and wife are members of. 
the Rockford grange. Patrons of Husbandry, 
believing that the practice of the noble prin- 
ciples of the order would redound to the bet- 
terment of all. No residents of Courtland are 
held in more respect than they, hosts of warm 
personal friends attesting to the many ex- 
cellencies of head and heart that distinguish 
them. 




RANI-: J. MASON, one of the enter- 
prising and thorough-going farmers of 
Courtland township, owns and occu- 
pies 240 acres of good land. As the 
representative of a prominent and highly re- 
spected family and as a man who, aside from 
family relations, stands high in his locality, it 
is fitting that personal mention be made of 
him in this compendium. 

Frank J. Mason was born in Grattan, 
Mich., July 9, 1850, being the eldest in a fam- 
ily of five children born to Salsbury and Phebe 
(Cusser) Mason, four of whom are yet living 
in Kent county, viz; P^rankJ.; Glenn, a_book- 
keeper in Grand Rapids; Ella, living at home, 
and Eva, the wife of O. E. Belding, secre- 
tary of building & loan association at Grand 
Rapids. 

Salsbury Mason was a native of New 



York, born in 1820 and died in 1881. From 
his boyhood his energies were devoted to ag- 
ricultual pursuits. He first located in Grattan 
township, Kent county, Mich., purchasing 
from the state 120 acres of land, and became 
prosperous and influential. He removed to \N'y- 
oming township in 1S66, there residing the re- 
mainder of his days. Politically, in his earlier 
life a whig, he adopted republican principles 
at the rise of that party. Wherever known 
he was respected, and was a benefactor to his 
community, engaging with vigor in all that 
tended to the betterment of human life. He 
served as supervisor and treasurer, and was 
ever a friend of the public schools. 

The mother is also a native of New York, 
born on the loth of May, 1830, and reared 
and educated in her native state. She now 
resides in Wyoming township and possesses a 
remarkably well preserved mentality and phy- 
sique for a woman of nearly seventj' years. 

Mr. Mason, of this review, until his ma- 
jority, like most boys devoted his time and 
labor to the family advantage. He is the 
possessor of a fair education, which he acquired 
in the common school of his native county. 
He has since endeavored to further his educa- 
tion by the selection and reading of the best 
literature. 

On November 3, 1S74, his wedding to Miss 
Lizzie Knight was celebrated Mrs. Mason 
was born in Greenville, Montcalm county, 
Mich., March 25, 1857, and is the youngest 
in a family of three children born to Benjamin 
and Sobrina (Rossman) Knight. She was 
reared in Montcalm county until five years of 
age, when she was taken to Oakland count}', 
and was educated in the schools at Rochester. 
Her father was a native of Maine, and died 
while still engaged in his life's vocation of a 
farmer in Oakland county, Mich. Her mother 
was born, reared, and educated in New York. 
She has a brother, Payne, who is an agri- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



893 



culturist of Owosso, Mich., and who has spent 
many years as a teacher and merchant; and a 
sister, Mary, now widow of Benjamin Rice. 

Mr. and Mrs. Mason began at the lowest 
round of the ladder of life, as renters on the 
farm of Judge Burlingame in Wyoming town- 
ship, which they leased for three years, and 
then bought i6o acres in section 13, of Court- 
land township, of partly improved land. They 
went in debt to the amount of $1,800, but by 
their economy and industry have not only paid 
for this tract, but have added eighty acres 
more, all free from mortgage or debt. 

Mr. Mason, in his politics, is a sound- 
money republican and cast his first vote for 
Ulysses S. Grant. Officially he was elected 
township treasurer in 1892 and re-elected in 
1893. In 1898 he was elected justice of the 
peace and is the present occupant of that office. 
Fraternally he is a member of Rockford lodge, 
No. 246, F. & A. M., and of the Maccabees, 
Evans tent. No. 785. Mrs. Mason is an 
esteemed member of Edgerton hive, No. 576, 
L. O. T. M., and both are influential in Venus 
chapter, O. E. S. , at Grattan. Mr. Mason has 
done much in the development of his town- 
ship and is a man of sterling worth, honorable 
and upright in all his dealings, and he has, 
during his almost half a century of life in Kent 
county, won a host of friends. Of three chil- 
dren born to them two survive — Earl and 
Maud V. 




HRISTIAN J. MANN, a pioneer agri- 
culturist of Sparta township, Kent 
county, Mich., and a valiant e.\- 
soldier of the Civil war, was born ten 
miles east of Buffalo, in Erie county, N. Y., 
August 12, 1834, and is the youngest of three 
sons and one daughter that constitute the 
family of Jacob and Elizabeth K. Mann — one 



of the children being now deceased and the 
survivors being Elizabeth, still residing on the 
homestead in Erie count}' and the widow of 
Jacob Young; Jacob F., postmaster at Lisbon, 
Mich., and a merchant of that town, and 
Christian J., our subject. 

Jacob Mann, the father, was a native of 
German}', as was also his wife, and came to 
the United States about 1833, and settled on 
a farm in Erie county, N. Y. , where the father 
died when subject was one year old and the 
mother when he was eleven. 

Christian J. Mann being thus left an orphan 
at a tender age, obtained his education chiefly 
through his own exertions and in the same 
manner made his living. Until 1857 he re- 
mained in his native county and state and then 
came to I\ent county, Mich., reaching Grand 
Rapids by stage. Canal and Monroe streets, 
in the then trading post, were in quite an un- 
developed condition, mud continually stalled 
loaded and unloaded teams, and not a railroad 
was in or near the city, although Indians were 
numerous. From Grand Rapids, Mr. Mann 
went to Lisbon, in Ottawa county, prepaying 
his fare by stage or lumber wagon, but he 
had frequently to alight to help the driver to 
pry the vehicle out of the mud. Arriving at 
his destination, he engaged in farming until 
the outbreak of the war, when he responded 
to President Lincoln's call for 75,000 men and 
enlisted in Michigan, in August, 1861, in com- 
pany K, First New York Lincoln cavalry, the 
regiment being independent and composed of 
men from Michigan, Pennsylvania and New 
York, and consolidated after going to the front 
under the title given above. The regiment 
went from Grand Rapids to Washington, D. 
C, was assigned to the army of the Potomac 
and transferred to Alexandria for drill. 

The first active duty of Mr. Mann, was 
in skirmishing near Bull Run, with Gen. Phil. 
Kearney, in advance of the army. He later 



894 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



took part in the battle of Falling Waters, 
Ninevah and Gettysburg, and in the last 
named was on the right flank, but he escaped 
the bullets in this, the greatest of all the bat- 
tles. After the battle of Cedar Creek, at Win- 
chester, he was present when Gen. Phil. Sheri- 
dan made his famous ride and rall_v and won 
the victor}'. The cavalry were kept con- 
stantly at work and constantly under tire, and 
Mr. Mann, with it, took part in the long raid 
after Hunter through the Shenandoah valley 
down to Lynchburg; he was also with Sheri- 
dan when he devastated the same beautiful 
valley, and with Custer during his gallant 
charges through the same vicinage. 

When Mr. Mann's term of enlistnient had 
expired he veteranized for the remainder of 
the war and served in all four years, lacking 
four weeks. He suffered, of course, many 
hardships, but never flinched from duty and 
endured the fatigue of numberless long and 
forced marches, the pangs of hunger from short 
rations, exposures to the inclemencies of heat 
and cold and rain and snow, but bore all with 
the fortitude of the true soldier. He had but 
one short furlough home (at the time of his re- 
enlistment), and was never in the guard-house. 
Once he was accidentally injured at Wilming- 
ton, Del., by a piece of iron from a train hit- 
ting on his head and breast, and in this 
instance it was a miracle that he escaped in- 
stant death. He was with his regiment at 
Fair Oaks, Va., when the news of Gen. Lee's 
surrender came to hand and the joyful tidings 
of peace proclaimed. He was present at 
Washington, D. C, in time to see President 
Lincoln before that good man was martyred, 
and also took part in the grand review of the 
victorious troops in that city. He was honor- 
ably discharged on Hart's Island, Long Island 
sound, N. Y., in July, 1865, and at once re- 
turned to his home in Michigan. 

Prior to his enlistment Mr. Mann had pur- 



chased forty acres of land in section No. 30, 
Sparta township, Kent count}', and had done 
some clearing, but while in the service he 
traded the tract for his present eighty-acre 
home in section 18, and here he settled. 
December 31, 1868, he married Miss Susan 
I H. Betterly, a native of Huron county, Ohio, 
born June 17, 1844, and a daughter of Lewis 
and Diana (Purdy) Betterly, and to this mar- 
riage was born one child, Lewis Betterly 
Mann, who died July 7, 1886, aged two 
months. The father of Mrs. Mann was born 
in Erie county, Pa., and died about 1886 in 
Kent county, Mich., and her mother, who was 
born in Huron county, Ohio, March 3, 1822, 
is still living on the homestead in Alpine town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich. Of her four sons 
and four daughters, seven are still living, viz: 
Adelbert, a mechanic of Grand Rapids; Mrs. 
Mann; Albert, a married farmer, of Sparta vil- 
lage; William, a barber, of Byron, Shiawassee 
county; Sadie, wife of Philip Faulk, a sales- 
man, of Grand Rapids; Ransom, who died 
November 13, 1899, resided during life on the 
homestead with his mother; and Rosa, a pianist 
of great merit, and the wife of William 
Borst, of Grand Rapids. 

Mrs. Mann was but ten years of age when 
brought to the primeval home in Kent county. 
There was no clearing on the farm, deer 
and wolves abounded at times, and friendly 
Indians not unfrequently passed the cabin 
door on their way to and from their trading 
posts; but schools soon came into existence, 
and Mrs. Mann eventually succeeded in secur- 
ing an education. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Mann started house- 
keeping their dwelling was a primitive log 
cabin, but for many years Mrs. Mann made 
this home cheerful, neat and happy, until, by 
thrift and industry, they were able to develop 
their farm, render it profitable, and accumu- 
late the means with which to erect their pres- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



895 



ent pretty and comfortable residence. The 
early ox-team and its lumbering wagon have 
given place to stylish equipages and modern 
vehicles, and visits to their neighbors and to 
church are made with ease and comfort. 
Their present dwelling is of modern construc- 
tion and architecture, is two stories in height, 
contains thirteen rooms, all below finished in 
butternut, walnut and ash, and a good 
cemented and stone-floored cellar under the 
whole. Mrs. Mann was the architect of this 
handsome edifice, and with her own butter 
and milk money has furnished it elegantly 
from cellar to attic. Mrs. Mann is a phenome- 
non of industry and economy, and as a needle- 
woman and worker in hair, crochet and tam- 
bour work has no equal in the county. One 
hair wreath alone of her production in 1886 
was so exquisite that it has held the admiration 
of all beholders until the present day, and she 
has frequently been solicited to place it on pub- 
lic exhibition, and this is but one sample of her 
extraordinary taste and skill in what may prop- 
erly be designated fine art. Mrs. Mann also 
has a nephew, A. Weston, an artist of Grand 
Rapids, who has presented her with many 
specimens of his artistic skill, which are dis- 
played with equal artistic taste appropriately 
about the mansion, and altogether render it 
the most pleasant and esthetical visiting place 
for miles round about. 

In politics Mr. Mann is a stanch republi- 
can. He cast his first presidential vote for 
John C. Fremont, and all republican candi- 
dates ever since, including Lincoln, Grant. 
Garfield and McKinley. He is one of the most 
upright of men, and not one of his friends or 
neighbors would refuse to accept his word as 
being "as good as his bond." The handsome 
homestead is situated within half a mile of 
the depot at Gooding, is four miles from 
Sparta and seven miles from Kent City, is the 
abode of a generous hospitality, and although 



he and his amiable wife began life in a log 
cabin, they own as fine a mansion as can be 
found in Sparta township, and owe no man 
a cent. Their social standing is with the best 
people in the land, and the high esteem in 
which they are universally held is the merited 
reward of their many personal excellencies. 




UFUS WILBUR MARTIN, deceased, 
at one time considered to be the best 
farmer in Cascade township, Kent 
county, Mich., was born in Somerset, 
Niagara county, N. Y., August 25, 1833, and 
passed his boyhood in that village. When a 
lad of nine'years he lost his father, and at the 
age of fourteen or fifteen came with his mother 
and family to Cascade township where his sis- 
ter, Sarah E., wife of John R. Stewart, was 
then living. The Martin family at that time 
consisted of the mother, Charlotte F., Marion 
and Rufus W. , and the mother bought the 
farm adjacent to the Stewart homestead. 
Marion, the youngest brother, died at the age 
of twenty-one years, and this bereavement 
placed upon Rufus W. the care of the farm 
and family until the marriage of his sister, 
Charlotte, to Peter Yocum, of Grand Rapids. 
Mrs. Martin has also passed away, dying at 
what is now the John R. Stewart homestead 
when sixty-one years old. 

Young Rufus W. set himself manfully to 
work at clearing up and improving the new 
homestead, and succeeded so well that he mar- 
ried, November 21, 1855, Miss Caroline M. 
Coger, who was born in Jackson county, 
Mich., June 30, 1837, a daughter of Charles 
and Mary Coger, who were natives of Con- 
necticut, whence they moved to Oneida coun- 
ty, N. Y., and from there came to Jackson 
county, Mich., in 1835, and thence to Kent 
county in 1848, and here died at the home of 



896 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



their daughter, Caroline, aged eighty-four and 
eighty-one years, respectively. Two of their 
sons, Jabez D. and Henry A., are still living 
in Cascade township, the latter being a black- 
smith in the village. 

Mr. Martin cleared and improved 120 acres 
of the homestead, erected substantial build- 
ings and made it one of the best farms in the 
township. Si.x acres of the place, however, 
have since been disposed of. In politics he 
was a republican, but never had a desire for 
public office. He was a keen sportsman, and 
welcomed the season when he could enjoy an 
extended trip after game in northern Michi- 
gan, and even at this day his barn is orna- 
mented with a pair of immense deer antlers, 
placed there by his neighbors in commemora- 
tion of his prowess. There were no children 
born to Mr. Martin, and death took place 
March 28, 1883, the result of an attack of 
measles, but his memory is still cherished by 
many warm, life-long friends. His widow is 
now the wife of John R. Stewart, and resides 
on the home farm. 




HEODORE W. MARTINDALE, a 
young and progressive farmer of Al- 
pine township, is a native of Kirt- 
land. Lake county, Ohio, and was 
born November 13, 1863, the second and last 
child born to Theodore F. and Cheerful (Call) 
Martindale. He had a sister, Harriet Lovina, 
who was the wife of Dr. W. A. Studley, but is 
now deceased, at the age of thirty-five years. 
His father was a native of Kirtland, Ohio, 
and was born in the year 182S. In 1S69 he 
came to Michigan and located on a farm in 
section No. 34, Alpine township, Kent county, 
and made this his home until about 1 888, when 
he removed to Grand Rapids, where he lived 
until his death. May 18, 1895. 

The mother was a native of the same town 



and state, and was born in the j'ear 1833. She 
came to Michigan with her husband, and now 
resides in Grand Rapids. 

The subject of this memoir began life for 
himself, it may be said, when he was married, 
as, prior to that time, he had made his home 
with his parents, part of the time operating 
the homestead. On December 20, 1888, he 
was married to Miss Jennie M. Manly. Mrs. 
Martindale was a native of Alpine township, 
and was born on the 3d of October, 1866, the 
third child born to Edmund and Maria (Wer- 
don) Manly. She taught school several suc- 
cessive terms in Walker township prior to 
her marriage. Her father, a native of New 
York, was born August 6, 1838. His boyhood 
and early business life were passed in Ohio. 
He came to Michigan in 1864, and located in 
Alpine township with his family, farmed for 
some time, and finally made his permanent 
home in Walker township, where he is now 
engaged in fruit culture. He has ever taken 
an active part in public matters, has held va- 
rious official positions, and for man\' \'earsvvas 
a director in the old Kent Mutual Insurance 
company. The mother of Mrs. Martindale was 
born in Peru, Huron county, Ohio, on the i8th 
of August, 1840. To Mr. and Mrs. Martindale 
have been born six children, viz: Theodore 
Manly, Helen Lovina, Lester Edmund, Kate 
Lucile, and John Dwight. They lost one 
child, Frances Clementine, in infancy. 

Politically Mr. Martindale maybe termed a 
non-partisan in his local politics, but in na- 
tional elections he casts a republican ballot. 
Both parents are members of the Alpine and 
^^'alker Congregational church. They have a 
very pleasant home, two and a half miles north 
of the city; it comprises eighty acres, thirty of 
which are devoted to the culture of fruit — 
apples, peaches, pears, etc. — and here they 
enjoy many happy hours in the entertainment 
of their numerous friends. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



897 




EV. JOHN H. MAYNARD, the vener- 
ated and eloquent pastor of the Free 
Will Baptist church at Sparta, Kent 
county, Mich., was born in Seneca 
county, N. Y., November 29, 1830, and is a 
son of Rezin and Mary (Andrews) Maynard, 
whose marriage was blessed with eight chil- 
dren. 

Rezin Maynard, a native of Maryland, was 
born in 1790, was a planter, but after reach- 
ing the age of forty-five years lived in com- 
parative retirement, although he never re- 
linquished the superintendency of his planta- 
tion until his death, in 1861. His beloved 
wife was born in Saratoga, N. Y., in 1801, 
but was laid to her everlasting rest in Mary- 
land in 1831. 

Rev. John H. Maynard was reared on' his 
father's plantation, but in the meanwhile re- 
ceived an e.xcellent education, which enabled 
him to teach school, from time to time, for 
fourteen to fifteen years, in conjunction with 
agricultural pursuits. In his early manhood 
he united with the Free Will Baptist church, 
and, filled with piety and gifted with remark- 
able powers of oratory, he was soon selected 
a preacher and began his evangelical work in 
Hillsdale county, Mich., in 1853, where for 
eleven years he most satisfactorily filled the 
pulpit and brought many souls to salvation. 
The next eleven years he did as effectual good 
gospel work in Lenawee county, and thence 
came to Sparta, arriving in January, 1875, and 
almost immediately assumed his present pas- 
torate. He began his work here by attending 
to the temporal affairs of his congregation. 
He remodeled and rearranged the church 
edifice at a cost of $3,500 to $4,000, beautify- 
ing it in every respect and increasing its seat- 
ing capacity. He then began his clerical work 
in the pulpit, and his labor in this is so well 
known that comment here is unnecessary. 
The Baptist church is a handsome frame, 



and is decorated interiorally in an effectively 
yet modest manner, and the premises are 
worth about $5,000. The congregation num- 
bers about 300, and over these the reverend 
pastor holds a sway that results from his piety 
and eloquence that is irresistible, and a pro- 
found knowledge of the doctrines of the Bap- 
tist faith as it has descended from St. John 
the Baptist. 

The Rev. Mr. Maynard was joined in the 
holy bonds of matrimony at Tyre, on the 2[st 
day of April, 1850, to Miss Mary A. Williams, 
daughter of E. Williams, a native of the state 
of New York. This happy marriage has been 
blessed with three children, viz: Rezin, a 
clergyman at Denver, Colo.; Kate N., wife of 
H. A. Welsh; Mary, married to Nelson Hick- 
son, who was formerly a farmer, but is now 
connected with the street railway company of 
Grand Rapids. 

Fraternally, the Rev. Maynard is an Odd 
Fellow and a Good Templar, and in politics a 
strong and earnest prohibitionist. His genial 
manners, amiable disposition and sincere piety 
and devotedness to the cause of Christ, have 
won for him the love of all who know him. 




BER MOFFIT.— The name of this 
gentleman is found in the list made up 
of the trusted employees of the Lowell 
& Hastings Railroad company. He 
was born in Kent county, Mich., April 30, 
1856, received his education in the public 
schools, grew to manhood on his father's farm, 
with the rugged duties of which he early be- 
came familiar and which did him good service 
in the strong physical constitution and inde- 
pendence of mind he acquired by years of con- 
tact with nature, and early began the struggle 
with the world with little capital save a well- 
formed plan to succeed. In the year 1885 he 
entered the employ of the Lowell & Hastings 



898 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



railroad as fireman and has continued in that 
capacity to the present time, though now in 
the line of promotion by reason of services 
faithfully and ably performed. 

Mr. Moftit entered into the marriage rela- 
tion November i8, 1895, with Miss Cassie 
Klingensmith, daughter of Samuel and Cath- 
erine (Clemmons), Klingensmith, natives of 
Pennsylvania and Ohio, and at this time pros- 
perous residents of the county of Kent. In 
his wife Mr. Moflit found a true helpmeet, 
indeed, as she has nobly done her part by- 
contributing largely to the support and main- 
tenance of the household, being at the head of 
Lowell's well-known and highly appreciated 
business enterprise, to-wit: The Lowell Pho- 
tographic studio. She was reared in the state 
of Ohio, received a good education, and, hav- 
ing early manifested a decided taste for art, 
turned it to practical advantage in 1890 by 
establishing, in connection with her husband, 
the studio above mentioned. Mrs. Moffit was 
a teacher in Michigan for five years. Since 
Mr. Moffit's connection with the railroad Mrs. 
Moffit has given her personal attention to 
the studio, and it is praise well merited to 
state that she has made the enterprise very 
successful, her work comparing favorably with 
that of studios in cities much larger than 
Lowell. Mrs. Mof^t possesses the true artis- 
tic instinct and enters into her work with an 
enthusiasm which cannot fall short of great 
success. This studio is supplied with all 
modern appliances of the photographer's art, 
is artistically arranged throughout, and with 
the assistance of two helpers, work of a very 
high order is turned out — work which has won 
high praise from those competent to criticize 
productions of the kind. Mrs. Moffit spares 
no reasonable pains to please her many pa- 
trons, and with characteristic energy continues 
to make further improvements in harmony 
with her careful study of the profession. 



Mr. and Mrs. Moffit have been financially 
successful in their respective business ven- 
tures, having accumulated a handsome prop- 
erty in the central part of the town on the 
main street, having a cozy home over the 
studio. Her business alone represents annu- 
ally about $1,800, and from the present out- 
look bids fair to increase largely in volume as 
the years go by. 

Politically Mr. Moffit is a strong adherent 
of the republican party, and fraternally an 
active worker in the F. & A. M. lodge of 
Lowell, also a member of Hooker chapter, 
No. 90. Mrs. Moffit is a member of Cycle- 
men chapter of Eastern Star, No. 94, at 
Lowell. She is " Ruth " of the Star. 



HARLES S. MEDLER, a veteran of 
the Civil war and now a prosperous 
farmer of Spencer township, Kent 
county, Mich., was born in Grand 
Rapids township, March 22, 1841, the seventh 
of a family of five boys and six girls, born to 
Samuel F. and Rebecca E. (Stanley) Medler, 
of which children there are si.K still living, viz: 
James G., postmaster at Trufant, an ex-soldier 
of the Civil war; Esther C, a resident of Ada 
township and widow of Peter Benson, who was 
also a soldier of the Civil war; Hannah M., 
wife of N. Hughey, a farmer in Nelson town- 
ship; Marinda M., the wife of D. B. Stout, a 
prominent citizen of Nelson township, of 
whom a biography in full is presented else- 
where in this work; Charles S., the subject of 
this sketch, and William, superintendent of 
the West Superior Lumber company, at West 
Superior, Wis. 

Samuel F. Medler, father of this family, 
was born in Briar Island, Nova Scotia, in i8oj, 
was a ship-carpenter bj' trade, but passed his 
life chiefly on the great lakes as a sailor until 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



899 



1840, when he came to Michigan and settled 
in Paris township, Kent county. He was 
first a whig in politics, but always an aboli- 
tionist and finally became a republican and a 
warm supporter of Abraham Lincoln and his 
policy. A member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church, he died in Nelson township, De- 
cember 28, 1 89 1. His wife, who was born in 
Canada March 3, 180S, organized the first 
Sunday-school in Grand Rapids, where she also 
operated the second millinery store. She 
died in the same faith as her husband, August 
20, 1892, greatly respected for her man}' 
Christian graces. 

Charles S. Medler was a child of si.x years 
when, with his parents, he became a resident 
of Grand Rapids, at that time a hamlet of 
four stores only and an old yellow warehouse. 
The territory roundabout the site of the pres- 
ent union depot was then a desolate marsh, 
and at Canal and Monroe streets, then known 
as Grabb's corners, teams mired, and Mr. Med- 
ler has seen his father's cow mire at the corner 
of Division and Monroe streets about ten rods 
from where the elegant and sumptuous Mor- 
ton house now stands. 

Mr. Medler lived in Grand Rapids until 
sixteen years old, but the on)}' work he 
had done up to that age, worthy of notice, 
was as cabin-boy on the stern-wheel steamer 
Pontiac, which vessel was built at Grand Rap- 
ids and ran to Grand Haven; he was also for 
a time a salesman for Smith & Watterman. 

In the fall of 1857, the father removed his 
family to Nelson township, then known as 
town No. 10, where he purchased forty acres 
of unimproved swampland. Their first habita- 
tion there was a squatter's log cabin, and their 
agricultural implements were what would now 
be designated as primitive — such as the 
wooden-toothed harrow, or drag, the scythe 
and cradle, as well as the ox-team. Charles 
S. has himself made shingles by hand, and 



when, at his majority, he left his parents to 
enter the army, there were no churches in the 
township and only two log school-houses. 

Mr. Medler enlisted October 12, 1862, at 
Grand Rapids, in company H, Twenty-first 
Michigan volunteer infantry, and served under 
Capts. Chase and Charles E. Belknap in fifty- 
two battles of the fifty-four in which his regi- 
ment took part, attaining the rank of sergeant. 
His regiment first rendezvoused at Ionia, was 
ordered thence to Covington, Ky., where it 
joined Gen. Sheridan, the brigade commander. 
The first battle of importance in which Mr. 
Medler participated was that of Perrysville, 
Ky. , where he supported a battery; the next 
was at Stone River, Tenn., where he was 
severely wounded in the right side with a 
heavy buckshot, and in the left calf with a 
minie ball, but was not quite disabled; in the 
afternoon he was taken prisoner, but the next 
Saturday night he was recaptured by federals. 
His wounds kept him in the hospital forawhile 
and his next great battle was that of Chicka- 
mauga, where he was in the ranks in the morn- 
ing, but in the afternoon was placed on detail 
duty to guard the extreme right of the Federal 
army under command of Gen. Sheridan. 

The next battle was at Brown's Ferry, 
where the regiment was again detailed to build 
a pontoon bridge across the Tennessee river, 
just below Lookout Point, and was under fire 
the entire tmie until the work was completed. 

After these battles the Twenty-first was 
detailed to erect hospitals, etc., and while en- 
gaged in this work he was given command of 
company H, made up of men from various 
states enroute to the front, and led the com- 
pany into the battle of Peach Tree Creek, 
which was fought immediately afterward. 

Next, on the march of Sherman to the 
sea, was the siege for ten days of Savannah, 
Ga. Here the boys of company H saw hard 
times for want of rations, as all they had to 



«00 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



eat was what rice they could pick up, and one 
pound of beef to each man per diem. Be- 
tween Rapid and Broad rivers. Mr. Medlar and 
a small company — thirty men in all — were de- 
tailed to go five miles ahead, to guard a ford. 
Here the squad, under Capt. Belknap, erected 
a small fortification, in which they remained 
over night. One Rebel regiment approached 
and demanded a surrender, but the little cap- 
tain replied, " I'm not built that way." Ne.xt 
there appeared five regiments of Confederates, 
the commander of whom again demanded a 
surrender ; but Capt. Belknap answered, 
" Come and take us." The enemy was pos- 
sibly under the impression that there was a 
large force of Federals ambushed in the vicin- 
ity, as he went away, leaving the small squad 
of Unionists unmolested. This was one of 
the occasions when Mr. Medler felt as though 
his hair might "stand on end." 

During the siege of Savannah Mr. Medler's 
blouse sleeve was torn to shreds by a piece of 
shell. At Sister's Ferry, near the city, the irre- 
gating canal gates were flung open, and for a few 
days the regiment and others were hemmed in 
by water. Then came the long and forced 
marched through the Carolinas and Virginia 
toward Washington, during which the battle 
of Bentonville, the last of the war, took place. 
Mr. Medler was in the grand review at Wash- 
ington, which was the greatest military pag- 
eant ever witnessed in America; and was hon- 
orably discharged June 8, 1865, after a 
continuous service of over three years in the 
defense of his nation's flag. 

On returning to Kent county, Mr. Medler 
was united in marriage, March i, 1866, with 
Miss Lavina M. Nicholson, and this union has 
been 'graced with three sons and two daugh- 
ters, of whom the following four are still 
living: Clarence H., who is a foreman in the 
Raney Refrigerator company's works at Green- 
ville; Luella E., wife of Fred D. Steele, a 



farmer of Spencer township; Frank F., farm- 
ing in Spencer township, and O. T. , residing 
at home. 

Mrs. Lavina M. Medler wr.s born in Court- 
, land township, Kent county, Mich. , September 
17, 1846, and was educated in the common 
schools. Her parents were pioneers of Kent 
county, at a time they had to go as far as 
Grand Rapids to have their grist ground. In 
1878, Mr. and Mrs. Medler settled on their 
present farm of forty acres in Spencer, their 
place then being in a wilderness of pines, but 
which they have since cleared and improved 
and converted into one of the best farms of its 
dimensions in the township. 

In politics Mr. Medler is a republican, and 
cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln. Offi- 
cially, he was connected with the school board 
nine years, and has always favored having the 
best schools that the funds of the township can 
afford. He has served as township commis- 
sioner, and has represented his party in conven- 
tions. Sociall}', he is a member of Carle- 
ton post. No. 327, G. A. R., at Trufant, and 
for si.x years was its commander from its or- 
ganization. He and wife are consistent mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, and no 
family in Spencer township is more highly re- 
spected. Mr. Medler is especially esteemed as 
a gentleman of the strictest integrity, and his 
fellow-townsmen honor him with their implicit 
confidence. 




UGH A. MONTGOMERY, the very 
competent and efficient supervisor of 
Algoma township, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of Northumberland 
county, province of Ontario, dominion of Can- 
ada, was born July 24, 1S54, the third of 
nine children that blessed the marriage of 
James and Fannie (O'Harra) Montgomery. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



901 



Of these nine children five were boys and four 
girls, only four of whom are now living, viz: 
Hugh A., whose name opens this paragraph; 
Joseph R. , M. D. , who graduated from 
Ypsilanti college, Mich. , and from the med- 
ical department of the Michigan university at 
Ann Arbor, and has now been in practice at 
Grand Rapids for seven years; John B., who 
was educated primarily at Rockford, then 
attended at Ypsilanti, became superintendent 
of schools at Champion, in the upper penin- 
sula of Michigan, then was school commis- 
sioner in Marquette county, and resigned that 
position to accept the superintendency of the 
State Industrial school at Coldwater, which 
office he still holds; and Henry, a prosperous 
farmer of Algoma township. 

James Montgomery, a native of Ireland, 
was of Scotch ancestry and was born about 
1822. He was reared to farming, and after 
marriage emigrated to Canada with his bride 
when he was about twenty-two years of age. 
His first home in this country was in Monroe 
county, N. Y., whence he came, in Decem- 
ber, 1863, to Kent county, Mich., where, in 
Algoma township, he passed the remainder of 
his life in farming, and died in April, 1887, a 
member of the Church of Christ, his wife 
having previously died in the same faith. 

Hugh A. Montgomery was a mere lad when 
brought to Kent county by his parents, and he 
was here educated to a limited e.xtent in the 
common schools, but is chief!}' self-instructed. 
He was reared an agriculturist, but was with- 
out capital, and for some years worked out by 
the month, and eventually purchased forty 
acres of unimproved land. Hugh Montgomery 
has been twice married — first, in Alpine town- 
ship, to Miss Effie Cummings, who died about 
three years later, which- union resulted in the 
birth of one child — Forrest D., who married 
Belle Myers, and lives in Algoma. They have 
one child, Retta. He then took to himself a 



helpmate in the person of Miss Hattie E. 
Hoose, whom he married January 24, 1883, 
the result of this union being four children, 
viz: Clifford E., Willis R. , James M. and Lila 
A. — the eldest three attending school. 

Miss Hattie E. Hoose was born in Kent 
county March 10, 1864, was educated in. the 
district school, and became one of Kent coun- 
ty's favorite teachers. Her father, Madison 
A. Hoose, was a native of eastern New York, 
was born in 1842, and was reared a farmer, 
chiefly in Kent county, Mich., as he came here 
when a boy with his mother, then a widow. 
At the beginning of the late Civil war he en- 
listed, in Grand Rapids, in company H, Fourth 
Michigan cavalry, gallantly served his country 
for four years, and Mrs. Montgomery has now 
in her possession a silver fork and spoon which 
he had secured at the capture of Jeff Davis at 
Evansville, Ga., May 10, 1865. He had mar- 
ried Miss Lydia Miller, a native of Washtenaw 
county, Mich., and to this union were born 
two children — Mrs. Montgomery and Addison 
J., who died in his twenty-first year. Mr. 
Hoose was called from earth in 1886. He was 
a member of the Church of Christ, but Mrs. 
Hoose still survives at the age of fifty-seven, 
and resides in Alpine township, a member of 
the same church. 

As already stated, Mr. Montgomery owned 
forty acres of unimproved land at his first 
marriage, and for this wild tract he paid 
J 1, 000. But he and wife have worked har- 
moniously together, with one object in view, 
and the result is that they now own 120 acres 
of as fine land as there is in Algoma township, 
all well improved, with 1,600 peach trees, the 
result of their mutual industry and frugality. 

In politics Mr. Montgomery is a stalwart 
republican. He cast his first presidential vote 
for Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, and has al- 
ways been very popular with his partv. For 
1 four jears — from 1885 to 1889 — he served as 



902 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



treasurer of the school board of his township, 
and for the past six years has been township 
supervisor. He is a stanch friend of pubHc 
education, is a member of the board of di- 
rectors, beHeves in securing the best teach- 
ers available, and has also been several times 
selected to represent his township in -county 
conventions. He is a member of Sparta lodge, 
No. 334, F. & A. M., also of Ivent chapter. 
Royal Arch Masons, and he and wife are 
members of Harmony chapter No. 34, Order 
of the Eastern Star. They are also members 
of the Church of Christ at Ballard's, Sparta 
township, and have done all in their power to 
build up the church. He was instrumental in 
organizing the local Sunday-school, and of 
this he was superintendent for several years. 
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery is 
situated three and a half miles southeast of 
Sparta and seven miles from Rockford. It is 
the abode of a cheerful hospitality, where their 
numerous friends are always sure of a hearty 
welcome. 




HARLES B. MOON, deceased, was a 
son of the old Empire state, was 
born in Ontario county August 23, 
1S28, and died November 30, 1894. 
He was reared mostly in his native state until 
1834, when he came with his parents to 
Wayne county, Mich., when Michigan was yet 
a territor)'. He afterwards returned to his 
native state and apprenticed himself to a car- 
riagemaker to learn this useful trade, having 
first received a liberal common-school educa- 
tion. At about this time the war clouds be- 
dimmed the southern horizon, and he offered 
his services, and, if need be. his life, in de- 
fense of the Union, and enlisted in company 
G, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth New 
York volunteer infantry, which was assigned 
to the army of the Potomac as the flower of 



the Union army. He served but a short time, 
and on account of feeble health, incurred by 
exposure, he was honorably discharged. 

Mr. Moon first came to Nelson township, 
Kent county, Mich., when it was an unbroken 
wilderness, and purchased 200 acres of land, 
which was heavily timbered. His first habi- 
tation was a frame house just south of where 
the present beautiful homestead residence now 
stands. Wild animals, such as deer and bear, 
were seen ofttimes upon his premises. Mr. 
Moon was a gentleman of rare tact and busi- 
ness qualifications, and soon laid the foundation 
for the fortune which he bequeathed to his sur- 
vivors. He was known far and wide through- 
out northern Michigan as the "prince of the 
lumbermen," and he had at least four mills at 
different times for the manufacture of lumber, 
shingles and lath. He more than once met 
with dire misfortune by fire, but immediately 
rebuilt each time, and found himself to be 
better able for handling his growing busi- 
ness, which he actively operated for twelve 
years. He was also engaged in the mer- 
cantile business on or near the shore of Pine 
lake successfully for years ere his death. 
He was known as a gentleman of strict in- 
tegrity and honor, and always had the name 
of being a liberal man in aiding public enter- 
prises. At one time he had as many as 1,300 
acres of land in Nelson and Courtland town- 
ships. In his political opinions he was a stanch 
republican. He was a known friend of the 
public-school system, which is the bulwark of 
the state and nation. He was a member of 
the Masonic fraternity at Cedar Springs and 
was also a member of De Molai commandery, 
No. 5, Knights Templar, at Grand Rapids. 
For nearly thirty years he was a prominent 
member of the Methodist church. He was a 
friend to the poor and needy, who never went 
empty-handed from his door. He died be- 
loved and honored by all who knew him. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



903 



Mr. Moon wedded Miss Sarah A. Cole, a 
native of New Jersey, who was born April 4, 
I S3 5, and a daughter of William and Eliza- 
beth (DeCou) Cole. She is now the wife ot 
Rev. T. T. George, a Methodist clergyman, 
and resides on the old Moon homestead. To 
this marriage were born two daughters — Flora 
E., who is the wife of Jesse C. Van Liew, one 
of the well-known agriculturists of Nelson town- 
ship and a scion of one of the pioneer families. 
Mrs. Van Liew was educated in the common 
schools, and was a student at Cedar Springs 
high school, and was one of Kent county's 
successful teachers, ere she had wedded. 
Genevieve, the younger daughter, was also a 
teacher; she graduated at Cedar Springs high 
school, was a student at Albion college, and 
was the preceptress at Cedar Springs for seven 
years; she is the wife of William Russell, a 
fruit-grower at Hart, Mich. Mr. and Mrs. 
Van Liew have had born to them three sons, 
viz: Charles Leroy, who is now in the eighth 
grade in the common schools, and his trend of 
thought runs to the mechanical field; Verne is 
also in the eighth grade; Harold L. , the 
youngest, is also in school. Mr. and Mrs. 
Van Liew are members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church at Pine Lake, and Mr. Van Liew 
has been superintendent of the Sunday-school 
for four years, and Mrs. Van Liew has 
charge of the bible class. They are classed 
amongst the better class of citizens of Nelson 
township, and enjoy 'the undisguised esteem of 
all who know them.- 





^B1 




1 



ILLIAM T. MOORMAN, one of the 
old-time and most highly respected 
agriculturists of Byron township, 
Kent county, was born in Wash- 
tenaw county, Mich., September 18, 1840, 
and is the fourth in a family of three sons and 

five daughters born to William and Orpha 

47 



(Sisson) Moorman, of which children seven are 
still living, viz: Rensselaer, a farmer of Wy- 
oming township and married; Laura, wife of 
Rensselaer Stidd, of Ingham county; Ann 
Eliza, widow of Elias Oakley, and residing in 
Montcalm county; George, a married farmer, 
residing in Jamestown, Ottawa county; Hen- 
rietta, wife of Daniel McDuffee, also a resident 
of Jamestown; Abigail, widow of Henry Lever, 
and living in Fremont, Mich., and William T., 
the subject of this sketch. 

William Moorman, the father, was born 
on the Isle of Wight in 18 12, was a carpenter 
and joiner, having learned the trade 
in this country, as he came here with his par- 
ents when he was twelve years of age, and 
here, also, he was educated in the common 
schools of 'New York, where the family had 
landed from a sailing vessel. When Mr. 
Moorman reached his majority he came to- the 
then territory of Michigan, in 1833, and set- 
tled on the farm in Washtenaw county, which 
later became the property of his son, William 
T. In this howling wilderness Mr. Moorman 
was obliged to relinquish his trade as carpen- 
ter and devote himself entirely to farming, 
subsequently coming to Byron township, Kent 
county, and was one of those pioneers who 
succeeded in hewing out a home from the for- 
est and in making " the desert bloom as the 
rose." In politics he was a whig, and in re- 
ligion made the Bible his guide, and died an 
honored man in 1875. His wife was a native 
of Massachusetts, was born about 1 8 1 7 and died 
about 1880, a disciple of the Christian church. 
William T. Moorman remained in Wash- 
tenaw county, aiding his father in clearing up 
the wilderness, until he was about thirteen 
years of age, when the family came to Byron 
township, and here purchased 160 acres of 
unimproved land, and here renewed his labor 
as a backwoodsman and axman. The forest 
covered the land on which Byron Center now 



904 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



stands, and \"oung William T., in coming 
from Washtenaw county, drove over the spot 
with two yokes of oxen. The first habitation 
of the family was a rude log cabin, around 
which Indians roamed at will, and deer gam- 
boled in the wantonness of their unmolested 
liberty. There were only three school-houses 
in the entire township, and in Grand Rapids, 
on his trips to that city with his ox-team, he 
would frequently mire to the hubs of his wagon- 
wheels in what is now one of the principal 
thoroughfares of the Valley city — Canal street, 
and on which at that time there was not a 
brick building. 

Mr. Moorman has been twice married — 
his first marriage having taken place July 4, 
i860, to Miss Sarah Tibbetts, to which union 
were born three sons and three daughters, of 
whom four are still living, viz: William, a 
farmer of Byron township, married to Cath- 
erine Mulholland, and the father of two daugh- 
ters; Burton, married to Elma Hanson, who 
has borne him four daughters, and he also a 
farmer of Byron township; Lizzie is the wife 
of John Snider, a dealer in live stock in James- 
town, and is the mother of one son and three 
daughters, and Linda is the wife of Ross 
Avery, a merchant of the city of York, and 
has one daughter. Of the two deceased chil- 
dren, Leslie married Maud Avery, and died 
August 21, 1894, and Chloe was married to 
Charles Rau, and died May 30, 1S92. 

Mrs. Sarah Moorman was born in Ohio in 
1837, and died in Byron township, Kent coun- 
ty, Mich., in 1894, after a married life of thirty- 
four years. September i, 1897, Mr. Moor- 
man chose for his second helpmate Mrs. Louisa 
Hintz, a native of New York, born in 1843, 
and a lady of many womanly graces. 

Mr. Moorman took charge of the home- 
stead in 1870, and all the better improve- 
ments have been made by him. It comprises 
120 acres, and is one of the best farms in the 



township, made so by his judicious manage- 
ment. The soil is a clay-loam, and well 
adapted to the growth of fruits and vegetables 
usual to the latitude, and has all been cleared 
from a forest, through which there was not 
even a pathway when the eider Mr. Moorman 
settled upon it, and is situated twelve and one- 
half miles from the city limits of Grand 
Rapids. 

In 1862 Mr. Moorman enlisted at Grand 
Rapids in company H, Fourth Michigan 
cavary, under Capt. A. Beal and Col. Minte; 
the regiment was assigned to the army of the 
Cumberland, and reached Louisville just as 
Buell had been driven back by the rebel Bragg. 
Mr. Moorman took part in all the skirmishes 
and actions in which his regiment was engaged, 
including Stone river, where two horses were 
killed in front of him. He was next placed 
on detached duty as trainmaster, in charge of 
twenty-five wagons, and the scene of his 
service was in Tennessee and Georgia up to 
the capture of Atlanta; then back to Nashville 
and on a raid to Eastport, Miss.; then on an- 
other raid through Georgia. They had been 
on a long raid when the intelligence of the 
assassination of President Lincoln reached 
them, and almost simultaneously came the 
news of the surrender of Gen. R. E. Lee. 
The Fourth Michigan cavalry had the good 
fortune of capturing Jeff. Davis at Evans- 
ville, Ga., May 10, 1865, Col. Ben. Pritchard, 
of Allegan, being its colonel at that time. Mr. 
Moorman was honorably discharged at Nash- 
ville, Tenn., July 4, 1865, having served; 
bravely and faithfully for nearly three years. 
In his politics, Mr. Moorman is a democrat 
in national matters, but locall\- he is non- 
partisan. His first presidential vote was cast 
for Horatio Seymour in 1S68, but individually 
he has never felt any desire for office, yet has 
served as highway commissioner two terms and 
as justice of the peace three years. He 



II 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



905 



advocates the employment of the best in- 
structors in the common schools, and, being a 
taxpayer himself, is sincere in his wish to 
secure teachers who are competent. 

Fraternally, Mr. Moorman is a member of 
Crescent lodge, No. 322, F. & A. M., at 
Grandville, and is also a member of Whitcomb 
post. No. 302, G. A. R. , at Byron Center, of 
which he was at onetime commander, and the 
membership of which at present numbers about 
forty. 

Mr. and Mrs. Moorman have aided finan- 
cially in the erection of the United Brethren 
church at Maple Hill and have freely exercised 
other benevolences. They are prominent 
among the agriculturists of the township, are 
classed as pioneers, stand very high socially, 
and are esteemed greatly for their many good 
qualities throughout the entire township and 
the greater part of the county. 




OHN MORAN.— Those who have at- 
tained eminence in politics or state- 
craft, in military circles, and to some 
extent in the field of letters and art, 
have been treated of in general history, but 
it has little to do with those toilers of the 
land upon whom the real prosperity and prog- 
ress of the nation rest. It is left to biography 
to perpetuate the record of those law-abiding 
citizens who are ever true to their country, 
their neighbors and themselves, and who in the 
active affairs of this work-a-day world find 
time to stand loyally by friend and native land 
and at the same time care for their families 
and private interests. 

To this class belongs John Moran, one of the 
most enterprising and industrious agriculturists 
residing in Spencer township. He is an 
honored pioneer of this locality, and, having 
been identified with its interests for more than 



forty years, and has, therefore, witnessed the 
many changes which have transformed it from 
a wild region into fine farms and comfortable 
homes, with here and there a thriving town in 
which the various industrial and commercial 
interests are represented. He belongs to that 
class of energetic and industrious men to whom 
are due the progress and improvement of the 
west and his finely cultivated farm indicates in 
a measure the industrious and useful life he 
has led. 

Mr. Moran was born near the town of 
Elphin, in Roscommon county, Ireland, in Au- 
gust, 1839, and is the eldest of three children 
born to John and Bridget (Hangley) Moran, 
of whom James is an agriculturist of Spencer 
township, and Thomas, formerly a lumberman 
and now a farmer of British Columbia. 

His parents were born and reared in the 
above-named county in Ireland, and the father 
was educated in the schools of his native land, 
where for some time he li\'ed the life of a 
farmer. 

In the year of the famine, 1S47, Mr. Moran 
and family, determined to better their fortunes, 
bade adieu to their native land in April and 
came to America, concluding that it offered 
better inducements to a poor man. They de- 
parted in a sailing vessel from Sligo, on the 
west coast of Ireland, bound for St. John, New 
Brunswick. After they were on the sea three 
days a terrible storm arose and drove them 
back to the northwest coast of England. Not 
disheartened at this, they again .started for 
America. It was a long voyage, fever broke 
out on board, and many of the crew and pas- 
sengers found watery graves. After landing, 
the father took sick, but after recovery went 
to Boston, Mass. From Boston he and fam- 
ily went to Albany, N. Y. , where they re- 
mained for a year or two, thence moved to 
Cleveland, Ohio, and in the year 1855 came 
to Spencer township, Kent county, Mich., 



906 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



where they purchased, at $1.25 per acre, 
eighty acres of heavily timbered land and built 
their first dwelling place, a rude log hut. He 
was one of the earliest pioneers, and at the 
time of his arrival there were only ten families 
in the township. The father and mother of 
John Moran were devout Catholics, in which 
faith he died in the year 1877 and she in 1S56. 

John Moran, whose name heads this review, 
was a lad of eight summers when he came to 
America and well remembers the terrible voy- 
age across the Atlantic. He was about sixteen 
years of age when his parents came to Kent 
county. He was reared upon the farm, and 
the sports of boyhood, together with the duties 
of the field, occupied his attention through the 
years of his childhood and youth. He attended 
the district schools, but remained ineantime 
with his parents until his majority, when he 
plunged into the duties of life "without a cop- 
per." He has known what the toil and hard 
knocks of life are, and whatever he has ac- 
cumulated has been by strict and laborious at- 
tention to business, as he was reared to the life 
of a farmer, and began working out at the 
same for the insignificant wages of $12 per 
month. 

On the 14th day of November, i860, Mr. 
Moran was united in marriage to Miss Mar- 
garet Mooney, who has borne him the follow- 
ing named children: Thomas F, , a horse- 
man of Cinnabar, Mont.; Mary, wife of Jere- 
miah Collins, an agriculturist residing in Spen- 
cer township, I\ent county, Mich.; James 
married Mary Frank, of Oakfield township; 
Henry is wedded to Miss Ella Cody and is a 
resident of Spencer township; Maggie J. and 
George A. 

Mr. Moran and his estimable wife first 
rented land in Grattan township, then came 
to their present estate of 200 acres in 1865. The 
place was then a w-iiderness covered with heavy 
timber which gave them an income, but mean- 



while they made their home in a log cabin. 
His farm of to-day is under a high state of cul- 
tivation and improved with modern accesso- 
ries and conveniences. The fields are well tilled 
and yield to the owner a golden tribute in 
return for the care he bestows upon them, 
while good buildings supply ample shelter for 
grain and stock. He is an industrious man, 
keeps fully abreast of the advance of the 
times, and his business methods are strictly 
honorable, commending him to the confidence 
of all with whom he is brought in contact. 

Clear set in the memory of John Moran is| 
the primitive town of Grand Rapids. At] 
that time the principal thoroughfares were lit- 
tle roads or lanes and only one or two brick 
buildings were located on Canal street; when 
he came to the county there was not a rail- 
road in it, and Mr. Moran aided in building 
the first one through the city of Grand Ivapids. 
Deer had been seen on his premises, and the 
o.x-team was a most prominent factor in the 
development of the farm for many years. 

Mr. Moran has always been active in poli- 
tics and adheres strongly to the principles of 
the democratic party, his first presidential vote 
having been cast for Gen. Geo. B. McClellan. 

Officially Mr. Moran has held all the high- 
est offices in his township. The public schools 
find in him a firm supporter, and at present 
he is a director of the board, as he has been 
for si.\ years. Mr. Moran, wife and family 
are members of St. Margaret's Catholic church 
of Howard, of which he is a trustee. 



UTD FRANKLIN MORRIS (de- 
ceased) who was well known in Court- 
land township, Kent county, Mich., 
for his integrity and high moral 
character, was born in Seneca county, Ohio, 
March 9, 1843, a son of James and Mary Mor- 




AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



907 



ris, who were both called away when the 
subject of this memoir was but a child. 

Da\id F. Morris, at the age of twelve 
years, removed from his native count}' to 
Lucas county, where he received a practical 
common-school education, which was supple- 
mented by self-instruction on all possible oc- 
casions, although, owing to the fact that he 
was compelled to fight the battle of life un- 
aided, his opportunities for study were some- 
what circumscribed. But he was very ener- 
getic, and grew to manhood as well informed 
as most of the young men of his age and 
equally as well prepared to buffet the bil- 
lows of adversity and to endure the fatigues 
incident to a successful business career. He 
became a practical sawyer, and in the fall of 
1 87 I came to Michigan and made a purchase 
of twenty acres of heavily timbered land in 
Courtland township, Kent county, erecting a 
shingle and lumber mill; and here, also, be- 
gan his heavy tribulations, as his mill was 
three times burned to the ground. But his de- 
termined will was equal to the disasters, and 
three times the mill was rebuilt, each time 
surpassing its predecessor. The mill was a 
blessing to the community, and won for its 
owner the soubriquet of the "Benefactor of 
North Courtland Township," from the fact 
that the section was a wilderness of pine 
and other timber, and Mr. Morris was able 
to give many persons employment; and 
many of the settlers found it profitable to 
clear off their property and dispose of the 
timber at the mill, and thus open their fields 
to cultivation, the result being that now 
many grain fields and fruit orchards exist 
where the forest then stood. 

January i, 1872, Mr. Morris was joined in 
wedlock with Miss Sarah Redmond, a native 
of the state of New York, born October 9, 
1852, and this union was blessed with three 
sons and two daughters, of whom one son and 



two daughters still survive, viz: Gladys E., 
who completed her eighth grade in the public 
school, won her diploma at the age of fifteen, 
and is now one of the successful young teachers 
of Kent county; Ray F. and Bernice D. 

Mr. Morris, as has been shown, began life 
a poor boy, and on coming to Courtlandtown- 
ship had so far realized from his industry a 
limited capital only, but with the aid of his 
amiable and faithful helpmate a change for 
the better was soon made, and at his death, 
which occurred November 16, 1898, he was a 
man of more than moderate wealth. He in- 
creased his twenty acres to 600, and in 1882- 
83 erected one of the most elegantly-finished 
residences in the township, at a cost of 
$12,000. This lovely home was ever the 
abode of a generous hospitality, and the 
neighbor, and the way-worn traveler as well, 
found at its portals a hearty welcome. 

Although a democrat in his predilections, 
he was in local politics quite independent, 
and his well-matured judgment guided him in 
casting his vote for the candidate best fitted to 
fill official position. Public education found 
in him a warm advocate, and for years he 
served as director of the home school. In 
religious matters he was extremely liberal, 
and he and his estimable wife were ever gen- 
erous with their means in aiding the erection 
of churches and in promoting all works of 
moral progress; in fact, he almost completed 
the erection of a church-edifice with his own 
funds. Fraternally he was a member of the 
order of Maccabees. During the quarter of a 
century he and his wife lived together in 
Courtland township, no couple ever enjoyed 
in a more marked degree the love and esteem 
of their fellow-townsmen. In his death Mrs. 
Morris lost a tender and devoted husband, 
the children an indulgent and affectionate 
father, and the community a true friend and 
benefactor. His life was rich in good exam- 



908 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



pie, well worthy of the emulation of those 
who wish to rise from oblivion to the conspic- 
uous height attained by him through true 
merit. 

Mrs. Morris still resides on the old home- 
stead, surrounded by her surviving children 
and a host of warm-hearted friends, who 
honor her with unfeigned affection. She is a 
lady of a more than ordinary sympathetic 
nature, is of a tender and affectionate disposi- 
tion, and of unbounded generosity. The 
greater part of her life has been passed in 
Kent county, where her name, like that of 
her husband, will be cherished for many long 
years yet to come. 




OHN W. MURPHY, a popular and 
genial business man of Lowell, Kent 
county, and the only man in his line 
in the city, with his place on Main 
street, on the east side of the river, is a native 
of Michigan, was born in September, 1870, 
and is a son of John and Margaret fMcGrath) 
Murphy, natives of Ireland and the parents of 
eight children, si.\ of whom are yet living. 
John Murphy is a wagonmaker by trade, which 
trade he learned in his native land, and came 
to America in the early part of 1870, but is 
now retired from active life, and he and wife 
are making their home with their son, John 
W., the subject of this sketch. 

John W. Murphy attended the public 
schools a short time in boyhood, but at the 
age of seven years began work as a factory 
boy, at which he continued for fourteen years. 
Being a shrewd and willing lad, and a good 
financier for a young man, he accumulated 
sufficient money to start in his present busi- 
ness, and now does a trade reaching from 
$8, coo to $10, coo per annum, having been re- 
markably successful. His place is finely 



equipped and is modern in every respect, and 
his genial disposition has won for him hosts of 
patrons. He is a member of St. Marj-'s church, 
and his father and mother, like himself, are 
devout Catholics. 




.\MES E. MURPHY.— The 

passing through the township of 
I Paris, Kent county, Mich., is im- 
pressed with many handsome homes, 
and well cultivated and productive farms. 
None of these impress him as being the 
abode of intelligence and indicate manage- 
ment by well-trained minds to a greater ex- 
tent than does that of James E. Murphy, 
situated some six miles southeast of the city 
of Grand Rapids, in a most fertile region and 
in a community where many thrifty farmers 
are located. Furnished with a new and hand- 
some residence and commodious barn, about 
which everything is kept in excellent condi- 
tion, this farm bespeaks supervision by a man 
of taste, ability and judgment. 

James E. Murphy, one of the most enter- 
prising young farmers of Paris township, was 
born in the township May 7, 1869, a son of 
Patrick John and Margaret (Flynn) Murphy, 
natives of Ireland. 

Patrick John Murphy, deceased, was born 
in county Mayo, Ireland, in October, 1822, 
and at the age of nineteen years came to the 
United States. He was a stone mason and 
worked at his trade in New York city, at 
Cleveland, and Paynesville, Ohio. At the 
latter place, early in the 'fifties, he married 
Miss Flynn, who was born in county Cavan, 
Ireland, but came to America when a young 
girl; she was a hotel employee at the date of 
her marriage, and proved a most excellent 
helpmate to her husband. She is now living 
on the Paris homestead. Their eight children 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



909 



were: John, who died in childhood; Annie, 
who also died young; Mary and Martha, now 
Sisters of Charity in the convent at Cincin- 
nati, Ohio; Maggie, a Sister of Charity at 
Sidney, Ohio; Nellie, wife of John Myler, and 
living on part of the old homestead; James E. 
and Richard, now conducting the old farm. 
The family are all members of the congrega- 
tion of St. Andrew's Catholic cathedral, at 
Grand Rapids. 

In 1862 the parents of this family came 
from Paynesville, Ohio, and settled on a tract 
of eighty acres in Paris township, five miles 
southeast of Grand Rapids, but at that time 
in a wild condition. \\'hile Patrick J. set to 
work to clear off and improve this place, he 
did not relinquish his trade, but left the over- 
sight of the farm to his wife, while he, being 
an expert as a mason, worked at building cel- 
lar-walls and similar work throughout the 
township, receiving as much as $5.00 per day 
for his services. Finally he devoted his en- 
tire attention to the farm, which he increased 
from eighty to 240 acres, 160 of which he 
cleared off and otherwise improved, and here 
passed the remainder of his life, dying De- 
cember 12, 1S93, a devout Catholic and hon- 
ored citizen. 

James E. Murphy received a fair district- 
school education, and at the death of his 
father, being the elder of the two surviving 
sons, took charge of the home place. This he 
managed until his marriage, November 24, 
1S96, to Miss Gertrude Kelly, daughter of 
James E. and Ellen (Floodj Kelly, and a 
native of Paris township, where she and her 
husband were reared together from childhood. 
Mr. Murphy then settled on his present farm 
of eighty acres, which is now one of the best 
improved in the township. He has about 
twenty-five acres set in fruit trees, all in a 
flourishing condition, and of which si.xteen 
acres are devoted to peaches and the remain- 



der to apples, plums, cherries, etc. He also 
breeds Shropshire sheep and Poland-China 
and Berkshire swine, in which he has attained 
a reputation. He is one of the most enter- 
prising and thriving farmers of the neighbor- 
hood, his farm with its excellent buildings and 
necessary accessories bespeaking management 
by a man of brains and ability. He is identi- 
fied with the horticultural societies, and is not 
slow in availing himself of the experience of 
older members. In politics he is, as was his 
father, a sound democrat, and while not an 
aspirant for public preferment, is pronounced 
in his views, having ever a reason based on 
history and experience for the faith that is 
in him. 

James Kelly, father of Mrs. Gertrude 
Murphy, was born in county Tipperary, Ire- 
land, March 15, 1840, a son of Philip and 
Bridget (Slattery) Kelly, who, about 1848, 
came to America with their three sons — 
Timothy, Patrick and James. For a time they 
lived in Livingston county, N. Y., and in 1S56 
came to Michigan, locating in Grand Rapids. 
The parents died at an advanced age, and 
Timothy was nearly sixty years old when he 
was taken to the spirit land. Patrick who still 
lives on his farm, seven miles east of the city, 
was a captain in the Fourteenth Michigan in- 
fantry during the Civil war, and a more ex- 
tended reference of him is found elsewhere. 
James, the father of Mrs. Murphy, worked for 
William T. Powers in a mill at Grand Rapids 
for five or six years, was strictly temperate, 
saved his earnings and bought 100 acres of 
heavily-timbered land in Paris township, at 
$32 per acre, and paid for it. This land he 
cleaned up thoroughly and he has not now a 
stump left on it; he also owns two other farms, 
one of which, containing seventy-three acres, 
is on the Cascade gravel road in Grand 
Rapids township, but adjoining his home farm 
in Paris, and for this he paid $51.50 per acre 



910 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and now has it highly improved; his other 
farm, of forty acres, is on the same road and 
is four miles nearer the city, and formerly was 
a part of his wife's parents' estate. All three 
of these farms. Mr. Kelly successfully cul- 
tivates. 

Mr. Kelly married, in Grand Rapids, Miss 
Helen Flood, a daughter of Dennis and 
Rosanna Flood, and born in Pittsburg, Pa., 
whence she came to Grand Rapids when 
twelve years old. To Mr. and Mrs. Keiley 
have been born si.K children, viz: William 
and Joseph, both on the home farm; Anna, 
who was married to John E. Powers, a nephew 
of William T. Powers, and a resident of Grand 
Rapids township; Nellie, a teacher of music 
and the fine arts, and still at home; Gertrude, 
now Mrs. Murphy, and Rose, under the pa- 
rental roof. The family are all members of St. 
Andrew's congregation at Grand Rapids and 
freely contribute to its maintenance. Mrs. 
Kelly is one of the best of business managers 
and has been a valuable helpmate to her hus- 
band in this respect. For years in early life, 
they had a rugged path to tread, but they soon 
made the way smooth, as they worked to- 
gether and had the welfare of the family at 
heart, and the children are all a credit to the 
devotedness of the parents. 




ILLIAM H. MYERS, Jr., a na- 
tive-born citizen of Kent county, 
Mich., represents a pioneer family 
and was born March 26, 1859, the 
sixth of the nine children that constituted the 
family of William H. and Elizabeth (Dancer) 
Myers, and of whom eight are still living, viz: 
Sarah A., wife of John Myers, a carpenter of 
Rockford, Mich. ; Mary, whose husband, J. B. 
Clark, is a general merchant of St. Ignace, 
Mich., and also treasurer of that city; Orcelia, 



wife of Charles Davis, a farmer of Courtland 
township; John J., in Nevada; William H. ; 
Fred W., a resident of Rossland, British 
America, where he has been prospecting for 
years; Maggie, wife of L. D. Rathburn, a 
farmer of Ionia county; Lizzie, married to J. 
A. Covey, and living in Phceni.x, Ariz. 

William H. Myers, Sr., the father of this 
family, was born in Arklow, county Wicklow, 
Ireland, June 4, 18 18, and when less than a 
year and a half old was brought to America 
by his parents, Matthew and Sarah Myers, 
who landed at St. John, N. B., and three 
months later moved to Philadelphia, but soon 
after settled in Cold Spring, on the Hudson 
river, N. Y. 

In 1830 he accompanied his parents to 
Michigan — Freedom, Washtenaw county, be- 
ing selected as their home. When in his fif- 
teenth year, he received his parents' consent 
to go out into the world and satisfy his craving 
for adventure. Accordingly, he secured a boy's 
berth on a lake Michigan vessel, on which he 
spent three seasons. 

In 1837 he visited the upper Mississippi 
river country on a steamer conveying supplies 
to Forts Crawford and Snelling. He next went 
south to New Orleans and shipped on a voy- 
age to Cuba. In 1S40 he was steersman on 
the Gen. Scott on lake Erie. Back again to 
New Orleans, he went on the Alabama, con- 
veying recruits to Gen. Taylor, then fighting 
the Seminoles in Florida. Later he visited 
Maracaibo, Venezuela, Rio Janeiro, and Monte- 
video, South America, and the Falkland 
islands. He made many subsequent voyages 
until 1845, having spent about thirteen years 
on the water and having many interesting and 
exciting experiences. In 1847, tireing of that 
life, he came to Courtland township, Kent 
county, where he entered 160 acres of unim- 
proved land at the government price of $1.25 
per acre. His first habitation was of logs; 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



911 



his agricultural implemenls were of the most 
primitive make; his household furniture was 
equally rude; his first meal in his new home 
was eaten from a board, each end of which 
rested on an empty barrel. Game was plenti- 
ful, and Indians were by no means lacking, 
and even the subject of this sketch can recall 
to memory Indians, bears, and deer, that 
abounded in the woods when he was a child. 
Grand Rapids, some twenty miles away, was 
the nearest point for trading, and roads were 
little better than serpentine ox-team 
tracks. But Mr. Myers, aided by his children 
as they grew in years and strength, and by the 
gradual introduction of improved farming im- 
plements, succeeded in developing from the 
wilderness a first-class farm. In 1863 became 
to the present farm, which was his father's, 
and where his father died in 1865, aged eighty- 
six years. He has for some years past lived 
in comfortable retirement. In politics he has 
always been a democrat. No man has ever 
been so honored by the Courtland people as 
he. From the earliest days his ability and fit- 
ness were recognized, and almost regardlessof 
political views he received the franchises of his 
townsmen, who repeatedly selected him to fill 
positions of the greatest responsibility and 
honor. He sat on the board of supervisors for 
nineteen years, never quailing at most trying 
junctures to stand and act for the best inter- 
ests of all. During the most critical period of 
our history, national as well as local, the people 
knew that in him they had a safe representa- 
tive — one whose action would ever uphold the 
integrity of the country. Now, in his eighty- 
second year, having survived almost every one 
of his associates of earlier days, with mind and 
body in full possession of their faculties, his 
fund of reminiscences, touchingkpioneer life as 
well as his earlier experience as a seaman, 
afford a fund of information and pleasant en- 
tertainment to the listener. 



He is in religion an Episcopalian, and 
fraternally a member of lodge No. 34, F. & 
A. M., Grand I^apids. 

His wife was born in Oxfordshire, England, 
in 1825, and died in Kent county, Mich., 
February 26, 1895, her remains being interred 
in Courtland cemetery. 

William H. Myers, Jr., the subject proper 
of this sketch, like most farmers' lads, was 
primarily educated in the district school, and 
the education there received was supplemented 
by attendance at Swensberg Business college 
at Grand Rapids. His first business employ- 
ment was as salesman forC. F. Sears, general 
merchant at Rockford, with whom he remained 
five years, since which time his attention has 
mostly been devoted to farming and stock- 
raising. October 4, 1883, he married Miss 
Delia Pierson, a native of Ontario county, 
N. Y. , and this union has resulted in the birth 
of two children, one of whom, however, has 
passed away, but Zella, the survivor, is the 
delight and solace of her parents. Mrs. Myers 
is a daughter of John and Agnes (Poland) Pier- 
son, of English and Scottish birth respectively, 
but of whom the former is now deceased; the 
latter makes her home with Mr. and Mrs. 
Myers. 

Mr. Myers adheres to democratic principles 
and cast his first presidential vote for Winfield 
Scott Hancock in 1880. He has been the 
delegate 'of his party to county, district, and 
state conventions at various times, with no 
small credit to himself and to the satisfaction 
of his constituents. He was elected township 
treasurer in 1897, and is now serving a second 
term. He is, moreover, a warm friend of the 
public schools, has been a member of the 
school board for many years, and is its treas- 
urer. Fraternally, he is a member of Rock- 
ford lodge, No. 246, F. & A. M., and also of 
the Court of Honor at Rockford. His estate, 
four and one-half miles from Rockford, com- 



912 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



prises 290 acres of fertile land, in the township 
of Courtland. No better managed or better 
improved farm can be found in the county. 
Mr. and Mrs. Myers stand deservedly high in 
the esteem of the community, and the general 
usefulness and public spirit of Mr. Myers has 
met with universal approbation, his friends not 
being confined to one party or belief. 




ON. EDWARD P. NASH, repre- 
sentative in the last legislature from 
the Third district of Kent county, 
was born in Livingston county, N. 
Y. , February 27, 1S46, the third of the si.\ 
children — four sons and two daughters — that 
blessed the marriage of Anson and Esther 
(Deuel) Nash, of whom three, beside the 
gentleman whose name opens this paragraph, 
are still living. 

Anson Nash, was born in Connecticut, of 
English e.xtraction, and was reared a farmer. 
From Connecticut he removed to New York, 
whence he came to Michigan in 1856 and lo- 
cated in Oakland county, but died in the vil- 
lage of Rockford, Kent county, January 25, 
1884. He located in Grattan, in 1S79 on the 
present home'of his son. He had been fairly 
well educated, and while a resident of New- 
York was a well-known teacher. In politics 
he was first a whig, but at the birth of the 
republican party espoused its policy, and was 
a great admirer of Abraham Lincoln. Al- 
though prominent and popular with his fellow- 
citizens, he never sought the " bubble reputa- 
tion "' as a public man. His wife vsas a native 
of Saratoga county, N. Y., and a devout mem- 
ber of the Congregational church. 

Edward P. Nash was but twelve years of 
age when he came to Michigan with his par- 
ents. He was educated, primarily, in New 
York, then attended the district schools in 



Oakland county, Mich., and later the high 
school at Rochester, and the union school at 
Utica, Macomb county. He has taught school 
both in Oakland and Kent counties, although, 
fundamentally, he is an agriculturist. He re- 
mained with his parents until he had reached 
his majority, and at that time had about $200 
with which to begin life on his own account. 

January 17, 1S82, Mr. Nash wedded Miss 
Maria Purdy, who has borne him three chil- 
dren, viz: Claude L. . Earl P. and John E. 
Mrs. Nash is a daughter of James Lawrence 
and Charlotte (Randel) Purdy. The former 
died October 7, 1898, on his farm, where he 
had settled when a young man, over forty years 
ago. He was born in St. Lawrence county, 
N. Y., and was brought to Michigan by his 
parents, Gilbert and Maria (Griffin) Purdy, 
who settled in Grattan township, Kent county, 
on the state road. Charlotte Randel was born 
in Ohio, a daughter of Aden and Elmina (Ren- 
nells) Randel. When Charlotte was eight 
years of age, her father having passed away, 
her mother was married to \Villiam B. Ward, 
and the family came to I\ent county, Mich. 
Mrs. Charlotte Purdy still resides on the home- 
stead in Grattan township with her son, Charles 
S. Purdy. Another son, Ira S. Purdy, resides 
in Otisco, Ionia county. Mrs. Maria Nash was 
born in Grattan, educated in the Union schools 
and has ever been one of the popular ladies of 
the community. When Mr. and Mrs. Nash be- 
gan their married life, they purchased the Nash 
homestead, incurring a debt of $2,000, but 
this debt has been liquidated and the farm so 
improved that it compares favorably with any 
other in the township — an example of industry 
and good management worthy imitation by the 
rising generation. It comprises 120 acres, 
located on the state road between Grattan and 
Belding. 

Mr. Nash has ever been a republican, and 
cast his first presidential vote for Ulysses S. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



91S 



Grant, and has voted for each republican can- 
didate (or the presidency ever since. At va- 
rious times he has been delegate to republican 
county, senatorial and district conventions, 
always having the fullest confidence of his 
party. The public-school system is warmly 
endorsed by Mr. Nash, as he has been officially 
connected with school conduct for<twelve or 
fourteen years. In the fall of i8g8, he was 
nominated by the republicans of the third dis- 
trict of Kent county as representative to the 
legislature. The democratic opposition, in the 
person of J. E. Goul, chairman of the Kent 
county board of supervisors, made it an inter- 
esting race, but he swept the polls by a ma- 
jority of 848 — a strong evidence of his popu- 
larity with the public at large. While in the 
legislature, he was made a member of the 
committee on schools for the deaf, through the 
action of which the law was passed permitting 
each district in the state, having three or more 
deaf pupils, to draw $150 per pupil and to es- 
tablish a school, and educate the afflicted ones 
at home. He also served on the committee 
on agriculture and horticulture, and on the 
special committee on the Detroit house of cor- 
rection, and the special committee on consid- 
ering the extra compensation of employees of 
the house of representatives. 

Hon. E. P. Nash is always at his post of 
duty, is alert at all times, and the people of 
north ICent recognize the fact that they have 
placed the "right man in the right place, " and 
feel that they have made no mistake in the 
selection. 

Mr. and Mrs. Nash are members of Grattan 
grange. No. 170, of which he was master two 
years, and she has been elected lecturer and to 
other responsible positions. They have al- 
ways been liberal with their means toward 
aiding benevolences worthy of consideration, 
and are deservedly ranked among the best res- 
idents of Grattan township. 




AMES R. NEAL, an old resident of 
\\'alker township, I\ent county, Mich., 
is a native of Rochester, N. Y., was 
born January 25, 1834, and is the 
eldest of the five children that constituted the 
family of John Demster and Philandia (Mes- 
senger) Neal, the other four having been 
named Flavins; Josephus, who was killed in 
the Civil war; Lucius J., a resident of Mill 
Creek, Mich., and John, who died from Civil 
war injuries. 

John Demster Neal was also a native of 
Rochester, N. Y., born in 1813, and came to 
Michigan about 1838. For a short time he 
lived at Brownsville, Lenawee county, and 
then near Adrian, in the same county, where 
he died in, 1844. His wife was born near 
Ivochester, N. Y. , in 18 14, and died in Mich- 
igan in i860. 

James R. Neal was but in his eleventh 
year when he lost his father, and he then 
went to live with an uncle, with whom he re- 
sided about three years, and then hired out as 
a farm hand, followed the calling nearly five 
years, and then found employment in a saw- 
mill for a year or two. In 1852 he came to 
Walker township, Kent county, continued at 
farm labor until he had earned sufficient funds 
to purchase his present farm, and in Septem- 
ber, 1862, answered his country's call by en- 
listing in company B, Si.xth Michigan cavalry. 
On going to the front, he took part in many 
iniportant battles, among which were those 
of Gettysburg, Falling Waters, Richmond, 
Wilderness, Cold Harbor and Front Royal, 
(being wounded by a musket ball at the last- 
named place), and served with great bravery 
and credit until his honorable discharge, June 
16, 1865, when he returned to his Michigan 
homestead. 

July 4, 1859, Air. Neal married Miss Her- 
oin Stewart, the second child born to John 
and Samantha (Randall) Stewart, the former 



914 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



of whom was born in Canada July 4, 181 7, 
and the latter in New York state in the same 
year; they came to Kent county in 1S46, and 
still reside on their homestead in Walker 
township. Mrs. Neal, however, was born in 
Hillsdale, Mich., March 20, 183S, and has, 
for her brother and sisters, Margaret, wife of 
Charles Rosegrant, of Ottawa county; Sylves- 
ter J., a farmer of Walker township, Kent 
county, and Celestia, wife of George Hooker, 
of Grand Rapids. Mr. and Mrs. Neal have an 
adopted daughter, Lizzie Grace, wife of 
James Lamorou.x, who has two children — 
James Neal and Hazel Louisa. 

In politics Mr. Neal is a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for John C. 
Fremont. Fraternally, in former j'ears, he 
was a Knight Templar, a Chosen Friend and 
a Granger, but now, being happily retired to 
private life, takes no part in these societies. 
In past years, also, he was a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and his wife of 
the Baptist, but now affiliate with neither, 
although they both lead sincerely christian 
lives. 




ARMAN NASH, dealer in farm imple- 
ments, buggies, harness, etc., is one 
of the enterprising business men of 
Lowell, and a gentleman of high 
standing in the social circles of the town. 
Like many residents of this part of Michigan, 
Mr. Nash belongs to the sturdy class of New 
Yorkers who have stamped their individuality 
so indelibly upon the institutions of the great 
west. The father of the subject of this men- 
tion was Ira Nash, of New York, who married 
in that state Judy A. Fero, and by her had six 
children. Ira Nash was by occupation a 
mechanic, but later in life followed the pursuit 
of agriculture for a livelihood. He became a 



resident of Michigan in 1845. locating in the 
township of \'ergennes, where he made his 
home until in 1866, when he became a resi- 
dent of Lowell, and there resided until his 
death, in 1S87. 

Harman Nash was born in Steuben county, 
N. Y., October 24, 1835. He was brought to 
Michigan by his parents when ten years of age 
and received the greater part of his literary 
education in the common schools of his 
adopted state, attending the same quite regu- 
larly until early manhood. His first practical 
experience was obtained on the paternal acres, 
where he acquired a strong and rugged phys- 
ical constitution, and he afterward began the 
battle of life upon his own responsibility as an 
agriculturist, following that honorable and use- 
ful calling with varied success until 1865. For 
a period of one year he was clerk in a drug 
house with C. B. Hine. Following this, Mr. 
Nash became associated with William Boyce 
in the manufacture of axes and machine fix- 
tures, which business he followed until 1879, 
meeting with flattering success the meanwhile. 
His partner dying the above year, Mr. Nash 
continued the business alone, engaging in his 
present business in the spring of 18S6, on the 
same spot of ground occupied by the former 
factory and shops. 

From the beginning, Mr. Nash's present 
business has furnished a series of continued 
successes, representing a good volume of busi- 
ness. It is needless in this brief review to 
enumerate the manj' excellent traits of char- 
acter possessed by the subject, or mention in 
detail the superior methods by which his large 
and constantly increasing success has been at- 
tained. His life in Lowell is an open book, 
known and read by the citizens; suffice it to 
observe that few citizens of the place possess 
in as full degree the confidence of the people, 
or stand higher in their esteem. 

In politics a democrat of the orthodox 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



915 



stamp, Mr. Nash has nevertheless refrained 
from seeking official positions, preferring to 
give his entire time and attention to his busi- 
ness enterprise. Notwithstanding his desire 
to remain a party worker merely, Mr. Nash 
has been elected a justice of the peace and 
member of the town board of Lowell, both 
positions having been thrust upon him by an 
appreciative public. He discharged the duties 
of both offices faithfully and well, and it is not 
flattery to state that he could have much more 
important public trusts did he see fit to accept 
them at the hands of his fellow-citizens. Mr. 
Nash is a member of F. & A. M. lodge, No. 
90, and Hooker chapter, No. 73, at Lowell, 
and of De Molai commandery, No. 5, at Grand 
Rapids, and in lodge and chapter has served 
as secretary alternately for about fifteen years. 
Mr. Nash's pleasant home in Lowell is pre- 
sided over by his devoted wife, whose maiden 
name was Hannah E. Van Deusen. She is 
the daughter of Alfred Van Deusen, a native 
of Canada, and was married to Mr. Nash 
February 6, 1858. 



HOMAS NANNINGA, who is living in 
retirement on Burton avenue, just 
over the line of South Grand Rapids, 
in Wyoming township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born in Zandt, Groningen, Nether- 
lands, January 20, 1835. From the age of 
ten years he has been self-dependent, and at 
fourteen began to work out for farmers, receiv- 
ing only about $35 per year for this work. He 
served one year in the army, although he was 
subject to five years of such service. 

In 1858 Mr. Nanninga married Mrs. Anta 
Ploeg, and in 1864 brought his wife and four 
children to America. He located in Chicago, 
111., where he worked as a laborer four years; 
then, learning the plasterer's trade, he soon be- 



came a contractor, and had just fairly started' 
in this line when the great fire of 1S71 oc- 
curred. The re-building of the city was to 
him the road to fortune. He then employed 
five or si.\ men to aid him in his work, paying 
them not less than $5 per day, and rapidly ad- 
vanced to a position of ease and independence. 
He invested in real estate, improved it, and 
the general growth of the city enhanced ma- 
terially the value of his own property. 

In 1880 he came to Grand Rapids and in- 
vested in twenty acres of land in the south 
part of the city, two years later coming here 
to reside, and to engage in building operations. 
He has continued to invest in real estate, on 
which he has erected several houses, and by 
shrewd management has added to his bank ac- 
count until he stands to-day a living example 
of what brains and brawn will accomplish. 

Mr. Nanninga is a republican in national 
politics, but in local affairs works for the men 
best suited to local administration. He is active 
in everything pertaining to Wyoming town- 
ship, where he wields a wide influence among 
the many citizens of his own nationality, and 
has at different times succeeded in placing a 
democrat in office, especially when the repub- 
lican incumbent had failed to carry out his 
previous promises, or to properly represent the 
people. 

The wife of Mr. Nanninga was a widow 
when he married her and the mother of two 
children — Tantje Ploeg and Betje Ploeg. Two 
children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Nan- 
ninga, named Nancoe and John. They have 
all been reared as one family by Mrs. Nan- 
ninga, and all are settled in life and live in 
Chicago. Nancoe is employed in the Pullman 
shops and John is engaged in the fuel business. 

Mr. Nanninga is a quick-witted, level- 
headed gentleman, with warm sensibilities. In 
referring to the struggles of his boyhood, on one 
occasion his eyes filled with tears, as they also 



916 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



did when speakinj^ of the distress to thousands 
by the disastrous Chicago fire. In replying to 
a friend in the old country, who had inquired 
as to the opportunities offered in the United 
States for speculation, he said: "Of every 
twenty men embarked in speculation in Amer- 
ica, two become millionaires, two become rea- 
sonably rich, eight commit suicide, and the 
other eight are in the insane asylum. You 
will find just as sharp men here as in the old 
country, and the man who e.spects to come 
here and show the Americans how to get rich 
is liable to get plucked himself." 

Mr. Nanninga is possessed of keen business 
foresight, sells when others wants to buy, and 
never clings to undesirable property with the 
hope that at some time it will become desira- 
ble. His income now is a handsome one, and 
has been secured through his own efforts. He 
is thoroughly Americanized, and no man in 
Wyoming township is held in higher esteem 
than Thomas Nanninga. 




OHN FRANK NELSON, a well-known 
and prosperous farmer of Tyrone 
township, Kent county, Mich., was 
born in Sweden, near the city of 
Svaninsgordon, July iS, 1856, the third of the 
five children born to Nicholas and Louisa 
(Kjellender) Nelson, and of whom three beside 
himself are still living, viz: Edward, Matilda 
and Elizabeth — the former two still in Sweden 
and the last-named being th^ wife of Andrew 
Anderson, of Tyrone township. 

Nicholas Nelson, the father, came to Amer- 
ica about 1867 and settled at Croton, Mich., 
and four years later sent for his wife, his son, 
John Frank, and two daughters, who set sail 
from Gottenberg in 1871 and joined their 
father at Croton. The father then brought 
his family to Tyrone township, Kent county. 



and here purchased a tract of unimproved 
land, on which he passed the remainder of his 
life, dying August 13, 1888, a member of the 
Lutheran church. His wife was born in Kal- 
legorden, Sweden, January 2, 1S33, and is 
now residing in Tyrone township near her 
children. 

John Frank Nelson was fifteen years of age 
when he landed in America. He had attended 
the schools of his native land, and on coming 
here entered a district school. Until about 
twenty years of age he assisted his father on 
the home place, and then began the battle of 
life for himself, but with no capital save a 
robust constitution and a determination to 
conquer, and for ten winters worked in the 
lumber regions in saw-mills. August i, 1886, 
he married Miss Johanna Christina Rydell, and 
this marriage has been blessed with three sons 
and one daughter, of whom one son is de- 
ceased, the survivors being Elin E.xzilla, 
the eldest, who is attending school in the 
seventh grade, John Edwin and Emil 
Leroy. Mrs. Nelson was born June 19, 
i860, and is a daughter of John August 
and Rebecca (Johnson) Rydell, of Sweden, 
and of their eleven children, seven are still 
living, viz: Matilda F. and Gustave, both in 
Sweden; Ida M., wife of Frank Wegall, a 
farmer of Muskegon county, Mich.; EmmaF., 
Charles L. and Ernest, in Sweden, and Mrs. 
Nelson. The father of this family was born 
in 1829, and with his wife is still living in his 
native land, the latter having been born in 
November, 183S, and both are members of the 
Lutheran church. 

\\'hen Mr. and Mrs. Nelson settled in Ty- 
rone township in 1892 he owned a farm of 
thirty acres, and a little log cabin was their 
first habitation. The land had been cleared 
of its timber, but the stumps were still stand- 
ing, so they well know what hard work is. 
They have added fifteen acres to this tract, 



I 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



917 



and in 1897 erected their present handsome 
dwellino;, which is finished in hard wood and 
heated by air furnaces. The out-buildings are 
substantial and furnished with every conven- 
ience, and this comfortable home is the result 
of industry and economy, aided by sound judg- 
ment in management. 

In politics Mr. Nelson is a republican, and 
cast his first presidential vote for R. B. Hayes. 
He and wife are members of the Lutheran 
church, to the support of which they are very 
liberal contributors, and socially thej' move in 
the best circles of the township. 




ARINUS NIELSON, treasurer of 
Spencer township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born in the province of 
\^ensyssel, near the city of Hjoring, 
about 1 50 miles northeast of Copenhagen, 
Denmark, July iS, 1855, and is the fourth in 
the family of five sons and two daughters born 
to Niels and Maria (Petersen) Poulsen, of 
which children five are still living, viz: Chris- 
tian P., a blacksmith by trade and a farmer 
by occupation in his native land; Marinus, 
the subject of- this sketch; Eliza, wife of 
Marinus Janson, also a farmer of Denmark; 
Stine, wife of Christian Christensen, a mer- 
chant; and Sineus, a mason, both still in the 
old country. 

Niels, the father, was born in 1821, and 
his wife in 18 17; both are members of the 
Lutheran church, and February 16, 1899, 
celebrated their golden wedding in Vensyssel 
province, where they still reside. 

When seventeen years old, Marinus Niel- 
son had decided to make America his home, 
and in the spring of 1873 bade farewell to his 
parents and steamed out of the city of Copen- 
hagen for New York via Hamburg and Eng- 
land, and after a voyage of twenty days' dura- 



tion arrived safely in port. From New York 
he at once made his way to Racine, Wis., and 
thence, shortly afterward, came to Grand 
Rapids. He was willing to do any kind of 
work as a laborer, on streets or railroads, but 
found employment as a lumberman, at which 
he adhered for over ten years, the greater 
part of the time as lumber inspector, an im- 
portant postion. 

In 1885 Mr. Nielson came to Spencer 
township and for two years or over was em- 
ployed as a lumber inspector, in the mills at 
Bass Lake. In 1887 he secured 227 acres, 
from which the timber had been cleared off, 
but otherwise it was unimproved. This land 
he sold at different times, retaining eighty 
acres only -for a homestead. This tract he 
has thoroughly improved, and it now gives 

' every indication of thrift, the result of his in- 

i 

dustry, although he had but little capital 
when he made his purchase, and had to go in 
debt for a considerable portion of it, but his 
industry has made it one of the best farms of 
its dimensions in the township, and Mr. Niel- 
son is clear of debt, a fact that gives evidence 
of his indefatigability. 

Mr. Nielson married. May 9, 1877, Miss 
Jorgine Jensen, who was born October 28, 
1852, near the city of Hjoring, Denmark, was 
educated and confirmed in her native land, 
and was about twenty-one years of age when 
she came to America. To this happy marriage 
have been born nine children, viz: Paul 
^^'alter, who assists his father on the home- 
stead; Marie, Ann, Victor, Louise, Robert, 
Sineus, Oscar Sophus and Harvey. 

In politics Mr. Nielson is a democrat and 
has served as director of the public schools for 
six years; in 1893 he was elected township 
treasurer, and was again elected in 1899. He 
is highly esteemed as a gentleman of integrity 
and honor, and he and family are devout mem- 
bers of the Lutheran church in Montcalm 



918 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



township, Montcalm county, Mich. , one mile 
from their residence. They are in favor of the 
best schools and the best teachers that can be 
had, and are classed among the most pro- 
gressive residents of Spencer township. 




AMES NEWLAND, a well-known 
farmer and fruit grower of Spencer 
township, Kent county, Mich., and 
an e.x-soldier of the Civil war, was born 
in Cattaraugus county, N. Y. , March 23, 
1842, and the eldest of a family of si.\ sons 
and two daughters born to Daniel and Aurilla 
(Cooper) Newland. These children are now 
living in Spencer township, with the excep- 
tion of subject's twin brother, Andrew, a car 
penter and joiner by trade and who resides at 
Grand Rapids, Minn. 

Daniel Newland, the father, was born in 
Ireland in 1822; when fifteen years of age he 
embarked on a sailing vessel at Liverpool, 
England, and after a voyage of six weeks ar- 
rived in New York. He worked in the neigh- 
borhood of the city for some time, and thence 
went to Quebec, Canada, where he resided 
for a few years, then returned to New York 
state and worked on the Erie canal at Troy. 
He was married in Cattaraugus county, and in 
1874 brought his family to Michigan, located 
in Spencer township, Kent county, and here 
died in 1877, a devout Catholic. He was a 
democrat in his political faith, and was always 
a hard-working, honest, man, respected by all 
who knew him. His widow, now seventy- 
eight years of age, lives with her son Thomas 
in Spencer township, and is still in good 
health and the full enjoyment of her mental 
faculties. 

James Newland remained in his native 
state until twenty-three years of age. He has 
worked at farming and lumbering all his life. 



and has spent seventeen winters in the lum- 
ber regions of Montcalm and I\ent counties, 
Mich. 

Mr. Newland enlisted at Hinsdale, Catta- 
raugus county, N. Y., August 17, 1864, in com- 
pany H, Fifteenth New York engineers, under 
Capt. Andrew Manger, and his regiment was 
assigned to the army of the Potomac, being 
sent at once to City Point, within seven miles 
of Petersburg, Va , for instruction in drill. 
He was next engaged in erecting fortifications 
two miles above City Point to protect the hos- 
pitals and the base of supplies located at this 
place. The regiment was then sent to the 
front of Petersburg, to take a place in a divis- 
ion of the army made vacant by the calling of 
the troops to another point, and ware for a long • 
time under continuous fire from the enemy's 
heavy artillery. The regiment was next sent 
back to a place just above City Point to erect 
pontoon bridges behind the breastworks, to 
throw across the Appomattox river. It was 
next sent to Bermuda Hundred, to fill vacan- 
cies and erect breastworks, and while there 
was under fire from the Rebel sharp-shooters. 
While thus employed, Mr. Newland and a 
comrade, Franklin Graham, were sitting one 
day on the logs at the top of the fortifications, 
when the sharp-shooters got their range, pos- 
sibly a mile away, and a minie ball from the 
enemy struck just between Mr. Newland and 
his comrade, and thej' quickly decided to 
withdraw from so conspicuous a point. They , 
were soon sent to the left of Petersburg, to J 
take positions at Yellow Tavern and Port Davis, i 
where an engagement with the Rebels was 'ex- * 
; pected to take place. The order was given to 
j prepare for action, guns were loaded and bay- 
] onets fixed and the men ordered to the breast- 
works and into line; the colonel gave the 
order: " Men, wait until you see the third 
button on the uniform ere you fire." The 
boys lay in readiness for four hours, but with- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



919 



out the sight of a Rebel. They were then 
ordered back thirty rods, to prepare a break- 
fast of coffee, hardtack and fat bacon. Al- 
though the Confederate infantry did not put 
in an appearance, a constant cannonading 
was kept up. The\- were then ordered to lay a 
pontoon bridge over the Appomattox river for 
Sheridan's cavalry, after which they were 
placed on reserve picket duty on the Weldon 
railroad, where they remained until March 29, 
1865. Mr. Newland was on picket duty at 
midnight when the bombardment of Petersburg 
and Richmond was opened, and he will never 
forget the booming sound of the cannon that 
then greeted his ear. The regiment then 
joined the main army near Amelia C. H. On 
Sunday, April 5, 1865, at Appomattox, 
when all were in line and the roll had been 
repeatedly called, the orderly came up and 
read the joyful news that the Rebel chief, 
Robert E. Lee, had surrendered his entire 
force to Gen. U. S. Grant. 

The forces were then all ordered to Wash- 
ington, D. C, to participate in the grand re- 
view, and were then mustered out of the serv- 
ice. He had performed his duty to his coun- 
try bravely and faithfully, and had never been 
reprimanded by a superior. He first returned 
to his New York home, then in August, 1865, 
came to Michigan, and worked in a saw-mill 
in Montcalm countj' until 1869, when he be- 
came a resident of Spencer township. 

On July 4, 1867, Mr. Newland was united 
in marriage with Miss Almira Graham, and 
this union has been graced with three sons, 
viz: Walter J., who married Atiss Clara Es- 
keldsen, and has two children — Mina and Jim- 
mie; Edwin D. married Miss Alma Call, and 
has one child — Gladys — and is also a farmer 
of Spencer township; Benjamin F. is still 
with his father. Mr. and Mrs. Newland have 
given their children good common-school edu- 
cations, and these children are an honor to 

48 



their parents. Mrs. Almira Newland was 
born in Cattaraugus county, N. Y. , March 9, 
1845, s^nd is a daughter of Frederick and 
Christina (Pifer) Graham. She was educated 
in the common schools and was a young lady 
of nineteen years when she came to Ivent 
county, Mich., and she has, indeed, proven to 
be a valuable helpmate to her husband. 

Mr. Newland purchased his present farm 
of eighty acres in 1881, and erected his pleas- 
ant home dwelling with his own hands. When 
they began their married life, Mr. and Mrs. 
Newland had no capital save industry and 
willing dispositions, but they now have a fine 
eighty-acre farm in a first-class state of culti- 
vation. Plum, peach, and apple orchards are 
important features of this business. 

In politics Mr. Newland is non-partisan, 
and votes only for the best men, and cast his 
first vote for Abraham Lincoln. He was 
elected a justice of the peace in 1897 and still 
fills the office, was school treasurer for three 
years, and both he and wife advocate the em- 
ployment of the best school-teachers for their 
district. She is a member of the Baptist 
church at Spencer Mills, and of the Ladies' 
Aid society. He is a member of Carleton 
post. No. 327, G. A. R., and is the present 
senior vice-commander. The family stand 
very high in the esteem of the community, 
and so live as to be fully deserving of this 
standing. 




EV. JOHN A. NORLIN, pastor of the 
Swedish Evangelical Lutheran church 
in Sparta township, Kent county, 
Mich. — the oldest church of the de- 
nomination in the state — is a native of the 
province of Vestergotland, Sweden, and was 
born December 11, 1856, about eight Swedish 
miles from the city of Gottenburg, and is the 
third in a family of ten children — eight sons 



920 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and two daughters — of whom four sons and two 
daughters are slill living. The parents, Peter 
and Anna (Johnson) Norlin, were born in the 
same province in 1825 and 1829, respectively, 
and are now residents of Sparta, Mich. Of 
their surviving sons, Frank is assistant to the 
general ticket agent of the Chicage Milwaukee 
& St. Paul railroad at Chicago; Charles 
is, and has been for several years, foreman of 
an extensive lumber-mill at Meridian, Miss; 
yohn, a tine mechanic, is engaged in railroad- 
ing and is a resident of St. Paul, Minn., and of 
the Rev. John A. further mention will be 
made later on. Both parents are also devout 
members of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran 
church. 

Rev. John A. Norlin was primarily educat- 
ed in the public schools of his native land, 
came to America in 1870, went direct to St. 
Paul, Minn., and in 1874 entered theAugustana 
Swedish Evangelical college and Theological 
seminary at Paxton, 111., but on account of 
illness, remained there one year only. In 
1875 the college was transferred to Rock Isl- 
and, 111., when Mr. Norlin re-entered the in- 
stitution and remained two years, but was 
again compelled to relinquish his studies for a 
time. When he resumed them, he took a se- 
lect course in the college, graduated from the 
semniary in 1886, was ordained in July of 
the same year at Minneapolis, and was at 
once appointed to the charge of the congrega- 
tion in Sparta township, Kent county, Mich., 
over which he presided four years, .and then 
received a call to Campello, Plymouth coun- 
ty, Mass., twenty miles from Boston, ^^'hile 
officiating there for the five years from 1S90 
until 1895, he organized a new church socie- 
ty, erected a church edifice at North Easton, 
and another at Brockton, and performed much 
other good and faithful church work. 

While thus successfully advancing the 
cause of the church in Massachusetts, Rev. 



Norlin was not forgotten by his earlier con- 
gregation at Sparta, Mich., who had approv- 
ingly maintained a watch over his career, and 
accordingly sent him a unanimous call to re- 
turn, which call he accepted and resumed 
charge of his old parishioners in July, 1895, 
and here he still is, enjoying the love and esteem 
of all. The congregation numbers 200 commu- 
nicants, the Sunday school has about the same 
number of attendants, is one of the largest and 
most flourishing in the county, and is under the 
excellent superintendency of A. H. Saur, the 
general merchant of Kent City. 

From 1 868 to 1890, Rev. Mr. Norlin had 
charge of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran 
church at Grand Rapids, and during this pe- 
riod preached two sermons each Sabbath — one 
in the morning in the parish proper, and one 
at Grand Rapids in the afternoon, riding a dis- 
tance of nineteen miles each Sunday, and dur- 
ing all this time missed but one service. 

Rev. John A. Norlin was joined in matri- 
mony December 11, 1890, with Miss Huldah 
Victoria Wennerstrom, and four children have 
blessed this union — Edith, Esther, Ruth and 
Carl. Mrs. Norlin was born, reared and ed- 
ucated in Grand Rapids, is a lady of many ac- 
complishments, and was organist at the Grand 
Rapids Swedish Lutheran church when Rev. 
Norlin was in charge. 

When Rev. Norlin's health failed in 1881, 
he made a trip across the ocean, starting in 
May, for recuperative purposes as well as for 
pleasure. He visited his native and several 
other provinces in Sweden, the island of Got- 
land and the city of Stockholm — the Paris of 
the Scandanavian peninsula — and was much 
improved in health. 

Mr. Norlin has a splendid library of over 
400 volumes of standard works on theology, 
science, philosophy, history and belles lettres, 
the perusal of which makes the ripe scholar. 
He is, indeed, an up-to-date divine, and a 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



921 



spirit of love, harmony and charity pervades 
the whole parish, and he and wife enjoy the 
unfeigned affection of the entire community. 




OHN H. NORTON. —For almost four 
decades has John H. Norton been a 
representative agriculturist, and a 
prominent and well-respected citizen 
of Kent county, Mich. The aforesaid is a 
native of Roscommon county, Ireland, having 
been born in June, 1832, and is a son of John 
and Anna Maria Norton. He was one of a 
family of six children, two of whom are resi- 
dents of Oakfield township, viz: Mr. Norton, 
of this sketch, and his brother, Edward. A 
sister, Kate, is the wife of John Kinney, a 
prosperous agriculturist, who resides in Ne- 
waygo county. 

John Norton, Sr., the father of the sub- 
ject, was by calling a farmer, and lived and 
died in his native Ireland. The mother was 
also born in Ireland and departed this life in 
Grattan township, Kent county, Mich., in the 
year 1872. 

In 1852 John H. Norton came to America, 
having embarked at Dublin for Liverpool, 
thence across the Atlantic, landing at New 
York city. From the last named place, he 
came to the city of Baltimore, where he spent 
four years as a teamster, thence removing to 
Grand Rapids, Mich., which was then a small 
trading post, and that same year, 1856, came 
toOakfield township. He began his career in 
Michigan with a capital of $2, and soon after, 
with a small capital which he had accumulated 
by hiring out to work for $16 per month, at 
pioneer farm labor, purchased forty acres of 
government land, paying $1.25 per acre. 

Mr. Norton was united in marriage at 
Smyrna, to Miss Delia Tully, a native of Ire- 
land, and began married life on his little farm 



of forty acres. Mrs. Norton received such an 
education as could be acquired from the ad- 
vantages of the common schools, and has 
proven herself deserving of some commenda- 
tion as a faithful companion to her husband in 
his life's work. 

Mr. Norton in his chosen occupation has 
been very successful, having, by his un- 
flagging industry and perseverance, added to 
his original estate until now he is the owner of 
a fine farm of 200 acres, 120"! being in cultiva- 
tion. His time has been exclusively devoted 
to improving his farm, which was covered with 
heavy timber. He cut the first stick on the 
place, and the original log house is still stand- 
ing. Politically, he casts his vote, regardless 
of party, for the candidate whom he deems 
most efficient and fitted for the office. Mr. 
and Mrs. Norton are devout members of the 
St. Margaret church, at Harvard, he having 
been identified for over forty years with St. 
Patrick's parish, in Grattan township, and has 
been a liberal contributor to that institution. 




ARON NORTON.— Favorable oppor- 
tunities in men's lives arise, which, 
if taken advantage of, will take them 
far along the road toward the con- 
summation of their ideals, and, too, there are 
those who have a strange intuition of that time 
and avail themselves of it. But never does this 
mysterious aid come to those without ambition 
and fixed purpose. Determined effort invites 
success. 

Included in the circle of men who have 
fought the battle of life successfully is Aaron 
Norton, a citizen, miller and official of Grattan 
township, Kent county, Mich. Mr. Norton is 
a native of Franklin county, Vt., and was born 
November 15, 1S36, the only child of Joseph 
and Experience (Norton) Norton. His father 



922 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



was a native of Vermont, and the greater part 
of his Hfe was devoted to agricultural pursuits. 
In the year 1854 he emigrated to Ohio, set- 
tling in Ashtabula county, where he died. The 
mother was also a native of Vermont and died 
in Clinton county, Mich., at the age of fifty- 
six years. 

In Vermont Aaron Norton was reared and 
learned how to operate a farm; he also re- 
ceived a limited education there, and at the 
early age of eleven years was introduced to 
hard work, his first wages being $6 per month. 
When sixteen years of age he went to Ohio 
and learned the trade of a carpenter. In that 
state, also, he worked as head-sawyer in a 
mill at $20 per month. At nineteen years of 
age he went to Black River Falls and the 
LaCrosse country of Wisconsin, where for two 
years he was engaged as a carpenter; thence 
he went to Erie county, Pa., where in 1859 he 
was united in marriage to Mifs Eunice E. 
DuBois, a native of Vermont. To this union 
were born four children, three of whom are 
living, viz: Lincoln O., an agriculturist of 
Hecla, Brown county, S. Dak.; Guy C, who 
was educated in a business college at Grand 
Rapids and is now a miller of Alton, Ver- 
gennes township, Ivent county, Mich., and J. 
D., also engaged in the milling occupation, but 
residing with his father in Grattan. 

At his country's call Mr. Norton enlisted at 
Jamestown, N. Y., in the Seventh company, 
New York sharpshooters, in September, 1862. 
There were three companies combined and 
called the First battalion of New York sharp- 
shooters, which was soon after sent to Suf- 
folk, Va., where it was besieged for twenty- 
two days by Gen. Longstreet. Mr. Norton 
took part in the battles of the Wilderness, 
Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Spottsylvania and 
other of the battles of Grant's famous cam- 
paign. During his career in the army he was 
stricken with typhoid fever, causing eight 



weeks' confinement in the hospital. He was 
likewise in the hospital at Washington, D. C, 
from a wound in the foot, when the news of 
Gen. Lee's surrender came to him. He re- 
ceived his discharge on June 18, 1865, after a 
service of two years and ten months. 

After the war Mr. Norton came to Spencer 
township, Kent county, Mich., and bought an 
eighty-acre farm in section No. 7, and after- 
ward a same-sized farm in section No. 8, to 
which he subsequently added forty acres. Un- 
til 1878 he was a resident of this township, 
passing his life as a lumberman, farmer and 
carpenter. During his residence in the above 
township he was elected to the office of town- 
ship clerk for a term of five years and collector 
of taxes for one year. At the last-named date, 
or the termination of his residence in Spencer 
township, he traded his farm of 160 acres for 
the milling plant at Grattan. 

On May 27, 1891, Mr. Norton was united 
in marriage to Miss Emma E. Stanton, and 
one little daughter, Ruth L. , has blessed this 
union. Mrs. Norton was born in Tioga coun- 
ty, N. Y., December 5, 1853, and is a daugh- 
ter of Charles C. and Catherine fjohnson) 
Stanton, the parents of four sons and a daugh- 
ter, three of the sons being residents of Kent 
county and the fourth, Roy, resides in Burling- 
ton, Pa. Mrs. Norton took a high-school 
course at Cedar Springs and taught in the 
county for two years. 

Mr. Norton's repute as a business man and 
also one of integrity is well established. In 
his political views he is a democrat, but cast 
his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. 
In the spring of 1879 he was elected super- 
visor of Grattan township, and was success- 
ively elected for the next five years. He was 
appointed justice of the peace, and after an 
interim was reappointed, and is now serving 
his second term. Mr. Norton has also served 
his people as an official on the school board. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



923 



He is now township clerk, having been elected 
in 1S98, and is also a notary pnblic, in which 
capacity he has served for some twelve years, 
the first to appoint him being Gov. Alger. 

Fraternally, Mr. Norton is a member and 
treasurer of Grattan lodge, No. 196, F. & A. 
M., of which for five years he was worshipfnl 
master, and for the same length of time secre- 
tary. Both he and wife are members of Venus 
chapter. Order of the Eastern Star, of which he 
at present is marshal, and has served as treas- 
urer. Mrs. Norton is a devout member of the 
Methodist church at Grattan and a teacher in 
the Sunday-school. 




ERNARD MICHAEL OF.RIEN, a na- 
tive-born farmer of Walker town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., and liv- 
ing on section No. 32, was born on 
this farm June 15, 1854, and is a son of 
Stephen and Jane (Payton) O'Brien, the for- 
mer of whom was a native of county Lowth, 
Ireland. 

Stephen O'Brien came to the United 
States in 1S35, accompanied b}' his brother 
Bernard, spent one year in New York, then 
came to Michigan and lived one year at St. 
Joseph, and in 1837 located on eighty acres 
of land in sections 28, 29 and 32, in Walker 
township. For some years the brothers 
worked together as partners, or until Stephen 
married. Meantime the parents, Patrick and 
Elizabeth O'Brien, came from Ireland to 
Michigan, but the mother died soon after 
arrival, aged seventy-eight; the father im- 
proved one of the tracts mentioned, and 
cultivated it until his death. He passed the 
latter years of his life with his son, but looked 
after his own farm. He was a well pre- 
served man and often walked to the city, even 
when a team stood readv to convev him. He 



was in his ninety-first year at the time of his 
death. His family consisted of si.\ children, 
viz: Mary, married to Richard Carroll, of 
Ottawa county; Stephen; Bernard; Ann, mar- 
ried to Thomas Kinney; Bridget, married to 
Anthony Rusche. of Grand Rapids; Elizabeth, 
married to David Pettit, of Cascade town- 
ship; and Patrick, who owned a fine farm in 
Ottawa county, and died at seventy-si.\. All 
the above are now deceased, but the widow 
of Bernard is now a resident of Grand Rapids. 

Stephen O'Brien married Jane Payton in 
February, 1845. She was born in county 
Roscommon. Ireland, and came to America a 
young woman ; four years prior to marriage she 
came from Canada to Grand Rapids with the 
Williams famil)', by whom she was employed 
as a domestic. Mr. O'Brien had a farm of 
240 acres, which was heavily timbered with 
oak, beech, maple and- black walnut, yet he 
succeeded in having it all cleared and devoted 
it to general farming. But he lost his all in 
1873, including his farm. He lost his wife 
March 19, 1879, and his own death took place 
April 13, 1894. There were born to his mar- 
riage thirteen children, of whom six only 
reached maturity, viz: Mary Jane, wife of C. 
G. Pulcher, of No. 78 Clinton street. Grand 
Rapids; Theresa, wife of P. V. Mehen, tele- 
graph operator, and residing at No. 94 Charles 
street, same city; Bernard M., the subject of 
this sketch; Andrew, on the grandfather's old 
place, on which the first improvements were 
made; Patrick H. and Thomas F. , of the 
firm of O'Brien Bros., funeral directors in 
Grand Rapids. 

Bernard M. O'Brien attended the Grand 
Rapids high school, and after 1873, w'hen the 
farm was lost, he and his brother Andrew suc- 
ceeded in buying part of it back, later added 
120 acres, and finally all the old farm became 
theirs, with forty acres besides. They contin- 
ued as partners for six years, raised large 



924 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



crops of wheat and were quite successful. On 
dissolving, Bernard secured the 240 acres that 
constituted the old farm. Beside conducting 
general farming, he has fort3'-five acres of 
peach trees, numbering 8,000, and in 1898 
sold 7,000 bushels of that fruit; he has, be- 
side, five acres in cherries, four in pears, four 
in apples and four in plums, all fine varieties. 
Another feature of his business is the produc- 
tion of milk for the wholesale trade. In 1895 
his dwelling on which he had just expended 
$1,000 in remodeling, was destroyed by tire. 
This he has replaced with a modern house, 
costing upwards of $2,000. 

Mr. O'Brien is a member of the Grand 
Rapids Fruit Growers' association, and as a 
democrat he has filled the offices of township 
treasurer and highw-ay commissioner. He is 
often found in the party's conventions and 
takes an active interest in the success of the 
party at the polls. 

June 30, 1885, Mr. O'Brien married Miss 
Bessie Dalton, daughter of Peter Dalton, of 
Muskegon county, Mich., and this marriage 
has been blessed with nine children, viz: Mar- 
garet E., C. Bernardine, Elizabeth G., 
Joseph (died an infant), Mary Louise, James 
Dalton, Josephine, Anna Jeannette and John 
Clancy. The family are devout members of 
St. James Catholic church in Grand Rapids, 
to the support of which the parents are most 
liberal contributors. 

James Dalton, grandfather of Mrs. 
O'Brien, was born in county Roscommon, 
Ireland, and in 1834 settled at St. Joseph, 
Mich., and soon after built a saw-mill at the 
mouth of Sand creek on. Grand river, which 
was one of the first in that region of the coun- 
try, and here he did a very extensive business, 
cutting off a large tract of pine land. He 
subsequently removed to Chicago, 111., and 
established a lumber yard, but his sons con- 
tinued the lumberin? and mill business at 



various points in Michigan and supplied the 
Chicago yard with their output. Peter Dalton 
conducted a saw-mill on White lake at the 
time the greatest business in this line was 
being done at that point. He was widely 
known as a lumberman, and followed the call- 
ing until his death, which occurred in 1876, 
when he was but forty-six years of age. He 
married Miss Maria Lanford, who lived at 
White River, and died in 1872. Their daugh- 
ter was reared at Montague, and educated in 
the district schools and the State university, 
and taught school up to the date of her mar- 
riage. The only survivor of the Dalton fam- 
ily is Miss Catherine Dalton, who always re- 
mained with her father till his death, and 
later with Peter, whose wife died early. She 
is at present making her home with relatives 
in Grand Rapids and at Montague, Muskegon 
county. 

Mr. O'Brien is classed among the wide- 
awake and progressive men of Walker town- 
ship, and no family in the neighborhood is 
held in higher esteem than his. 



DWARD W. PAINE, ex-patriot of the 
Civil war and one of the most re- 
spected citizens of Algoma township, 
Kent county, Mich., was born in 
South Hadley, Mass., October 23, 1839, and 
is remotely of Scotch descent. He is the sec- 
ond of a family of six children (all boys) born 
to Daniel and Sophronia (Warner) Paine, and 
of these six there are four still living, viz: Ed- 
ward W. , of this sketch; Anson, a merchant 
of Rosemond, 111.; Elijah C, an extensive 
fruit-grower, also of. Rosemond, and Cornelius 
D., who resides in Oak Park, 111., but who has 
his real estate office in Chicago. 

Stephen Paine, who came from Norfolk, 
England, in 1638, to Hingham, Plymouth 



I 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



925 



colony, in the Diligentia, he died in 1679. 
He was the founder of the Rehoboth branch 
of the family in America. His son was Samuel, 
who settled in Woodstock, Conn., in 1708, 
and died in 1735. Capt. Daniel was next in 
order, and his son, Daniel, born in 1736, at 
Mailborn, Mass., died in 1777. Daniel, born 
at West Woodstock, in 1 766, married Mary 
Chandler, and died in 1830. Capt. Daniel, 
father of Edward W. Paine, was his son. 

At seventeen years of age he served as a 
substitute for an uncle at New London at the 
time it was threatened by the British in 18 14. 
He was largely self-educated, but attained dis- 
tinction as an accurate mathematician, being 
remembered by his pupils as a profound rea- 
soneron all abstruse subjects. After marriage 
he resided largely at South Hadley, where he 
filled many important offices, as selectman, 
justice of the peace, captain of militia, etc. 
He had a hopeful, good nature, his life being 
full of sunshine and joy. He had a strong, 
uncompromising will, and took a position in 
opposition to slavery. Many times he helped 
negroes to escape to Canada. 

Capt. Daniel Paine was born in Woodstock, 
Conn., July 17, 1797- He started out at 
twenty-one with but a few shillings, but with 
determination to become a teacher. He was 
a man of considerable culture, and for a num- 
ber of years was an educator in his native 
state and in Massachusetts. He assisted in 
laying the foundation of the Amherst college 
building, in which he later was a teacher. He 
was a captain of the Connecticut militia when 
a young man, and was present at New London 
during the war in 1S14. He was a gentleman 
of the old school, cool in judgment, strong in 
will, and of the utmost candor. He lived in 
South Hadley, Mass., until fifty years old, 
when he removed to Amherst, and thence, in 
1S60, to Illinois. In politics he was a whig 
until that party was disrupted, and, being a 



pronounced abolitionist, he naturally drifted 
into the republican ranks when that party took 
tangible shape and form. Twice he repre- 
sented his district in the Massachusetts state 
legislature. He was a member of the Con- 
gregational church at Rosamond, III., and died 
in that faith December 20, 1882. Mrs. So- 
phronia Paine was born in Amherst, Mass., 
December 4, 18 10, was a school-teacher be- 
fore marrriage, and died in Illinois, January 2, 
1870. Daniel Paine,, paternal grandfather of 
subject, was born in Woodstock, Conn., in 
1766, and married Miss Mary Chandler. He 
was a relative of Gen. Paine, the Revolu- 
tionary hero, was a member of the historic 
minute men, and died August 21, 1S30. 

Edward W. Paine, the subject of this 
memoir, passed his life in Massachusetts until 
he reached his majority, receiving, in the 
meanwhile, a solid common-school education. 
In i860 he accompanied his parents to Illi- 
nois; they passed the first year at Pana, Chris- 
tian county, and the next year purchased 
eighty acres of land in Rosemond township, 
same county. July 24, 1862, he enlisted at 
Taylorville, Christian county, in company A, 
One Hundred and Fifteenth Illinois volunteer 
infantry, and after rendezvousing at Camp 
Butler, the regiment was assigned to the army 
of the Cumberland. It was ordered, first, to 
Richmond, Ky. , via Cincinnati, Ohio, and 
Covington, Ky., and the following spring en- 
tered upon the Tennessee campaign, in which 
the rebel general. Van Dorn, was driven to 
within sight of Columbia, in that state. Mr. 
Paine also took part in the severe battles of 
Franklin, Triune and Shelbyville, and was 
later severely wounded in each leg on Snod- 
grass Hill, during the battle of Chickamauga. 
These wounds, the first received while charging 
a battery, the second but a few minutes later, 
disabled him for life, and he was honorably dis- 
charged June 7, 1864. On his return to Illi- 



926 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



nois he engaged in buying grain at Pana, 
Assumption, and other points, for Henry B. 
Childs, and later took a course of instruction 
in Bryant & Stratton's Business college in 
Chicago. 

In the spring of 1866 Mr. Paine came to 
Kent county, Mich., as a partner of H. B. 
Childs. They built the paper-mill. He had 
charge of the books and remained a partner till 
the first mill was burned, and a second erected 
in 1870. From that time until 1878 he was 
farming and engaged in the lumber trade at 
Rosemond, 111. He then returned to Michi- 
gan, as bookkeeper for H. B. Childs & Son for 
fifteen years, meantime securing his farm, to 
which for the past si.x years he has devoted his 
entire attention. Here he married, Jul\- 24, 
1866, Miss Adaline S. Childs, daughter of 
Henry B. Childs, whoye biography appears on 
another page of this volume. This marriage 
has been blessed with three children, viz: 
Frank M., who was educated in the State Agri- 
cultural college, married Miss Eleanor Rutter, 
a native of England, and is now a florist at 
Traverse City; Guy L. , who graduated from the 
Rockford high school in 1891, and now assists 
his father in farming and fruit culture; and 
Edith C. , who also graduated from the same 
institution, in 1895, and is now the wife of 
George A. Dockeray, of Rockford. 

In politics Mr. Paine is a sound-money re- 
publican and cast his first presidential vote for 
Abraham Lincoln in i860. He is a stanch 
friend of the public schools and believes that 
the education of the masses is the salvation of 
the nation. Fraternally, he is a member of 
Webber post, G. A. R. , at Rockford, and he 
and wife are consistent members of the Con- 
gregational church. 

Mr. Paine operates eighty acres of fine land 
adjoining the village of Rockford, which he 
chiefly devotes to the cultivation of fruit. He 
became interested in this industry in 1883, and 



now has 6,000 trees, all bearing. Among his 
peaches may be found the Triumph, St. John, 
Early Crawford, Early Michigan, and Alberta; 
among 950 plum trees, all bearing, may be 
found the Lombard, Reine, Claude, and Guil 
and Bradshaw; he also has 750 pear trees, of 
the varieties Bartlett, Anjou, and Kiefer. 

Mr. and Mrs. Paine are highly respected 
by their neighbors, and they are kindly, up- 
right, hospitable and useful members of the 
community, well deserving of the esteem in 
which they are so universally held. 



i i 



ERIAH G. PARKS, the "pioneer of 
pioneers " of Spencer township, Kent 
county, -Mich., was born in Steuben 
county, N. Y. , August 28, 1826, 
and is the elder of the two children — a son 
and a daughter — that resulted to the union of 
Robert and Mary (Ogden) Parks, the daugh- 
ter being now the widow of Wheaton L. 
Hewitt, of Rockford, Mich. 

Robert Parks, father of our subject, was a 
native of Vermont, but was a child when 
taken from his native state to New York by his 
parents. His father was a hero of the Revo- 
lutionary war, taking part in many battles, 
anc^ several times had the honor of seeing 
George Washington. Robert was reared a 
farmer and died in New York state before the 
recollection of Beriah, and his wife, a native 
of the Empire state, married again, and died in 
Kent county, Mich., where her latter years 
were passed, at the age of seventy-three years, 
in the faith of the Baptist church. 

Beriah G. Parks was about si.x years of 
age when his parents removed to Livingston 
county, N. Y. , where he was reared to farm- 
ing. He was bat twelve years of age when he 
began the battle of life on his own account, 
and his first wages were but $5 per month. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



927 



but received, however, twenty-five cents only 
from his first month's earnings, as his em- 
ployer absconded. He later worked in a half- 
bushel factory, and at the age of twenty-one 
years had the misfortune to lose, with a cir- 
cular saw, the greater portion of his right 
hand, the result being, what little cash he had 
saved was e.xpended in its treatment. It was 
to him a disheartening state of affairs, as he 
was poor; but he possessed a'strong will, and 
bravely set to work to recover lost ground, 
as soon as his wound had healed. 

July 4, 1848, Mr. Parks wedded Miss 
Mary A. Skutt, and two sons and two daugh- 
ters have resulted from this- marriage, of 
whom further mention will be made. Mr. 
and Mrs. Parks came to Michigan and located 
in Jackson county in the fall of 1848, being 
then $50 in debt. Mr. Parks, with his crip- 
pled hand to hinder him, began work at a 
compensation of $9.50 per month — the hard- 
est summer's work he had ever done. After- 
ward, he found more remunerative employ- 
ment, paid off his indebtedness of $50, and 
for eight years worked in Jackson county, 
splitting rails, grubbing stumps, and doing as 
much labor as any other man could do, hav- 
ing designed a plan for strapping his crippled 
hand to the cradle when called upon to assist 
in mowing. At one time he saw a chance of 
getting a start for the better by purchasing a 
yoke of oxen for $80 — a bargain — but he 
possessed $60 only. At the exorbitant rate 
of 20 per cent mterest, he succeeded in bor- 
rowing $20 from a certain Judge Crouch, 
purchased the oxen, and finally disposed of 
them for $100, and paid off the borrowed 
money. 

In 1S56, Mr. Parks came to Spencer town- 
ship (then known as North Oakfield), Kent 
count}', and entered 120 acres of land, all 
heavily timbered, with beech and maple, at 
$1.25 per acre, but he had $100 only of his 



own, and borrowed the balance; in 1858 Mr. 
and Mrs. Parks took up their permanent resi- 
dence on this place, their cabin being of logs. 
Indians were numerous in the vicinity, deer 
abounded, and the farm was indeed in a wilder- 
ness. There was not a school, nor a church, 
in the township, and settlers six and ten miles 
away were regarded as neighbors. Mr. Parks, 
however, aided by his faithful wife, soon made 
the place habitable, and indeed, comfortable 
and pleasant, and ere his sons were old 
enough to be of any material assistance, had 
cleared up eighty acres. In the meanwhile he 
worked out occasionally, taking jobs cutting 
trees, making crossways and such other work 
as he could get in order to pay for a team and 
other necessities. His nearest market and 
mill were at Rockford, then known as Lappen- 
ville, and there he had his milling done. 

Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. 
Parks, two have passed away, and of the sur- 
vivors, a sketch of the eldest, Mrs. John 
Plumb, is given on another page of this work. 
The second child, Elton H., was born Novem- 
ber 14, 1863, was married in July, 1885, to 
Miss Carrie E. Pangborn, of Berrien county, 
Mich., is the father of two children — Lloyd 
E. and Lola M., — and now operates the old 
homestead. 

Mrs. Carrie E. Parks was born March 12, 
1863, graduated from the high school at Cedar 
Springs, and was a successful teacher in Kent 
and Newaygo counties for several years. She 
is a member of the Ladies' Aid society, and 
is an intellectual and accomplished lady. Mr. 
Parks is a member of the Evans tent, Knights 
of the Maccabees; is a democrat, and cast his 
first presidential vote for Cleveland. 

Mr. Parks, the subject of this sketch, now 
owns 260 acres of land in a body, and the 
homestead is one of the best in the neighbor- 
hood, and here, after fifty-one years of mar- 
ried life, he and his amiable wife are passing 



928 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



their declining years in peace and content- 
ment. Mr. Parks has alvv.ays held the confi- 
dence and esteem of his neighbors. He has 
ever been an ardent democrat, and for eleven 
years was the treasurer of Spencer township, 
and for several years was highway commis- 
sioner, and for a long time has been connected 
with the public schools. Mrs. Parks is a 
member of the Congregational church and of 
the Ladies' Aid society, and no family in Spen- 
cer township holds a higher place in the esteem 
of the public than that of Beriah G. Parks. 



M 



ETH C. PARTRIDGE. — Prominent 
among the agriculturists of Ivent 
county, and a well known citizen of 
Grattan township for almost twenty 
years, is Seth C. Partridge, a resident of White 
Swan, Oakfield township, and a native of Ful- 
ton county, N. Y.,born August 19, 1854. He 
is the eldest of three children born to Arnold 
and Lillis (Cook) Partridge, all of whom are 
living, viz: Herbert, now engaged in agriculture 
near Saratoga Springs, N. Y. ; Abbie, the wife 
of Herbert Scott, residing in Minneapolis, 
Minn. ; and Seth C. 

Arnold Partridge was born in Saratoga 
county, N. Y., February 22, 1S30. His 
education, only elementary, was obtained in 
the common schools of his native county. A 
harness-maker by trade, he was also engaged 
in agriculture and spent his life in the last- 
named state, where he died on the 6th of 
March, 1874. In his political \iews he was a 
democrat, as were seven out of the eight 
brothers in the family. He was very stanch 
in his political belief and took an active part 
in the affairs of his county and township. 
Socially he was a Freemason. The mother 
of S. C. Partridge was also from Saratoga 
county, N. Y., dating her nativity, July, 1833. 



She was associated with the Episcopal church 
and died there on October 8, 1895. 

The early life of Seth C. Partridge was 
spent on the farm of his father, where he 
untilhis majority was engaged in assisting 
on the farm. 

On August 24, 1875, Mr. Partridge mar- 
ried Miss EmmaE. Williams in Hope, Ham- 
ilton county, N. Y. , and three sons and two 
daughters have been born to this union, viz: 
Burton A., who, having completed the course 
in the common schools, is now a student of the 
Ferris institute at Big Rapids, Mich. ; W^ard 
I., Georgia A., Clyde S., and Alta L. 

Mrs. Partridge was born August 31, 1854, 
and is one of the two children of Isaac and 
Susan (Brundige) Williams. Her brother, 
Charles A. Williams, is an agriculturist residing 
on the old homestead in Hamilton county, N. 
Y. Her father was born on May 30, 1823, 
and died at Hope, N. Y. , June 16, 1899. He 
was a lumberman in the Adirondack mountains 
and there laid the foundation of his wealth, 
being very successful throughout life. Her 
mother, a very devoted Baptist, was also a 
native of Hamilton county, and was born 
August 7, 1S33, and departed this life on 
March 22. 1891. 

Mr. Partridge spent the first five years of 
his married life in New York state, coming to 
Grattan, Mich., in the year 1880. Here Mr. 
Partridge worked out as farm hand, and in 1884 
rented the Nelson Holmes estate, this being 
one of the best farms in that vicinity. During 
the year i 898 he raised 10,000 bushels of corn, 
wheat, potatoes and beans. In the spring of 
1899 he purchased the well-known Neil Stuart 
farm, comprising 170 acres, lying on the west 
side of Wabasis lake. The success of Mr. 
Partridge — for he is acknowledged successful 
by all — is only attributed to his unflagging in- 
dustry and perseverance, his economy and 
business principles. His future is bright, for 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



929 



his land is the best, adapted to the culture of 
all fruits, vegetables and grains. His improve- 
ments are modern and good and the location 
is one of the busiest centers of North Kent. 

Seth C. Partridge has always adhered to 
democratic principles, having cast his presi- 
dential vote for Hon. Samuel J. Tilden, the 
democratic candidate in 1876. Socially, he is a 
member of Grattan lodge. No. 171, F. & A. M. 



S. PARKS, the popular and efficient 
agent of the C. & W. M. Railroad 
company, and postmaster at Kent 
City, Tyrone township, Kent county, 
Mich., as well as editor of the Kent City 
Times, was born in Madison county, Ind., 
September 7, 1854, the fifth of the seven 
children — three sons and four daiighters — 
born to Daniel S. and Elizabeth (Cahill) 
Parks. Of these children, three are still living 
— Oliver C, being city editor of the Repub- 
lican, of Ironwood, Mich. ; Benjamin is re- 
siding with his parents in Eau Claire, Wis., 
and the subject is the third of the survivors. 

Daniel S. Parks, father of subject, was 
born on the banks of the Juniata river, in 
Huntindgon county. Pa., March 18, 18 18, and 
is still hale and hearty at the age of eighty- 
one years. He is liberally educated, has been 
a school-teacher, and always prominent in 
every community in which he has lived. 

In 1839 he located in Anderson, Ind., 
and for some time was there engaged in mer- 
cantile pursuits, later became a farmer, and 
was invariably successful in his undertakings. 
In politics he was first a whig, but naturally 
dropped into the ranks of the republican party 
when the one was merged into the other. In 
1873 he removed with his family to Eau 
Claire, Wis., and with his vVife, who was born 
in Hamilton county, Ohio, in 1826, is passing 



his declining years in ease, honored by all 
who know him. 

C. S. Parks, whose name opens this memoir, 
lived in his native state until 1873, received 
the usual preparatory education in the com- 
mon schools, and in 1869 graduated from the 
Simpson academy at Chariton, Iowa. He 
then visited Kansas, Nebraska and Colorado, 
remaiend at the west three years, then passed 
a year at Eau Clair, Wis., and then came to 
Michigan, with the intention of entering the 
university at Ann Arbor, but changed his mind 
and became a traveling salesman for the well- 
known piano manufacturing firm of Holmes & 
Thayer for one year. In 1883 he became 
bookkeeper for Sands & Maxwell, at Eden, 
Mich., but shortly afterward lost his right arm 
by accident — which, of course, ended his 
career as a book-keeper. After recovering 
from this accident he started for Detroit to 
enter a law school, but at Shelby met a friend, 
who was the agent of the C. & W. M. R. R. 
company, and through him learned telegraphy, 
manipulating the instrument with his left 
hand. He also learned left-hand penmanship, 
became thoroughly acquainted with railroad 
bookkeeping, and was finally given entire 
charge of the office affairs of the company at 
that station. As a reward for his assiduity, 
he was appointed by the company to his pres- 
ent responsible position at Kent City, in 1887, 
and here, also, he has maintained his. reputa- 
tion for capability and untiring attention to 
the interests of the company. 

November 12, 1885, Mr. Parks wedded Miss 
Louisa W'akefield, who was born near the city 
of LaFayette, Ind., April 12, 1861, and this 
marriage has been blessed with one child, 
Nita Belle. 

In politics Mr. Parks is an ardent repub- 
lican, and cast his first presidential \ote for 
Rutherford B. Hayes. He was a delegate to 
the convention which nominated Hon. Will- 



930 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



iam Alden Smith for his present honorable po- 
sition, and also served as delegate to all the 
various conventions held by his party since he 
has been a resident of Kent county. In 1888 
he was appointed postmaster of Kent City. He 
has twice been elected treasurer of Tyrone 
township, having been first elected in 1893. 
In 1895 he established the Kent City Times, 
one of the best country newspapers in Kent 
count}'. 

Mr. and Mrs. Parks have recently visited 
the Pacific slope, and at another time Florida, 
thus traveling over many states of the Union, 
he having crossed Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, 
Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Col- 
orado, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, 
California, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, New 
York, Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Mr. 
Parks is an able writer and has compiled a 
most interesting description of his travels and 
has published same in pamphlet form. 

Fraternally, Mr. Parks is a member of 
Kent City lodge, No. 378, I. O. O. F., has 
passed all the chairs, and is now a member of 
Horeb encampment. No. 12, at Casnovia, and 
Gurney canton, No. 12, at Hart, Mich. He 
and wile are members of the Baptist church, 
and for four years Mr. Parks was superintend- 
ent of its Sunday-school. Mr. and Mrs. Parks, 
are among the elite of Kent City's society, are 
honored wherever they appear, and through 
their personal merits have won the unfeigned 
respect of the entire community. 




AMES H. PARMETER, supervisor of 
Courtland township, Kent count}', 
Mich., was born here June 22, 1858,' 
the only son of Jacob E. and Cynthia 
(Hewitt) Parmeter, pioneers from the state of 
New York. 

Jacob E. Parmeter was reared a tiller of 



the soil and was still a young man when he 
came to Michigan. He first located in Jack- 
son county, then came to Kent county, and 
in the; spring of 1865 moved to Grand Traverse 
county, where his death took place September 
4, 1867. His wife, who was chiefly reared in 
Michigan, was beyond doubt a native of New 
York, and died in Courtland township, Kent 
county, Mich., January 20, 1871. 

James H. Parmeter was reared to farming 
and was educated in the common schools; but 
he was laudably ambitious of acquiring a bet- 
ter class of knowledge than they afforded and 
devoted all his available time to assiduous 
study and self-instruction, thus eventually ac- 
quiring a more than ordinary stock of solid in- 
formation. He was a lad of but twelve years 
of age when thrown upon his own resources, 
when he sought and found employment as a 
farm hand, with compensation at the rate of 
$6. 50 per month. He was energetic, active and 
industrious, and as he grew in size and strength 
his wages were correspondingly increased. 
When in his twenty-fourth year, feeling keenly 
the need of a helpmate, he was united in mar- 
riage, January i. 1882, with Miss Iza Whittall. 
Three children grace this union, named, in 
order of birth, Claude E., Elwin G. and 
Hazel A. 

Mrs. Parmeter was born in Kent county, 
January 31, i860, a daughter of Thomas and 
Ann Whittall, natives of England, but pioneers 
of Kent county, Mich., coming in 1856, where 
they have lived upwards of thirty-si.x years. 
She is a lady of pleasing address, is open in 
hospitality, and is ever ready to aid the poof 
or distressed. She has been an invaluable 
counselor and assistant to her husband, who, 
at the time of their marriage, had not yet ac- 
quired an acre of land, and his capital was 
most limited indeed. They worked in har- 
mony, having oneniutual object in view — the 
securing of at least a comfortable home. By 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



931 



practice of industry and frugality, they now 
own, without incumbrance, lOO acres of as 
fine land as may be found in Courtland town- 
ship. This life of industry and frugality, but 
never of privation, is worthy of emulation by 
the younger population of Ivent county, and is 
a sample of what may be done by those who 
have the will to do. 

In politics, Mr. Parmeter is a stanch re- 
publican-. He cast his first presidential vote 
for the lamented James A. Garfield, in 1880, 
and has voted with the party ever since. He 
has filled his present office of supervisor to the 
entire satisfaction of the people. He is also a 
member of the board of school directors, his 
interest in the cause of public education being 
unusually deep and sincere. He and wife are 
members of Courtland grange. No. 563, 
Patrons of Husbandry, which is in a very 
flourishing condition, and they are classed 
among the most respectable and useful resi- 
dents of Courtland township. 




EORGE L. PATTEN, an enterprising 
young farmer, and one who plays an 
active part in helping to sustain 
I\ent county's reputation, was born 
in Alpine township, Kent county, June 7, i860, 
being the only son born to George and Lydia 
E. (Denton) Patten. His father was a native 
of New York, and was born in the year 1809. 
He came first to Michigan in 1852 and located 
in Alpine township, Kent county, which he 
made his home until the second year of the 
Civil war, when he enlisted in the Sixth Mich- 
igan cavalry, and met his death in the battle 
of Falling Waters. 

Upon his arrival in Michigan he found the 
place unsettled, and a livelihood seemed im- 
possible. On his farm, at the inception, there 
was cleared only a large enough space to erect 



a rude hut. In a few years he had it well un- 
der cultivation, and at the time of his death 
owned one of Alpine's best farms. His wife 
had died six months before her husband of 
typhoid fever. 

George L. Patten being an orphan at three 
years of age, lived five years on the place 
where he was born, with his grandmother, or 
till about eight years old, when they both 
lived with her daughter, Mrs. David Hilton, 
of Walker. Mrs. Hilton was the guardian oif 
George L., and he resided there till of age, 
when he took charge of the farm. His farm 
contains eighty acres, in section No. 35, Al- 
pine township, and is devoted to dairying and 
fruit growing. He has the memoranda book 
carried by his father which was shot through 
by the bullet which killed him. It shows him 
to have been first sergeant, and gives names 
of pickets. 

On October 23, 1S83, he was married to 
Miss Jessie Coon, but the happiness of the 
union was soon marred by the death of Mrs. 
Patten October 8, 1892, leaving him with four 
children — Lydia Louise, George Gaylord, 
Maurice Lyman and David. Subsequently, 
April 24, 1894, he was remarried, this time to 
Miss Ida Chapman, a native of New York, 
born on the 27th day of February, 1873, be- 
ing the second child of Charles and Mary A. 
(Johnson) Chapman. Her father was a native 
of Massachusetts and was born July 15, 1841. 
Her mother was born in Connecticut August 
7. 1850. 

Mr. Patten, in politics, is a supporter of 
the sixteen to one platform. He is a respect- 
ed member of the Odd Fellow and K. O. T. 
M. lodges at Mill Creek. Mrs. Patten is also 
a member of the West Michigan hive, L. O. 
T. M., of the same place. Although Mr. and 
Mrs. Patten are not members of an}' church, 
nevertheless they are ever ready and willing to 
give their assistance to any good cause or 



932 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



benevolence. It may be added that the gen- 
tleman whose name heads this memoir is 
known as an honorable, uprig;ht man, reliable 
in business, faithful in the discharge of his 
duties of citizenship, and his well spent life is 
in many respects worthy of emulation. He is 
entirely free from ostentation, is kindly and 
genial in manner, and has the friendship of 
many who esteem his genuine personal worth. 




IXER PATTERSON, a retired farm- 
er of Paris township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born in Wayne, Steu- 
ben county, N. Y., June 9, 1819, 
and is a son of Robert and Rachel (DeLong) 
Patterson, also natives of the state of New 
York, and who for some time resided in Seneca 
county, where the subject of this sketch was 
reared until nine years of age. In 1828, 
the family came to Michigan and located in 
Washtenaw county, eight miles north of Ypsi- 
lanti, where. they resided until 1837, when they 
came to Kent county. The father, however, 
who had been a soldier in the war of 1S12, 
and was at Buffalo, N. Y. , at the time of its 
burning, died in Washtenaw county, at the 
comparatively early age of forty- four years. 
The family comprised ten children, nine of 
whom came to Kent county with the mother. 
Four only of these remained with the mother, 
of whom Miner was the eldest, and James and 
Jacob, who were married, settled near her in 
Paris township, but now both are deceased. 

Mrs. Patterson, who was among the earli- 
est to settle in her part of Paris township, had 
forty acres of wild land, but both she and 
Miner, then eightesn years of age, lived out 
two years, she keeping house for a gentleman 
in the neighborhood and he working at clear- 
ing up land. At the close of the two years, 
Mrs. Patterson and her son. Miner, built a 



small log house on the farm, four acres of 
which Miner had cleared of timber, and this 
cabin stood very close to the spot on which 
the present modern house was later erected. 
Miner then worked out another year, and 
when he settled down to work on the home 
place had a good yoke of o.xen, which were 
two-year-old steers the family brought with 
them when they first came; but one of these 
died, and Miner had again to work out to earn 
enough money to buy another. Mrs. Patter- 
son was also very industrious and likewise fre- 
quently worked out for others. She did her 
own spinning, and wove all the cloth used in 
the family. 

When Miner Patterson came to Paris town- 
ship he had $2 in cash, a good ax, a gun and the 
two steers. He cleared off his land himself, 
worked for his brothers and two brothers-in- 
law, constantly added to his possessions until 
he owned at one time 350 acres in one body, 
and personally cleared off the trees from it all. 
He was an expert with the ax, chopped a great 
deal for others, and at the age of twenty years 
had no equal. Mr. Patterson has lived on his 
present farm sixty years, built his present house 
in 1856, and here his mother died in 1864, 
aged seventy-seven years. She was a wonder- 
ful woman, and was always sought for by her 
neighbors in cases of childbirth, in which she 
acted as doctor, midwife and nurse. Mr. Pat- 
terson has grown grain mainly, has kept about 
200 sheep, and also a number of cows, his 
mother having been a famous butter maker, in 
which art his wife also e.xcells. 

Mr. Patterson was married July 4, i848,_ 
to Miss Sally Ann Spaulding, daughter of Or- 
leans and Sally (VanDyke) Spaulding, who 
came from Seneca county, N. Y. , in 1831, 
settled in Wayne county, Mich; came to Kent 
county, Mich., in 1836, and settled in Paris 
township in 1837. Mrs. Patterson was born 
in Seneca county, N. Y., July 4, 1826; her 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



933 



mother died in Wayne county, Mich., and \ 
her father in Paris, Mich., at the age of eighty- 
four years. Timothy Spaulding, grandfather 
of Orleans, was a soldier in the Revolution- 
ary war, and was probably with Gen. Sulli- 
van in his expedition against the Indians in 
central New York, as he settled in Seneca 
county as soon as the war was over. Samuel 
Jackson Spaulding and Miner P. Spaulding, 
brothers of Mrs. Patterson, served in the Civil 
war; brother S. J. Spaulding now resides in 
Plainfield, Mich. 

July 4, 1898, Mr. and Mrs. Patterson cel- 
ebrated their golden wedding, which was an 
occasion of great rejoicing and enjoyment. 
Sluman S. Bailey, who as a justice of the 
peace had married them and had attended the 
twenty-fifth anniversary party, on this oc- 
casion made a neat little speech on pioneer 
life, and among others were present some who 
had attended theweddingfifty years previously, 
viz: S. S. Bailey and wife; Miss Mary Star- 
buck, then a young lady and now Mrs. Gil- 
bert Bailey; Chancey Patterson and wife; John 
Patterson and wife — the Jatter a cousin of 
Mrs. Patterson, and present at the time of the 
marriage; Miss Martha Spaulding; Mary Jane 
Spaulding, a sister, now Mrs. John Cook; 
De^^'itt Spaulding; Ransom and Samuel J. 
Spaulding, brothers. This wedding anniver- 
sary was also Mrs. Sally Ann Patterson's sev- 
enty-second birthda}-. The wedding itself was 
one of the great events of the place fifty years 
ago, and many guests were present. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Patter- 
son were named Warren A., a farmer in Cas- 
cade township; John J., who lives on a farm 
adjoining the homestead; Sarah Ellen, wife of 
O. \'anderbilt, also on an adjoining farm; 
Delia May, who was married to George N. 
June, died at the age of twenty-eight years, 
and left two children, one of whom died a few 
weeks later; Miner L., who manages the home 



farm, is married to Sarah E. McKersey and 
has one child. Ruby, aged three years. He 
is also a member of the Masonic lodge at Ada. 
Mr. Patterson has been a deacon in the 
'East Paris Congregational church for thirty 
years. In politics he is a stanch republican, 
but cast his first presidential vote with the 
whig party, in 1840, for William H. Harrison, 
and has never missed voting at a national 
election since that date, but he takes no special 
interest in local politics. In his walk through 
life he has always been strictly honorable and 
upright and has never had a law suit carried 
to an issue, and no name in the county of 
Kent is more respected than that of Miner 
Patterson. 



Ik 



OBERT B. PATTERSON.— To him 
who, in the love of nature, as ex- 
hibited' in the myriad-mind of the 
youth of a community, sees the need 
of suitable directing hands, and fitting himself, 
takes up the work for the love of it, all students 
of social, and economic subjects bow with 
respect. Such a man is he to whom attention 
is now briefly directed. 

With only meager advantages himself for 
education, but with the same indomitable will 
that has characterized numerous members of 
the family, he early determined. upon securing 
the best training obtainable under his restric- 
tions. At seventeen he passed examination 
and secured a certificate to teach. However, 
he remained at home, assisting his father upon 
the farm for two years longer, when he began 
to teach. He followed this most honorable 
vocation nearly sixteen j'ears, becoming one 
of the most popular educators, whose services 
were in constant demand. He was very suc- 
cessful in this profession, and many of his pupils 
are now filling responsible positions, for which 



Il 



934 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



they were eminently fitted through his timely 
and substantial advice and instruction. 

With full realization of the responsibility 
of the right teacher, his aim has been to arouse 
new and higher aspiration in the youths who 
have sat in his classes, to draw out the best 
that was in them, and to fit them for nobler 
lives. Several of his former pupils pursued 
advanced courses in the higher institutions, 
and many now give much credit to him in 
leading them into the pleasant paths of peace 
and satisfaction incident to lives spent along 
the intellectual lines he pointed out. He kept 
the practical every-day side of life uppermost; 
and while he recognized the value of the great- 
est ethical culture, knows now that he has 
assisted young men and women to a better 
understanding of and ability to solve the prac- 
tical questions so constantly pressing in this 
complicated e.xistence. He has little sym- 
pathy in or love for many so-called advantages 
of the newer education, with its numerous fads 
and isms, but holds that the duty of the state 
is to better fit the youth to better fight life's 
every-day battles. His voice is heard in the 
various educational associations in advocacy 
of a higher civilization, better school facilities, 
and more thoroughly equipped teachers, who 
understand something of human life and the 
philosophy underlying correct teaching. Mr. 
Patterson is also a teacher of vocal music, has 
a rich, superb voice, and his services are much 
sought on public occasions, where vocal music 
is in demand. 

Robert B. Patterson was born in Paris 
township, Kent county, Mich., August 15, 
1863, and is a son of John and Martha Ann 
(Spaulding) Patterson, of whom full mention 
will be made later on. 

February iS, 1886, Mr. Patterson married 
Mi€s Nettie Wilbur, a daughter of Hiram H. 
and Mary (Heintzelman) Wilbur, who was 
born on Thornapple river, in Cascade town- 



ship, January lo, 1864. She likewise was a 
teacher for some time prior to her marriage. 
This union has been blessed with one son, 
Robert \\'ilbur. who is now nine years of age. 

Mr. Patterson owns two tracts of land, of 
forty acres each, and also operates forty acres 
of his father's farm. He breeds Percheron 
horses and Jersey cows, and has made several 
very satisfactory exhibitions of his stock at 
state fairs. As a republican, he has been quite 
active in the affairs of Cascade, acceptably 
filling several township offices. He has fre- 
quently been a delegate to republican county, 
district and state conventions. W'idely read 
on all matters pertaining to the history of 
political parties, and public polity, and pos- 
sessed of a vigorous command of the language, 
he is no mean antagonist in the debate of 
those questions affecting the general prosperity 
of the nation. 

John Patterson, father of Robert B., and 
a resident of Paris township, was born in 
Steuben county, N. Y., .April 25, 1827, and is 
a son of Robert and Rachel (DeLong) Patter- 
son, who came with their family to Michigan 
in 1828, and of whom further details may be 
read in the biography of Miner Patterson, on 
another page. John Patterson remained with 
his mother and brother Miner until his mar- 
riage, at the age of twenty-six, to Martha 
Ann Spaulding, daughter of Benjamin and 
Eliza (Quackenbush) Spaulding, who came 
to Kent county, Mich., in 1844, and settled in 
Paris township, on the town line of Cascade, 
which land is now a part of the farm of J. J. 
Patterson. Some years later the parents 
removed to Cascade township, where the 
mother passed the remainder of her days, 
and later the father returned to the home of 
his son John, where his death took place at 
the age of sixty-two years. 

March 2, 1854, Mr. Patterson settled 011 
his present farm, which comprised eighty 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



935 



acres, for which he paid $2. 50 per acre. It 
was covered with hardwood timber, such as 
beech and maple, and of this he had cleared 
off five or six acres, and had erected a log 
house in the clearing. He started with only 
one yoke of oxen, but they were the best in 
the country. He now has eighty acres of as 
well-improved a farm as can be found in the 
township. His family consists of four chil- 
dren, viz: Charles E.,M. D. , proprietor of the 
Patterson Sanitarium in Grand Rapids; Albert 
J., M. D., of the same city; Robert B., men- 
tioned in full above; Alice, the wife of Dr. 
Austin Pressey, who conducts the Fairmount 
Home, also a retreat for invalids at Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

Mr. Patterson is a member of the Chris- 
tian church at Cascade, as was also his wife; 
in politics he has ever been an ardent repub- 
lican. Misfortune, however, in its course had 
not overlooked this amiable couple; but ming- 
ling with the comforts and pleasures of a well- 
spent life had laid a heavy hand upon them. 
For a year or more Mr. Patterson was afflicted 
with total blindness, caused by cataracts, but 
an operation has partially restored the sight 
of one eye; he was not, however, confined to 
his room or bed through his affliction, and 
was carefully carried over the worst part of his 
trouble by his amiable wife, who was in all 
respects a remarkably brilliant lady. 

Late in the fall of 1899 Mrs. Martha A. 
Patterson, the mother of this family, passed 
to the unseen. world, hers being the first death 
to break the happiness of the family circle. 
A Grand Rapids paper, in noting the passing 
of this Ivent county pioneer, wrote as follows: 

Mrs. Martha A. Patterson, of Paris town- 
ship, the mother of Coroner Patterson, died 
this morning at her home, at the age of sixty- 
five years. She was one of the most generally 
known and most respected residents of that 
township, and had resided there fifty-six years. 



Mrs. Patterson's maiden name was Martha A. 
Spaulding. She came to Kent county from 
New York in 1844, and ten years later married 
John Patterson, of Paris township, who sur- 
vives her. She leaves four children, all living: 
Dr. C. E. Patterson and Dr. A. J. Patterson, 
of this city; Alice Pressey, of Cleveland, and 
Robert B. Patterson, of Paris. In fact, Mrs. 
Patterson's is the first death in the family, 
although her children are all married and have 
children of their own. Mrs. Patterson leaves 
also three brothers, of whom Elliot Spauld- 
ing, of this city, is one, and a sister, Mrs. 
Kilner, who resides in Tennessee. 




ILLIAM PATTERSON, well-known 
as one of the most skillful me- 
chanics in Byron Center, Kent 
county, Mich., and as one who 
makes honesty his rule of action, is a native 
of Scotland and was born May 10, 1849, in 
the parish of St. Martin's, Perthshire, six 
miles from the city of Perth and three from 
the site of the historical palace and abbey 
of Scone, the place of coronation of the 
ancient Scottish kings. His parents, William 
and Susan (Paton) Patterson, had born to 
them a family of five sons and three daugh- 
ters, and of these William, the subject, 
was the seventh in the order of birth. Five 
of these children are still living, and two 
make their home in the United States — 
William, and his brother, Alexander, who re- 
sides in Dorr, Mich. 

William Patterson, the father, was born 
in St. Martin's parish, Perthshire, and was 
a farmer. He was educated in the common 
schools, was a great admirer of Scottish lore 
and history, of the old Scottish clans and 
their heroic chiefs, and of the romance and 
poetry of Scottish authors, the rustic poet, 
Robert Burns, being an especial favorite. He 
was a strict Presbyterian, and died in 1898, 



936 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



at the age of eighty-seven years. Mrs. Susan 
Patterson was likewise a native of Perthshire, 
and died about 1881, strong in the Pres- 
byterian faith. 

William Patterson, the subject of this 
biographical notice, was educated in the com- 
mon schools of his native shire, and has supple- 
mented this education with a great deal of 
reading and self-acquirement of knowledge of 
practical use. As his father's means were 
limited, William began working out when about 
twelve years of age, and when fourteen hired 
for one year to a gentleman for $35, and all 
his earnings he filially gave to his mother — one 
of the proudest acts of his life. He next had 
about a year's experience in a store as sales- 
man, and then went into the employ of the 
Caledonia Railroad company as a freight at- 
tendant. His good conduct and attentiveness 
led to his promotion to the yards and then to 
the road, and with this company he remained 
six years. 

As Alexander Patterson, brother of Will- 
iam, had sailed for America about 1S69, the 
latter decided to follow, and in the spring of 
1 87 1 sailed from Glasgow for New York, and 
when he landed had about $125, with which 
to begin life in a strange land. From New 
York he came direct to Michigan, and found 
his brother conducting a blacksmith shop at 
Burnip's Corners, in Allegan county. The 
same summer he went to Washington county, 
Wis. , but in the fall returned to Michigan and 
began learning the blacksmith's trade under 
his brother, with whom he remained in all 
until 1883, as apprentice, journeyman and 
partner. As ague was disagreeably prevalent 
they sold out and went to northeast Iowa, 
spent a short time there, and then returned to 
Michigan and purchased a shop at Dorr Cen- 
ter; William, however, continued at the trade 
but a short time at this place, but came to 
Byron township, Kent county, in 1SS3, pur- 



chased seventy-five acres of land, cultivated it 
three years, and then, in 1886, established 
himself in Byron Center as a blacksmith and 
wagonmaker. 

Mr. Patterson was joined in marriage June 
12, 1875, with MissChristina Pearson, a native 
of the same county with himself, and to this 
union have been born one son and two daughters 
— W'illiam John, Elva, and one deceased. Of 
these William John has passed through the 
tenth grade in the public schools, and is a 
mechanic by choice; Elva is in the tenth grade, 
has taken musical instructions, has received 
special lessons m elocution, and in this specialty 
gained the silver medal at the famous Demor- 
est contest. 

Besides working practically at blacksmith- 
ing and wagonmaking, Mr. Patterson deals in 
carriages, wagons, sleighs, agricultural imple- 
ments, etc., in Byron Center, and also owns 
his farm in section No. 9, Byron township. 
He has been very industrious in his work, at- 
tentive to the needs of his patrons, inflexibh' 
honest in all his transactions, and his fortune 
is of his own making. 

In his politics Mr. Patterson is a repub- 
lican, has served as delegate -to his party's 
state and county conventions several times, 
and in 1894 was elected treasurer of Byron 
township. For eight years he has been 
officially connected with the schools of Byron 
Center, and is strongly in favor of the employ- 
ment of the best class of teachers that money 
can hire, and would hire only those who are 
influenced by a fear of God and exercise their 
authority with a view to the moral as well as 
intellectual advancement of the pupils. Mr. 
Patterson is a member of Halcyon lodge, No. 
244, I. O. O. F. , is a sincere Christian, and 
an ardent friend of the Sundaj'-school. He 
and wife are free in the use of their means in 
the cause of charity, and never fail to respond 
to the call for aid in cases worthy of the ex- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



987 



ercise of true benevolence. Their social stand- 
ing is excellent, and their unostentatious yet 
useful course through life has won for them the 
love and esteem of the entire comrnunit}'. 




ARREN A. (ZACH) PATTERSON, 
of Cascade township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born June 2, 1S49, and 
is a son of Miner Patterson, whose 
biograph}' is printed in full elsewhere in this 
work. Warren A. remained on his father's 
farm until his twenty-fifth year, when he mar- 
ried, February 25, 1874, Miss Mary S. June, 
a native of New York, but who was brought, 
at the age of six years, by her parents, George 
and Martha (Ellison) June, to Paris township, 
Kent county, Mich. 

The June family came to Paris township 
in 1854 and located on a farm, but soon after- 
ward removed to and settled on a homestead 
near the home of the Shafer family, where 
they resided until they removed to the city of 
Grand Rapids, where the father died at the 
age of seventy-five years, and the mother at 
the age of seventy-one. The father was a 
shoemaker by trade, but on settling on his 
farm in Kent county, began his first outdoor 
work and cleared up the place. His three 
sons were named William M. James Henry 
and George N. , and of these the first two re- 
side in Grand Rapids; George N. married 
Delia M. Patterson, a sister of "Zach,"but 
died at the age of twenty-two years. His 
wife had died three years previously, at the age 
of twenty-eight, the mother of two children — 
Hazel M. and Patty. The death of the mother 
took place at the birth of Patty, who soon 
followed the mother to the grave. The only 
daughter of George and Martha June is Mary 
S., now the the wife of " Zach " Patterson. 
At his marriage, Mr. Patterson purchased 



an eighty-acre farm, for which he went partly 
in debt, and his father also presented him 
with a tract of forty acres, making a compact 
farm of 120 acres, and to this he added fifty 
acres. In 1891, he purchased the old John 
Webster homestead of sixty-two acres, just 
opposite his own homestead. He has erected 
two houses on his premises, carries on gener- 
al farming, and has also 1,000 peach trees. 
For four years, beside, he sold milk in Grand 
Rapids. He has been very successful in all 
his undertakings, and is classed among the 
substantial agriculturists of Cascade township. 

In politics Mr. Patterson is a republican, 
attends the conventions of his party, and al- 
ways works hard for the success of the party 
in its campaigns. Mrs. Patterson is a mem- 
ber of the Disciples' church at Cascade. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Patter- 
son are three in number, and are named, in 
order of birth, Byron Q. , Miner G. and Milo J. 
Of these, Byron was a student at the State 
Agricultural college and enjoys farming. Mr. 
Patterson has also been the guardian of his 
niece. Hazel May June, since her eleventh 
year, and she is now a member of the family, 
and a double cousin to his own children. Mr. 
Patterson is very public spirited as well as 
generous, and is duly honored as such by all 
his fellow-citizens. Attention is once more 
called to the biographj' of Miner Patterson, in 
which many interesting facts are given relative 
to the Patterson family as a whole. 




EV. LEROY N. PATTISON, pastor 
of the Methodist Episcopal church 
of Lowell, is a native of Kentucky 
and was born on the 30th of Novem- 
ber, 1849, the son of T. N. and Elizabeth 
(Mauzy) Pattison. The father, also a Ken- 
tuckian, was by occupation a farmer and 



938 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



died in Indianapolis, Ind., where his widow 
still resides. The early life of Rev. Pattison 
was spent on his father's farm, in the vicinity 
of which he attended the country school, 
and when of suitable age entered the high 
school of Indianapolis, where he fitted him- 
self for college. For some time he attended 
Butler college, that city, and subsequently be- 
came a student of DePauw university, from 
which he was graduated in the year 1870. 
After completing his literary education Mr. 
Pattison began reading law with the well- 
known legal firm of Porter, Harrison & Fish- 
back, Indianapolis, three of the most dis- 
tinguished jurists of the west, and upon his 
admission to the bar in 1873 became a 
member of the firm of Downey, Pattison & 
Downey, with which he remained connected 
for a period of ten years. Mr. Pattison en- 
tered upon the practice of the legal profession 
with most encouraging prospects, and within 
a short time succeeded in building up a lucra- 
tive business and earning the reputation of 
being one of the most brilliant and successful 
young attorneys of Indianapolis. Inheriting 
from his ancestry a deeply religious nature 
and from early youth being greatly interested 
in the work of the church, he became con- 
vinced that his life's mission lay outside the 
law; accordingly in 1883 he yielded to a desire 
of long standing and entered the ministry of 
the M. E. church. He entered the missionary 
conference of Indiana that year, and in 1889 
was ordained by Bishop John H. Vincent. 
In the meantime he had been actively en- 
gaged in the work of the ministry, his first 
'-harge being at Osgood, Ind., where he re- 
mained two years, after which he joined the 
Michigan conference, locating at Schoolcraft. 
He ministered to the church at that place 
with marked success for three years, and dur- 
ing the two years succeeding had charge of 
the congregation in the city of Otsego. In 



1897 he was placed in charge of the church of 
Lowell, one of the largest congregations in 
Kent county, a goodly number of whom have 
been gathered in under his able ministration. 

As a preacher of the Gospel, Rev. Pattison 
has been eminently successful, as the prosper- 
ous condition of theseveral congregations over 
which he has had charge abundantly testifies. 
He possesses oratorical ability of a high order, 
is both logical and eloquent in presenting the 
claims of the Gospel, and by means of his ear- 
nest persuasion many have been induced to 
abandon the ways of sin and seek the higher 
way of truth and right living. In the dis- 
charge of the duties of his sacred office he is 
bold and aggressive, attacking without mercy 
the prevailing sins of the times and caring lit- 
tle for the favor or opinions of men, if they 
stand in the way of that which he conceives 
to be the truth. 

Rev. Pattison is married and the father of 
six living children, viz: Josephine A., Mar- 
guerite D., Hannah C., Franc P., Martha S. 
and Freeman N. The maiden name of Mrs. 
Pattison was Mary F. Peppard, to whom he 
was united in marriage November 6, 1872. 
Rev. Pattison is a Mason of high standing, and 
politically votes with the republican party. 




ERBERT A. PEARS ALL— Agricult- 
ural pursuits have formed the chief 
occupation of this gentleman, and the 
wide-awake manner in which he has 
taken advantage of every method and idea 
tending toward the enhancement of the value 
of his property has had considerable to do 
with his success in life. 

Herbert A. Pearsall is a native of Alpine 
township, Kent county, and was born May 17, 
1851, being the sixth child of Sherman and 
Catherine (Bailey) Pearsall. His father was 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



989 



born in Cayuga county, N. Y. , December, ii, 
1817. He was a teacher at Troy, N. Y., and 
came to Kent county in 1844, locating on the 
line between Alpine and Walker town- 
ships, where he resided for one year, thence, 
in 1843, removing to section No. 28, Alpine 
township, and there remained until the spring 
of 1876, when he went to Grand Rapids and 
now resides at 1S4 North Prospect street. He 
was the original temperance man in Alpine, 
refusing to have liquor at his barn raising. 
When he located in Kent county he found it a 
complete wilderness, the now thriving city of 
Grand Rapids being merely a trading post. 
His wife was a native of Detroit, Mich., and 
was born in the year 1821. She came to Kent 
county with her husband and lived here until 
her death in 1895. 

Mr. and Mrs. Pearsall, Sr. , were the par- 
ents of nine children, viz: John B., deceased, 
death having been caused by disease con- 
tracted during the Civil war; Celina, the wife 
of Wm. N. Rowe, manager of the Valley City 
Milling company at Grand Rapids; Wyant, 
who was drowned in a small lake near his for- 
mer farm; Bailey, deceased; Esther, the wife 
of Sanford Robens, a resident of Virginia;- 
Herbert A. ; Pearley, a physician of Kalkaska, 
Mich., and Georgia, now deceased. 

Herbert A. Pearsall began life for himself 
when about twenty years of age by hiring as a 
farm-hand and working as such until he rented 
the old homestead, a part of which his father 
later deeded to him ; this is at present his home, 
and here he was born. By making decided 
improvements each year, Mr. Pearsall now 
owns as fine a farm as can be found in Alpine 
township. 

On September 6, 187^, he married Miss 
Mary Elizabeth Douglass, a native of Green- 
port, Long Island, N. Y., who was born 
November 10, 1848, being the fourth child of 
James and Rebecca (Calyer) Douglass. Her 



father was a native of England, and came to 
America when quite young, locating on Long 
Island, where he lived until his death in the 
year 1848. The mother was born in New 
York in 1823. She met her husband on Long 
Island and there lived until the latter's death, 
when she came to Michigan and was again 
married, this time to David Kellogg. After 
this union she went to Eaton county and 
lived there until her death in the year 1894. 
Mr. and Mrs. Douglass were the parents of 
four children, viz: Charles Henry, a farmer 
residing near Lansing, Mich. ; William Francis, 
deceased, death having been caused by sick- 
ness contracted in the army; James Edwin, a 
farmer of Alpine township; and Mary Eliza- 
beth. 

Mr. and Mrs. Pearsall have one daugh- 
ter, Harriet Louise, who attended the Grand 
Rapids high school and has since given special 
attention to music. Mr. Pearsall is found in 
politics to be a supporter of the republican 
party. Religiously Mr. and Mrs. Pearsall are 
active members of the Baptist church and are 
ever ready to assist in a worthy cause. 




HOMAS PEEL.— Through a residence 
of over a third of a century in Kent 
county, Thomas Peel has been known 
to his fellow-men as a man who can 
be trusted at all times and in all places, one 
who is honorable in business, loyal to his duties 
of citizenship and faithful to his friends. 
Therefore, as well for his sterling rectitude of 
character as for his extended connection with 
the history of this community, his life record 
is gladly presented in this. work. A native 
of Rothley township, Leicestershire, Eng., Mr. 
Peel was born April 10, 1835, being the fifth 
child of William and Elizabeth (North) Peel. 
His father was a native of the same place, and a 



940 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



first cousin of Sir Robert Peel, the noted Eng- 
lisli statesman. He emigrated from England 
to America in the year 1840, and, landing at 
Boston, Mass., continued his journey until he 
finally settled for a permanent home in Lo- 
rain county, Ohio, where he lived until his 
death, which occurred September 28, 1879, in 
his seventy-second year. His mother was also 
born in the same shire in England, in the year 
1808; she accompanied her husband to America 
and resided at the home in Ohio until her 
death in 1894, aged eighty-si.\. 

Thomas Peel of this memoir began life for 
himself when about twenty-one years of age, 
by hiring to a farmer as a common laborer, but 
soon tiring of this, engaged as a ship-carpenter, 
working on vessels in yards at various lake 
cities, which occupation, in connection with 
house contracting and building, he followed for 
a number of years. Thinking that agriculture 
would be a more pleasing and profitable occu- 
pation, he purchased a farm in Plainfield 
township, Kent county, Mich., and it is still 
serving as his home. Upon his arrival in 1866 
at his Plainfield purchase, he found a complete 
wilderness, not an acre of land cleared, and 
the nearest neighbor a considerable distance 
away; but not being a man easily discouraged 
he set to work to improve the property, and at 
the present time can boast of one of the finest 
fruit farms in Kent county, his buildings being 
worthy of particular mention. He grows all 
the staple fruits, the farm being located in the 
center of the fruit region of Kent county, si.\ 
miles northeast of the city. He is a member 
of the Horticultural society and the Peach 
Grove grange. 

\\"hen twenty-four he married, in Ohio, 
Miss Frances Wilford, whose death occurred 
nine years later, leaving two bright sons — 
Adelbert, now a farmer of Hartwick, Mich., 
and Melvin, who died at twenty-seven, leaving 
a wife and one child. Thomas Peel took for 



his second wife Miss Phcebe Willis, also of 
Elyria, Ohio, and she was called away in 1883, 
leaving three children — Mertie, wife of John 
Jelly; Mary, now a resident of Avon, Ohio; 
and Frank, with his father. His third mar- 
riage, February 10, 1885, was to Mrs. Minnie 
Robinson, widow of Charles J. Robinson, late 
of Ada, and whose maiden name was Minnie 
Hubbard. She was born in Ypsilanti, and 
spent her girlhood in Kent county. She is 
the mother of three daughters: Nellie, wife 
of Frank McNally, of Grand Rapids, and has 
one child, Marion; Ida, housekeeper for her 
uncle, Jarnes Naysmith, of Grand Rapids 
township; and Amy, the wife of Allen Tem- 
pleton, of Chicago. 

Mr. Peel enlisted in 1862 in company H, 
First Michigan mechanics and engineers, and 
served until discharged on account of ill 
health. 

He cast his first presidential vote for Lin- 
coln and remained with the republican party 
as long as it stood by the then honorable prin- 
ciples; but the party has shifted its position, 
and he takes an independent stand, not be- 
ing tied to present party lines. Officially, he 
has served as highway commissioner and 
school inspector, in each of which he has 
faithfully discharged hisduties and has proven 
himself a worthy oiflcial. 



I 
1 



[LLIAM N. PERKINS, of the firm 
of Sisson, Watson & Co., general 
merchants at Ada, Kent county, 
Mich., was born in Mansonville, 
Brome county, Quebec, November i, 1858, 
and is k son of Erastus and Lucy E. (Martin) 
Perkins, the former a native of Canada and 
born in 1835, but now a retired resident of 
Grand Rapids, Mich. 

William N. Perkins, the eldest in a family 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



941 



of three children, received his earlier educa- 
tion in the common schools and completed his 
studies in the academy at Waterloo, Quebec. 
On relinquishing his studies he at once entered 
upon a three-year apprenticeship at painting 
and paper-hanging, which he learned thor- 
oughly. In 1878 he came to Michigan and 
found employment with J. P. Creque, in Grand 
Rapids, and with him he remained eighteen 
months; he was ne.xt employed in the Sligh 
Furniture factory for about four years, and 
then for a year was employed in the Phcenix 
Furniture factory. Mr. Perkins next followed 
his trade of painter for some time, and then 
found a situation with Howard E. Converse, 
with whom he remained a year, when he was 
offered a position under his brother, John F., 
as solicitor for the Metropolitan Life Insurance 
company, and this situation occupied another 
year of his time. He next went south, fol- 
lowed his trade in Arkansas for eighteen 
months, and then returned to Grand Rapids 
and for five years was employed by his father 
in connection with building contracting. 

At the conclusion of this engagement, Mr. 
Perkins settled in Ada township and for four 
years followed agricultural pursuits on a farm 
that he purchased north of Ada. In Novem- 
ber, 1898, he was admitted to partnership as 
a member of the firm, Sisson, Watson & Co., 
in general merchandizing and butchering, and 
in this he is prospering rapidly. 

May 17, 1893, Mr. Perkins was united in 
marriage, at Grand Rapids, with Miss Dora L. 
McCrossen, a native of Michigan and a daugh- 
ter of David McCrossen. This union has been 
blessed with one son, who has been christened 
Benjamin McCrossen Perkins. Mr. and Mrs. 
Perkins worship at the Methodist church, 
though reared under Episcopal training. 
Fraternally Mr. Perkins is a Freemason and 
also a member of Ada lodge, No. 4S0, I. O. 
O. F. In politics he is a strong democrat. 



and is identified with party work and organiza- 
tions. He has led a life of industry and has 
had a varied experience, which well qualifies 
him for his present business, and he has, more- 
over, made hosts of friends since he has re- 
sided in Ada, where he is universally respected. 



HARLES H. PECK, cashier of the 
Farmers & Merchants bank at Rock- 
ford, was born in Cedar Springs, 
Kent county, Mich., July 26, 1875, 
and is a son of Ira H. Peck, one of the most 
prominent and representative citizens of the 
county. Cliarles H. graduated from the high 
school at Cedar Springs in 1891, and for the 
past eight years has been engaged in the bank- 
ing business, either at Cedar Springs or Rock- 
ford, Mich., and is thoroughly trained in all 
the details of finance. His father is a native 
of the state of New York, but has passed 
nearly all his life in Michigan. 

The Farmers & Merchants bank at Rockford 
was established in 1895, with Frank Fuller, of 
Cedar Springs, as president; Charles H. Peck, 
as cashier, and with a capital of $10,000. 
Under the excellent management of these gen- 
tlemen it is doing a most flourishing business, 
and its influence is felt throughout the north- 
ern end of Kent county, where it is recognized 
as one of the soundest financial institutions in 
the state. Its New York correspondent is the 
old and reliable Hanover National bank, and 
through it the Farmers & Merchants does a 
safe collection business, and also -issues bills 
of exchange on the leading banks of the prin- 
cipal European cities. The Rockford bank is 
located on Courtland street and is supplied 
with a superb fire and burglar-proof safe of the 
most approved make, so that the funds of the 
bank and the valuables entrusted to its care 
by its patrons are absolutely secure. 



942 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



In politics Mr. Peck is a republican, and 
cast his first presidential vote for Maj. McKin- 
ley. Fraternally he is a member of lodge No. 
1596, Independent Order of Foresters, of 
which he is the recording and financial secre- 
tary, and socially he is esteemed for his many 
excellent personal traits of character and 
amiable disposition; he is also a member of 
Rockford lodge, F. & A. M. He is one of the 
incorporators of the newly-formed company 
known as the Childsdale Board & Paper com- 
pany, and has been elected treasurer thereof. 




I.TON M. PERRY, the leading at- 
torney and counselor at law, at 
Lowell, Kent county, Mich., as 
well as United States claim and 
pension attorney, was born in Sparta, Liv- 
ingston county, N. Y., October 23, 1836, and 
is a son of William R. and Mary (Weeks) 
Perry, who had a family of three children. 
The father, also a native of Livingston coun- 
ty, was a farmer, but in his earl\^ manhood 
followed clerking and in his later years became 
a clergyman, and preached the gospel up to 
the time of his death, which occurred in Mich- 
igan, where his wife also died. 

Milton M. Perry was preliminarily educated 
in the common schools of his native county, 
and in 1852 came to Michigan and located at 
Moscow, in Hillsdale county. He then en- 
tered the seminary at Ypsilanti, Mich., where 
he completed his literary education, and for 
the succeeding eight or ten years taught in the 
common schools of Hillsdale county and 
Lowell, and thus confirmed and added to the 
knowledge he had already acquired. During 
vacations he worked on a farm, thus preserv- 
ing his health and strength and somewhat frail 
constitution. 

Mr. Perry commenced and prosecuted the 



study of law in the early 'sixties, mornings and 
evenings, between school hours, and at the 
close of his teaching as superintendent of the 
Lowell union school, he attended law lectures 
at the state university at Ann Arbor during 
the winter of 1865-6. In the spring of 1866, 
on his return to Lowell, he entered into part- 
nership with Thomas J. Slayton, one of the 
then leading lawyers of Lowell. In the autumn 
of 1866, Mr. Slayton received the nornination 
and was elected state Representative for the 
Second district of I\ent county, which pre- 
vented Mr. Perry from taking his second year 
at Ann Arbor. The firm of Slayton & Perry 
continued about three years, until a mutual 
dissolution was made, and each of said part- 
ners followed their profession separate and 
alone. Mr. Perry gained the good will and 
respect of his many patrons, and by diligent 
effort and honorable counsel has maintained 
his reputation as an accurate conveyancer, 
sound counselor, and one eminently fitted for 
drafting wills and settling estates. — Chancery 
practice is the favorite branch of his profession. 
In politics Mr. Perry is a republican, and 
as such was elected a justice of the peace and 
filled the office three terms; he has also served 
as internal revenue assessor. Second district, 
in Kent county, and for two terms as village 
trustee; he also served for twelve years as 
school trustee, and in every position gave gen- 
eral satisfaction. In 1883 he was appointed 
postmaster by President Arthur, and filled that 
position until 1887, meeting with commenda- 
tion from the public and the post-office depart- 
ment. He has been a member of the county 
republican executive committee, and while such 
member was energetic and active in his ef- 
forts to promote the success of his party at 
the polls. Fraternally, he is a member of 
Lowell lodge. No. 90, F. & A. M. ; Hooker 
chapter, R. A. M., and Lowell lodge, A. O. 
U. W. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



943 



Mr. Perry was united in marriage with Miss 
Leonora Sinclair, a daughter of Daniel and 
Jane (Proudfit) Sinclair, of Scotch descent, 
and this union has been crowned by the birth 
of four children, viz: Grace I. (deceased), 
Kate S., Martha S., and M. Agnes. Mrs. 
Perry and her children are devout members 
of the Congregational church, and also stand 
very high in the social and literary circles of 
Lowell. 

Mr. Perry occupies spacious offices in the 
Opera-house block, and in connection with 
his extensive legal business makes a specialty 
of loan and collections, having established a 
reputation for inflexible integrity. 



WfGHT M. PETERSON, a leading 
and influential citizen of Oaklield 
township, Kent count}', Mich., is 
native here and was born August 28, 
1849, the eighth of the family of nine children 
— four sons and five daughters — born to Will- 
iam and Susan (Jones) Peterson. He is 
mainly self-educated, but being quick of ap- 
prehension he so iniproved his natural talents 
as to qualify himself for school-teaching, a vo- 
cation he successfully followed for some time, 
but his chief occupation has been that of 
agriculture. 

Until twenty-six years of age, Mr. Peter- 
son gave his time and assistance to his parents, 
and then began life on his own account, al- 
though he had no capital. November 25, 1875, 
he wedded Miss Annah Elsbey, and two 
daughters graced this union. May, and Hattie. 
Mrs. Anna Peterson was also born in Oak- 
field township September 7, 1852, and is the 
eldest of the six children — four sons and two 
daughters — born to John and Martha CCowan) 
Elsbey, all still living in Kent county. Mrs. 
Peterson was educated in the White Swan 



public school, and is one of the excellent wives 
of Oaktield township. In the infancy of Mr. 
and Mrs. Peterson, Indians still roamed the 
forests of the township and deer and other 
animals abounded. Rockford was then known 
as Lappenville, and there most of the trading 
was done. Mr. and Mrs. Peterson have seen 
and aided the growth of the township since 
then, and have lived to see the dense forests 
disappear as if by magic, and prosperous farms 
take their place. 

Mr. and Mrs. Peterson began their married 
life on the old homestead in section No. 20, 
Oakfield township, working on shares, their 
finances being quite limited. After a year of 
this mode af life they concluded to purchase 
a home and went to Vergennes township, where 
they secured eighty acres, for which they went 
in debt $3,000 — a heavy incumbrance for a 
young couple — but after eight years of con- 
stant toil and close economy, cleared off the 
entire indebtedness. They remained on this 
place fifteen years, or until 1891, when they 
sold their farm and returned to the Oakfield 
homestead on which Mrs. Peterson was born, 
and which comprises 120 acres, to which they 
have since added forty acres, and now own a full 
quarter-section of as productive land as Oak- 
field township contains. Although very poor at 
the start, they to-day own this beautiful estate, 
without a dollar's indebtedness against it, and 
their example is well worthy the emulation of 
the younger element, as showing what diligence 
and frugality can do, when coupled with hon- 
esty. Their home is a model of beauty, neat- 
ness and comfort, and its portals are ever 
open to friend stranger. In acquiring this 
fine property, Mrs. Peterson has stood side by 
side with her husband, has wisely counseled 
him, and it is patent that she has been indeed 
a valuable advisor in all his business trans- 
actions. 

Mr. Peterson is a stanch democrat in poli- 



944 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



tics, and his first presidential vote was for 
Horace Greeley; he believes in good, stable, 
liberal government, and works diligently for 
his party's success. While living in Vergennes 
township, he served as highway commission- 
er, was school commissioner, and school in- 
spector for several years, and held the con- 
fidence of all his fellow-townsmen. He and 
wife still advocate the employment in the 
public schools of the best instructors to be 
had for the salaries allowed. 

Mrs. Peterson and her daughters are mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
do a great deal of Sunday-school work, Mrs. 
Peterson having formerly been a Sunday- 
school teacher. Mr. Peterson has always 
stood ready with his purse to aid the church 
and all other benevolences. Mr. and Mrs. 
Peterson are charter members of the White 
Swan Library association, an organization de- 
signed for the promotion of social entertain- 
ment and intellectual advancement, and which 
has now more than 300 volumes of choice lit- 
erature on its shelves. As they both came of 
pioneer families, who have done much to make 
Kent county what it is, and as they have done 
much themselves toward its development, 
they are necessarily looked upon with respect, 
and their own personal merits have greatly 
added to the esteem in which they are uni- 
versally held. 



DGAR L. PHELPS, of Cedar Springs, 
stands among the widely-known and 
highly successful citizens of the north- 
ern part of Kent county, where there 
are many whose untiring industry, persever- 
ing energy and determination of purpose have 
wrought out not only comfortable homes but 
high business standing. Many have a place 
in the hearts of their fellow-men that will 
survive themselves and be handed to succeed- 



ing generations as e.xamples of what may be 
accomplished under adverse circumstances and 
discouragements, when the proper spirit to 
overcome the vicissitudes of life is coupled 
with common sense, honesty and integrity. 
None have cause for greater satisfaction for 
the years passed in hardest toil, incidental to 
a new country, than the gentleman whose life 
an attempt is here made to review. His birth 
occurred on the 6th of February, 1840, in 
Steuben county, N. Y. When but a lad of 
five years, he accompanied his parents to 
Michigan. Though so young, the incidents of 
the journey overland to Buffalo, the lake 
voyage to Detroit and then the tedious drive 
through the wilds to Jackson county, are 
indelibly fixed in his memory. 

His parents were Orsemus B. and Clara 
G. (Pond) Phelps, both being of old New 
England stock. Orsemus B. was born Septem- 
ber 15, 18 10, near Bennington, Vt., and died in 
Jackson count}', Mich., November 20, 1897. 
Mrs. Phelps also was born in Vermont July 28, 
1815, and died March 25, 1892. She was of 
English ancestry and a woman of unusual 
strength of character, her personality being 
strongly impressed upon her children. Reared 
under the religious teaching of a former gener- 
ation, she was earnest in her life and closely 
adhered to the precepts of her beloved Bible. 
This old book is now treasured by her son, 
and from its ily leaf we quote a line written 
when in her seventy-fifth year: 

I have read the Bible through twelve times. 
The last time I read it through in three 
months and eleven days. — Clara G. Phelps. 

The first years in Michigan were beset with 
many hardships. Fevers and ague were pre- 
valent, and sickness, coupled with other front- 
ier conditions, made financial progress very 
slow for a poor man; but in course of time a 
handsome competence was won, so that theirde- 
clining years were passed in comfort and ease. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



945 



Of their ei°;ht children, four, beside Edgar, 
survive. They are Myron Af., a carpenter of 
Jackson county; Melvin, of Lenawee county, 
who, while serving with the First Michigan 
sharpshooters, was wounded at the battle of 
the Wilderness; Zimri and Freeman A., farm- 
ers of Nelson township. 

Edgar had but the most primitive advan- 
tages for education, attending for a few months 
only forty-four days being the longest single 
term, a small log school-house, where an 
inclined board resting on pegs in the wall 
served for desk, and slabs for seats. When 
but ten years old he worked out for wages, and 
so continued until nineteen, his earnings 
going toward the demands of the family. 

When Edgar was eleven years old, a doc- 
tor bill of $60 had been incurred by his fa- 
ther's family's sickness. Not being able to 
pay it, the doctor, who was desirous of re- 
moving to Montcalm county, proposed that 
Edgar be allowed to go with him for a year or 
so to liquidate the debt. He remained with 
the doctor from February till December; and 
many e.xperiences of those months are the 
basis of interesting incidents now related to 
his children. Among others he recalls that he 
attended the first town meeting of the town 
of Bloomer, Montcalm county, and that the 
name was chosen in honor of the then popular 
woman's costume, which was quite generally 
worn, especially by those who would now be 
called the "new woman." When his elder 
brothers were twenty his father had given each 
their time, a few sheep and a broadcloth coat. 
This induced Edgar to negotiate for release 
when he attained his nineteenth birthday, the 
result being that he paid his father $50 for his 
freedom. 

Fired with the enthusiasm of N'outh, em- 
phasized by being his own man, he soon after 
sought fortune in the wonderful oil fields of 
Pennsylvania, where fortunes were being 



made in a day. For a year he worked 
mainly at Titusville in sinking wells, and 
with such result that he decided upon the 
most momentous step ever considered by any 
young man, that of entering into life partner- 
ship with the woman of his choice. Accord- 
ingly, on the r4th of July, 1861, at Clarence, 
Erie county, N. Y. , he was united to Miss 
Catharine |. Martzolf, a native of Erie county, 
and whose birth occurred September 4, 1841. 
Her parents were Martin and Magdalena 
(Zimmerman) Martzolf, who were born in 
France, he being a French sailor. Both 
are now deceased. Of his family one broth- 
er, Martin, resides in Gratiot county, Mich'. ; 
a sister, Magdelana, in Cleveland; a sister, 
Baraba, and a brother, Jacob, in Erie county, 
N. Y. ; and a brother, George, in Niagara 
county, N. Y. With only a few dollars, 
but having energy, ambition, health, and a 
sensible, loving wife, they returned to Penn- 
sylvania, where for ten years he was en- 
gaged in lumbering, accumulating a nice little 
nest egg of $800. The old adage that mis- 
fortunes never come singly was true in their 
case. Sickness of both himself and wife, 
and inability to continue the earnings, soon ex- 
hausted their savings; and fears were enter- 
tained that that most dreaded disease, con- 
sumption, had fastened itself upon him. 
Realizing what they could from his limited 
household effects, he returned to be near his 
relatives in Michigan. 

Health improving, he rented and struggled 
as best he could for three years, when they 
decided to secure a home where land was 
cheap, and March 12, 1866, landed in Nelson 
township, having already purchased forty acres 
that form a part of the present reliable farm, 
one and one-half miles east of Cedar Springs. 
But a couple of acres were cleared, and the 
original house built of logs, was 16x24 feet 
in size. 



^1 



946 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



But one railroad then had reached Grand 
Rapids. Cedar Springs was but a hamlet in 
the woods, with a log hotel, one store, a black- 
smith shop and a few log houses. Sand Lake 
village was not dreamed of; and the coun- 
try round was covered with a dense growth of 
majestic pines, with here and there a brave 
pioneer starting the clearings that have since 
assumed the proportions of extensive farms. 

He aided in opening highways in every 
direction, devoting as much time as possible to 
clearing and improving his own farm. Many 
old soldiers had come into the wild to seek 
homes — all imbued with the same spirit of de- 
termination as that exhibited on the field of 
battle. The efforts of all tended in the direc- 
tion of improvement, and ere long results be- 
gan to show in the more extensive clearings 
and a better class of buildings. The forests of 
valuable pine must be swept away, and, instead 
of being destroyed it was cut into all manner 
of building material. 

Mr. Phelps soon entered upon that work, 
and for twenty years was constantly engaged 
in it, the most important industry that has 
ever demanded attention and drawn upon the 
muscle and brains of the citizens. He em- 
ployed as many as forty men and twenty teams 
to cut and haul logs into the mill, and for 
nine years he supplied all the logs used in a 
large shingle mill that turned out twelve to 
fifteen millions of shingles annually. In all 
the years he was so extensively employing 
men they were always paid in cash each week, 
and his relations with them were of the most 
cordial character. 

Probably no section of the country has re- 
quired greater labor to fit it for desirable farms. 
The removal of the millions of immense stumps 
demanded the greatest skill and industry, but 
the intelligence of the pioneers solved the 
difficult problem and stumping is now almost 
reduced to a science. No more interesting 



sight is desired than to see the great stumps, 
some six feet in diameter, come gradually out 
of mother earth as the powerful screws are 
turned, and lie with roots extended many feet. 
By such labor has he improved a farm of 260 
acres, till it stands to-day a lasting monument 
to the unflagging industry and intelligence of 
its owner. 

Though success has crowned their efforts, 
Mr. Phelps and his estimable wife have had to 
encounter many discouraging conditions, not 
the least being two destructive fires, en- 
tailing a loss of $15,000. But Phcenix-like, 
they rise from the ashes, and their present 
home is one of the most desirable in the com- 
munity, and here, surrounded by family and 
friends, they more fully realize the benefits 
derived from the years of self denial and un- 
ceasing labor. 

Public matters have received a due share 
of his attention, and he has borne his propor- 
tion of official duty. He served the township 
three years as its supervisor. Democratic in 
political faith, he has often attended as dele- 
gate to local, county and district conventions, 
and his acquaintance among public men is 
confined to no narrow limits. Ever a friend 
of public education, he served fifteen years 
continuously upon the Cedar Springs school 
board, part of the time being its chairman. In 
1878 he was an officer at the organization of 
the Cedar Springs Horticultural and Agricult- 
ural society, one of the most successful fair 
associations in Michigan, and whose mfluence 
is felt for improvement of stock, grain and 
fruit over a wide area. He has served in vari- 
ous of its official positions continuously, and 
is probably the only one still thoroughly inter- 
ested in its prosperity among its original board 
of directors. 

An advocate of every means to the moral 
and religious advancement of the community, 
he has been a liberal contributor to the erec- 



II 



AND KENT COUNTY. UP TO DATE. 



947 



tion and support of every church in Cedar 
Springs, and to the M. E. church at Pine 
Lake. While not ostentatious in giving or in 
living, no movement toward the betterment of 
human life but finds in him a champion. 

Mr. and Mrs. Phelps have been blessed 
with an interesting family, of whom those liv- 
ing are Jerome, a prosperous farmer of Court- 
land, and whose wife was Miss Adda Benham; 
Owen W. married Otilla Sipples and is farm- 
ing at Oakes, N. D. ; Martin married Orsa 
Benham and resides in Courtland; Lillian is 
wife of George Bates, a farmer in Hillsdale 
county; Daniel S. married Pearl Haynes and 
operates part of his father's farm; Eva May is 
a graduate of the high school in the class of 
1899, and indicates unusual, talent as an 
elocutionist. She was chosen to represent 
this school at the oratorical contest held at 
Muskegon, and it is expressed by many who 
heard that first honors should have gone to 
her. Her subject, "Dr. Jekyl and Mr. 
Hyde," was handled with skill indicating a 
flattering promise for the future. Clifford 
is a bright young mechanic, and until 
lately was employed at Chicago Heights; 
Leonard is the youngest, and still a student. 
All have been educated in Cedar Springs, and 
their lives reflect credit, not only upon the su- 
perior schools of the town, but more especially 
upon the excellent home training and influence 
for good constantly instilled by their parents. 

Mr. Phelps is strongly opposed to all that 
flavors of pretension or show, but has hearty 
sympathy for honest effort, and many young 
men have felt the value of his friendship. 
Knowing the discouraging conditions met in 
his own life, he has ever been ready to extend 
the helping hand to others, and now, that he 
has won the active battle in life, and stands 
upon the divide whence he can catch glimpses 
of the sunset of an honorable earthly career, 
the satisfaction comes that, in every position 



occupied, or whatever obstacle met, he has 
tried to do his duty, and has won success 
through honesty of purpose and right en- 
deavor. 




IMON P. PETERSON, one of the most 
respected citizens of Courtland town- 
ship, was born in Jackson county, 
Mich. , June 7, 1838, his parents being 
William and Susan (Jones) Peterson, of whose 
family of five sons and five daughters there 
are seven still living, and all residents of Ivent 
county, Mich., with the exception of Mrs. 
Sarah Massie, who resides in Greenville, Mont- 
calm county, where her husband, Alexander 
Massie, is engaged in merchandizing; John 
and Dwight are farming in Oakfield township; 
Samuel is a farmer of Caledonia; Eva Peter- 
son is a teacher at Cedar Springs, having 
taught in the I<ient county schools for upwards 
of thirty years; Elizabeth is the wife of E. 
Pratt, a farmer of Caledonia township. 

William Peterson, father of the subject of 
this biographical notice, was born in Saratoga 
county, N. Y., in 1808, and came to Michigan 
in 1834. He was a cooper by trade, but in 
1 844 settled in Oakfield township, Kent county, 
where he entered 160 acres of state land and 
became a farmer. His first habitation here 
was a log cabin, with a stick and mud chimney, 
the smoke from which was a curiosity to the 
red men who in that day roamed the woods, 
frequently stopping at Mr. Peterson's cabin 
for a meal, or to barter their game — such as 
deer and bear — for such articles of food as 
flour or bacon. In this township Mr. Peter- 
son passed the remainder of his life, dying 
an honored and respected citizen August 6, 
1888. His widow, who was born in the 
same county as himself in 180S, survived. her 
husband five years, passing to herjreward 
May 5, 1893. 



948 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Simon P. Peterson was about seven years 
of age when brought to Kent county, where 
he grew to manhood on his father's farm. His 
memory goes back to when Grand Rapids was 
a trading post, reached by an almost un- 
marked road. Everything was primitive, re- 
ligious services being held in the homes of the 
settlers, until a log school-house was erected, 
when this was utilized for a place of wor- 
ship. Nevertheless, Mr. Peterson acquired a 
liberal education, and for si.x winters taught 
school in Oakfield and Courtland townships; 
and many men and women still live in the 
neighborhood who were his pupils in their 
childhood. During the summer season he 
worked by the month at farm labor. 

September .30, 1869, Mr. Peterson was 
united in marriage, at Sparta, with Miss Emma 
Caukin, a native of Kent county. One son, 
Frank ^^'., is the result of this union. This 
young man, after receiving a preparatory 
education in the common schools, entered the 
Ferris institute at Big Rapids, where he finished 
his literary studies, and took a full commercial 
course, graduating in the class of 1898. Being 
an only child, his parents have bestowed great 
pains upon him, giving him advantages and his 
improvement of opportunities afforded justifies 
the fondest anticipations of numerous friends. 

Mrs. Emma Peterson was born December 
10, 1847, and is a daughter of Volney W. and 
Frances (Marvin) Caukin. She was reared 
and educated in the county of Kent, was for 
several years a school-teacher, and is one of 
the most accomplished ladies of the county. 

S. P. Peterson is in politics a democrat 
and stands high in the esteem of his people, 
whom he has represented upon various occa- 
sions in state, district and county conventions. 
He has ably filled the offices of supervisor, 
highway commissioner and school inspector, 
in every instance to the entire satisfaction of 
the public. The Peterson homestead com- 



prises 200 acres of the finest land in Court- 
land township, and. although it was heavily 
timbered when he first settled upon it, it is 
now under a high state of cultivation, yielding 
a golden tribute for the labor bestowed upon 
it. The family are classed among the leading 
citizens of the county, are strong supporters 
of every movement designed for the public 
good, and enjoy the respect and good will of 
the entire community. 




IMRI PHELPS, of Nelson township, 
Kent county, Mich., was born in 
Steuben county, N. Y. , April 2, 
1842, a son of Orsemus and Clara G. 
(Pond) Phelps. The latter name is well known 
in the history of the United States, and Mrs. 
Phelps was a relative of Gen. Pond, of 
Revolutionar}' fame. 

Zimri Phelps was a child of two and one- 
half years when brought to Michigan by his 
parents, who settled in Jackson county, which 
was then, indeed, a " howling "- wilderness. 
His preliminary education was acquired at the 
primitive log school-house of his neighborhood 
and at the public school in Liberty, and his early 
manhood was passed in hard toil as a farmer 
and lumberman. He willingly and cheerfully 
gave his services to his parents until he had 
attained his majority, and then began the 
battle of life on his own account without 
capital — not even a $5 bill. For five years 
after attaining his majority he lived in Warren 
county. Pa., working by the month in the 
lumber and oil regions, was frugal in his habits, 
and with his savings returned to Michigan, 
and short! v afterward, in 1866, came to the 
northern part of Kent county, where he first 
found employment in the Porter Hollow mill, 
four miles south of Cedar Springs, operated by 
Dennis Porter and Jack Coon. Five months 



1 

i 



ANQ KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



949 



later he found similar work at Cedar Springs, 
where he performed double work, for double 
pay, a short time, and then went into the 
woods fifty miles north, at good pay; but there 
misfortune overtook him in the shape of illness, 
and he was forced to return to his friends, 
with whom he remained until his recovery. 
He next engaged as a sawyer with Charles B. 
Moon, near Pine Lake, and while there em- 
ployed was visited, in 1867, by the pioneer 
Hayes, of Courtland, who proffered him a 
remunerative situation, which he accepted. 

\\'hile in the employment of Mr. Hayes, 
Mr. Phelps went to Lenawee county and mar- 
ried Miss Katie Patterson March 12, 1868, 
with whom he immediately returned to Court- 
land, and made their first home on the pres- 
ent site of the Courtland cemetery. In De- 
cember, 1868, they came to Cedar Springs, as 
Mr. Phelps had made a contract for clearing 
up some land in the vicinity of the village. 
In March, 1869, he purchased eighty acres of 
heavily timbered land in section No. 31, 
Nelson township, and for a short time lived in 
a little house just northwest, until his own log 
cabin, with a stove-pipe chimney, was com- 
pleted. He went in debt for his farm and 
team to the amount of $1,475, but his unflag- 
ging industry and rigid economy enabled him 
to meet his obligation when due. He has since 
prospered in all his undertakings and has now 
as handsome a home as may be found in Nel- 
son township. 

Mr. and Mrs. Phelps are true pioneers 
and have fully endured and overcome the ad- 
versities and set-backs inherent to a back- 
woods life. When they first settled in sec- 
tion No. 31 Indians were numerous in the 
vicinity and frequently passed their cabin to 
and from the trading-post at Grand Rapids; 
deer roamed through the woods that encum- 
bered their eighty acres, and wolves were 
equally abundant. The farming implements 



used by Mr. Phelps were primitive in con- 
struction, and he still retains in his barn, as 
a souvenir of the pioneer days, an old-fash- 
ioned cradle he used in cutting down his 
grain. He and his wife knew Cedar Springs 
when it was a mere hamlet, and Mr. Phelps 
aided in tearing down the first building — a log 
tavern — erected in the village, to make room 
for more modern improvements. In 1895, 
Mr. Phelps erected his present modern dwell- 
ing on the site of his original log cabin — in 
which he and his wife had passed so many 
happy yet incessantly busy hours of labor. 
And now, after thirty years of residence in the 
township, they stand among its foremost 
and highly jespected citizens. 

To the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Phelps 
have been born four children — three sons and 
one daughter — the latter having died in in- 
fancy. The eldest of the four, Ambrose L. , 
was educated in the public schools of Cedar 
Springs and is now engaged in farming; Eddie 
H. is employed in lumbering in the northern 
peninsula of Michigan, and Fred Z. , the 
j'oungest, is at home with his parents. Mr. 
and Mrs. Phelps, in the kindness of their 
hearts, have also taken two nieces to rear and 
educate, viz: Blanche C. Bulson, a student 
in the eighth grade of the Cedar Springs 
schools, and sister, Nettie M., also a school- 
girl. These children are being reared with 
all the tenderness and care that their own 
parents could bestow upon them, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Phelps take as much affectionate pride 
in them as if they were their own offspring. 

Mrs. Katie Phelps was born January 26, 
1842, and is a daughter of Samuel and Mar- 
garet (McMurray) Patterson, the former of 
whom was born in Ireland about 1802, was a 
farmer by vocation, and died in i860. His 
wife was a native of Scotland, born in 1807, 
and whose death took place in Michigan July 
6, 1 886, in the faith of the Presbyterian 



950 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



church. Of their three living children, the 
eldest, Margaret, is the widow of Charles Cole, 
and a resident of Flint, Mich. ; Thomas resides 
in Oakland, Cal., engaged in railroading, and 
Mrs. Phelps is the 3'oungest. 

In politics Mr. Phelps is an ardent demo- 
crat and cast his first presidential vote for 
Gen. George B. McClellan. in 1864. He is 
emphatically a self-made man, in the business 
sense of the phrase, has reared his family in a 
most respectable manner, and he and wife 
well deserve the high esteem in which they 
are universally held. 



EORGE K. PLAYTER.— The world 
instinctive!}' pays deference to the 
man whose success has been wor- 
thily achieved, and whatever success 
George K. Playter has achieved in life — for it 
is considerable — is due entirely to his own well 
directed efforts. \\'hen a young man he 
started out to make his own way in the world 
unaided, and by resolute purpose, indefatiga- 
ble industry and sound judgment he has stead- 
ily worked his way up from a position of low- 
liness to one of affluence. The result of his 
labors is his fine farm in Tyrone township, 
comprising sixty-four acres of rich land, all 
under a high state of cultivation and yielding 
to the owner a golden tribute in return for the 
care he bestows upon it. 

George K. Playter, a resident of Kent coun- 
ty for nearly half a century, is a native of 
Jackson county, Mich., and was born on the 
13th of March, 1846. He was third in order 
of birth in a family of two sons and two 
daughters born to Edward P. and Catherine 
(Nelson) Playter, two of whom are living, viz: 
George K. and Charles E., a miller residing 
at Ewen, Ontonagon county, Mich. 

Edward P. Playter was a native of Cana- 



da, born 1 8 14 and died in Jackson county in 
1887. For many years he led the life of a 
sailor on the great lakes. The latter part of 
his career was devoted to agriculture in Jack- 
son county, Mich. He was a man of good ed- 
ucation and much given to reading. His 
father was born in Virginia and his grand- 
father was a native of England. In his polit- 
ical connection he was a whig, and both he 
and his wife were valued members of the 
Baptist church. 

The mother of George K. Playter was born 
near the city of Syracuse, N. Y., March 20, 
1 8 14. She was reared in New York, where she 
received a common-school education. For 
some time she resided in Canada, but now 
makes her home with her son George. 

George K. Playter spent his boyhood in 
Jackson count}', Mich., and there attended 
school for a time. Aware of his limited edu- 
cation, he has since endeavored to improve it 
by the selection and perusal of the best books. 

During the Civil war he went to the front 
in the service of his country and enlisted in 
company A, Twenty-first Michigan volunteer 
infantry in 1864, and his company became 
First brigade. Second division. Fourteenth 
corps, when assigned to the "army of the 
west." His field of action was in Alabama, 
Tennessee, Georgia, and North and South 
Carolina. He was with Gen. Sherman on his 
famous march to the sea, fought in the trenches 
before Savannah, and witnessed the destruc- 
tion of the capitol city, Atlanta. Once in 
South Carolina he was detailed on a foraging 
tour eighty miles from Columbia, S. C, and 
accompanied by a band of negroes he re- 
traced the line of march about thirty miles 
after some horses, ^^'hen he arrived at the 
desired place he found it in charge of the Con- 
federates. Seven officers and thirty-two mules 
were taken captive and Mr. Playter with his 
company again retraced their perilous march 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



951 



through the mountains and rough country to 
the main army, eighty miles distant. After 
the battle of Bentonvilie, N. C. , he took part 
in the pursuit of Gen. Forrest, going as far as 
Florence, Ala., where in an engagernent he 
received a flesh wound in the abdomen. He 
marched the entire distance from Georgia 
across the Carolinas and \' irginia to Washing- 
ton, D. C., the news of Gen. Lee's surrender 
having been announced to them when at the 
village of Bentonvilie, N. C. Mr. Playter 
was present at the great review in Washing- 
ton, D. C., one of the most magnificent pro- 
cessions ever witnessed in that city, and was 
finally honorably dicharged in the city of 
Detroit. 

From Detroit he came to Grand Rapids, 
where he had first met his wife. He was 
united in marriage with this lady, Miss Sarah 
A. Parish, December 19 1S63, at Napoleon, 
Mich., prior to enlisting. To this marriage 
were born five sons and five daughters of 
whom four sons and three daughters are 
living, viz: Willard E., a man of very lib- 
eral education, at present married and a 
master mechanic and electrician in Graves 
county, Ky. ; Herbert H., educated in the 
Kent City public schools, now married and 
a mechanical engineer by profession, but en- 
gaged in agriculture as a vocation; Cora E. , 
who graduated at the state school for the 
blind at Lansing with the class of 1896, and 
having been educated in the full musical 
course; George K.. residing at home with 
his parents; Charles Arthur,' liberally edu- 
cated and a talented mechanic with his brother 
at Mayfield, K}'. ; Grace L, at present tak- 
ing a literary course at the state school in 
Lansing, Mich., including a full course in elo- 
cution, and Myrtle J., the youngest in the 
fourth grade in the Kent City public schools. 

Mrs. Playter was born in the little village 
of Glentham, in Lincolnshire, England, on the 

50 



8th of October, 1846, the second child of 
Joseph and Jane (Cash) Parish, there being a 
brother, Charles, a farmer, of Tyrone town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich. 

When she was a little girl five years of 
age, her parents set sail for America, from 
Liverpool, Eng. After a long voyage they 
reached New York, thence Manchester, Mich., 
where they purchased a house and lot and 
subsequently land near Norvell. Her mother 
died at Manchester, Mich., at the age of thirty- 
two years and her father came to Tyrone 
township, Kent county, where he died at the 
ripe age of eighty-four years. 

Mrs. Playter received a fairly good educa- 
tion and is a refined, estimable lady, nobly 
performing her part as wife and mother. 
When she began married life her husband had 
nothing and was compelled to work by the 
month at various occupations. For six years 
he was engaged in the stave factory at Grand 
Rapids. Thence he came to Tyrone town- 
ship, where he was for a time stockholder 
of the Michigan Stave Co., at Kent City, 
foreman, merchant, and in 1878 purchased I2Q 
acres in Tyrone township, which with the 
exception of thirty acres was covered with 
hard wood. All the present improvements- 
upon his now beautiful farm were made by 
himself. He has been industrious and per- 
se\'ering and has set an example for many 
empty handed prospectors. He has devoted 
much of his life as a miller and a dealer in 
wood, shingles, etc. 

Politically Mr. Playter is a republican, 
having cast his first presidential vote for Gen. 
U. S. Grant, the soldier president. 

Mr. and Mrs. Playter and daughters, Cora 
and Gracie, are members of the Baptist church 
at Kent City, in which Mr. Playter is a dea- 
con. They are also active workers in the 
Sunday school and have done their part faith- 
fully. Mrs. Playter is a member of the W. C. 



952 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



T. U. at present, and also of the Ladies' Aid 
Society. Her husband is commander of the 
Maccabees at Kent City of Tyrone tent, No. 
361, and holds an enviable position in the 
esteem of his fellow-men, by reason of his 
irreproachable life as well as by his business 
ability and pronounced success. 




OSEPH PLATTE.— Agricultural pur- 
suits have formed the chief occupa- 
tion of this gentleman, and the wide- 
awake manner in which he has taken 
advantage of every method and idea tending 
toward the enhancement of the value of his 
property das considerable to do with his suc- 
cess in life. In addition to being a successful 
farmer he is a man of intelligence and has been 
much interested in questions of public import. 
Mr. Platte is a native of Alpine township, 
Kent county, Mich., and was born September 
5, 1855, being the fourth child of John and 
Theresa (Cordes) Platte. His father was a 
native of Helden, Germany, and was born in 
the year 1822. He emigrated from Germany 
to America with his parents when but a boy, 
in the year 1838. Upon their arrival here, 
they at once purchased a tract of land from 
the government, situated in sections 35-36, 
Alpine township, where he made his home un- 
til his death, which occurred August 18, 1S70. 
His mother was a native of Helden, Germany, 
and was born in the year 1828. In infancy, 
acconipanied by her parents, she came to 
America, here met her husband, and died on 
March 31, 1870. Both parents were buried 
in the Alpine cemetery. 

Joseph Platte, the subject of this memoir, 
began life for himself when about twenty years 
of age, and for the si.x years following acted as 
general laborer, working in the woods, on the 
river, and for three years in the gold fields of 



California. Upon reaching the age of twenty- 
six years, he settled on the homestead, which 
has served as his home since. He now owns 
a fine farm of 120 acres two miles north of the 
city, and is making decided improvements 
each year. Fruit growing is the principal 
feature of his business. 

On May 20, 1884, he was married to Miss 
Catherine Albert, a native of Ionia county, 
Mich., born November 12, 1857, and the fifth 
child of John and Marguerite (Kroop) Albert. 
Her father, who died August 24, 1893, was 
born in Baden, Germany, came to America in 
his nineteenth year, and married in Ohio in 
1844. His wife, who survives him, was born 
in Bavaria and was brought to the United 
States at seven years of age. 

Mr. and Mrs. Platte are the parents of five 
children: Edward, Theodore, Iva, Alfred and 
Eda, all of whom reside at home. 

The political faith of Mr. Platte is pure 
democracy. Mr. and Mrs. Platte are active 
members of the Alpine Catholic church and 
are earnest workers in a good cause, especial- 
ly in the line of hospitality, for their door is 
ever open to the needy. Mr. Platte has been 
a carver of his own destiny and has made it an 
honorable one. Affable in his manners, courte- 
[ ous in his address, firm in his conviction and 
I faithful in his attachments, he is well liked in 
the community where he makes his home. 






ENJAMIN C. PORTER, supervisor of 
\\'3oming township, Kent county, 
Mich., is native here, vvas born April 
18, 1864, and is a son of John and 
Elizabeth (Rossman) Porter, the latter of 
whom is still living in Grand Rapids. 

John Porter was born in Seneca county, 
N. Y., and when a child was taken by his 
parents, James and Margaret Porter, to Penn- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



953 



sylvania, where he was reared to manhood on 
his father's farm. About 1840 the family 
came to Michi<:;an and resided for a short time 
at Marshall, whence he removed to Green- 
ville in 1847, and in 1856 came to Wyoming 
township, where his death occurred June 10, 
1893, at the age of seventy-four years. His 
old homestead is still in the family. To his 
marriage with Miss Rossman were born six 
children, of w hom two sons and two daughters 
are still living. 

Benjamin C. Porter, the 5'ounger son born 
to John and Elizabeth Porter, was reared on 
his father's farm, and also attended the com- 
mon schools until si.xteen years of age, and in 
1884, after a four years' course, graduated 
from an agricultural college with the degree of 
B. S. For two years thereafter he continued 
to assist on the home place, and in 1886 pur- 
chased his present farm of fifty acres in the 
same vicinity, where his time and attention 
are chiefly given to dairying and the disposing 
of his products to his patrons in Grand Rapids. 

Mr. Porter was united in marriage Novem- 
ber 14, 1888, to Miss Fannie Day, a native of 
Ionia county, Mich., but this lady was called 
to rest September 1 I, 1894, leaving one child, 
Benjamin C. , Jr. 

Fraternally Mr. Porter is a member of 
Crescent lodge, No. 322. F. & A. M., of 
Grandville. He also belongs to Grandville 
chapter, No. 227, Order of the Eastern Star; is 
also a member of Modern Woodmen. Polit- 
ically he is a republican. He served as dep- 
uty oil inspector of this district from 1887 until 
1 89 1, and his first elective office was that of 
town treasurer, in which he served two terms, 
in 1893 and 1894; he was next elected town 
clerk, and in this office he also served two 
terms in 1894 and 1895. So ably and satis- 
factorily did he perform the duties of these 
offices that his already great popularity was 
vastly increased and in the spring of 1896 he 



was elected supervisor of Wyoming township, 
and, again giving the utmost satisfaction, he 
was re-elected for the same office in 1899, 
being the present incumbent. 




lOHN PLUMB, for half a century a resi- 
dent of I-Cent county, Mich., and one 
of the most highly respected agricult- 
urists of Nelson township, as well as 
an e.x-soldier of the war for the preservation 
of the Union, was born in Chemung county, 
N. Y., April 2, 1841, the youngest child of 
Henry and Henrietta (Day) Plumb, whose 
family of six children, all still living, were 
named as follows: Harriet, widow of John 
Cooper, a farmer of Spencer township; 
Elkannah; an ex-soldier of the Twenty-first 
Michigan volunteers in the war of the Rebel- 
lion, and now a resident of McBride, Mont- 
calm county; Jane, wife of Orrin Cooper, who 
resides near Chattanooga, Tenn.; Hiram, a 
farmer of Spencer township, Ivent county, 
Mich. ; Susan, widow of Leander Phelps, and 
John, the subject of this sketch. 

Henry Plumb, the father of this family, 
was born in Vermont, near lakes George and 
Champlain, and was of English extraction. 
He served in the war of 181 2, receiving a land 
warrant in part compensation, and alter marry- 
ing, migrated to Chemung county, N.Y. From 
New York he brought his family to I\ent coun- 
ty, reaching Battle Creek by rail, whence 
they traveled by steam via Ionia and Greenville 
to Nelson township, John, the subject of this 
sketch, walking the entire distance, although 
he was but ten years of age. The township 
was then an undeveloped wilderness, and red 
men were numerous but not hostile. 

John Plumb was reared to all the hardships 
of a pioneer life, and, his parents being in but 
indifferent circumstances, he cheerfully assist- 



954 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



ed in their support until their death, although 
the work was excessively laborious. At his 
majority he owned nothing, and began the 
making of his fortune by clearing forty acres 
of land, receiving as compensation forty acres 
of timbered land, which, in turn, he cleared 
for his own use from its growth of beech and 
maple. But about this time the alarm of war 
was sounded, and in response to the call to 
arms he enlisted in company F, Twenty-first 
Michigan volunteer infantry, under Capt. E. 
H. Crowell and Col. Stevens, at Greenville, 
August 7, 1862, and was assigned to the army 
of the Cumberland, under Gen. Sherman. He 
took part in the sanguinary battles of Perry- 
ville and Stone River and a number of lesser 
engagements and skirmishes, but after a time 
his health failed and he was confined to the 
field hospital near Stone River and the hos- 
pital at Nashville, for which latter, after con- 
valescence, he was detailed as cook. He later 
served out the full term of his enlistment in 
the veteran reserve corps, mainly on guard 
and recruiting duty, and received an honorable 
discharge at Washington, D. C, June 27, 
1865. While Mr. Plum was in the capital 
city, the cowardly and lamentable assassina- 
tion of President Lincoln took place, and it 
fell to his lot to become guard during the trial 
over some of the miscreants arrested as ac- 
cessory to the dastardly crime. He was also 
on guard duty when the president's body lay 
in state in the capitol. Of six comrades who 
went to the front from this township, Mr. 
Plumb and three others only returned. 

On returning to Kent county Mr. Plumb 
resumed his farming, in which he has been un- 
usually successful. He first married Miss Ellen 
E. Ridgeway, a native of New York, by whom 
he became the father of a son and daughter, 
the latter of whom, Nettie, is still living, and 
is the wife of Frederick Sipples, a farmer of 
Spencer township. The son, Eugene Carlos 



Plumb, was killed when eighteen years old by 
the bursting of a gun he had discharged at 
geese. Mrs. Plumb passed away after five 
years of wedded life, and for his second help- 
mate Mr. Plumb married Miss Martha Adell 
Parks July 4, 1871, and seven children have 
blessed this union, born in the following order: 
Rufus, who married Miss Belle Applebee, and 
is now a farmer at McBride, Montcalm coun- 
ty; Alfred, who enlisted at Grand Rapids for 
the war for the liberation of Cuba, in com- 
pany B, Thirty-fifth Michigan volunteers, un- 
dor Capt. Buckingham and Col. Irish; the 
regiment, after being encamped at Gettys- 
burg, Pa., and near Augusta, Ga., was mus- 
tered out without service at the front. He has 
since joined hands with Miss Dica Applebee, 
and is connected with his brother in farming 
in Montcalm county, Mich. Edith M. is the 
wife of James Hough, a prosperous farmer of 
Spencer township; Carrie E., who is in the 
eighth grade of the public school; Floyd E., 
Royden B, and Leo G., all three attending 
school. 

Mrs. Martha A. Plumb was born in Jack- 
son county, Mich., June 26, 1854, a daughter 
of Beriah G. and Mary A. (Skutt) Parks, and 
was but two years of age when brought to 
Kent county by her parenis, who had a family 
of four children, two sons and two daughters,' 
of whom two only now survive — Mrs. Plumb 
and Elton H. — the latter a resident of Spen- 
cer township, where the parents still have 
their home and are classed with the most 
respected of that township. Mrs. Plumb has 
proven herself to be a notable housekeeper, and 
has been largely instrumental in aiding her 
husband in redeeming his farm from the 
wilderness and in making it the pleasant home 
it now is. When they settled in Nelson town- 
ship their first house was of logs, their nearest 
market was Greenville, and the only method 
for earning money was by shaving out shingles- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



955 



by hand — a slow and tedious method. Their 
neighbors were miles apart, but all were help- 
ful and friendl}'. Together they have wit- 
nessed, while still single and after their mar- 
riage, the marvelous growth of Kent county 
and Nelson township, and in the development 
of the latter they have been no small factors. 

Mr. Plumb is a republican and cast his first 
presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864, 
while a soldier. In religion he and wife con- 
form to the faith of the Congregational church, 
of which their daughters Edith and Carrie are 
also members. Mrs. Plumb is likewise a Sun- 
day-school teachLT in this church, has worked 
in the Ladies' society, is also a member of the 
Relief corps, and is its chaplain at Cedar 
Springs. 

The Plumb homestead comprises eighty 
acres of e.xcellent land, well improved with a 
handsome dwelling and subtantial out-build- 
ings, and the family enjoy the respect of the 
entire cominunits'. 




ARTILLES PORTER, a well-known 
and .highly respected farmer of 
Nelson township, Kent county, 
Mich., and an ex-Union soldier, 
was born in Warren county, Pa., November 
3, 183S, the sixth of a family of nine children 
born to Raphael and Polly (Wilson) Porter, 
and of these nine six still survive, viz: Pierce 
C, the eldest, a mechanic of Spencer, Kent 
county, Mich. ; William, a mechanic in James- 
town, N. Y. ; Hortense, widow of Chester C. 
Chipps, of Chautauqua county, N. Y. ; Martil- 
les, the subject; Althera, wife of C. G. Her- 
rick, likewise of Chautauqua county, N. Y., 
and Alverna, the wife of James Phillips, of 
Youngsville, Pa. 

Raphael Porter, the father, was a native 
of Oneida county, N. Y., was born about 



1797, a son of Asel Porter, a hero of Bunker 
Hill, where he was wounded in the left leg. 
Raphael was reared a stone and brick mason, 
was a gallant soldier in the war of 18 12, took 
part in the action at Sackett's Harbor, N. Y., 
and at the age of twenty-six years emigrated 
to Warren county. Pa., where he resided until 
1869, when he came to Michigan, and here 
died, an honored man. May 12, 1881. Polit- 
ically he had been a whig, shared the triumph 
of his party with William H. Harrison at its 
head, in the famous ' ' log cabin " campaign of 
1840, and was personally honored with various 
local offices. His wife was a native of the 
Keystone state, was born in 1803, graduated 
from the academy at Meadville, and died at 
Chautauqua, N. Y., April 25, 1896, beloved 
and honored by all who knew her. 

Martilles Porter, the descendant of the 
heroes named above and a distant relative of 
the famous Commodore Porter, was educated 
in the common schools of his native county, 
where he resided until his enlistment. May 7, 
1 86 1, in the Tenth Pennsylvania reserves, 
which regiment was assigned to the First 
corps of the army of the Potomac, with which 
he took part in the battles of Drainesville, Va. , 
Mechanicsville, Va. (where a shell passed 
close to his neck), Gaines' Hill (where his 
knapsack was shot from his shoulders, leav- 
ing him minus his rations). White Oak Swamp, 
Malvern Hill, second Bull Run (where he 
sustained a flesh wound by a minie ball strik- 
ing the top of his hip bone). South Mountain, 
Md., Antietam, and Fredericksburg, Va. — all 
among the fiercest of the war and especially 
mentioned in its history by several writers of 
renown. 

At Fredericksburg, when within sixteen 
feet of the Confederate breastworks, Mr. Por- 
ter was struck in the left thigh by a Missis- 
sippi rifle-ball and fell to the ground, where he 
lay forty-eight hours, without food or shelter 



956 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



or care .and his blouse frozen to the ground. 
When discovered he was taken prisoner and 
conveyed to the Confederate hospital at Rich- 
mond, where it was found that he was suffer- 
ing from a compound fracture of the femur. 
He was neNt taken to Libby prison, where he 
was confined thirty days, when an exchange 
was affected, and he was transferred to Anna- 
polis. There he underwent the painful oper- 
ation of having a portion of the femoral bone 
removed, which shortened his leg but saved 
it, and nine months later he was sent to Turn- 
er's Lane hospital, Philadelphia, where, after 
the lapse of another period of nine months, he 
was honorably discharged July 28, 1864. 

September 10, 1865, Mr. Porter was 
united in marriage with Miss Catherine Wiles, 
a native of Clarion county. Pa., and this mar- 
riage has been blessed with four sons and one 
daughter, of whom there still survive the eld- 
est, Blanche, wife of George Davis, a farmer 
of Nelson township; Hamilton R., an agricul- 
turist, still at home with his father; he is a 
member of the Sons of Veterans lodge at 
Sand Lake, and in politics a is republican, hav- 
ing cast his first presidential vote for Benja- 
min Han ison; Carl \V. is also a farmer and re- 
publican, supported the McKinley policy, and 
is a member of the Evans grange, P. of H. ; 
Glenn M. , the youngest, is a true scion of a 
war-like ancestry, was born August 2, 1878, 
and enlisted in company L, Thirty-third Mich- 
igan volunteers, under Capt. Carl A. Wagner 
and Col. Charles L. Boynton, in the war for 
the liberation of Cuba, giving up school-teach- 
ing for that purpose. 

The Thirty-third Michigan volunteers were 
sent from Sand Lake to Cuba, via Camp Al- 
ger, located on the famous Bull Run battle 
field and thence via Ale.xandria, Va. , and 
Fortress Monroe, whence they seiled in the 
auxiliary cruiser Yale, June 23, 1898, for San- 
tiago de Cuba, and landed at Sibone)-, twelve 



miles southeast of the city, June 27, and went 
into camp until July r, when they marched 
againt Aguerdores, a fort guarding the pass to 
Santiago; while lining up on the railroad there 
came a shell from the enemy's fort, landing in 
Glenn's squad and killing liis comrades, Frank- 
lin and Seabright, outright, and wounding 
Clifford H. Curtiss, of Sand Lake, so that am- 
putation of his leg became necessary; Don A. 
Stark's right hand was shot off, and part of 
Corporal Frank Rawson's left arm carried 
away, but Glenn escaped without injury, and 
was honorably dischirged December 31, 1898, 
after having served until the protocol, an- 
nouncing the cessation of hostilities, was 
signed. Glenn is also a republican. 

Mrs. Porter, the mother of the above- 
named children, was born June 27, 1848, a 
daughter of Henry and Elizabeth (Troutner) 
Wiles, and is the eldest m a family of three 
children, the other two being John William 
and Levi Wdes, both farmers of Clarion coun- 
ty, Pa. Mr. Wiles, the father, was a native 
of Germany, but came to America when twelve 
years of age and was reared to farming in 
Pennsylvania, where he died when Mrs. Por- 
ter was but five years old. Mrs. W'iles was 
a native of the Keystone state, but died in 
Portsmouth, Ohio, in 1882, a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, of which her hus- 
band had also been a member. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Porter came to Kent 
county, in 1869, thay lo:ated on section No. 
13, Nelson township, but Mr. Porter made 
his first purchase of land in section No. 
26, which was then an almost unbroken wilder- 
ness. Their first dwelling here was of logs, 
22X 16 feet, with a stovepipe thrust through 
the roof for a chimney, but their home is now 
one of the best in the township and has been 
acquired through their mutual industry and 
good management. 

In politics Mr. Porter is a republican, cast 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



957 



his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, 
and has always been a warm advocate of pub- 
lic education. In religion, he and family ad- 
here to the faith of the Universalist church, 
and have always been active in pushing for- 
ward every enterprise designed for the good 
of the community. They stand very high in 
the esteem of their fellow-citizens, and the 
many years they have lived in Nelson town- 
ship have, through them, been fraught with 
benefit to the public at large. 




ORMAN N. PRINGLE, the leading 
hardware merchant of the northern 
part of Kent county, Mich., and 
one who stands high in the respect 
of the people and busines men of Sand Lake, 
is a native of the province of Ontario, Canada, 
and was born twenty-five miles from Kingston 
March 13, 1854, the third of a family of 
thirteen children born to Alfred and Sarah A. 
(Fritz) Pringle. What the exception of the 
meager education he received by attending 
public school for a short time, his instruction 
has been acquired through his contact with 
business men, but being an apt scholar, he has 
learned fully as much as if he had passed more 
time in school. 

In 1882 Mr. Pringle, a penniless young 
man, came to Sand Lake, the surrounding 
country at that time being an almost unbroken 
wilderness. Although he possessed no cash, 
he had unbounded, or unlimited, energy, and 
a will that carried with it success. For five 
years, or until 1877, he worked as a carpen- 
ter and manufacturer of shingles in the vicin- 
ity of Sand Lake, and was then able to pur- 
chase a forty-acre tract of heavily-timbered 
land in Solon township, Kent county, and of 
this he cleared twenty acres of the timber and 
converted it into shingles and lumber. He 



next sold twenty acres and purchased an 
additional tract of forty, relinquished the 
manufacture of shingles and lumber, and soon 
afterward bought another tract of i6o acres of 
miproved land in Solon township; two years 
later he sold all this property and purchased 
fifty acres in Nelson township, nicely improved 
with good buildings. Eventually, he disposed 
of this property, and with the capital thus 
realized entered into a partnership with M. J. 
Blanchard, at Sand Lake, purchased a stock 
of hardware, furniture and undertaker's goods, 
and carried on business with him until 1893, 
when he assumed entire charge and conducted 
the business alone until the great fire of 1895, 
when he lost building and stock, valued at$4,- 
500. But the fire did not destroy Mr. Pringle's 
energy and indomitable will, and in February, 
1896, he purchased a half-interest of E. J. 
Moody in the hardware, agricultural imple- 
ment, buggy and wagon trade, and together 
they conducted this business until the fall of 
1898, when Mr. Pringle again became 
sole proprietor. His success is due to his un- 
swerving integrity, and his determination to 
please his patrons, and this course has won 
for him the unshaken confidence of the com- 
munity, which Mr. Pringle values more than all 
things else. 

The marriage of Mr. Pringle took place 
January 6, 1880, to Miss Alva M. Brayford, a 
native of Kent county, and this happy union 
has been blessed with seven children — six sons 
and one daughter — of whom four still survive, 
viz: Ray, who graduated from the Sand 
Lake high school with the class of 1899, Lee, 
Linn and Manley. 

Politically Mr. Pringle is a republican, and 
has served in the town council of Sand Lake. 
Fraternally he is a member of the K. O. T. 
.M., tent No. 442, and he and his estimable 
lady hold a high place in the estee.n of the 
people of the village. Besides his commercial 



958 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



interests in the village, Mr. Pringle owns 
ninety-four acres of choice land in Nelson 
township, and when it is remembered that he 
began his life here without ten dollars that he 
could call his own. no wonder need be excited 
from the fact that his enterprise and deter- 
mination to succeed have gained for him the 
enviable standing he now enjojs 



HRISTIAN POWELL, a prosperous 
and respected farmer of Algonia 
township, Kent county, Mich., is a 
native of Denmark, born about fifty 
miles from Copenhagen, May i, 1849, the 
youngest in a family of twelve children born to 
Powell Frank and Enger Datter. Of the 
seven sons and five daughters that constituted 
this family, five are still living, viz: Frank, a 
farmer, and Nelson, a carpenter, both in Den- 
mark; Peter, a contractor in May wood. Cook 
county. 111. ; John, a farmer of Greenville, 
Mich. ; Christian, subject of this sketch, and 
Katherine, the wife of Adolph Leer, post- 
master at Faxe, Denmark. The parents of 
this family both died in their native land. 

In 1869, Christian Powell and his brother 
John sailed from Copenhagen in a steamer, 
and after a somewhat stormy voyage of eleven 
days landed in New York, whence they went 
direct to Chicago, 111., their objective point, 
and thence were forwarded to Nebraska and 
set to work on the B. & M. railroad. Mr. 
Powell had acquired a good common-school 
education, but had not been tutored in the 
English language, but he had confidence in 
himself as well as the new country to which he 
had come, and soon learned sufficient of the 
tongue to carry him through the ordinary 
transactions of life. He was industrious and 
frugal, and atfer a year or two came to Kent 
county, Mich., and worked as a farm laborer 



two years for one man in Courtland township, 
saving his wages with care. In 1877 he went 
to Leadville, Colo., taking with him all his 
hard-earned savings, amounting to about 
$3,000, and there began mining. But he was 
not fortunate in this undertaking, although he 
labored persistently until 1880, when, having 
exhausted his funds, he returned east, and on 
reaching Grand Crossing, 111., had but forty- 
five cents left. He there engaged as foreman 
on the canal then in course of construction, 
held the position a short time, and then be- 
came "boss" of a construction train on the 
C. B. & Q. railroad, working in Iowa and Mis- 
souri. Later, he engaged in the hotel busi- 
ness at Sheridan, Iowa, for a year, and made 
money. He then returned to Michigan, for 
six months worked in the pineries of Montcalm 
county, and then returned to Kent county. 

August 28, 1883, Mr. Powell here married 
Miss Mary Powers, a native of Russia, who 
came to the United States when twelve years 
of age. This union has been blessed with two 
children — Elizabeth, who is attending school 
and also taking lessons in piano music, and 
Jacob, a boy of very retentive memory and 
with a genius for mechanical construction. 
Mrs. Powell is a kind-hearted lady, is a re- 
markably good housekeeper, and has done 
much in aiding her husband in acquiring a 
good home. 

In 1884, Mr. Powell purchased his first 
piece of land — eight}' acres — of which twenty 
acres only had been broken, but on which no 
building of any kind had been erected. For 
this he went in debt $1,700, but this has all 
been paid off, his farm put under cultivation 
and improved with a modern dwelling and 
substantial out-buildings, and all free of debt. 
He makes a specialty of potatoes, and in 1893, 
raised 2,200 bushels. 

Mr. Powell is a republican in politics, and 
cast his first presidential vote for U. S. Grant. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



959 



He is an ardent friend of public education, and 
he and wife are devoted members of St. 
Mary's Catholic church at Grand Rapids. Mr. 
Powell is also a member of the Court of Honor 
at Rockford, in which he holds $2,000 insur- 
ance for each of his children. The industrious 
life of Mr. Powell is well worthy the emula- 
tion of the rising generation, for, although he 
came to America a penniless young man, he 
now stands in the community as one of its 
most respected members. 



i 



ILLIAM PROCTOR, deceased, late 
of Lowell township, was born in 
fngleton, county of York, Eng- 
land, on November 20th, 1808, and 
died Sunday morning, December 22, 1895. In 
1853 he came with his family to Michigan, 
where he purchased 320 acres in sectioa No. 
27, Lowell township, having at that time a 
capital of some $2,000. 

He was united in marriage on May 7, 1831, 
to Miss Catherine Graham, in Bentham, 
Yorkshire, England. She died November 4, 
1887, leaving the following family: William, 
Jr.; Sarah, the wife of William Graham; 
Henry, John and Hannah, who married James 
Easterby. He was reared in the Episcopal 
church, and was, in politics, a republican, ad- 
hering tirmly to the doctrines of the party, but 
was independent in thought, speech and 
action, and was highly esteemed. Mrs. Proc- 
tor is the aunt of William Graham, whose 
wife is Sarah, the daughter above mentioned, 
and who lives on the farm adjoining the Proc- 
tor home. Her daughter, now Mrs. Dygert, 
has her home in the Proctor residence. 

Mr. Proctor's life was devoted to the im- 
provement of his farm, and he attended to 
his business himself until past eighty years of 
age. His two sons, William and John, until 



the latter's death, did much in working the 
farm. When about twenty, John's leg was 
caught in the tumbling rod of a horsepower and 
torn from his body, so he was obliged to use 
crutches. After this misfortune he learned 
the carpenter's trade, and in addition to the 
farm work he was engaged in building barns, 
etc. After John's death, William carried on 
the farm work until the father departed. 
Eighty acres were given to his son Henry, 
who assisted in building, and who, now de- 
ceased at forty-eight years of age, had lived 
on the homestead and deeded 120 acres to his 
son William, Jr., who remained at home and 
managed the place. By a deed made but a 
few weeks before he died he passed the home- 
stead to his granddaughter, who had lived 
with him as housekeeper for eight years; in 
other words, ever since Mrs. Proctor died. 
She married Lincoln Dygert, and they now 
reside in the old home. The present large 
and handsome brick house was built by him 
in 1 87 1. In early life he was an industrious, 
energetic man and for years carried on a large 
business. He was educated, well informed as 
to history and public men, and, though a 
stanch republican, he never aspired to any 
office, but preferred to give his attention to his 
business pursuits. Reared in the Episcopal 
faith, he nevertheless attended and contributed 
liberally to other churches, there being no 
Episcopal church at Lowell. 




C. GREEN. M. D.— The profes- 
sional gentleman, to a review of 
whose life these lines are devoted, 
is one of the representative physi- 
cians and surgeons of Kent county. Dr. Green 
was born in Hillsdale, Mich., in April, 1855, 
and is a son of Amos and Altani (Strunk) 
Green, the father a native of New York and 



960 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the mother of Michigan. Amos Green, by 
occupation an agriculturist, came to this state 
a number of years ago and at this time makes 
his home in Hillsdale; his wife, who bore him 
four children, died in that city in the year 
1897. 

Dr. Green was reared on his father's farm 
and his elementary education embraced the 
curriculum of the common schools of the 
neighborhood. In early manhood he entered 
the Hillsdale college, where he made substan- 
tial progress in the higher branches of learn- 
ing, but discontinued his studies without com- 
pleting the prescribed course, in order to en- 
gage in teaching, which profession he followed 
from 1876 to 1879. In the meantime he 
turned his attention to the medical profession, 
and while following educational work devoted 
all of his leisure time to a careful study, pre- 
paratory to entering the medical department 
of the Michigan university at Ann Arbor. He 
became a student in this famous institution in 
the early part of 1880, and was graduated 
therefrom in 1883. The year following the 
completion of his medical education the 
doctor spent as a teacher, and in 1885 began 
the active practice of his profession at Lowell, 
where he has since won for himself an honor- 
able reputation as a successful physician and 
surgeon. 

Dr. Green has kept well abreas.t of the on- 
ward march of the science of medicine and 
surgery, and is an enthusiastic student in all 
lines of his profession. In full possession of 
that manly vigor which acts as a stimulus to 
greater aim, far-reaching accomplishments in 
his much-loved calling, his ripe experience and 
skill in ministering to suffering humanity far 
outreach his years. Possessed of an energy 
which is second only to his ability, he spares 
no efforts in penetrating the mysteries of 
science and medical lore, .and his comprehen- 
sive research as well as success in combating 



disease has brought him well earned recogni- 
tion in the profession and a practice liberal in 
financial returns. 

In all public affairs, affecting either the 
town or the county at large, the doctor has 
always been interested, doing his share to- 
wards progress and advancement. He is 
president of the Building & Loan association 
of Michigan, also president of the board of 
directors of the same, and at this time is chair- 
man of the board of directors of the Lowell 
Telephone e.xchange. He gives his allegiance 
to the republican party, with whicli he has 
been identified since becoming a voter, and 
stands high in Masonic circles, being master of 
Lowell lodge, No. 90. The doctor is united 
in marriage with Miss Emma S. Chapman, of 
Lowell, who has borne him one child, G. 
Golden, whose birth occurred in May, 1892. 
Mrs. Green is a member of the Congregational 
church at Lowell, in the faith of which she is 
training her son. 




M. GIF FIN.— The thought which 
presents itself to the far-seeing and 
conservative mind, when the ques- 
tion is propounded as to what essen- 
tials are necessary to a man's success in life, 
is that of industry, economy and honesty, and 
the life of J. M. Giffin will corroborate this. 

J. M. Giffin, a known agriculturist and 
official of Grattan township, Kent county, 
Mich., is of Holland descent, his great-grand- 
father having come from that couiUry. 

J. M. Giffin was born on the lOth of 
August, 1839, in St. Lawrence county, N. Y. 
He was the last born of the nine children of 
David and Anna (Gitfin) Giffin, and two of the 
family are living beside J. M., viz: Rufus and 
Seargt. David H. The former is a resident 
of Briar Hill, N. Y. , is now retired. He 



H 



li 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



961 



served as a private in the Civil war with the 
army of the Potomac, and received a wound 
in the hand at the battle of Fort Hasskell. 
The latter, a wagon maker during his active 
career, is now a retired resident of De Pey- 
ster, N. Y. , where for fifteen consecutive years 
he has acted as township clerk. He also 
bears proof of army service in the fact that he 
carries a rifle-ball in his hip, having; been 
wou tided during the charge on Petersburg, 
\'a. Their service was in the same command 
and participated in fifteen battles; both 
served clear through the war and had an hon- 
orable record. 

David Giffin, Sr. , was born in Fort Ann, 
N. Y., February 5, 1796, and died October 4, 
18.S0; the mother was a native of Georgia, 
f-'ranklin county, Vt., born July 30, 1798, 
and died September 3, 1881. When a small 
girl she was taken by her parents to the state 
of New York and was there reared and 
educated. 

J M. Giffin passed his boyhood in his 
native state and was there educated in the 
common schools. In early life he learned the 
trade of a wagon and coach-maker in his 
father's shop, but the major part of his life has 
been spent in the capacity of an agriculturist. 
He remained at his parents' home until 
twenty-one years of age, devoting his time and 
service to them. On February 21, 1862, he 
was married to Miss May Petrie, at Ham- 
mond Corners, N. Y., and a son and a daugh- 
ter have blessed this union, namely, Florence 
and Royal. The former is a well-educated 
young lad}' and is gifted with an extraordinary 
talent as an artist, considering that her in- 
struction in that line has been very limited. 
The great part of her work is oil-painting, but 
she has also displayed marked ability as a 
draughtsman and a designer in silk embroid- 
ery. Probably no home in the neighboring 
country is more superbly furnished with beau- 



tiful pictures than that of the Giffins. Miss 
Giffin is also skillful in the use of the kodak, 
and develops her own plates. Socially she is 
a member of the Eastern Star and of the 
Grattan grange. She has resided constantly 
with her parents. Royal B., the son, died at 
the age of fourteen years on August 27, 1881. 

Mrs. Gifhn was born January 6, 1 841, in 
St. Lawrence county, N. Y. , was there edu- 
cated and taught school for one year. She is 
a daughter of Isaac and Mary (Mitchell) 
Petrie, the former of German descent and a 
native of Herkimer county, N. Y., born Janu- 
ary 4, 1801, and died July 25, 1879. The 
latter was ot Scotch extraction, both of her 
parents having come from Inverness, Scotland. 
She was born in 1801 and died June i, i860. 

Mr. and Mrs. Giffin began with a capital of 
less than $100. The former plied his trade 
for one year, and for the two following was 
engaged as a farmer. In 1866 he came to 
Kent county, where his fathcr-in-lavv had pur- 
chased a farm of thirty-eight acres which 
Mr. GifHn subsequently bought. It was in 
a very uncouth and ill-improved state, hav- 
ing one of the poorest little houses in the 
country. They have since improved the farm 
and added forty acres to it, and built a hand- 
some residence standing on an eminence that 
affords an interesting view of the surrounding 
country with its scenery diversified with hill 
and lake. 

Mr. Giffin is a democrat in politics, and 
has frequently been found in the councils of 
the party. He was elected supervisor of his 
township in 1887 and re-elected in 1888, 1889 
and 1890. His service includes the time of 
the inception and building of the new court 
house. He has for five years been connected 
with the school board. Socially, he is an es- 
teemed member of the Masonic lodge, of which 
he has for three years held the exalted position 
of worshipful master. He and wife are also 



962 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



charter members of the Grattan grange, and 
have kept up an active interest in grange 
work. 



dm 



OLOMON RAMSDELL, an enterpris- 
ing and wide-awake tiller of the soil, 
has for the past third of a century 
been a representative citizen of Kent 
county, Mich., and his fine farm of i6o acres 
speaks for itself as to his thrift and successful 
methods in pursuing his chosen calling. 

Mr. Ramsdell was born in Wayne county, 
Mich., near the city of Detroit, May 23, 1833, 
and is a son of Jacob and Sally (Richardson) 
Ramsdell, the parents of five children, four of 
whom are living, viz: Solomon; Jerome, a tin- 
ner residing in Grand Rapids; Frank, a promi- 
nent lawyer of Deerfield, Wis., and Rosette, 
formerly a teacher in Kalamazoo and Ionia 
counties, and now a resident of Fargo, Dak. 
Jacob Ramsdell came from the " Old Bay 
State " having been born about twenty miles 
from the city of Boston in 1806. Being a 
man of high intellectual attainment, he taught 
school for some years in New York state and 
in Wayne county, Mich. He was married in 
New York, and became a resident of Wayne 
county, Mich., as early as 1831, and a few 
3'ears later moved further west, settling upon 
the site of the present city of Kalamazoo. 
Being a fine mathematician and experienced 
surveyor, he laid out the thoroughfares of this 
now beautiful citj', and whilst a citizen of the 
county was elected and re-elected to the high 
and honored position of county judge of Kala- 
mazoo, an indication of his popularity and 
ability. In 1845 h^ came to Ionia county, 
and in Orange township purchased a 160-acre 
farm and erected the first log cabin. He soon 
afterward sold this property and removed to 
Lowell, where for years he was engaged as a 



saddler and harness manufacturer. Frater- 
nally he was an esteemed charter member of 
the I. O. O. F., at Kalamazoo, and always 
held high offices in that fraternity. The 
mother of the subject was a native of Ontario 
county, N. Y. , and settled on the farm near 
Lowell, Mich. 

Solomon Ramsdell was reared entirely in 
the state of Michigan, and until twenty-six 
years of age he remained with his parents, 
when he was united in marriage to Miss 
jennette S. Watson, who bore him three 
children, two of whom are living — Nettie W. 
and Callie D. The former is the wife of 
Lewis Brown, an agriculturist residing at 
Luther, Mich. She was well educated and 
became a successful teacher in the county and 
city schools. The latter is an accomplished 
musician, being a graduate of the Wooster 
Conservatory of Music, where she was under 
the instruction of Prof. Karl Merz. Later she 
became a student of Prof . Frank Davis, a cele- 
brated vocalist of Cincinnati, Ohio. She is a 
successful teacher of the divine art of music, 
at Fenton, Mich. Seymour W., the deceased 
son, was educated in the Grattan union 
school. He was a teacher until his- early 
death, at the age of twenty-four years. He 
was an exemplary young man, whose native 
abilit_v, refined tastes and elevation of charac- 
ter gave promise of a brilliant future. 

Mrs. Ramsdell died July 12, 1866. Mr. 
Ramsdell next chose her sister, Miss Calista 
D. Watson, to fill her place, to whom he was 
married March 23, 1867. Five children have 
been born to this union, viz: Bert, a young 
man of high intellectual attainment, who mar- 
ried Miss Enza Foote, and who is an agricult- 
urist residing in Courtland; Gertrude, an elo- 
cutionist of marked ability and wife of Prof. 
H. W. Davis, the renowned instrumental 
musician and orchestral director. Mrs. Davis 
received her education in the Belding public 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



96B 



schools and graduated in elocution from the 
normal school at Fenton, Mich. She exhib- 
ited such marked ability in the elocutionary 
art that she was urged to make it her profes- 
sion, and in this she has won greatly deserved 
celebrity. The ne.xt in order of years is 
Frank A., who was educated in the Grattan 
school, the Ypsilanti Normal, and was also a 
student in the West Michigan college and of 
the celebrated Prof. Paul P. Davis, of Grand 
Rapids. Later he graduated from the Hol- 
brook school of oratory in Knoxville, Tenn., 
with the degree of bachelor of oratory. He 
taught also for a time and is now associated 
with a professional dramatic company, travel- 
ing in the eastern and southern states, having 
attained an enviable reputation as a portrayer 
of the leading parts of the standard plays. 
Floy Dell is a successful teacher and a tal- 
ented musician, and the youngest is Gregg R. 

Mrs. Ramsdell is a lady of cutlure 
and refinement, and for seventeen years 
was a practical teacher. Her parents 
were Andrew and Sallie (Packard) Wat- 
son. The father was born near Mere- 
dith, N. H., received a liberal education, 
was one of the first three settlers of Plainfield, 
then including Cannon township, where he 
was a farmer and surveyor and gave the name 
to the territory as Plainfield from his birth- 
place in New Hampshire. The mother's natal 
place was Perrinton, Ontario county, N. Y. , 
and her death occurred in Grattan, while he 
died in Cannon. 

On the 31st of December, 1S63, Solomon 
Ramsdell enlisted at Lyons, in Company E, 
Sixth Michigan cavalry, and was assigned to 
Gen. Custer's brigade. He participated in 
many of the important and severe battles of 
the war, among which were the battles of the 
Wilderness, Cold Harbor, etc. In Louisa 
county, Va. , he was captured and imprisoned 
at Richmond, thence taken to Libby prison 



and later transferred to Andersonville. After 
a confinement of two months and seventeen 
days at the last named place he was taken to 
and imprisoned at Florence, S. C. His liber- 
ation occurred at City Point, Va., after a 
total imprisonment of nine months and nine- 
teen days. At Camp Chase, Ohio, he was 
discharged on June 14, 1865. 

Politically Mr. Ramsdell was formerly a 
whig and cast his first maiden presidential 
vote for the first republican candidate, John 
C. Fremont. He has adhereci to republican 
principles since, though he has never sought 
the emoluments of public office. He is one 
of the well-to-do farmers of Grattan, having 
a well-cultivated, highly improved farm in a 
desirable section of country, where hospitality 
is extended to all. 

Mr. and Mrs. Ramsdell are members of the 
Grattan grange, of which the latter is lecturer. 
Both Mr. Ramsdell and wife are filled with the 
spirit that impresses and adds to the happiness 
of life. They have lived true to a noble pur- 
pose and endeavor. Modest and unassuming, 
they are known only to be respected, and 
their silent example has made a lasting im- 
pression on the youth of the town, who have 
ever found in them earnest sympathy and 
encouragement. 



APT. HUGO BIRGET RATHBUN, 
late of Paris township, I'vent county, 
Mich., and a man of sterling worth, 
who left the impress of his individual- 
ity upon the community in which he made his 
home, was a native of Cayuga county, N. Y. , 
where his birth occurred on the 30th day of 
November, 1841. His parents, Charles and 
Ann (Ivniffin) Rathbun, moved from the Empire 
state to Michigan in 1844, locating in Grand 
Rapids, where Charles built, and for many 



961 



THE CITY OF GRAXD RAPIDS 



years conducted, the then most popular 
hostelry in western Michigan — the Rathbun 
house. He attained distinction as an old-time 
landlord but retired from its management 
about 185 I, and moved to the farm still in pos- 
session of the family, two miles south of the 
city, in Paris township. He died at the 
residence of his daughter in Grand Rapids 
at the age of seventy-five. 

Hugo B. Rathhun was less than four years 
of age when brought by his parents to Mich- 
igan, and he has passed all but that brief 
period of his life in the state of his adoption. 
In September, 1S61, he entered the army as 
private in company D, Second Michigan 
cavalry, with which he served three and a half 
years, receiving for gallantry on the field dur- 
ing that time successive promotions to corporal, 
lieutenant and captain, being in command of 
his company as such when mustered out at 
the expiration of his period of enlistment. 
The same day that he was discharged, Capt. 
Rathbun re-entered the service with a lieuten- 
ant's commission and as such served until Feb- 
ruary, 1S65. 

Shortly after retiring from the army he 
went to Chicago, where for several years he 
was in the employ of his brother-in-law, a 
lumber dealer, as a bookkeeper. While in 
that city he met Miss Leversa Wright, daugh- 
ter of William D. and Sophia Wright, and an 
attachment was formed which culminated in 
marriage on the 4th day of March, 1869, Im- 
mediately thereafter Mr. Rathbun and wife 
came to Michigan, and took possession of the 
old homestead in Paris township, where the 
family was reared, and where Mr. Rathbun's 
death afterward occurred. He was a success- 
ful agriculturist, and his farm, consisting of 
153 acres of fertile land, was well improved 
and highly cultivated, yielding to the owner 
a commensurate income. He studied farming 
carefullv and conducted all his business trans- 



actions on methodical principles, earning the 
reputation of a clear-headed and progressive 
man of affairs. He served as township treas- 
urer one year, and at different times held other 
offices of a local nature, including that of school 
director, supervisor and township clerk, ac- 
quitting himself in the various positions to 
which he was called as a capable and con- 
scientious public servant. A republican in his 
political faith and exceedingly tenacious of his 
opinions, Mr. Rathbun was broad minded and 
liberal, and there was little in him of the par- 
tisan or ward politician. He was compliment- 
ed many times, by his part)', by being sent as 
delegate to count}' and state conventions, and 
upon such occasions was no passing factor, but 
an aggressive, earnest worker for the princi- 
ples he thought best, and for the candidates 
most fitting, in his opinion, for the positions 
sought. He was made a Mason while resid- 
ing in Chicago and continued an active worker 
of the order until his death. 

The ciicumstances attending the death of 
Capt. Rathbun were peculiarly distressing, and 
his sad taking off was not only a terrible shock 
to his devoted family, but was felt almost as 
a personal loss by everybody in the community 
where he was so well known and highly re- 
spected. May 30, 1898, was not only Deco- 
ration day, but it was also the anniversary of 
the birth of his twin daughters, an occasion 
which promised him much pleasure. With 
the exception of himself and wife, the family 
were away from home, and the evening was 
spent by the two in a most agreeable manner, 
the first time, in years, they had been entirely 
alone. The time was spent in pleasant dis- 
course, reviewing the past and making plans 
for the future, all unmindful of the near pres- 
ence of -the grim specter, that was so soon to 
change the happy household into a place of 
mourning. Capt. Rathbun was in his usual 
health and spiriis, but shortly after retiring 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



965 



was seized with a violent fit of coughing, 
which soon terminated in strangulation, and 
before assistance could be summoned, and 
almost before the wife was aware of the 
severity of the attack, his life work closed, 
the spirit departed, and he had entered the 
harbor of rest. It was indeed a sad home- 
coming to the children, who fairly idolized the 
fond parent; the home now desolate, where 
but a few hours before all was joy, and full of 
the promise of years of happiness. In accord 
with his wishes, expressed but a short time 
previous to his departure to the unseen uni- 
verse, Mr. Rathbun was borne to his final 
resting place by the five brothers, McGrath, 
between whom and himself there had existed for 
years exalted feelings of the greatest mutual re- 
gard and affection. Few men of Kent county 
were more highly esteemed than Capt. Rath- 
bun, and certainly none were ever swayed by 
more generous impulses, or possessed nobler 
feelings for and faith in their fellow-man. 
His life was a benediction to his family and 
an honor to his neighborhood and count}', and 
the influence of his example should serve as a 
stimulus to the young men of the community 
just crossing the threshold to an independent 
destiny. 

Mrs. Rathbun was born in Steuben county, 
N. Y., and from the age of ten until her mar- 
riage resided in Chicago, in the high school of 
which city she received a liberal education. 
She bore her husband the following chil- 
dren: Charles B., who manages the home 
farm; George Amos, a bright young man of 
twenty, who was drowned August 26, 1894, 
while bathing in Lake Catherine, near 
Chicago; Frank Hugo, a young business man 
of Grand Rapids; Eugene Wright, who was 
educated in Chicago and is now living at home; 
Louise Virginia and Leversa Vacilla, twins, 
both educated in the high schools of Grand 
Rapids. 



The widow has had much for which to be 
thankful; yet to her has been presented, for 
the third time, the cup of sorrow, filled to 
the brim. Four years previous to her hus- 
band's decease, she suffered the loss of her 
mother, who was killed by an explosion of 
natural gas. One year after that dire catas- 
trophe, her loved boy was brought home dead 
from the cruel waters of the lake. With 
christian fortitude she has borne up under 
these sad visitations, comforted with the 
assurance that in the afterwhile, when the 
great mystery of life is solved, and the rea- 
sons of death made plain, she shall be re- 
united in the world beyond the stars with the 
loved and logt, in bonds of love never again to 
be severed. 

To the past go more dead faces 

Every year, 
As the loved leave vacant places 

Every year; 
Everywhere the sad eyes meet us, 
In the evening's gloom they greet us, 
And to come to them entreat us 

Every year. 




NDREW E. RETAN, among the suc- 
cessful farmers and stock raisers of 
Kent county, is a descendant of 
sturdy ancestry, noted for their many 
sterling traits of character, and which he has 
inherited to a considerable degree. He is a 
son of John R. and Catherine (Emmons) 
Retan, and was born where he now lives in 
Wyoming township. May 23, 1S47. His 
parents were married in the stateof New York 
in 1841, and two years later came to Michi- 
gan, locating on the present farm in Wyom- 
ing, being among the early pioneers of this 
section of Kent county. Andrew Emmons, 
father of Mrs. Reten, was born in Seneca 
county, N. Y., was a man of large business 
interests, and secured several valuable tracts 



966 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



of land in the counties of Kent and Allegan. 
His children have been among the substantial 
citizens of Wyoming township ever since the 
early days of its history. John T. Emmons, 
who is still living and of whom an extended 
mention is found elsewhere, is a respected 
representative of the family. 

John R. Retan was one of the men who 
gave character to the community. He was one 
of the leading agriculturists of the county, 
carrying on farming and stock raising quite 
extensively, thus accumulating a large and 
valuable estate. He died full of years and 
honor Jiily i, 1881, aged seventy-four. His 
wife survived him sixteen years, closing her 
eyes for the last time on the scenes so long 
familiar on the 25th day of September, 1895, 
at the age of seventy-six. 

The family of John R. and Catherine Retan 
consisted of three children: Mary, wife of 
Abram Jones, of Madison, Neb.; Andrew; and 
Sarah, who married James Morrison, and 
died in this county at the age of forty-three. 
In his boyhood, Andrew Retan attended the 
common schools and assisted with the work of 
the farm until his seventeenth year. At that 
time the war cloud spread over- the country 
and after it had burst, deluging the land with 
blood, young Retan, together with thousands 
of other loyal sons of the north, volunteered 
his services in defense of the national Union.- 
He enlisted in battery D, Fourth Michigan 
light artillery, September 6, 1864, and served 
in the army of the Cumberland under Gen. 
Thomas until August of the following year, 
taking part in the mean time in a number of 
battles, including that of Nashville. 

After his discharge he returned home and 
took charge of the homestead. On the 5th 
day of May, 1875, he was united in marriage 
with Miss Helen L. Day, daughter of Dr. 
Levi and Clarissa (Ryder) Day, a union 
blessed with the birth of one child, a daugh- 



ter, Mary Catherine, a cultured young lady, 
who is a graduate of the Grand Rapids high 
school and her mother's valued assistant 
in the management of the household. The 
father of Mrs. Retan, Dr. Levi Day, is one 
of the oldest physicians in point of active serv- 
ice in western Michigan, having practiced his 
profession continuously for over half a century, 
and is widely and favorably known in medical 
circles and throughout the country. 

Almost immediately after marriage, Mr. 
Retan engaged in the pursuit of agriculture on 
a more extensive scale; and has since fol- 
lowed the same with gratifying success, own- 
ing at this time the home farm consisting of 
130 acres, besides other valuable property, 
both real and personal. He rebuilt the old 
dwelling, transforming it into a modern struct- 
ure, comfortable in every detail. He beauti- 
fied the surroundings until he now has one of 
the best and most attractive homes in the 
township. Mr. Retan is what may be termed 
a scientific farmer, being methodical in all he 
does. He pursues his vocation with an in- 
telligence and enthusiasm rarely met among 
the great majority of agriculturists. In addi- 
tion to tilling the soil, he has for a number of 
years paid considerable attention to stock 
raising, in which he ranks with the most suc- 
cessful men of the county, his grades of horses, 
sheep and hogs being first class in every par- 
ticular. He is considered one of the best in- 
formed men on all matters relating to their 
breeding, in this section of the country, and is 
often chosen as judge at the exhibits. In 
short the well tilled fields, perfect fences, 
commodious barns and out-houses, the com- 
fortable dwelling and general neat appear- 
ance of everything on the farm are a credit to 
the owner's thrift and management, and be- 
speak the presence of a wide-awake, well-to-do 
and intelligent man of affairs. 

Mr. and Mrs. Retan are communicants of. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



967 



the Methodist Episcopal church, belonging to 
the South Wyoming congregation, in which 
they are both zealous workers. Fraternally 
Mr. Retan belongs to Crescent lodge, No. 322, 
F. & A. M., at Grandville, and of which he is 
now serving as worshipful master, a position 
he has filled for seven consecutive years, dur- 
ing which time increased interest and activity 
have been experienced by the lodge. He also 
belongs to Royal Arch chapter. No. 5, in 
Grand Rapids. He and wife are active mem- 
bers of Grandville chapter, No. 227, Order of 
the Eastern Star, in which both hold official 
positions. At different times he has been del- 
egate to the grand lodge of the state, beside 
being active in every department of work per- 
taining to the order. 

Mr. Retan votes with the republican party, 
and has frequently been chosen delegate to 
various conventions, but has never sought or 
desired an office. His life record is one 
that will bear the closest scrutiny, and he 
commands the respect of all. He is a gentle- 
man of upright purpose, of fidelity to princi- 
ple, of pleasant manner and social disposition, 
qualities which have gained him many friends 
throughout an extended territory. 



RA RICHMOND, an enterprising young 
farmer of Grattan township, I\ent 
county, Mich., was born near Ben- 
nington, \'t., the little place where 
Gen. John Stark figured so prominently in 
I^evolutionary days. He dates his nativity 
July 7, 1866, and is the second of four sons 
born to Franklin and Abbie S. (Babcock) 
Richmond. Three of the sons are now living, 
viz: Ira; Wilson G. , a foreman in the Richard- 
son Silk factory at Belding, and Whitman P., 
also a resident of Belding and identified with 
the same factory. 

51 



Franklin Richmond is a native of Mas- 
sachusetts, was born in the year 1839, and 
now resides in Belding, Mich. He early 
learned the trade of a carpenter, came to 
Michigan in 1864 and located first in Ionia 
county. In politics he was a thorough aboli- 
tionist and is now stanch in the support of re- 
publicanism. Socially he is a member of the 
Foresters of his resident city. His wife, a 
woman of intellectual attainments, was a 
native of Vermont and was born in 1837. 

Ira Richmond was a child of two years 
when be became a resident of Saranac, Ionia 
county. In the common schools of that 
county he received his education, became a 
skilled mechanic, and was employed for three 
years in a factory at Belding. 

On March 6, 1889, Mr. Richmond was 
united in marriage to Miss Blanche D. Beld- 
ing, a scion of the great Belding family, who 
founded the city of that name. To this union 
have been born four sons and a daughter, viz: 
Leo B., Fred W., Adelbert, Day and Julia A. 
Mrs. Richmond was born in Otisco, Ionia 
county, Mich., March 24, 1870. Her parents,, 
Frank W. and Julia E. (Day) Belding, are 
both deceased, the father having passed away 
when she was a girl of nine years, and the 
mother following him eight years later. 

Mr. Richmond, having no capital with 
which to start, began married life by farming 
on shares, but in 1896 was able to purchase a 
forty-acre farm. He is now a progressive 
agriculturist and an owner of a fine tract of 
land. The farm was one of the early-settled 
places in Grattan township, five miles west of 
Belding, and formerly known as the Wright 
homestead. Politically Mr. Richmond is a 
republican, and cast his first presidential 
vote for Benjamin Harrison. In local poli- 
tics, however, he may be called a non-partisan, 
as he looks to the man rather than the party. 
Socially he is a member of Ivanhoe tent, No. 



968 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



24, Knights of the Maccabees, at Belding. 
Mrs. Richmond is a member of Goodwill 
hive, No. 450, L. O. T. M. 




OHN L. RANDEL. — America affords 
numberless instances of men who have 
made their way alone in life, having 
nothing upon which to depend but 
their own strong arms and a determination to 
do and to succeed. Such men are always 
self-reliant, their necessities having taught 
that what is done must be done through them- 
selves alone. They are worthy and well 
qualified to perform what duties they are 
called upon to discharge, and are, almost 
without exception, leaders of thought in their 
communities and lead lives of great usefulness. 
In considering the men of this class, the 
name of John L. Randel suggests itself, for 
the reason that he has made his own way on- 
ward and upward in the world by the force of 
his own talents. 

Mr. Randel was born in Delaware county, 
Ohio, February 5, 1848, and is the youngest 
of three children born to Aden and Almina 
(Renells) Randel, all of whom are living, viz: 
Charlotte, the widow of Lawrence Purdy and 
a resident of Grattan township; Martha, widow 
of Edward Howard, who resided at the same 
place and John L. Randel, whose life is here 
presented. 

Not much is known of the life of Aden 
Randel, the father of John L. , owing to the 
fact that he died when the latter was but an 
infant of six months. He was born May 12, 
18 1 3, in the state of New York, and died in 
Delaware county, Ohio, June 24, 1848. Most 
of his life was passed as a mechanic, as he 
was skilled as a carpenter and blacksmith. It 
is also known that he purchased a tract of 
land from a Revolutionary hero. The mother 



was a native of Pennsylvania, born January 2, 
1820, and died in Grattan, Kent county, Mich., 
on the 20th of February, 1899. She was 
reared to womanhood in her native state and 
married in Ohio. 

John L. Randel was but six months old 
when his father died, and a little boy of four 
years when removed to Michigan. Until 
thirteen years of age he made his home with 
his mother and step-father — for his mother 
was again married — and at that age began as 
a wage earner, receiving at first only $3 per 
month. His mother allowed him to retain his 
salary, and at the end of six months he had 
saved $19.50, a sum which, considering the 
time of work, would be sneered at by a lad of 
to-day. But by his careful, methodical and 
very economical way, he made the dollars 
count and became a decided success, despite 
the low wages. 

Mr. Randel took for his companion in life 
Miss Achsa Smith, to whom he was married on 
the 17th of April, 1S75. To Mr. and Mrs. 
Randel have been born four children, all of 
whom are living, viz: Nellie L., who graduated 
at the Grattan union schools in the class of 
1895, became a successful teacher in Kent 
county, and is now the wife of E. L. Brooks, 
a young and well-known merchant of Grattan 
Center; Millie, who completed the ninth year 
in the union schools, attended in 1898 the 
Ypsilanti Normal school, where she took a 
musical course, and has taught music success- 
fully; Frank Aden, a student of Ferris insti- 
tute at Big Rapids, Mich., and Kittie. 

Mrs. Randel was born in Grattan township, 
Kent county, Mich., May 17, 1855. She is a 
daughter of J. W. B. and Achsa (Rich) Smith 
and had two brothers, Nathaniel and John, 
the former of whom is still living. Her father 
was a native of New York, born in 18 15 and 
died in Grattan in 1886. He was one of the 
pioneers of Kent county, having come to Grat- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



969 



tan in the year 1846, when the township was a 
wild, woody tract, and Indians were frequent. 
He was a man of care and industry, and at his 
death owned a valuable farm of 140 acres. 

The natal place of the mother was in the 
same state as that of the father, born in 18 16. 
She survived her husband three years, dying 
at the age of seventy-three. 

In politics John Randel is a democrat and 
was a follower and supporter of Horace Gree- 
ley. He was officially connected with the 
public schools for some eight years, and served 
at one time as township clerk. Mr. and Mrs. 
Randel hold a high place m social circles and 
for their industrious and upright lives com- 
mand the esteem of many friends. 




ILLIAM REXFORD, the popular 
landlord of the Central hotel at 
Lowell, Mich., is one of ten chil- 
dren born to Ensign and Elmina 
(Slaghtj Re.xford — the father, a native of the 
state of New York and the mother of Michi- 
gan. Ensign Rexford was reared to agricult- 
ural pursuits in the state of his nativity, 
later became a resident of Michigan, and 
located in the town of Grattan, where he 
became the possessor of quite an exten- 
sive area of land. He was successful as a 
farmer, and at his death, which occurred in 
the year 1898, had accumulated a comfortable 
competence in real estate and other property. 
William Rexford, a br'ef epitome of whose 
life is herewith presented, was born in" the 
town of Grattan on the 26th day of January, 
1849, and received a practical education in 
the common schools, which he attended at 
intervals until arriving at manhood's estate. 
He farmed for himself for a number of years 
with success alid financial profit, but in May, 
1898, moved to Lowell, purchased the con- 



tents of the Central hotel, and has since de- 
voted his time and attention to ministering to 
the wants of the traveling public. The house 
of which Mr. Rexford is the genial host is a 
two-story building containing twenty rooms, 
situated in the central part of town, and un- 
der its present management has become a fa- 
vorite stopping place, being the only dollar a 
day house in Lowell. By carefully studying the 
demands of the traveling public, and learning 
how to minister to their comfort, Mr. Rexford 
has become quite a popular landlord, and has 
built up a ver}' lucrative business, his house 
being seldom without its full complement of 
guests. Mr. Rexford possesses a winning per- 
sonality, a happy, sunshiny temperament, and 
by his genial manner has won a host of friends 
in Lowell since becoming identified with the 
town. He is indeed '' a hale fellow well met, " 
and his first successful experience in the ca- 
pacity of " mine host " bespeaks for him a 
large share of patronage in the future. Mr. 
Rexford is by birth-right a democrat and has 
been an ardent supporter of that party ever 
since first exercising the right of franchise in 
his twenty-first year. 

The maiden name of Mr. Rexford's wife 
was Julia Hubble, daughter of Prindle Hub- 
ble; their home has been gladdened by the 
birth of one child, William H. Rexford. 




OHN J. RISINGER, a genial, popular 
and prosperous farmer of that part of 
the village of Cedar Springs lying 
within the township of Nelson, Kent 
county, Mich., was born in Medina county, 
Ohio, November 3, 1844, a son of Jacob and 
Elizabeth (Keller) Risinger, of whose twelve 
children ten are still living, viz: J. G. , who 
was a soldier in the Civil war, and is now a 
farmer in Liverpool, Ohio; Jacob, of Elyria, 



970 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Ohio; Christian, of Lorain county, Ohio; 
Catherine, wife of Henry Krause, of Houghton 
county, Mich. ; Martin, who was a soldier in 
the Civil war, and now lives in Lorain county, 
Ohio; Elizabeth, wife of Christian Stumin, of 
Buffalo, N. Y. ; Eliza, married to Calvin Jack- 
son, of Eaton, Ohio; William, of Holt county, 
Nebr. ; Charles, of Grafton, Ohio, and John J., 
the subject, of this sketch, who was the sev- 
enth born of the twelve. 

Jacob Risingerwas a native of Wittenburg, 
Germany, was born in September, 1808, was 
reared a farmer, and also taught shoemaking. 
At the age of twenty- five years he sailed from 
Bremen, and after a tedious voyage of 103 
days landed in New York. There had been a 
dissension among the officers and crew of the 
vessel, reaching almost to a mutiny among the 
latter, before the shores of America had been 
sighted, and even afterward the vessel struck 
a sand-bar, and many persons on board were 
forced to swim ashore — Mr. Risinger being 
among the number, and losing everything but 
a small trunk. From New York he made his 
way to Liverpool, Ohio, where there was a 
German colony, and there prospered until his 
death in April, 1885. His wife was a native 
of the same province with himself, was born 
in September, 181 1, and died March 29, 1886, 
and, like her husband, in the faith of the 
German Evangelical church. 

John J. Risinger was educated in the com- 
mon schools of Medina county, Ohio, and 
before he had reached his majority enlisted at 
Wooster in company B, One Hundred and 
Ninety-first Ohio volunteer infantry, was 
assigned to the army of the Cumberland but 
subsequently sent to Harper's Ferrj', Va. , 
where in Gen. \\'infield S. Hancock's corps 
he was chiefly engaged in the pursuit of the 
guerrilla chief, Moseby, through the moun- 
tains. He was near Charleston, W. Va.,when 
the news of Lee's surrender came to hand, 



and was honorably discharged August 27, 1865. 

Mr. Rismger was united in marriage 
August 9, 1866, with Miss Esther G. Robin- 
son, and this union has been blessed with 
eight children, viz; Edward E., an employee 
of the Illinois Central Railroad company, at 
Clinton, III., and married to Miss Ida Stumm; 
Harry R., a graduate of the Northwest Col- 
lege of Dental Surgeons of Chicago, married 
to Miss Minnie Porter, and now a resident of 
Chicago; Anna E., a teacher at Grand Rapids; 
Minnie E. at home; Cora E., a teacher in the 
Kent county schools; Ira H., a graduate of 
the Cedar Springs high school; Harvey L. 
and Mervil J., both still at their studies. It is 
a credit to the management of the Cedar 
Springs schools to state that all these children 
received their early education in that village. 

Mrs. Esther G. Risinger was born in Juni- 
ata county, Pa. , July 24, 1848, and is a daugh- 
ter of Zachariah and Ann (Leonard) Robin- 
son, and was a girl of fifteen years when her 
parents located in Lorain county, Ohio, and of 
a family of nine children born to her parents 
six are still living and reside in Lorain county, 
where her father, of English descent, also re- 
sides, at the age of eighty-seven years. His 
father, James, was a gallant soldier in the war 
of 1812. 

In the spring of 1882 Mr. Risinger and 
family came to Kent county and settled on 
their present home, when the place was 
utterly without improvement, but Mr. Ris- 
inger has made it one of the prettiest farms in 
the township. In politics he is a republican, 
has been an alderman for three years, and is 
one of the eight directors of the Farmer's 
Mutual Insurance company of Kent county, 
having under his charge the company's busi- 
ness in Spencer, Solon and Nelson town- 
ships. This company was founded in 1S59, 
and the valuation of its risks, in .March, 1S99, 
amounted to $4,750,000. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



971 



Fraternally, Mr.' Risinger is a member of 
Cedar Springs lodge, No. 213, F. & A. M., 
and, religiously, he and wife are members 
of the Cedar Springs Baptist church, to the 
support of which they liberally contribute. 
Mr. and Mrs. Risinger have reared their chil- 
dren to be ornaments to society and useful to 
their fellow-beings, and all the older ones 
occupy advanced positions in life, and no 
family in the county of K.ent is more re- 
spected, or deserve to be, than that of John 
J. Rismger and wife. 




VONLEY E. ROBERTS, for almost 
half a century a respected citizen, 
agriculturist and soldier of Sparta 
township, Kent county, Mich., is a 
native of Scipio township, Seneca county, Ohio, 
and was born July 22, 1847, the second of a 
family of seven children — four sons and three 
daughters — born to Eli and Catharine (Thomp- 
son) Roberts, of whom five are yet living, viz: 
Hubert Edson, a mechanic of Sparta; Avonley 
E. , of this sketch ; Charles S. , whose biography 
will be found on another page of this work; 
Emma J., wife of Gilbert Hanna, a farmer of 
Casnovia, Muskegon county, and Myrta, wife 
of William Lauffer, a prosperous farmer of 
Sparta township. 

Eli Roberts was of English Puritan stock, 
was born in New York July 14, 1817, and 
maternally descended from the Chadwick fam- 
ily of England, proprietors of a large estate, 
which has never yet been divided under the 
will of Sir Andrew Chadwick, the last testator. 
Eli Roberts was quite young when taken by 
his parents from New York to Ohio, where the 
scarcity of schools in that early day precluded 
his receiving more than a limited education, 
and he was there reared to agriculture. In 
1854, some years after his marriage, he came 



to Kent county, Mich., and purchased 160 
acres of forest land in Sparta township, in 
section No. 5, which is now the home of his 
son, Avonley E., and there his first dwelling 
was an up and down board shanty, roofed with 
oak "shakes." and measuring 20x26 feet. 
Indians frequently camped on the Roberts 
grounds, and deer and other wild animals 
occasionally ventured almost up to the door- 
way. O.xen were the draft animals on the 
farm and on the road, or rather trail, that 
meandered like a stream on level ground 
through the unbroken forest. In politics Mr. 
Roberts was a whig, but on the disintegration 
of that party united with the republicans. He 
died January 28, 1864, and his wife, who 
was also a native of New York, died March 
2, 1890, at the age of sixty-nine years, and 
the remains of both were interred in Sparta. 

Avonley E. Roberts was about seven years 
of age when brought to Ivent county, Mich., 
by his parents. As there were no district 
school hereabouts in his early childhood, he 
received but a meager education, and that lit- 
tle at the public schools. He early began 
clearing off the forest from his father's land, 
and in driving the oxen, and, to quote his own 
words, " he was a better ox-teamster in those 
days than he is a horse-teamster now-a-days." 
At the opening of the late Civil war he was 
too young to bear arms, but when just past 
his seventeenth year he went to Grand Rapids 
and enlisted, September 3, 1864, in company 
B, Third Michigan volunteer infantry, Capt. 
Seth M. Moon and Col. Moses B. Houghton. 
This regiment was assigned to the army of 
the Cumberland, under command of Gen. 
Thomas; it first went to Nashville, Tenn., 
and thence to Decatur, Ala., to join Thomas 
in the pursuit of the rebel Hood; was after- 
ward in constant motion, hither and thither, 
until, when on its way to Richmond, Va., the 
welcome news of the surrender of Lee reached 



972 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



it at Jonesboro, in eastern Tennessee. The 
Third Michigan was then ordered back to 
Nashville, and thence to Texas, thence to 
New Orleans, to unite with Gen. Sheridan, 
and later for about a year was on guard duty 
in the Lone Star state, being discharged May 
25, 1866 — Mr. Roberts with the rank of 
sergeant. 

On his return to Michigan, Mr. Roberts 
resumed the work of clearing off and cultivat- 
ing the homestead, and caring for his mother 
in addition, as his father had died prior to 
Avonley's entering the army, and he soon found 
himself in a prosperous condition. October 
19, 1871, he wedded Miss Ida C. Anderson, 
who has borne him two children — Eli G. and 
Althea. The elder of these, Eli G., com- 
pleted the eighth grade in the common school, 
and in the fall of 1897 entered the Ferris in- 
stitute at Big Rapids, passed partly through 
the scientific and commercial courses, and will 
again enter the institute in the near future. 
His trend of thought is toward commerce, and 
he is a leading memberof the students debating 
society. Althea, the younger child, is in the 
third grade of the common school. 

Mrs. Ida C. Roberts was born in Sparta 
township November 1, 1857, a daughter of 
Goram Anderson. She was educated in the 
common schools and Sparta select schools. 
Her father was born near Jonkopping, Sweden, 
and is now living in retirement at Sparta, 
Mich. His three children are Mrs. Roberts, 
Lizzie and William H. ; of these, Lizzie is the 
wife of James Chalmers, a graduate of St. 
Andrews college, near the city of Edinburgh, 
Scotland; for three years prior to going to 
Scotland he was president of the normal 
school of Plattville, Wis., and had held the 
chair of English literature in the Columbus 
college of Ohio, but resigned this high position; 
he is now a resident of Toledo, Ohio, and pas- 
tor of the Second Congregational church, and 



is recognized as a gentleman of education and 
scholarship. William H., the son of Goram 
Anderson, is the efficient president of the 
Fourth National bank at Grand Rapids, and 
is married. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Roberts began house- 
keeping on the old homestead, which he had 
previously purchased, Mr. Roberts had yet to 
meet a payment of $5,000 on the property, but 
he was the man to do it. In 1893 he erected a 
handsome brick two-story and basement dwel- 
ling, finished in hard wood, and supplied with 
all modern conveniences, including hot-air fur- 
nace, and he now owns as fine a farm of 120 
acres as is to be found in the county, and all 
entirely free from encumbrance. 

Although independent of political parties, 
Mr. Roberts cast his first presidential vote for 
U. S. Grant. He has served as delegate to 
the prohibitionist county convention, and in 
1892, against his wish, was nominated for the 
office of register of deeds Kent county, he 
having been, for the prior seven years, or from 
1885, supervisor of Sparta township. He was 
prominent for the part he took toward erect- 
ing the county court house and jail, and was 
very influential in securing the erection of the 
county house, and all these buildings are first- 
class in every respect. He is not an e.xpan- 
sionist, as the word is now used in a political 
sense, and still continues to vote for the can- 
didate he deems fittest for the office, irrespect- 
ive of party ties or affilation. Mr. Roberts' 
temperance proclivities are well known in 
Sparta township, and in order to show how he 
stands on the saloon question, it may be said 
that about 1886, and during his administration 
as supervisor, he aided in fighting out the 
saloons; an appeal was carried to the supreme 
court of tfie state two different times, and 
each time Mr. Roberts and his colleagues were 
successful, and there has been no saloon in the 
township sir.ce. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



973 



Mr. and Mrs. Roberts are ardent friends of 
public education, favor securing the best 
teachers obtainable, and Mr. Roberts was 
largelj' instrumental in causing the erection of 
the brick school-house in district No. ii, 
Sparta township, in 1889; this is considered 
to be one of the most beautiful school-buildings 
in Ivent county, and a credit to the good taste 
of the directors — John Johnson, William Hag- 
adone and Avonley E. Roberts — Mr. Roberts 
being chairman of the board. In his fraternal 
relations, Mr. Roberts is a member of lodge 
No. 229, F. & A. M., at Lisbon, Ottawa 
county, and of Sparta post, No. 243, G. A. 
R., at Sparta, Ivent county. Mr. and Mrs. 
Roberts are also members of the Order of the 
Eastern Star at Sparta. He and his wife have 
aided, financially, in the erection of three or 
four churches in their neighborhood, and have 
never been remiss nor backward in contribut- 
ing, in a manner worthy of them, to the pro- 
motion of every project designed for the wel- 
fare of the community. They are classed 
with the best people of the township socially, 
and their personal merits have won for them 
the affection and esteem of all who know 
them, and there are very few who do not. 




S. ROBERTS, a "farmer of Sparta 
township, Kent county, Mich., and 
one of its valued and respected citi- 
zens, has resided here for forty-four 
years and is therefore classed with that hon- 
ored body of settlers known as pioneers. He 
was born in Seneca county, Ohio, November 
8, 1850, was but four years of age when 
brought to the township by his parents, and, 
as he has since that time done much toward 
annihilating the forest and replacing it with 
teeming fields of grain and fruit orchards, he 
is well entitled to being called a pioneer. 



Eli and Catherine (Thompson) Roberts, 
parents of C. S. Roberts, had a family of four 
sons and three daughters, of whom C. S. was 
the fourth born, and the genealogy of the 
Roberts family may be found in full on 
other pages of this volume. 

C. S. Roberts had but few opportunities for 
school education, as few school-houses existed 
in Sparta township in his youthful days, and 
he is, therefore, almost entirely self-educated. 
He was of a mechanical turn of mind, and 
commenced wage-earning at the age of sixteen 
years as a carpenter and joiner, and realized 
some little capital, being both industrious and 
frugal. October 3, 1874, he wedded Miss 
Christine Broman, and the marriage is graced 
with one daughter, Miss Rhoda R. , who has 
completed the eighth grade in the public school 
and has also received special musical instruc- 
tion, and it will be seen to by her parents that 
she will be imbued with ennobling sentiments. 

Mrs. C. S. Roberts was born in Jonkoping, 
province of Smoland, Sweden, August 10, 
1853, and the details of her family history will 
be found in the sketch of the Saur and Bro- 
man families, also in this work, and who are 
closely related to her, either by consanguinity 
or intermarriage. 

In 1873 Mr. Roberts bought his present 
farm of eighty acres in the "slashings" of 
hard-wood stumps, and in 1875, in the winter, 
the family took up their home in a log cabin, 
which was the usual dwelling of the adventur- 
ous settlers in the wilderness, and probably 
always will be, for the reason that saw-mills 
and brick-kilns come in later. Sparta, then a 
little hamlet of eight or ten shanties, and one 
small store kept by Russel R. Wooden, has 
grown to be a village of 1,200 inhabitants; and 
the primitive farm implements used by Mr. 
Roberts at the beginning have been replaced 
by modern machinery, the mower, reaper and 
binder coming into play instead of the four- 



^1 



974 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



fingered scythe, cradle, and withes for hand- 
binding. No railroads existed in the township 
when his parents settled here, and the so- 
called highways were rough and rugged paths 
or trails that meandered through stumps and 
trees to the trading-post called Grand Rapids, 
and Mr. Roberts has been an eye-witness to, 
and even a participator in, the phenomenal 
changes that have taken place since his child- 
hood days. When Mr. Roberts purchased his 
farm he assumed a debt of $1,400. Since 
then he has erected (in 1891) a beautiful mod- 
ern brick residence of two stories and base- 
ment, finished throughout with hardwood and 
furnished with the latest-improved conven- 
iences, and not a dollar of incumbrance stands 
against the premises. Both farm and dwell- 
ing are models of their kind, and are fit re- 
wards of the industry, frugality and temper- 
ance-of their owner. 

In politics Mr. Roberts is a free-silver 
democrat and an anti-monopolist, as well as a 
non-expansionist, and is also a strong friend 
of the public-school system and an advocate of 
the establishment of a high school in the 
township, and also the employment of a high 
class of tutors. He, with his wife and daugh- 
ter, move in the best social circles of the 
township, and their personal merits, as well as 
their honorable lives, have won for them the 
unfeigned respect of their numerous friends as 
well as that of the entire community. 




ATRICK H. ROE.— To the person 
who closely applies himself to any 
occupation which he has chosen as his 
calling in life, there can come only one 
result — that of success, and a high place in 
the esteem of those among whom he has made 
his home. Mr. Roe is no exception to the 
rule, for it has been by industry and strict 



attention to agricultural pursuits that he has 
attained to the position which he now enjoys. 

Mr. Roe was born in Livingston county, 
Mich., October 11, 1849, being the youngest 
of eight children born to Patrick and Catharine 
(McCabe) Roe, whose family genealogy is pre- 
sented in the biography of Mrs. James Ladner 
on another page of this volume. When but a 
child, Mr. Roe became a resident of Grattan 
township, where his parents remained for but 
a short time, and thence removed to Cannon 
township. When Patrick H. was about seven 
years of age they again located in Grattan on 
the farm where he now resides. Most of Mr. 
Roe's life has been spent at lumbering in the 
forests of Michigan, working for T. D. Stim- 
son for nearly twenty years, starting as a 
laborer and working up to foreman, having 
charge of from seventy-five to 175 men, both 
summer and winter, operating the then finest 
logging railroad in Michigan. His chance to 
secure a good common-school education was 
meager, and he was compelled to engage at 
hard labor at the early age of seventeen. He 
remained with his parents until his majority, 
however, being employed on the farm when 
not working in the lumber regions. At the 
inception of life for himself his only capital 
was his sturdy disposition and industry, with 
which he has journeyed to success. 

Mr. Roe's first purchase was an eighty- 
acre farm — a part of the old homestead. Here 
he began in debt, with no buildings nor im- 
provements of any kind. He chose for his 
companion in life Miss Lucy Giles, and was 
united in marriage November 25, 1875. Mrs. 
Roe is a daughter of Richard and Ann (Lane) 
Giles, and was one of eleven children, eight 
of whom are living and two residents of Grand 
Rapids. Her father was born at Waterford, 
Ireland, December 2, 1799, and died July 16, 
1877. In 1834 the Giles family came to New 
York city, resided one year in Madison 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



975 



county, N. Y., and in 1835 came to the then 
territory of Michigan. Richard Giles was a 
railroad contractor and resided in Jackson 
county for about eight years, thence moving 
in the year 1843 to Kent, just a few days after 
Dennis and John McCarthy came. He was 
among the earliest settlers of Grattan town- 
ship, and here took up 320 acres of govern- 
ment land. The Giles children have in their 
possession the old deed for the property 
executed in the administration of Millard Fill- 
more. Upon this tract Mr. Giles built his first 
home, a little log cabin, and a little while 
later, he, with a Catholic priest and a few 
other early settlers, organized to erect the first 
Catholic church, the meeting of the organiza- 
tion being held in the little log cabin home. 
He was one of the first trustees, and, by 
nature, very benevolent, donated the land 
upon which the church was erected. Mr. 
Giles was a devout Catholic, and to all worthy 
benevolences he was a liberal donor. In 
politics -he was a stanch democrat, and was 
one of the Irishmen who chose the name of the 
township in which he lived. A man of the 
highest principles, he lived a blameless life 
and passed a spotless career as a citizen of 
Michigan. The mother of Mrs. Roe was born 
in Ireland in 18 14 and died on the 26th of 
August, 1899. She was a devout Catholic in 
her religious faith and strictly attended to her 
devotions. Benevolent and kind as was her 
husband, her home was always open to the 
needy; she was universally respected and her 
funeral was one of the largest in the history of 
the parish. 

Mrs. Roe was born October 29, 1851, and 
was educated in the Lowell union schools. 
She and her husband, as has been above 
stated, began their career without capital. 
They now own a beautiful and productive 
estate of eighty acres, it being the old Roe 
homestead and lying at the south end of 



Crooked lake. In 1899 they erected a fine 
modern residence, with a cellar of cement 
and stone. 

In his political predilection Mr. Roe is a 
stanch democrat, although he cast his first 
presidential vote for Charles O'Conor, 
the independent candidate of the Working*- 
men's association and an advocate of those 
principles best suited to the poor man. He 
has never aspired to official station, having 
preferred to devote his attention to agricul- 
tural pursuits. Mr. Roe and wife are very 
devout Catholics and liberal donors to the 
church and all good causes. 




RANK T. ROBERTS, well known and 
popular in the wagon, carriage and 
horse-shoeing business in Sparta, 
Kent county, Mich., and acknowl- 
edged to be the best in his line in the town- 
ship, was born in Phelps, Ontario county, N. 
Y., June 26, 1854, and is a son of James T. 
and Elizabeth A. (Bigalow) Roberts, who 
reared a family of three children: Emma, F. 
T. and Ida May. 

James T. Roberts was born in Ontario 
county, N. Y., May 9, 1826, and in his 
younger days learned the machinist's trade, 
became an expert maker of edged tools, and 
also acquired a thorough knowledge of general 
blacksmithing. After marriage he brought his 
family to Michigan and located on Looking 
Glass river; his wife died in Algoma township, 
Kent county, Mich., March 13, 1897. 

Frank T. Roberts received a fair common- 
school education, but relinquished school at 
the age of nine years pursuing his studies 
nights in order to learn his trade under his 
father's supervision, the result being that he 
acquired it completely in all its departments 
and branches. Yet, he was such a mite of a 



976 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



youngster when he began learning, it was 
necessary for him to stand on a platform in 
order to reach the work-bench. But he was 
very apt at learning, and at the end of three 
years had completed his apprenticeship — be- 
coming a full-fledged journeyman at the re- 
Diarkably young age ot twelve. For fifteen 
years he was employed in Lyons and Saranac, 
Mich. ; he then ceased labor as a mechanic, 
and for two years was employed in the drug 
business by Hutcheson & Spalding, at Lyons 
Mich., and filled the position greatly to his 
credit. In 1875, while living in Grand Rapids 
and doing business in general merchandise on 
his own account, Mr. Roberts lost everything 
he possessed by fire, and was conipelled to start 
life afresh, not only penniless but in debt. In 
1885 he came to Sparta and started his pres- 
ent business, and through his skill, competent 
management and square dealing, has been en- 
able to pay off all his debts and has realized a 
fair competence, being worth, to-day, at least 
$15,000 to $20,000. In addition to his busi- 
ness proper, he is engaged in farming and fruit 
growing on a large scale, and also does a lean- 
ing business. 

. Mr. Roberts was united in marriage April 
6, 1 88 1, at Rockford, Mich., with Miss Mary J. 
Chapel, daughter of M. D. L. Chapel, who was 
born in Burford, township, West Canada, Jan- 
uary 26, 1 825, and was brought to Michigan in 
1828, by his parents, who settled in Oakland 
county, where they lived until 1844, and then 
came to Kent county, and located in Ada town- 
ship, where M. D. L. Chapel married, in 1853, 
Lillie McPherson, of Inverness, Scotland. He 
became the father of four children: Ella M; 
May J., Edna A. and G. T. Chapel, and died 
July 26, 1882. 

Frank T. Roberts became identified with 
the Episcopal church in early manhood and 
is still a member, while his wife is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. 



Roberts is a Freemason, an Odd Fellow and a 
granger; in politics he is a republican, and for 
several years has been a school trustee. He 
has an unblemished name as a business man, 
and his residence in Sparta is a very handsome 
edifice, is tastefully furnished throughout, and 
socially he and wife mingle with the best fam- 
ilies of the village and township. 




HAUNCEY L. ROGERS.— It is 
always interesting to watch from the 
beginning the growth and develop- 
ment of a locality, to note the lines 
along which marked progress has been made 
and to take cognizance of those whose leader- 
ship in the work of advancement and improve- 
ment has made possible the prosperity of a 
locality such as that under consideration. 

Chauncey L. Rogers, of this review, is one 
of those who have seen almost the entire 
growth of Kent county, for more than a half 
century ago he cast his lot with its pioneers. 
He has also been an important factor in its 
continued progress toward the vanguard of 
civilization, and his name is therefore indelibly 
engraved on its history and well deserves a 
place in the record of its represenative men. 
Mr. Rogers is a native of Caledonia county, 
Vt., and was born June 23, 1836, being the 
fourth child of John and Betsey Nye (Covell) 
Rogers. His father was a native of Cabot, 
Vt., born on the loth of March, 1801. About 
thirtj'-six years later he emigrated to the state 
of New York, where he remained for some 
eight years, and thence came to Michigan in 
1845. At the inception of his career in Mich- 
igan he located in Walker township, Kent 
county, and, after having lived there (or four 
years, he came to Alpine township, and pur- 
chased a farm in section No. 28, which served 
as his home until his death, in December, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



97T 



1864. Upon his arrival in Kent county he 
found civilization in its infancy, only about 
three acres of the land of his purchase was 
cleared, and the nearest neighbor was a 
considerable distance away. He set to work, 
however, and by improving every moment of 
his time soon owned an excellent farm for his 
family, and at the time of his death had eighty 
acres of good farming land, almost all of which 
was as well improved as any that could be 
found in the county. 

Betsey Nye Rogers was a native of Cabot, 
Vt. , and was born April 30, 1808, being the 
first child of Philip and Lois (Nye) Covell. 
She came with her husband and family to the 
Wolverine state and made this her home until 
removed by death on the 19th of September, 
1884. Both the parents are laid to rest in the 
Johnson cemetery. Walker township. 

Chauncey L. Rogers began life's battle 
when about twenty-nine years of age, prior to 
this having spent his days at home with his 
parents. He bought out the heirs of the old 
homestead and immediately began farming, 
continuing at the same until he deemed him- 
self deserving of rest and rela.xation. He 
accordingly removed to No. 18 North For- 
rest street, Grand Rapids, in May, 1886; and 
has erected several neat residences in his sec- 
tion of the city. 

In March, 1866, he married his cousin, 
Miss Emma J. Currier, a native of Barry, 
Washington county, Vt.. born October 2, 
1844, and the only child of Ira and Louisa H. 
(Covell) Currier. Her father was a native of 
Berlin, Vt., and dated his nativity September 
19, 1816. In 1865 he came from Vermont to 
Michigan and located in Walker township, 
where he resided for a few years and then be- 
came engaged in the grocery business at 
Grand Rapids, continuing at this for about 
twenty years. He died on the 28th day of 
February, 1897. Her mother was born in 



Cabot, Vt., February 20, 18 14, accompanied 
her husband to Michigan and died in Grand 
Rapids, May 4, 1894. Mrs. Rogers, the only 
heir, received advanced education in a select 
school in Vermont and taught there several 
successful terms. 

The Rogers family comprises five children: 
Fred A., the eldest son, is now holding the 
position of professor in physics in the Lewis 
institute at Chicago; Ira F., is engaged as a 
tiller of the soil on a part of the old home- 
stead in Alpine township; Clara Louisa and 
Emery H. are looking after the interest of the 
old farm; and Jennie, the youngest, whore- 
sides with her parents in Grand Rapids, is a 
student in the Central school. 

Politically Mr. Rogers is an adherent to 
republican principles, but he has never sought 
the emoluments of public office. Mrs. Rogers 
is a devout member of the Methodist church, 
and both she and her husband are ever ready 
to assist in a good cause. Genial and sympa- 
thetic in nature, upright and honorable in all 
their actions, small wonder is it that their 
friends are innumerable, and that their names 
are as synonyms for christian manhood and 
womanhood among all their associates and 
acquaintances. 




RWIN MARTIN ROGERS, numbered 
among the successful self-made men 
of Kent county, and a worthy repre- 
sentative of an old and honored New 
England family who were pioneers of the 
township of Wyoming, is the gentleman whose 
name heads this sketch. Mr. Rogers was 
born in a little log cabin almost on the spot 
occupied by the present family residence, 
November 27, 1840. By reference to the old 
family record it is learned that his great-grand- 
father, Jacob Rogers, was born in the year 



978 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



1752, and died in 1S14, the wife, Polly, de- 
parting this life in 181 1. Justus Rogers, son 
of Jacob, was born February 7, 1782, died 
November 30, 1866. His wife, Lucy Clark, 
was born May 10, 1790, and died May 2, 1866. 
Justus C. Rogers, son of the aforesaid Justus, 
and father of Erwin M., was born February 
28, 1813, and died January 29, 1883. He 
married Eliza M. French, who was born July 
15, 1816, and died February 16, 1883, two 
weeks after the death of her husband. 

Jacob Rogers was for many years an 
English sailor and later in life became a citi- 
zen of the United States, settling in Connecti- 
cut, where the family remained for a long 
period of time. His son Justus early removed 
to Vermont, where he reared a family, and 
where his death occurred in the year men- 
tioned. Justus C. Rogers immigrated to Michi- 
gan in 1837 and purchased government land 
four miles east of the present site of Grandville, 
upon which he erected a small frame house — 
one of the first habitations of the kind in that 
section of the country. After putting the fin- 
ishing touches to his dwelling Mr. Rogers went 
to Grand Rapids to get his wife, who was 
staying in that town until the house could be 
gotten in readiness for occupancy, but imag- 
ine his surprise and consternation to find upon 
his return the entire structure a mass of bro- 
ken, twisted timbers, scattered about in every 
direction, a cyclone having swept through the 
country during his absence and left dire de- 
struction in its wake. Nothing daunted, Mr. 
Rogers at once went to work with redoubled 
diligence and in due time a comfortable log 
house was erected and made ready to receive 
the family. This domicile served well its pur- 
pose for many years, and was replaced not 
many years ago by the present beautiful frame 
structure which the subject of this sketch and 
his familj' now occupy. 

Justus C. Rogers became a prosperous 



farmer and large land owner, obtaining by 
government entry and other purchase a tract 
of 240 acres, fertile and well timbered, all of 
which is still in possession of the different 
members of his family. Much of profit could 
be written about this pioneer and excellent 
citizen, but the nature of this sketch forbids 
any extended mention of his life or detailed 
account of the part he bore in laying the 
foundation and contributing to the prosperity 
of the community where for so many years he 
lived. When a young man he seriously con- 
templated entering the ministry, but owing to 
failing health was obliged reluctantly to aban- 
don the cherished idea and turn his attention 
to a vocation requiring less confinement and 
mental effort. Hence he became a tiller of 
the soil, one of the most honorable and useful 
of callings. Possessing an ardent, religious 
temperament, he always paid great attention 
to religious observances, and the church of his 
choice, the Congregational, found in him one 
of its most devoted members and active work- 
ers during the early days of the country. He 
was a prime mover in the organization of the 
Park Congregational church of Grand Rapids, 
contributing largely to its support and min- 
istering to its prosperity in many other ways. 
He was a fluent writer, and for many years con- 
tributed regularly to both the secular and re- 
ligious press, besides making many investiga- 
tions in mathematics, in which he became pro- 
found; indeed, he was one of the finest math- 
ematicians in all departments of the science in 
the northwest. His later years were almost 
entirely spent among his beloved books, in 
writing, and in the study of his favorite sub- 
ject, frequently solving some difficult problem 
involving the abstruse reasoning and the use of 
the calculus. He kept fully abreast of the 
times in his range of reading and general in- 
formation. Possessed of tender sensibilities, 
as well as of scholarly habits, Mr. Rogers found 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



979 



little pleasure in mingling with his fellow men, 
and being partially deaf, with a difficulty in 
speech, made him exceedingly sensitive in the 
social circle; hence, his home was his sanc- 
tum, and within its quiet precincts were spent 
his happiest hours. The only survivor of that 
family is a sister, Mrs. Luther Rogers Cou- 
nese, a widow who now makes her home with 
E. M. Rogers. She is a well preserved lady 
in her eightieth year. 

To Justus C. and Eliza M. Rogers were 
born six children, of whom two grew to ma- 
turity, the immediate subject of this review, 
and D. L. , the latter for twenty years a well- 
known attorney and counselor at law of Grand 
Rapids. 

Erwin Afartin Rogers is one of the oldest 
native-born sons of the township of Wyoming 
and has ever lived where he now resides — on 
the beautiful home farm, within a short dis- 
tance of the thriving city of Grand Rapids. 
Sufficient has already been stated for the 
reader to become acquainted with his early 
home life and youthful environment. Reared 
by a godly father and equally pious mother, 
in an atmosphere truly refined and elevating, 
it is not at all surprising that such training 
bore fruitage in an honorable, useful and well- 
spent life. He received a high-school educa- 
tion in Grand Rapids, and, inheriting from 
his father a liking for literature, has by a 
wide course of careful reading become well- 
informed on every subject of importance. 
Quiet and unobtrusive, he prefers going 
through life " Far from the madding crowd," 
and finds great satisfaction within the home 
circle, and looking after the interests of the 
farm. He was married May 23, 1866, to Miss 
Jessie Chubb, daughter of J. F. Chubb, and 
sister of A. L. Chubb, the well-known plow 
manufacturer. The Chubb family are also old 
settlers of Wyoming township, and, like the 
Rogers, trace their ancestry back through 



many generations to New England. Mrs. 
Rogers was born in Wyoming in the year 
1842, and is the mother of the following chil- 
dren: Mattie J., a cultured and refined young 
lady who has achieved much sucess in flori- 
culture; Lewis C, a well-known teacher, and 
at this time filling the position of town clerk, 
and Theodore F. , who assists his father in 
operating the homestead. 

Mr. Rogers is a prosperous farmer, keep- 
ing abreast of the times in all things per- 
taining to agriculture, paying particular atten- 
tion to the raising of fruit and grain. A firm 
believer in the principles of the republican 
party, he is by no means a politician in the 
sense in which the term is usually under- 
stood, being particularly averse to partisan 
methods and to seeking the etnolument of 
office. The Congregational church represents 
his religious creed, and his wife and daughter 
also belong to that denomination. 



DWIN G. ROGERS, a pioneer of So- 
lon township, I\ent county, Mich., 
and a prosperous and greatly re- 
spected old-time farmer, was born in 
Wyoming county, N. Y. , March 15, 1839, 
the third in the family of two boys and three 
girls born to Ansel and Elsie Ann (White) 
Rogers, but of which family three only sur- 
vive, viz: Mary, the eldest, who is the widow 
of William Cooley and who resides in Grand 
Rapids; Edwin G., the subject of this sketch, 
and Emily, wife of George Cooley, of Detroit. 
Ansel Rogers was born in Fabius, Onon- 
daga county, N. Y. , September 16, 1806, a 
son of James A. and Jemima (Root) Rogers, 
of English descent. Ansel was reared to 
farming, and about 1853 came to Michigan, 
lived in Eaton county one year, and in 1854 
purchased eighty acres of land from the govern- 



980 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



ment at the regulation price of $1.25 per acre 
— the deed bearing date of April i, 1S54, in 
which year Franklin Pierce was president of 
the United States, and this ^was the second 
farm taken up in the township, the Beal farm, 
near Cedar Springs, being the first. He had 
made but a small start toward clearing away 
the heavy growth of beech and maple timber, 
when his son, Edwin G., arrived to render 
him valuable aid in this toilsome work. The 
father, however, was soon afterward called 
away, dying in April, 1865, in the faith of the 
Methodist church, and his remains were in- 
terred in Solon cemetery. His wife was born 
in OrangeviJle, Wyoming county, N. Y., a 
daughter of Philip and Mary (Gorton) White, 
December 29, 181 3, but died when her son, 
Edwin G., was but thirteen years of age, her 
remains being interred in Johnsonburg, Wy- 
oming county, N. Y. She, also, was a devout 
Methodist. 

Soon after his wife's death the father sought 
a home in Michigan, leaving two small daugh- 
ters mainly under the care and attention of 
Edwin G., whose mother, before her death, had 
requested him to care for. This task deprived 
him of all opportunities to secure any other 
than a meager education. 

At the age of seventeen years Edwin G. 
came to Michigan, remaining ashort time only, 
when he returned to New York, where he 
worked by the month at the rate of $7 a part 
of the time, and finally brought his sisters to the 
forest home which his father had entered in So- 
lon township. There being no habitation as 
yet on the farm, he was forced to find shelter 
for himself and sisters with Elihu Brayman, 
a near-by neighbor, until they had erected 
a little log cabin, 16x20 feet, with mud and 
stick chimney. 

The whole of Solon township, then known 
as North Algoma, was then an almost impen- 
etrable forest, and his little trading was done 



at Rockford, thirteen miles distant, and then 
known as Lappenville. This long trip he 
made on foot, and on one occasion carried two 
sixteen-pound cakes of maple sugar on his 
back. On his return trip he came via Porter's 
Hollow and brought home a fifty-pound sack 
of flour in a similar manner. This is but a 
minor sample of pioneer endurance. Wild ani- 
mals in those days were as common as cattle 
are now, and Indians not at all curiosities. 
On one occasion an Indian came to the cabin 
of Mr. Rogers, asked for pen, ink and paper, 
wrote in a legible hand a note to a neighbor of 
the latter, and requested that it be delivered, 
per address, at the first favorable opportunity, 
and seeing that Mr. Rogers was surprised, ex- 
plained as follows: "I am an educated In- 
dian; have been a college student, and am 
chief of this tribe." 

All the improvements on this Solon town- 
ship farm have been made by Mr. Rogers. 
In 1865 he added twenty acres to the original 
homestead, but sold again, and in 1876 pur- 
chased forty adjoining acres, thus increasing 
the original eighty acres to 120, but again sold 
twenty, leaving a compact and well-cultivat- 
ed farm of 100 acres, all in a good state of 
cultivation and improved in modern style. 

April 27, 1876. Mr. Rogers was united in 
marriage with Miss Naomi Camp, a native of 
Ontario, Canada, born forty miles from St. 
Thomas, a daughter of Isaac and Rebecca 
(Breezee) Camp, parents of two sons and five 
daughters, of wham five are still living, viz: 
Rachel, the eldest, who is the wife of John 
Braden, of .Calhoun county, Mich.; Mary A., 
widow of Mahlon Dennis and residing in Ada, 
Kent county ; William H., of Kalamazoo coun- 
ty; Cicilia R., a dressmaker of Grand Rapids, 
and Mrs. Rogers. The father of this family, 
also a native of Canada, was born June 15, 
18 1 3, was a farmer by vocation, came to 
Michigan in 1865, passing his latter years with 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



981 



his daughter, Mrs. Rogers, with whom he died, 
January 31, 1892. The marriage of Mr. and 
Mrs. Rogers has been blessed with two daugh- 
ters, of whom Bertha M. attended the schools 
at Grand Rapids until fourteen years of age, 
and is the wife of Charles Anway, who oper- 
ates the farm; Orpha A. has completed the 
eighth grade, and received her diploma in 1896. 
Mr. Rogers, it will have been seen, is en- 
tirely a self-made man from a business point of 
view, and stands very high in the esteem of 
his neighbors as a pioneer and citizen, and his 
amiable wife and children share with him in 
this well deserved regard. 



^MER S. ROSE, a prosperous and well- 
known farmer of Solon township, 
Kent county, Mich., is a native of 
Schuyler county, N. Y., was born Jan- 
uary 14, 1844, and is a son of Erastus W. and 
Susan (Simmons) Rose, who had a family of 
si.\ children, of whom five are still living, viz: 
Albert G. , of St. Louis, Mich.; Emma, wife 
of A. B. Fairchild, a farmer of Grass Valley, 
Ore. ; Elmer S. , the subject, Eliza married to 
Chauncey Heath, also of Grass Valley, Ore., 
and Viola, now Mrs. G. H. Garner, of Spink 
county, S. Dak. 

Erastus W. Rose, father of subject, was 
born in the state of New York in September, 
18 12, and was the son of a fifer who served 
in the war with England. He was liberally 
educated, but to a large extent through self- 
instruction, and in his earlier manhood was a 
mechanic. In the fall of 1856 he brought his 
family to Michigan, sojourned in Grand Rapids 
until the following spring, and then preempted 
1 20 acres of forest land in section No. 13, So- 
lon township. As was usual with the pioneers, 
he first lived in a log cabin, far away from 
neighbors and highways. Indians and wild 



animals were numerous in the neighborhood 
and even on the Rose premises, but churches 
and schools were unknown. Cedar Springs 
was a hamlet, Plainfield was the nearest point 
for trade, and Rockford was then called Lap- 
penville. Mr. Rose, however, was a man of 
energy and industry, cleared up his place from 
the wilderness and made a comfortable home, 
became a man of influence and usefulness in 
the community, and was instrumental in estab- 
lishing the first district school of his neighbor- 
hood. In politics he was a whig and probably 
cast his first presidential vote in 1836; but it 
is an assured fact that he was active in the 
support of William Henry Harrison and John 
Tyler for president and vice-president of the 
United States in 1 840, when in the electoral col- 
lege the vote stood 234 for the whig candidates, 
against sixty for Martin Van Buren (ex-presi- 
dent), the democratic candidate, this majority 
of 174 electoral votes having up to that 
time been the largest ever given. But Harri- 
son was the hero of the battle of Tippecanoe, 
where the Indian chief Tecumseh was slain, 
and consequently popular with all voters, re- 
gardless of party predilection or affinity. In 
later years Mr. Rose joined the republican 
party — indeed, at its formation — and with 
this he voted until his death, in September, 
1884. His wife was also a native of New York 
state, and died December 3, 1896, a member 
of the Wesleyan Methodist church, at the age 
of eighty-one years, three months, four days. 
Elmer S. Rose, the subject proper of this 
biographical notice, was a lad of twelve years 
when brought by his parents to Michigan. He 
aided his father on the forest farm until he 
had attained his majority, and then began his 
business life as a sawyer, shinglemaker and 
manufacturer of lumber, but with no cash 
capital. When the civil war opened, he en- 
listed in company D, Fifteenth Michigan 
volunteer infantry, under Capt. Mickley, was 



982 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



assigned to the army of the Cumberland, and 
while in the service marched through fourteen 
states of the Union, being chiefly on guard 
duty. He was twice in hospital — once on ac- 
count of vaccination — but was never under 
arrest, never had a furlough, and served his 
country faithfully until honorably discharged 
at Detroit, Mich. 

On returning home, Mr. Rose resumed his 
former calling, and February 25, 1868, married 
Miss Sarah Sutphin, a native of Oakland coun- 
ty, Mich. , and to this union have been born two 
children — Edith May and Myrtle B. The 
elder of these sisters was educated in the pub- 
lic schools of Grand Rapids, received special 
instruction in oil painting, and for six terms 
was a very successful schoolteacher in Solon 
and Tyrone townships, Kent county. She 
still resides with her parents and is a member 
of Harmony chapter. No. 34, Order of the 
Eastern Star, at Sparta. The younger daugh- 
ter is a pupil in the seventh grade of the com- 
mon school. 

Mrs. Sarah Rose was born January i, 
1847, ^ daughter of John and Clarissa (Sum- 
ner) Sutphin, the former of whom was a native 
of New Jersey and the latter of Connecticut, 
but who died when Mrs. Rose was a little girl. 
The latter was educated in Oakland county, 
and for some years before her marriage taught 
school m Solon township, Kent county. 

In March, 1870, Mr. Rose purchased a 
tract of forty acres in section No. 22, Solon 
township, partly on credit. His first dwelling 
stood across the road from his present home, 
which is one of the finest in the township. 
Aided by his excellent wife, he improved his 
property and increased his acres, owning at 
one time fully 500, and bought and sold until 
he became satisfied with 160, which constitute 
his present homestead, which is free of debt 
and highly improved. He is emphatically a 
self-made man in a business sense, and as such 



has won the decided respect of all his fellow- 
townsmen. 

Mr. Rose is a stanch republican, cast his 
first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, 
and has frequently been his party's delegate to 
state and county conventions. Officially he 
has served as township clerk and township 
treasurer, and is at present a member of the 
board of school directors. Fraternally he is a 
member of F. & A. M. lodge, No. 213, at 
Cedar Springs. He is a public-spirited gentle- 
man, and has financially aided the erection of 
various churches in his neighborhood, and no 
family in the township is more respected than 
that of Mr. and Mrs. E. S. Rose. 




OSES ROSENBERG has been a 
resident of Kent county, Mich., 
for more than half a century, is 
one of the most highly respected 
agriculturists of Byron township, and is 
equally respected in the township of Gaines. 
He was born in Oxford county. Ontario, Can- 
ada, February 12, 1847, the youngest of the 
ten children — eight sons and two daughters — 
that graced the marriage of Jacob and Hannah 
(Pennebraker) Rosenberg, of which children 
six are still living, viz: John, married and 
residing in Grand Rapids; Abraham, living in 
retirement at Reed City; Nancy, wife of Levi 
Kinsey, of Gaines township; Jacob, married, a 
lumberman, and a resident of Caledonia town- 
ship; Amos, a sawyer at Reed City, who 
served intheThird Michigan infantry, and was 
wounded in the battle of Fair Oaks, Va., and 
Moses, the subject of this sketch. 

Jacob Rosenberg, the father, was born in 
Pennsylvania, of Swiss descent. He was 
educated in German and English, and was 
reared a farmer, emigrated from Pennsylvania 
to Canada, and in 1851 came thence to Gaines 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



983 



township, Kent county, Mich., purchased i6o 
acres of land, was a democrat, and died 
greatly respected in 1880, at the age of sev- 
enty-nine years. His wife, also a native of 
Pennsylvania, died about 1850. 

Moses Rosenberg was but four years of age 
when brought to Ivent county, by his parents, 
and well remembers when Grand Rapids was a 
village containing about si.x grocery houses, and 
when Monroe and Canal streets were knee- 
deep in mud. Indians were numerous and 
deer abounded in the pineries. Agricultural 
implements wete comparatively primitive in 
character, and the ox-team the draft animals 
used in conveying freight and the pioneers 
themselves to and from Grand Rapids. He has 
done much toward clearing away the forests 
and in fitting the land for civilized life. He 
was educated in the comtnon schools, and be- 
gan the task of making a livelihood for him- 
self at the early age of fourteen years, at a 
compensation of $72 per annum. 

February 5, 1864, Mr. Rosenberg enlisted 
at Grand Rapids, in company G, Twenty-first 
Michigan volunteer infantry, under Capt. 
George Woodward and Col. Bishop, and was 
assigned to the army of the Tennessee. The 
regiment reported at Chattanooga, and many 
of the men were set to work getting out lum- 
ber for building hospitals, etc., were so em- 
ployed until the fall, and then joined Sherman 
in his march from Atlanta to Savannah, Ga. ; 
at the siege of the latter city Mr. Rosenberg 
was taken sick, was confined in hospital two 
months, then rejoined his regiment at Golds- 
boro, N. C, and was present at the surrender 
of Johnston. On the march thence to Raleigh 
came the news of the surrender of Lee to 
Grant and the virtual close of the war. The 
march was then taken up for Washington, D. 
C, April 28, 1865, and in that city the regi- 
ment took part in the grand review in May 
following. In the meanwhile the regiment 

52 



had been transported to and from Martha's 
Vineyard, and while there the shocking news of 
the assasination of the President Lincoln 
came to hand and caused as much grief as the 
surrender of Lee had created rejoicing. 

Mr. Rosenberg served his country faithful- 
ly for eighteen months, and was mustered out 
at Detroit, receiving an honorable discharge 
August 28, 1865, and then returned home to 
resume the peaceful pursuit of agriculture. 

December 22, 1869, Mr. Rosenberg mar- 
ried Miss Alice Williams, and this union has 
been made the happier by the birth of one 
daughter, Myrtle, who has completed the 
eighth grade in the district school, and is now 
a student at, the university at Ann Arbor, and 
under a full course of musical instruction. 

Mrs. Alice Rosenberg was born in Gaines 
township, Kent county, Mich., June 22, 1848, 
the eldest of three childern — two son and one 
daughter — born to Daniel and Elizabeth 
(Clark)Williams. She was educated in the com- 
mon schools, has always lived in Kent county, 
and has been a most valuable helpmate and 
counselor to her husband. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg began their 
married life, Mr. Rosenberg worked as a wage 
earner for six months. The first piece of land 
they purchased was an eighty-acre tract in 
Gaines township, for which they went in debt 
$2,500. On this tract they resided one year; 
then sold, and purchased ninety-four acres in 
section No. 30, Gaines township, and this they 
still own. In the beginning the improvements 
were very meager, and the present excellent 
farm residence and the commodious barns and 
other substantial out-buildings have all been 
erected by Mr. Rosenberg. The residence, 
which was built in 1886, is finished in hard- 
wood and is heated by a furnace, and the farm 
is of a good, heavy clay-loam soil adapted to 
the cultivation of all the grains, fruits and 
esculents of the southern part of the state. To 



984 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



his original ninety-four acres, Mr. Rosenberg 
has added until he now owns i8o, partly in 
Gaines and partly in Byron townships, which 
he keeps under a fine state of culture. 

In politics Mr. Rosenberg is a democrat, 
cast his first presidential vote for Horatio 
Seymour in 1868, but in local elections he 
supports the candidate he considers the best 
fitted for office. He has served as delegate to 
various democratic county and senatorial con- 
ventions, in 1888 was elected township super- 
visor, and four times re-elected consecutively, 
and has been connected with the public 
schools absut five years. He enjoys the full 
confidence of his fellow-citizens, not a dollar of 
mortgage stands against his property, and all 
he has is the result of his intelligent man- 
agement and the aid of his willing wife, who 
with him stands high in the esteem of friends 
and neighbors, both being respected for their 
many personal good qualities. 



RANK D. SAUNDERS, a worthy rep- 
resentative ot the agricultural inter 
ests of Kent county, of which he is a 
native and a member of one of the 
well known pioneer families of Michigan, 
springs from English and German parentage, 
and was born January 28, 1856. He was the 
third of four children that blessed the marriage 
of Nathan D. and Emma C. (Boyer) Saun- 
ders, of which children two sons are living, 
Martin B. and Frank D. , the former married 
and an agriculturist residing in Courtland 
township, Kent county. 

The father, Nathan D. Saunders, was born 
in Tompkins county, N. Y. , June 14, 1823, 
and died Januar}' 20, 1892. He received a 
limited education and when a young man be- 
came a canal driver on the old Erie canal. 
In 1 84 1 he came to Grand Rapids, when it 



was only a small Indian trading post, and be- 
came a stage driver from Kalamazoo to Grand 
Rapids. About the year 1842 or 1843 he 
located at Austerlitz, Plainfield township, 
and there resided for about twenty years, 
at the termination of that time coming to 
Courtland Center and engaging in business as 
a merchant. Wild animals were numerous 
about the Center and the "red men of the 
forest " oftentimes slept in the Saunders 
home. Mr. Saunders became a large land 
owner, and at one time was the possessor of 
500 acres in Courtland township, most of 
which was timbered land. The old Saunders 
homestead was erected in 1861, and, with ad- 
ditions made at different times, has become 
the present home. In pioneer days it was a 
resting-place for the weary travelers and home- 
seekers, a stopping-place for the stage coach, 
and a post-office for the pioneers. 

Politically Nathan Saunders was formerly 
a democrat but in later days a non-partisan. 
He never aspired to official station but pre- 
ferred rather to devote his attention and 
energies to his business pursuits. Stern and 
solid in character, he was the friend of many. 
He and his wife both expired in Courtland 
township, and their remains are interred in the 
Courtland cemetery, where beautiful monu- 
ments have been raised in their commemora- 
tion. A brief account of the mother may be 
obtained from the following memorial: 

Emma Boyer Saunders, whose loss we 
mourn, was born July 26, 1827, at Harris- 
burg, Pa., being the third daughter of 
Joshua and Rebecca Boyer. Her parents 
moved to Detroit, Mich., where her mother 
died in 1835. After her mother's death they 
returned to Pennsylvania, but upon her father's 
second marriage again came to Michigan, at 
this time to Portland, where her father then 
resided. In 1842 when Mrs. Saunders was 
about fifteen years of age, the family moved 
from Portland to Grand Rapids. Here she 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



985 



met Nathan D. Saunders, and in her nine- 
teenth year they were married at Grand Rap- 
ids, on Sunday afternoon, by Samson Chat- 
field. They lived in Grand Rapids a short 
time, but as her husband was a keen young 
business man he started in business for him- 
self at the then thriving village of Plainfield, 
and three of her four children were born there: 
Jenette M. Saunders, who died in infancy, and 
Martin and Frank D. Saunders. While resid- 
ing in Plainfield she united with the Episcopal 
church. In 1863 they came to Courtland, 
where their fourth child, a daughter, was born, 
but lived only a few months. In all the years 
which have intervened, it is well known that 
he, the husband, whose word was as good as 
a bond, was esteemed for his business ability 
and jovial hospitality; and she, not only as a 
loving and faithful helpmeet and mother, a 
kind and thoughtful neighbor, but withal a 
noted housewife. 

In the years gone by, in the old stage- 
coach days, Nathan Saunders' tavern was a 
pleasant stopping-place. He was a typical 
landlord and she an ideal hostess, and every 
one who stopped at the Center knew he would 
be well entertained. 

Years passed on, their children and grand- 
children grew up around them, until January 
20, 1892, almost half a century after their wed- 
ding-day, when death separated them. The 
faithful wife never recovered from the shock 
of the separation. Day by day her body and 
mind grew weaker. She was "so lonely with- 
out father." At last, August 22, 1895, she 
was again united to him for whom she had 
uever ceased to mourn. In the words of Solo- 
mon it can be said other, that "she looked 
well to the ways of her household, and ate 
not the bread of idleness, and her children 
shall rise up and call her blessed." 

Mr. Saunders, whose name heads this review 
was reared in Kent county. His educational 
advantages were better than the common 
schools afforded. On March 25, 1879, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Saracenece Holden, 
and two children have been born to this union, 
viz: Carlton N. and Theron Holden Saunders. 

Mrs. Saunders was born in Caledonia 



township, Kent county, Mich., October i, 
1858, is a daughter of Dr. Charles M. and 
Sarah A. (Skiff) Holden, and one of twelve 
children, nine of whom grew to maturity, and 
six yet living, viz: Chapin B., an agriculturist, 
married and residing on the old homestead; 
Xantippe, the wife of E. P. Nelson, a carpen- 
ter and resident of Harbor Springs, Mich. ; 
Cassini j. Holden, a resident of Chicago, 111., 
and a traveling salesman for the firm of Brad- 
ley, Vrooman & Co., dealers in paints, etc.; 
Ida C, the wife of W. B. C. Pitts, an agri- 
culturist of Osceola county, Mich. ; Mrs. 
Saunders, and Kendric C, now married and 
engaged in agriculture in Algoma township, 
Kent county, Mich. 

The following allusion to Mrs. Saunders' 
father is taken from the daily newspaper at the 
time of his death: "Dr. C. M. Holden, of 
Courtland Center, died December 15, at the 
home of his youngest daughter, Mrs. Frank 
Saunders. He was born, 1821, in Tompkins 
county, N. Y., and came to Michigan in 1852. 
In 1859 he settled in Courtland township on 
the farm that still bears the Holden name. He 
will be remembered as the pioneer physician 
in this vicinity for over thirty years, riding on 
horseback through the pine woods and answer- 
ing all calls, either day or night, for rich or 
poor. On December 9 he was stricken with 
paralysis, leaving him nearly helpless. He 
lingered five days, surrounded by all his 
family, except the second son, C. J. Holden, 
who was in Iowa, and did not arrive in time 
to see his father alive. He passed away as 
a lamp burns itself out, peacefully, and real- 
izing that he was going to a long-desired 
rest." 

Mrs. Saunders is a lady of ability and 
talent, and has had two years' experience as 
a teacher in Kent county. She is the present 
visiting deputy for the schools in the northern 
part of the county and the inspector of the 



986 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



township. In other respects she is identified 
with educational work. She is the lecturer 
of the Michigan State grange and is editor 
of the Michigan State Grange Bulletin. 

Mr. Saunders is a republican and cast his 
first presidential vote for President Garfield, 
and has ever clung to the principles of that 
party. He has often been selected as repre- 
sentative in county, district and state conven- 
tions. Socially he is a member of the Masonic 
order at Rockford, Mich., and is state deputy 
of the P. of H. 

Mr. and Mrs. Saunders have acquired 
what they now own by their perseverance 
and industry. The home lies about seven 
miles southeast of Cedar Springs and some 
six miles northeast of Rockford, Mich. 

Mr. and Mrs. Saunders are well-known and 
highly esteemed by many friends, who respect 
them for their genuine worth. 




ALTER S. RYNESS, editor of the 
Sparta Leader, is a native of Cat- 
taraugus county, N. Y. , and was 
born May 5, 1844. The press is 
one of the greatest exponents of civilization, 
and in each village,, town and city, there must 
be a medium by which the news and events of 
the day may be disseminated, and to fully 
meet this need in Sparta, Kent county, Mich., 
Mr. Ryness established the Leader in 1895 as 
a purely republican journal as far as politics 
is concerned, but comprehensive and general 
in regard to news. It is a six-column quarto 
and has a circulation of 800, is most ably 
edited, and is in every detail up to date. 
Besides the Leader, Mr. Ryness is the sole 
proprietor of the Kent City Times, a most 
thriving young newspaper of 300 circulation, 
and this also receives a full share of his edi- 
torial attention. 



Mr. Ryness is the youngest child in a fam- 
ily of two sons and two daughters born to Rus- 
sell and Betsey (Hayward) Ryness, and pater- 
nally he is of German and maternally of 
Scotch descent. Of the children alluded to, 
three are still living, and of these, George is a 
stock dealer in Kearney, Nebr. , and is mar- 
ried; Mary J. is the wife of Joseph Stewart, of 
Detroit, Mich., and Walter is the subject of 
this sketch. 

Russell Ryness was also a native of New 
York state, was reared to agricultural pursuits, 
and about 1849 brought his family to Michigan 
and first located in Oakland county, but five 
years later removed to Owosso, in Shiawassee 
county. 

Walter S. Ryness was reared to agriculture 
in the two counties above named, is chiefly 
self-educated, and had begun to learn the 
typographical art — the " ars conservatum 
artem " — when the Civil war broke out, when 
he enlisted September 23, 1861, in company 
I, Eighth Michigan volunteer infantry, under 
Capt. J. L. Quackenbush and Col. W. B. 
Fenton, and in 1862 was assigned to the army 
of the Potomac. He took part in the battle 
of Coosa River, Wilmington Island, Ga., and 
there received a minie ball in the right side 
(which ball he still carries), and this wound 
laid him up for three months. He also fought 
at Fredericksburg, Culpeper Courthouse, An- 
tietam, second battle of Bull Run, Jackson, 
siege of Knoxville, battles of the Wilderness, 
Cold Harbor and Petersburg, and many 
other heavy engagements. 

Mr. Ryness was about fifteen miles from 
the spot where and when Gen. Lee surren- 
dered to Gen. Grant, but to counteract this 
glorious news, the sorrowful tidings of the 
murder of President Lincoln almost imme- 
diately followed. Mr. Ryness was also pres- 
ent at the grand review in Washington, D. C, 
in May, 1S65, and was discharged in the fol- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



987 



lowing September. He then returned to 
Owosso and resumed his trade of printer, and 
in 1868 removed to Grand Rapids, where he 
remained until prepared to establish the 
Leader at Sparta in 1895. He has won the 
confidence and esteem of his patrons by his 
fairness in discussing the questions of the day 
through his columns, and has proven himself 
to be a fearless and forcible writer. 

Mr. Ryness was united in marriage in 1892 
with Miss M. E. Cook, a native of Otsego, 
Allegan county, Mich., and an accomplished 
lady, whose, education was acquired in the 
public schools. 

Mr. Ryness cast his first presidential vote 
for Abraham Lincoln in 1865. He has since 
served as delegate to several republican state 
and county conventions, and when a resident 
of Grand Rapids was frequently a delegate 
from his ward. Fraternally he is a member 
of lodge No. 334, F. & A. M. ; also a member 
of lodge No. 278, L O. O. F., and Fighting 
Dick post. No. 243, G. A. R. — all at Sparta. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ryness are esteemed as among 
the refined and useful residents of the village, 
and greatly respected for their individual 
merits. 



LI C. ROUNDS, of Solon township, 
and one of the oldest and most fa- 
vorably known agriculturists of Kent 
county, Mich., Vt'as born in Jefferson 
county, N. Y. , September 26, 1824, the third 
in a family of six sons and five daughters born 
to Russell and Amity (Rowe) Rounds, of 
which eleven children seven are still living, 
viz: Alson, the eldest, a farmer in New York; 
Eli C, whose name opens this paragraph; 
Mandley, a farmer of Nelson township, Kent 
county, Mich. ; Charles, who was reared a 
blacksmith, and is a resident of Mackinaw 



Island, Mich. ; Rhoda, wife of Elias Mabie, 
of Solon township; Percy, married to Edwin 
M. Blair, a farmer, and Diadema, widow of 
George Schermerhorn, of Grand Rapids. 

Russell Rounds, also a native of New 
York, was of English descent, was a mechanic 
and farmer, and was one of the famous minute 
men of the Empire state, in which he passed 
his early manhood. In politics he was first a 
democrat, but in later years became a repub- 
lican, and died in Michigan, a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, at the age of 
eighty years. His wife, also a native of New 
York and of English descent, was a daughter 
of a hero of the Revolutionary war, and died 
in Kent county, Mich., at the age of seventy- 
two years, in the Methodist faith, to which 
she had adhered since girlhood. 

Eli C. Rounds received a good common- 
school education when young, but has always 
been a student at home, and has accumulated 
one of the best selection of books in Solon 
township. He was reared to farming, and 
while still a resident of New York married, 
August 16, 1849, Miss Maria Russell, who was 
born on the banks of the Mohawk river, 
and who has borne her husband four children, 
of whom three are still living, viz: Edwin M., 
who has taught three terms of school in Kent 
county, is a republican in politics, and still re- 
sides under the parental roof; Ursula, who is 
married to Charles W. Sherwin, a prosperous 
farmer of Solon township, and who has borne 
her husband two sons and three daughters; 
and Byron H., who married Miss Angelina 
Rearick, is a farmer by calling. 

In 1853 Mr. and Mrs. Rounds came to 
Michigan, resided one year in Hillsdale county, 
and then settled in Solon township, in Kent 
county. Mr. Rounds'here made his first pur- 
chase of land, at seventy-five cents an acre. 
This tract comprised eighty acres, and on this 
land he still resides. His first habitation here 



988 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



was a log cabin, i6 x 22 feet, in the midst of 
a dense forest, and although he went into 
debt for his purchase, and later sold some of 
his bedding to raise means to liquidate the 
debt, he has, through hard labor and good 
management, added to his estate until he now 
owns 127 acres of as well improved land as 
there is in the township, clear of debt, un- 
equaled in fertility, as well as the substantial 
condition of its buildings. 

When Mr. Rounds first settled in Kent 
county, his nearest market was Kockford, 
then called Lappenville, whence he carried 
his groceries to his home on his shoulders, as 
there was no wagon road or highway then in 
existence in the neighborhood, and his farm- 
ing implements were of the rude make that 
would now be considered as primitive or 
curious; but they, with the Indians, the ox- 
teams and the log cabins, have all been 
replaced by the modern conveniences with 
which civilization has blessed the land. Mr. 
Rounds was present at all the meetings of the 
residents of the neighborhood prior to the 
organization of the township, and was present 
at that which erected the township under the 
name of Solon, as suggested by Morgan Allen, 
the then supervisor of Aigoma. 

Mr. and Mrs. Rounds are noted for their 
kind-heartedness, and, besides their own chil- 
dren, have reared a bo}-, Luther Rounds, from 
infancy to manhood, and, as he has repaid 
their care with almost filial affection, they 
have presented him with a sixty-acre farm. 

In politics Mr. Rounds is a republican, has 
represented his party in several county con- 
ventions, and has filled the offlce of overseer 
of the poor. He and his wife are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church at White 
Creek, assisted very materially in a financial 
way in erecting the church edifice, and have 
ever been ardent friends of the public-school 
system. Socially they rank with the best 



people of Solon township, and m.ost deservedly 
so, as they were really among its earliest 
residents. 




NDREW SAUR, one of the promi- 
nent farmers and most highly re- 
spected residents of Sparta township, 
Kent county, Mich., was born April 
27, 1846, in the province of Smoland, county 
of Jonkoping, near the city of the same name, 
in Sweden, and has lived in Kent county 
since he was three years of age. His parents, 
Peter and Helena (Swenson) Saur, had a fam- 
ily of ten children — eight sons and two 
daughters — of whom Andrew is the fifth born, 
and by reference to the biography of Albert 
H. Saur, the merchant of Kent City, the read- 
er will find the complete genealogy of the Saur 
family. 

Andrew Saur well knows what is meant by 
the words "pioneer life in Kent county." He 
was but eight years of age when he began 
work on the parental home in the wilderness 
of Sparta township, and from that age until 
twenty-one years old devoted all his time and 
energy to the work of subduing the forest and 
developing a farm from the wilderness, in the 
meantime becoming a thorough woodman, ag- 
riculturist and stock-raiser. On attaining his 
majority he started out for himself as a lumber- 
man, and when he had completed the twenty- 
third year of his life he had saved $300 from 
his earnings, 

April 21, 1872, Mr. Saur married Miss 
Mary C. Broman, in Sparta township, and to 
this union have been born one son and four 
daughters, viz: Jennie V., who passed through 
the common school, finished with the eighth 
grade, then was a student in the high school at 
Sparta and was awarded a teacher's certificate, 
and in 1896 was a student at the Ferris insti- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



989 



tute, Big Rapids, was also well educated in 
music, and is now one of the most successful 
teachers in Kent county; Minnie H. has also 
finished the eighth grade in the public school, 
has received musical instruction, and is now a 
dress-maker, having learned cutting and fit- 
ting in Sparta; Lula L. has also passed the 
eighth grade, is of a linguistical trend of 
thought, and is a young lady of vivacity; 
Lillie B. has also passed the eighth grade in 
school, and St. Elmo, the only son, is extra- 
ordinarily attentive to his school work. 

Mrs. Saur was born October 23, 1850, in 
the same province in which her husband was 
born, and was fourteen years of age when she 
came to America with her parents, Charles 
and Louise (Peterson) Broman, embarking at 
Gottenburg, Sweden, for Sparta, Mich., via the 
city of New York. The family comprised two 
sons and three daughters, and their first home in 
Sparta township was the usual log cabin. The 
father was possessed of great energy, but of 
little cash, and had even to borrow the money 
to bring him west, and here he went in debt 
for his farm; but he was also a man of strict 
integrity, paid back all he had borrowed, 
cleared up his land and made a comfortable 
home, and at his death in 1892, at the age of 
si.xty-five years, owned an unincumbered farm 
of sixty acres. In religion he was. an Evangel- 
ical Lutheran, and in politics a republican. 
His widow is also a devout member of the 
Swedish Evangelical Lutheran church, and has 
now reached the ripe age of eighty years. 
The children, with the exception of one resid- 
ing in Grand "Rapids, are all living in Spata. 
Mrs. Saur was primarily educated in her native 
tongue, but her longr residence in Kent county 
has thoroughly familiarized her with the Eng- 
lish language, and she has been truly a help- 
mate to her husband. 

In politics Mr. Saur is a democrat, is a 
great admirer of William Jennings Bryan, and 



is opposed to the expansion policy of the pres- 
ent national administration. He holds the 
confidence of his fellow democrats and has 
been twice elected treasurer of Sparta town- 
ship; he has been a director of the public 
school for a number of years and advocates 
the securing of the best teachers the school 
fund warrants, and in this policy is warmly 
encouraged by his amiable wife. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Saur purchased their 
farm of eighty acres, all in the forest, they 
went in debt $3,000, but they worked to- 
gether, paid the debt, have cleared their land 
from stumps, and in 1888 erected their pres- 
ent beautiful frame dwelling, two and a half 
stories high, with basement, all elegantly fin- 
ished in hard wood — an immense contrast 
with their original humble shanty home. They 
are members of the Swedish Evangelical 
Lutheran church, and are classed with the 
best people of Sparta township. 




leading mer- 



LBERT H. SAUR, the 

chant of Kent City, is a native of 
Alpine township, Kent county, Mich., 
and was born November 26, 1859, the 
youngest of the family of eight sons and two 
daughters born to Peter and Helena (Swenson) 
Saur, six of which children still survive, viz: 
Charles L. , an agriculturist of Alpine town- 
ship, and married; August J., likewise married 
and engaged in farming in Alpine township; 
Maria, wife of William McNitl, a farmer of 
Wexford county, Mich. ; Andrew and Frank 
both married and farming in Sparta township, 
and Albert H., the subject of this sketch. 

Peter Saur, the father of the above family, 
was born in Sweden in 1818, and died in Sparta 
township, Kent county, Mich., December 9, 
1886. He was reared an agriculturist, and in 
his early manhood was overseer of a large 



990 



THE CJTY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



landed estate for a gentleman in his neighbor- 
hood, thereby becoming of some prominence 
among the peasantry. Although his educa- 
tion was limited and acquired with the assist- 
ance of friends chiefly after dark and by the 
light of torches or blazing knots, he was quick 
to learn and possessed the stamina equal to 
the task. 

When the Saur family determined to come 
to America, there were several of its members 
who engaged to join in this laudable enterprise, 
including the father, mother, and their chil- 
dren, Peter and wife, Charles, John, Andrew, 
Charlotte and Sophia; but now their tribula- 
tions began. When they reached Gottenburg 
'they found that their means were inadequate 
to meet expenses, and it was agreed that Peter 
and wife only should start at first, and, if 
successful, should remit the necessary funds 
to pay the way of the remainder of the fam- 
ily. Accordingly, Peter, wife and children 
embarked in Gottenburg and the others came 
on a vessel said to be lOO years old, bound 
for New York city, but encountered tempest- 
uous weather in crossing the North sea and 
Atlantic ocean, and came to anchor in the 
harbor of Charleston, S. C. , where they 
changed vessels and eventually landed in Phila- 
delphia, Pa., ten weeks after their departure 
from Sweden, some time in 1852. 

They of course were ignorant of the lan- 
guage and customs of the country and were at 
once, on their arrival in the Quaker city, placed 
in hacks and driven to a hotel, but when 
the landlord discovered they were penniless, 
he hurried them out into the street. They 
were found by two benevolent ladies, 
who had them placed in their quarters in the 
hotel, where their immediate needs were pro- 
vided for through the munificence of these 
strange ladies, and a Swedish gentleman sent 
for, and this gentleman not only collected 
provisions and other necessities for their re- 



lief, but even accompanied them as far as 
Chicago, and it is a pity the name of this 
philanthropist has been suffered to pass un- 
recorded. 

Peter Saur left his family in Chicago for 
the time being .while he sought employment 
in Michigan, but, as there were no railroads 
nor bridges at that time between Ivalamazoo 
and Grand Rapids, his journey was mostly 
afoot on the roads and trails, and the streams 
were crossed by fording. Grand Rapids was 
itself a mere trading-post for Indians, and 
thence he made his way to Sparta township, 
then almost a wilderness, and found employ- 
ment in felling trees, and hoped to be able to 
earn sufficient money to send for his family. 
But whilst at work in the woods he received 
the intelligence that his little daughter, Chris- 
tina, was seriously ill, and he hastened back 
to Chicago. The child passed away, and 
shortly afterward the remainder of the family 
came through to Sparta, the mother walking 
a part of the way, the roads being in too bad 
a condition for the use of wagons at many 
places on the route. The family first found a 
home in a little log cabin that stood on what 
is now known as the Charles Chapman farm, 
west of the village of Sparta, and there they 
resided until their removal to Alpine township, 
where Mr. Saur purchased forty acres of 
forest land and erected a log cabin 1 6.x 24 
feet, and in this humble abode Albert H. Saur, 
the subject of this sketch, was born. 

As Peter Saur had gone in debt for his 
forty- acre tract, he rented a farm a little to 
the west, and, as the Civil war shortly after- 
ward broke out, he received enormous prices 
for his products. For one hog dressed, which 
he took to Muskegon, he received $52.50; and 
for wheat he received $3 per bushel. He con- 
tinued to prosper, and at his death owned an 
excellent farm of 100 acres in Sparta town- 
ship, now known as the Saur homestead. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



991 



In politics Peter Saur was a strong repub- 
lican, but never cared for office; in religion he 
was a Lutheran and freely contributed to the 
support of his church. His wife, who was born 
in Sweden, September 19, 181 1, died July i, 
1886, also a devout Lutheran and a model 
mother. 

Albert H. Saur, whose name stands at the 
head of this sketch, was but seven years of 
age when his parents removed from Alpine to 
Sparta township, and in the latter worked on 
the home farm in summer and attended the 
district school in winter. He was not a lad of 
very robust constitution, and his father granted 
him unusual school privileges. In his early 
youth there were but two stores in the village 
of Sparta, kept by R. H. Wooden and Edwin 
Bradford, and there were only a few resi- 
dences. Kent City, where he is now doing a 
a thriving mercantile business, was unknown, 
and Casnovia hardly had an existence, but was 
nevertheless in embryo. Indians still roamed 
through the surrounding forests and frequently 
upon the premises of the scattered settlers, 
and wild animals, whose flesh would now be 
esteemed articles of food, and indeed, viands 
of rare delicacy in the menu of a first-class 
hotel, were quite a nuisance. 

In the fall of 1882, A. H. Saur entered the 
normal school at Ypsilanti and graduated in 
1885, and the same year assumed the prin- 
cipalship of the Pierson public schools in 
Montcalm county. In 18S6 he was elected 
principal of the Colon public schools, which 
comprised three departments, and while hold- 
ing this responsible position his parents died, 
and he was recalled to the home fai^m. Of 
this he and his brother Frank purchased from 
the other heirs their interest, but went into 
debt for the major part of the purchase price, 
and at once engaged in peach growing, at 
which they succeeded so well that they soon 
liquidated their indebtedness. 



In the fall of 1888 A. H. Saur was elected 
principal of the Kent City schools, and held 
this responsible position for four years, add- 
ing, during his incumbency, a number of the 
higher branches to the curriculum and estab- 
lishing a reputation as one of the best instruct- 
ors in the township. He then returned to 
the home farm, where he remained two years, 
and in 1896 purchased the general stock of 
merchandise owned by M. E. Cone, of Kent 
City, for $700, for which he went in debt. As 
it was evident that Mr. Saur was to make a 
success of his enterprise, the well-known firm 
of Johnson & Johnson, of Sparta, made a 
proposition to join him, and this proposition 
was accepted, the result being that a large ad- 
dition of staple and fancy groceries, dry goods, 
clothing, footwear and other commodities 
were added to Mr. Saur's stock, the whole be- 
ing now valued at $7,000, and Mr. Saur being 
at the head of one of the best general mer- 
cantile firms in Kent City. Beside his interest 
in this concern, Mr. Saur has also invest- 
ments in shingle and lumber manufacturing in 
Newaygo county, and in the Kent City Cheese 
factory, which turns out 100,000 pounds of 
cheese each season, and that of so excellent a 
quality that it took the premium at the 
World's Fair. It cannot be doubted that Mr. 
Saur is one of the most enterprising and wide 
awake young men of northwest Kent county. 

December 24, 1885, Mr. Saur was united 
in marriage with Miss Hannah Johnson, to 
which union have been born six children, of 
whom five are still living, viz: Agnes, Low- 
ell, Harold, Carl and Neva, one daughter be- 
ing deceased. The elder three of the surviv- 
ors are attending the district school and are 
respectively in the fourth, third and first 
grades. 

Mrs. Saur was born near Jonkoping, 
Sweden, August 19, i860, and is a daughter 
of Klaus and Helena (Johnson) Johnson, who 



992 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



had a family of seven children, of whom three 
sons and Mrs. Saur are still living — her 
brother, C. A. Johnson, being a merchant at 
Sparta and her other two brothers his clerks. 
Mrs. Saur was but nine years of age when she 
reached America, was well educated in the 
graded schools of Sparta, and for three years 
was a school-teacher in Kent county of great 
acceptability. 

Mr. Saur was originally a republican in 
politics and cast his first presidential vote for 
U. S. Grant, but for the past fourteen years 
has affiliated with the prohibitionists, whom 
he has several times represented in legislative 
conventions and occasionally in county con- 
ventions. He is a promoter of the public 
schools and favors the employment of the best 
teachers at a liberal compensation. He and 
wife are consistent members of the Swedish 
Lutheran church, in the Sunday-school of 
which he has served as superintendent ten 
years, the attendance at present being about 
150. Mr. Saur is an educated, progressive 
gentleman, and as a business man has few 
equals in the county of which he is a native, 
and of whom it may well feel proud. 




OHNSON A. SAUR, a representative of 
one of the most prominent and pros- 
perous families of Alpine township, 
was born in Sweden, September 7, 
1843, and is the third child of Peter J. and 
Lena (Swenson) Saur. 

His parents came to America from Sweden 
in the year 1854, and after a successful voy- 
age arrived on December 20, of the same 
year, at Charleston. They thence departed 
for New York, where they tarried but a few 
days, at the end of which time they started for 
the Wolverine state, locating in Alpine town- 
ship, Kent county, where the father purchased 



a farm of forty acres, which was then com- 
pletely covered by timber. 

He continued adding to his purchase and 
making improvements, but removed to Sparta 
after the war and resided there until his 
death, when he was the owner of a fine large 
farm, and the heirs are sustaining the excel- 
lent reputation earned by the father. Both 
parents are now dead, having expired in the 
summer of 1889. 

Mr. Saur, the subject of this sketch, was 
married on the 29th of December, 1869, to 
Miss Emma Rodgers, daughter of George W. 
and Sally Ann (Hagadone) Rodgers, a native 
of Alpine township, and her birth is dated 
from September 30, 1851. She came to the 
present home at four years of age and re- 
sided here until marriage. Her parents now 
reside in Sparta village, retired. This union 
was blessed with four children: Verna, the 
wife of Joseph Anderson, a farmer of Alpine 
township, and George R., Harry and Ruth, 
who live at home and attend school. 

The political faith of Mr. Saur is the six- 
teen to one platform, and he cast his maiden 
vote for U. S. Grant. He has filled several 
minor town offices, and is usually found in 
party conventions. In social circles he is a 
member of the Lisbon lodge, F. & A. M. ; 
also he and wife are active members of the 
Alpine grange. 

Soon after the outbreak of the Civil war, 
he enlisted with the Fourth Michigan cavalry 
at Grand Rapids, and saw service in many 
severe battles. He served for three years, 
mainly with his command, but afterward was 
detailed for scouting. He was promoted to 
corporal, and was wounded in the foot, while 
on a scout, by a gunshot, and the government 
has granted him a pension. He received his 
honorable discharge in July, 1865, returned 
to Michigan, and worked at farm work till 
married. He bought ninety acres near his 



• AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



993 



present home, going into debt, but sold in 
1876 and bought the old homestead of his 
wife's parents, which also carried considerable 
indebtedness. He has done general farming, 
and has an orchard, in apples, pears, plums 
and peaches, of about 2,000 trees, and this 
has proven quite profitable. He also keeps a 
fine grade of stock. His farm contains about 
100 acres; about all in cultivation. He has laid 
about two miles of tile, and has the entire 
farm in excellent condition. He has one of 
the best farms in the township, being origi- 
nally a fine body of beech and maple. He is a 
member of the Horticultural society and the 
Fruit Growers' association, in both of which 
he takes an active interest. 



UGUST J. SAUR.— A record of the 
most prominent and prosperous farm- 
ers of Alpine township must be con- 
sidered incomplete without the full 
genealogy of the Saur family, of which the 
above-named gentleman is a representative, as 
well as an enterprising and public-spirited cit- 
izen of Kent county, with the development of 
which he has been prominently identified. 

Mr. Saur is a native of Sweden and was 
born October 31, 1852, being the third child 
of Charles and Louisa Saur. His parents 
came to America about the year 1853, and lo- 
cated in Sparta township, Kent county, Mich., 
where they began farming and remained about 
nine years, at the end of which the father pur- 
chased a farm in section No. 15, Alpine town- 
ship, and there lived until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1896, when he was seventj'-two years 
of age. When Mr. Saur began his career in 
Kent county he found it very much unsettled, 
the farm on which he located being nearly 
covered with timber, but at the time of his 
death, Ivent was numbered among the fore- 



most counties, Alpine among the principal 
townships, and his farm one of the best in the 
state. He was a soldier during the Civil war. 

August J. Saur began life for himself when 
about twenty-four years of age by renting a 
farm. Being satisfied with the lot cast to till- 
ers of the soil, he is still continuing it, owning 
120 acres of well-improved land, located in 
section No. 18. On January 3, 1874, he was 
married to Miss Jennie Burtch, a native of 
Ontario, and born January 15, 1858, the fifth 
child of Hiram and Annis (Phelps) Burtch. 
Her father was a native of Canada and was 
born in 1820. He came to Michigan about 
1866, and located in Alpine township, where 
he still resides. Her mother was a native of 
Whitby, Ontario, was born in 1826, came to 
Michigan with her husband, and is still living. 
This union was graced with two children: L. 
D. and R. T. , both of whom reside at home 
with their parents. 

Politically Mr. Saur is a supporter of the 
sixteen to one platform, but cast his initiatory 
vote for R. B. Hayes. Sociallj-, he is a mem- 
ber of the F. & A. M. lodge at Lisbon, Mich. 
He is not an active member of any church, 
while Mrs. Saur is a member of the Congrega- 
tional church. These worthy subjects are 
noted for their hospitality and good works, 
and consequently are surrounded and esteemed 
by a large circle of friends. 




Mcknight sellers.— No review 
of the social and material progress of 
Michigan, however exhaustive, would 
be complete if it did not pay its 
tribute to the worth of her pioneer journalists, 
who, by virtue of their important part in the 
development of its resources justly deserve the 
title of builders of the commonwealth. The 
social characteristics of sterling integrity, pa- 



994 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



triotism, and ability are happily reflected in the 
career of the subject of this sketch, a descend- 
ant of those pioneers and who, by his unas- 
suming worth as a citizen, has done much to- 
ward putting the town of -Cedar Springs in its 
now thriving state. Among newspaper men 
of the Wolverine state who have done so much 
in the past and are planning so wisely to help 
forward the interests of their section and party 
in the future, the name of L. M. Sellers, pro- 
prietor of the Cedar Springs Clipper, stands 
most prominent, he having held the field for 
the last thirty years and ever a stanch fol- 
lower and advocate of republican principles. 

Mr. Sellers was born in Franklin county. 
Pa., of German stock on his father's side and 
Scotch-Irish maternally, his mother's name 
being Montgomery, and her mother McKnight, 
and one which occurs quite frequently in the 
annals of Scottish history. His early days 
were passed in his native state, and he served 
in a Pennsylvania regiment during the last five 
months of the Civil war. In the sessions of 
1S83 and 1885 he served as representative and 
speaker pro tern, and also three terms as presi- 
dent of the West Michigan Press association 
and treasurer of the State Press. He also 
served as chairman of the republican county 
committee, of which he was a member for 
twenty years, and a delegate to republican 
national convention of 1892. He is one of 
the most popular men in Cedar Springs and 
holds the high esteem of his fellows. His 
paper, "The Clipper," is one of the best 
edited and most widely read newspapers in the 
state. It is an entirely local paper, devoted 
to the interests of Cedar Springs alone, totally 
free, unlike other editions, from the advertise- 
ments for foreign patent medicines, etc. 

In politics Mr. Sellers, as may be learned 
from the above, is a republican and one of the 
party's most firm supporters and diligent 
workers. He is a prominent and influential 



citizen and a great promoter of local enter- 
prises. He is a man of intellectuality, broad 
sympathies and tolerance, and imbued with 
fine sensibilities and clearly defined principles. 
Honor and integrity are synonymous with his 
name, and he enjoys the respect, confidence 
and regard of his community. President Mc- 
Kinley appointed him postmaster without his 
asking for it. He made no application. It 
came to him for stalwart party service. 



RANK W. SAUR, a well-known citizen 
of integrity and industry, is a scion of 
one of the pioneer families of Sparta 
township, Kent county, Mich., was 
born March 6, iSs?, and is the seventh 
that graced the marriage of Peter and Helena 
(Swenson) Saur, a full sketch of whose life 
will be found in the biography of Albert Saur, 
the prominent general merchant of Kent City. 
Frank W. Saur has passed all his life in 
Kent couijty, was educated in the common 
schools, and until the age of seventeen years 
spent his time, when he became old enough 
to work, in the hard labor of clearing up the 
lands and developing the new home in Sparta 
and Alpine townships, filially turning over his 
earnings to his parents, and up to the present 
time has fully done his share in developing 
the resources of his township and county. He 
began his career as a wage earner on his own 
account at $18 per month, and for eight win- 
ters worked in the timber regions of Newaygo 
county, and on the farm, his wages of course 
being increased to the maximum rate, as he 
advanced in proficiency. 

March 23, 1879, Mr. Sauer wedded Miss 
Ida C. Carlson, at the Swedish Evangelical 
Lutheran church in Sparta township. Rev. N. 
A. Youngberg performing the ceremony. This 
happy union has been crowned by the birth of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



995 



four sons and three daughters, six of whom 
are still living, viz: Tina, the eldest, who 
passed the eighth grade in the common schools 
with a percentage of ninety-three, took espe- 
cial training in music, and is now a saleslady 
in the general store of A. H. Saur & Co., of 
Ivent City; she is well educated in the Swed- 
ish language, and is a member of the W. C. 
T. U. ; Grin R. is in the sixth grade in school, 
and his natural talent is toward agriculture; 
Edward M. is in the fifth grade and has a taste 
for mercantile life; Ella F. is in the fourth 
grade; Mabel E. is also at school, and Law- 
rence F. L. is the sunbeam of the home. Mr. 
and Mrs. Saur will see to it that the younger 
children shall also be well educated. 

Mrs. Saur was born in the province of 
Smoland, near the city of Jonkoping, Swe- 
den, April 24 1858, and is a daughter of 
Johannes and Bertha E. (Johnson) Carlson, 
who were the parents of three sons and two 
daughters, and of these five children four are 
still living — all in America. Mrs. Saur was 
but fifteen years of age when she sailed, in 
company with her brother, August, from Got- 
tenburg, April 30, 1873. and after a passage 
of twelve days arrived in New York, whence 
she came direct to Kent county, Mich. She 
had received a good education in her native 
land, and was confirmed in her church before 
she left home. Her parents died in Sweden, 
and the three living children, beside herself, 
are, Johanna, wife of John Saur, a farmer of 
Sparta township; August, engaged in the same 
occupation in the same township, and Carl, 
engaged in the railroad business at Michigan 
City, Ind. Mrs. Saur is next in order of birth, 
and is the youngest. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Saur began their mar- 
ried life they lived on rented land a few years, 
and then purchased a part of the old home- 
stead and a few acres of adjoining land, mak- 
ing in all sixty-four acres, for which they 



went in debt; but this debt,. through industry 
and good management, has long since been 
liquidated, and all the improvements made by 
themselves, and they now have as fine a home- 
stead as any of its size in central Sparta 
township. 

In politics Mr. Saur is a republican, cast 
his first presidential vote for Rutherford B. 
Hayes, and has always been a steady adherent 
of the party. He and wife are members of 
the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran church of 
Sparta township, to the support of which 
they liberally contribute, and are also assist- 
ants in the Sunday-school work, as well as 
ardent supporters of the public school system, 
advocating at all times the employment of the 
best instructors. They have been unceasing 
in advancing the material and moral progress 
of their township, are classed among the best 
residents, and their comfortable residence, 
two miles from Kent City and about four 
miles from Sparta village, is the home of 
good will, hospitality, and domestic happiness. 




June 



MARTIN SCHENCK, proprietor of 
the New York Dairy farm in Cascade 
township, was born in the adjoining- 
township of Ada, Kent county, Mich., 
4, 1856. The Schenck families in 



America descend from two cousins who came 
from Germany many years ago, one of whom 
settled on Long Island, N. Y. , and the other 
in New Jersey, and from the latter the Kent 
county family trace its line of descent. 

The parents of J. Martin Schenck, were 
facob S. and Catherine C. (Brown) Schenck, 
born in Yates county, N. Y. , came to Michigan 
in 1845, and settled about a mile and a half 
north of the village of Ada. Mr. Schenck 
was a poor man at that time and brought 
with him his only property — a one-horse 



996 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



wagon. He was accompanied by his wife and 
his son, William G. Schenck, who enlisted, 
years later, in company C, Second Michigan 
cavalry, and died of measles in Benton bar- 
racks, St. Louis, Mo., at the age of eighteen 
years. Although Mr. Schenck came to Michi- 
gan a poor, man, he secured 200 acres of good 
land, carried on general farming and secured 
a competence. He passed his latter years in 
retirement in Ada village, and died January 
14, 1895, at the age of seventy-five years. 
His wife is still living, and three children, viz: 
J. Martin, the subject of this sketch; Libbie, 
wife of T. H. McNaughton, of Ada township, 
and Fred E., on the old homestead. 

J. Martin Schenck remained on his fa- 
ther's farm until twenty-one years of age, and 
then bought his present farm in Cascade town 
ship, with the assistance of his father. This farm 
of I 16 acres was first settled by John R. Stew- 
art and is situated on the pike leading from 
Grand Rapids to the village of Cascade, eight 
miles from the city. He carried on general 
farming only until 1898, when he engaged in 
dairying, keeping from twelve to sixteen cows, 
and this with him is a specialty, as he runs his 
own milk route in the city. He has made 
many improvements on his place, including a 
new and handsome house and barn, making it 
the finest farm on the line of the gravel road. 

Mr. Schenck was united in marriage, June 
19, 1 88 1, with Miss Theodora E. Beach, who 
is a daughter of Samuel Beach, of Ada town- 
ship, where she was born, and where in child- 
hood she was the playmate of Mr. Schenck. 

In politics Mr. Schenck is a republican, 
and although he has attended conventions 
of his party, has never sought office. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of Ada lodge. No. 
280, F. & A. M., in which he holds the 
office of steward, and he and wife are mem- 
bers of Vesta chapter, Order of the Eastern 
Star. Mr. Schenck is likewise a Modern 



Woodman, and with his wife a member of the 
Cascade grange. He is one of the most use- 
ful and highly esteemed citizens of Cascade 
township, and socially both Mr. and Mrs. 
Schenck move in the best circles. 




EWIS G. SEVEY, the efficient and 
popular supervisor of Solon township, 
Kent county, Mich., was born in 
Steuben county, N. Y. , September 
I, 1852, the fourth of the family of five chil- 
dren born to Grove and Harriet (Burlingham) 
Sevey, in the following order: Charles Henry, 
a farmer near Union City, Mich. ; Mary, widow 
of Charles Pitts, of Jackson county, Mich.; 
Adell, wife of Parmer Hill, a farmer of Jack- 
son county; Lewis G., the subject, and Emma, 
widow of Charles Tower, a farmer of South 
Dakota. 

Grove Sevey, also a native of New York 
state, was born in 1825, and died in February, 
1897. He was reared a farmer, and in the 
fall of 1857 emigrated from New York to 
Branch county, Mich., where he became a 
brick and stonemason, residing in Bronson 
two years and then removed to Brooklyn, 
Jackson county, where his wife died April 22, 
1867. Later Mr. Sevey settled in Ypsilanti, 
where his death took place. He and wife 
were adherents of the Baptist church, and in 
politics Mr. Sevey was an ardent republican. 
Lewis G. Sevey, at the age of eighteen 
years, came to Cedar Springs to enter the 
lumbering trade, then one of the prime indus- 
tries of Kent county, Mich. He had received 
a good common-school education, and has 
improved his spare hours by self-instruction, 
but financially was without capital. Novem- 
ber 26, 1872, he wedded Miss AUie Dunton, a 
native of Naples, Ontario county, N. Y. , their 
wedding day being the second anniversary of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



997 



Mr. Sevey's arrival in Cedar Springs. Six 
cliiidren have blessed this union, viz: Bert 
E., a farmer of Tyrone township, and mar- 
ried to Miss Hattie L. Snow, who has borne 
him one daughter, Jessie L. Bert E., the 
father, has a mental bias toward mechanism 
and in politics is a republican. Bertha H., 
the second child born to L. G. Sevey and 
wife, has been educated in the Cedar Springs 
public schools, and has a special talent for 
vocal music; Hazel is in the high school at 
Cedar Springs; Fern, Zoe and Clinton are 
with their parents, and the girls are all en- 
dowed with a talent for music. 

Mrs. Sevey was born December ii, 1855, 
the second of a family of seven — all daugh- 
ters, all married, and all residents of Michi- 
gan. Reuben Dunton, the father, was born 
in Ontario county, N. Y., has passed his life 
in the pursuit of agriculture, and now resides 
in Solon township, Kent county, Mich., at the 
age of si.\ty-six years, having come here 
September 10, 1868. His wife is a native of 
the same county with himself, and in child- 
hood was his schoolmate. Mrs. L. G. Sevey 
is a lady of very pleasant address, was a 
school-teacher in Kent county for some years 
ere her marriage, and has nobly done her part 
as a wife and mother. 

In 1S75 Mr. Sevey purchased his farm of 
forty acres of forest land, with scarcely any 
improvement upon it — not even space enough 
cleared on which to erect his little home. For 
this land he went in debt, with the exception 
of $175 he had earned by day's labor; but he 
has worked manfully, has placed his farm in 
excellent cultivation, has erected a handsome 
dwelling, together with substantial farm build- 
ings, and to-day does not owe one dollar on 
the property. In 1895 he purchased twenty 
additional acres, and this is an evidence of 
what frugality and industry will do for a poor 
man in Kent county. 



In politics Mr. Sevey is a republican, and 
in 1882 and 1883 served as highway commis- 
sioner; in 1894 and 1895 he was township 
treasurer, and he has also served three years 
as school director, in each office rendering the 
utmost satisfaction. As a further mark of 
their confidence in his wisdom and integrity, 
his people elected him, in the spring of 1897, 
supervisor of the township, and in 1898 re- 
elected him by acclamation — a compliment 
they felt to be well deserved. He has also 
been twice the choice of his party to represent 
it in county convention, and each time well 
performed his part. Fraternally he is a mem- 
ber of lodge No. 213, F. & A. M., at Cedar 
Springs, and he and wife have ever been will- 
ing and ready supporters of every movement 
designed to advance the moral, religious and 
temporal prosperity of the township, in which 
they have had their home for the past thirty 
years, and where they enjoy the sincere es- 
teem of all who know them. 




[LMARTH T. SHAFER, successful 
farmer, township supervisor and 
representative citizen of Paris town- 
ship, of which he is a native, was 
born on the old family homestead March 18, 
1863. His paternal grandfather, Lieut. John 
Shafer, a native of Maryland, came to Michi- 
gan as early as 1844, and purchased 400 acres 
of government land within the present limits 
of Paris, thus being one of the pioneers to 
make permanent settlement in this section of 
Kent county. 

Lieut. John Shafer was a hero of the war 
of 1812, participated in a number of battles 
during that struggle, including Lundy's Lane, 
and for meritorious conduct on the field was 
given the official designation indicated above, 
and to which honor his after life added in- 



998 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



creased luster. It is worthy of note that 
he was the last surviving officer of the last war 
between this country and England. At the 
time of his death there were beside himself less 
than lOO men in the United States who 
had even served in that struggle. Unlike many 
of the early pioneers in a new country, Lieut. 
Shafer possessed ample means, and was from 
the first considered one of the well-to-do men 
of the country. He possessed to a high degree 
the grace and characteristics of the dignified 
old-time gentleman; courtly in manner, kind 
and obliging to all, he was a man of much 
more than ordinary mental ability. His was 
a remarkable personalty, his superior men- 
tality and natural talents being based upon 
a no less vigorous physique. He was born in 
1786 and lived to the remarkable age of 104 
years. His death, which occurred in 1890, 
was widely commented upon throughout the 
United States, both by reason of his advanced 
years and by the fact of his having been the 
last commissioned officer to stand before an 
English army in defense of those principles 
so dear to everv true American. Throughout 
his long life in Kent county he was active in 
public affairs, and assisted liberally in raising 
money to procure soldiers during the dark days 
of the Rebellion. Until the last he retained 
his faculties, both mental and physical, to a 
remarkable degree. When the bugle sounded 
for him to report at the last muster, the old 
soldier spirit answered and he went gladly to 
join his former comrades. His wife, Eliza, 
with whom he had trod life's pathway hand in 
hand for upwards of seventy years, died in 
1887. The following are the names of their 
children: Sherman B., a resident of Paris 
township; Frank, deceased; Mason L., of 
Grand Rapids; Oscar S. ; Marion A., a physi- 
cian practicing his profession in Grand Rapids 
— all of whom located within a short distance 
of where the father originally settled. 



Oscar S. Shafer, father of \V. T. , was 
born in New York, accompanied his parents 
to Michigan, and at the age of twenty-eight 
married Mrs. Helen C. French (^nee Everett). 
He took possession of the old home farm, to 
which he added other land at different 
times, and looked after the interests of his 
aged parents until their respective deaths. 
He was a successful farmer and a man of ma- 
ture judgment, widely informed, and a stanch 
supporter of the republican party, which fre- 
quent!)' importuned him, without avail, to ac- 
cept official positions. He died respected by 
all who knew him on Thanksgiving day, 1895. 
His life-companion is still living. The names 
of their children are: Wilmarth T. , Philip 
M. and Vernon F. , the last two now living in 
California. 

Wilmarth T. Shafer received an element- 
ary training in the common schools, later pur- 
sued more advanced branches in the high 
schools, and remained under the paternal roof 
until his marriage, which was solemnized on 
the 27th of February, 1889, with Miss Viola 
D. Slater, daughter of Robert Slater, of Paris 
township. He earlj' selected agriculture for 
his life work, and now has a farm of 120 
acres, which he conducts upon the latest and 
most improved principles of farming. Like 
his immediate and remote ancestors, Mr. 
Shafer is a gentleman of unimpeachable integ- 
rity, and throughout life has endeavored to 
conduct himself so as to win and retain the 
confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. 

As a republican he has been an active 
worker, having represented his party in two 
state, and many county conventions, and in 
1896 was chosen township treasurer, which 
office he filled two terms. He was elected 
supervisor in 1898, re-elected in 1899, and is 
discharging the duties of the position in a 
manner highly creditable to himself and satis- 
factory to his constituenc}'. He was one of the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



999 



foremost to stand tenaciously for the rights 
of the townships in the late memorable tight 
and lengthy deadlock regarding assessment 
equalization. He is a regular attendant and 
liberal contributor to the church and a friend 
to all religious and benevolent enterprises. 
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Shafer has been 
gladdened by the birth of two children,' lone 
D. and Helen V. 




ATTIL e. SHARP, V. S., of Sparta, 
I\ent county, was born in Ingham 
county, Mich., July 6, 1859, and is a 
son of William and Sarah (Cooper) 
Sharp, who had a family of five children. 

William Sharp was a native of England, 
was reared a farmer, and on coming to 
America landed in New York, whence he came 
to Michigan and settled in Ingham county, 
where he continued the pursuit of agriculture 
until his death in i860, being then the pro- 
prietor of a fine farm of 200 acres, on which 
his venerable widow still makes her home. 

Hattil C. Sharp was partly reared on the 
Ingham county farm, received a good com- 
mon-school education, and later took a course 
in veterinary surgery, of which he is now one 
of the most proficient professors in the state 
of Michigan. He began the actual practice 
of his profession in 1884, and besides h'is 
knowledge of the diseases to which horse-ifesh 
is subjected and the proper methods for their 
cure, he is practical as a trainer in gait, style 
and adaptation to the various uses for which 
the animal is fitted — road, light draft, saddle, 
etc. In the handling of intractable animals 
he is also an expert, but the medical and sur- 
gical knowledge of the doctor, as applied to 
horses, is the grand secret of his success. In 
conjunction with his practice, the doctor con- 
ducts a small farm of some forty acres, four 
53 



miles from Sparta, where he can. care for ani- 
mals entrusted to his treatment. 

Dr. Sharp married, at Stockbridge, No- 
vember 18, 1876, Miss Ella Bachelor, daughter 
of John D. Bachelor, of Michigan, and this 
union has been blessed with three children, 
named Mary E., William and Hattie C, all 
of whom have received, or are receiving, good 
common-school educations. Mrs. Sharp is a 
member of the Congregational church, in the 
faith of which she is rearing her children, and 
in politics Dr. Sharp is a free-silver democrat. 
The family stands very high socially, and pro- 
fessionally the doctor stands unrivaled in the 
county of Kent. 




EORGE W. SHARER, one of the 
oldest and most respected and sub- 
stantial business men, as well as 
mayor of Cedar Springs, Kent 
county, Mich., and a resident of the town for 
thirty years, was born in Wayne county, N. Y. , 
December 16, 1833, the eldest of the family 
of four sons and three daughters born to Will- 
iam and Lucinda (Weed) Sharer, all of whom 
are still living, with one exception; the next 
eldest is Mrs. Henrietta Howland, a widow 
residing in Colon, St. Joseph county, Mich.; 
Selleck is a farmer of Newaygo county; Lydia 
is the widow of Byron Noyes, of Colon; Harry 
resides in St. Joseph county, and Mary is the 
wife of Oliver Culver, a farmer of Madison 
township. Branch county. 

William Sharer, the father of the above 
famil}-, was a native of Maryland, but of 
Mohawk Dutch descent. He was a farmer 
by calling, came to Michigan from New York 
state in 1837 and located in Lenawee county, 
where he purchased 100 acres of wild land, 
from five acres of which, however, the timber 
had been cleared, the remainder being cov- 



1000 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



ered with a growth of the finest trees in the 
state. His first residence here was the inev- 
itable log cabin, his agricultural implements 
were the four-fingered cradle for reaping the 
grain and the scythe for cutting the grass, and 
oxen for draft purposes. He resided in Le- 
nawee county fifteen years, but in the mean- 
time cleared up his land and made the "desert 
to blossom like the rose." 

In Mr. Sharer's time, the first railway in 
Lenawee county was from Adrian to Monroe, 
Monroe county, at the east, and was con- 
structed of 4 X 4 inch timber mounted with 
strips of iron for a track, while the car for 
passengers was shaped like the ordinary 
freight car of to-day, but somewhat higher, 
and with a few small windows for light and 
ventilation, while the motive power was the 
over-taxed equine quadruped. The Sharer 
family had returned to New York state, where 
they stayed for a short time, and on their re- 
turn they found that this wonderful road had 
been constructed, and on the way from Mon- 
roe to Adrian the subject remembers that the 
unique car pulled up at a little wayside inn to 
enable the passengers to dine. The menu 
contained the item, apples boiled in sugar, 
which to the subject proved a most delectable 
dish. This, his first hotel experience, took 
place in 1844. 

The elder Mr. Sharer was an enthusiastic 
whig, and during the Harrison and Tyler cam- 
paign of 1840 the " liberty pole " erected at 
Adrian was cut from his land and measured 
ninety-six feet without a splice, and was 
drawn eight miles with eight yoke of oxen. 
His life in those early days as a pioneer was 
one of considerable privation, but not at all 
an unhappy one; many conditions existed 
which would now be considered decided incon- 
veniences, such, for instance, as the circulat- 
ing medium, which consisted of twist tobacco 
and coon skins. At one time Mr. Sharer went 



in debt at a store for some of the necessaries 
of life to the amount of $15, and to pay this 
off required, three years' accumulation of the 
currency mentioned. A letter sent from the 
old home in the east would sometimes lay in 
the post-office three months before the neces- 
sary amount of postage, fifty cents, could be 
spared. "Wild cat" and "red dog" bank 
notes were the currency best known, and this 
was of a very fluctuating as well as uncertain 
character. 

When Mr. Sharer located in Lenawee 
county there were no school-houses nor 
churches in his vicinity, but later on the alma 
mater of George W. Sharer was brought into 
being. This was a building 12x14 feet, with 
one window, with a "shake" roof and a stick 
and mud chimney. The door was of heavy 
puncheons and hung on rude wooden home- 
made hinges, and the latch, of the same rdde 
construction and material, was operated on 
the outside by meansof a string passed through 
a hole. The pupils, at times, when inclined 
to play a prank on the teacher when he hap- 
pened to be outside the room, would close this 
door, pull in the string, and thus effectually 
bar him out. All the furniture was of the same 
improvised construction, and this school was 
attended by Mr. Sharer from 1843 until about 
1S49. In the year last named the first union 
school in the state was completed at Adrian. 
It had an enrollment of 700 pupils, under 
Prof. Hall, assisted by Prof. Disbroe, and here 
the subject attended for a short time. He 
next began teaching in his home district at a 
salary of $15 per month, but, as a rule, was 
compelled to wait almost a year for his money. 
In this school he had several pupils four and 
five years older than himself. 

In 1849, also, William Sharer moved to 
St. Joseph county and bought 340 acres near 
Colon, where he resided until his death. He 
was one of the founders of the republican 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1001 



party, but never sought office, although one of 
the most popular and honored of men. His 
widow is now eighty-si.x years old and is well 
preserved in mind and body. She is a direct 
descendant of the Sellecks who came with 
LaFayette to aid the colonies in their strug- 
gle for independence, and is directly connected 
with the family of the famous editor and polit- 
ical manager — Thurlow Weed. 

George W. Sharer added to the education 
he had acquired in the schools already men- 
tioned by private study at all available leisure 
hours. In his school work he became famil- 
iar with the higher mathematics, and as he 
possessed an innate knowledge of words he 
naturally became an excellent grammarian 
and rhetorician. His business life has been 
varied, and, moreover, successful, as, during 
his pedagogic career, he dfevoted his summers 
to the tilling of the soil. At the age of twenty- 
four years he purchased 330 acres in St. 
Joseph's county, mostly on credit, but had 
liquidated the indebtedness by the time he 
was thirty-six years old. 

In December, 1869, George W. Sharer 
walked into Cedar Springs from Rockford to 
seek a site on which to build a stave and head- 
ing mill, but found it a difficult task, as the 
land was covered with pines, brush and stumps, 
but he finally cleared a spot on Beech street, 
broke ground, and erected his mill, which 
proved a success, and during his thirty years' 
residence he has expended for labor and 
material about $1,000,000 — and yet he has 
been one of the most unfortunate business men 
of the town, inasmuch as his plants have 
several times been destroyed by fire, as, for 
instance: In the fall of 1882 a conflagration 
swept away his store, cooper's stock, office and 
other property, involving a loss of $33,000; in 
July, 1885, he lost his store, his home, his li- 
brary, and all the valuable souvenirs he and 
family had collected for many years; in March, 



1887, the same fiery fiend swept away his 
mill, valued at $4,000, yet under all these mis- 
fortunes his courage never failed him, but in 
each instance he immediately rebuilt and with 
indomitable energy set to work to retrieve his 
heavy losses, and succeeded. But the end had 
not yet come, for in August, 1896, his mill was 
again consumed, the loss being $4,000, but 
another was at once erected and is now. run- 
ning at its full capacity. Comment touching 
such unconquerable indefatigability is not 
necessary. 

Mr. Sharer has shipped his out-put to 
Chicago, Minneapolis, New Orleans, St. Louis, 
Bloomington, 111., and to all points in Indiana, 
and the southern peninsula of Michigan, and 
at present he largely supplies the immense 
packing establishment of the Armours at Chi- 
cago. Mr. Sharer was also at one time in- 
terested in the pine lands of Oscoda county, 
Mich., but concluded there was no money in 
these and wisely withdrew his capital. 

Mr. Sharer was joined in wedlock, Decem- 
ber 24, 1857, with Miss Marinda M. Skinner, 
a native of Jefferson county, N. Y. , and this 
marriage has been blessed with two children, 
viz: Ida E., who graduated from the Cedar 
Springs high school and also from Albion col- 
lege, and is now the wife of Prof. C. W. 
Fallass, also a graduate of Albion college and 
at present a druggist at Petoskey, Mich. 
Charles H., second born, graduated from the 
home high school and also from Albion college, 
is now a resident of Chicago, and is the ad- 
juster of the estate of Mrs. Culver, the donor 
of $1,000,000 to the Chicago university. 

Mr. Sharer cast his first presidential vote 
for John C. Fremont in 1856, he being the 
first nominee made by the republican party 
for that high office. He has himself been 
twice elected mayor of Cedar Springs and is 
the present incumbent of this responsible po- 
sition. He is a warm friend of public educa- 



1002 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



tion, and advocates the training of the hand 
as well as the brain, that the boy or girl, when 
through with school-work, will be prepared 
in more ways than one to gain a livelihood. 
Fraternally he is a member of Colon lodge, 
No. 72, F. & A. M., of St. Joseph county. 
He has given substantial aid, financially, to 
the erection of the Methodist Episcopal and 
Congregational churches in Cedar Springs, 
and it is needless to state that he and wife 
stand at the head of the social circles of Cedar 
Springs. 



RANK E. SHATTUCK, postmaster 
and general merchant at Sand Lake, 
Nelson township, Kent county, was 
born in Hillsdale county, Mich., 
October 4, 1866, and is a son of John A. and 
Helen E. (Adams) Shattuck, both natives of 
Michigan. 

John A. Shattucli was a general merchant 
by vocation, and about 1872 moved from 
Hillsdale county to Jackson county, and 
thence to Howard City, Montcalm county, 
and some years later to Grand Rapids, Kent 
county, and while his family were still resid- 
ing in the latter city he established a general 
•store in Sand Lake in 1875, having also trans- 
acted a similar business in all the other towns 
in which he had lived. He is now engaged in 
general merchandizing at Newberry, in the 
northern peninsula of Michigan, and is recog- 
nized as a progressive, active man, of the 
strictest integrity. In politics he is a stanch 
republican. 

Frank E. Shattuck was but six years of 
age when his parents left Hillsdale, and with 
them he went from place to place. At Grand 
Rapids he attended a public school, and also 
attended a course of study at Swensberg's 
business college. He was reared to mercantile 



pursuits, acting as salesman and bookkeeper, 
and in 1890 purchased his father's stock of 
general merchandise at Sand Lake and began 
trade on his own account. He prospered well 
until 1895, when the main part of the village 
was destroyed by a conflagration, in which he 
lost his building and stock, valued at $7,000. 
But he was possessed of fortitude, energy, and 
a philosophical turn of mind, and at once re- 
opened, placing in a fresh stock, and now car- 
ries the best line of dry goods, clothing, gro- 
ceries, and all other goods that go to make up 
a first-class country store, to be found in Sand 
Lake. These goods are purchased chiefly at 
Grand Rapids and Detroit, are of the latest 
styles in the textile fabrics, and are always 
fresh and sound as far as groceries and provi- 
sions are concerned. 

In politics, Mr. Shattuck is a republican, 
and cast his first presidential vote for Benja- 
min Harrison. He has several times been 
elected a member of the town council, and 
was its president in 1895; he also served as 
village treasurer three years, township treas- 
urer four terms, and as a member of the board 
of education five years, still fills the latter po- 
sition, and is one of the warmest friends of pub- 
lic education to be found in the county. In 
Angust, 1897, Mr. Shattuck was appointed post- 
master of Sand Lake, under President McKin- 
ley, through the direct influence of Hon. Will- 
iam Alden Smith, congressman from Kent 
county, and is still the incumbent of this of- 
fice; the same year he likewise received a 
commission as notary public. He has served 
as his party's delegate from Nelson township 
in various county and state conventions, and 
has in other ways been honored witih marks of 
esteem and confidence by his party friends. 
Fraternally, Mr. Shattuck is a member of 
lodge No. 213, F. & A. M.. at Cedar Springs, 
and also of the K. O. T. M. , tent No. 422, of 
Sand Lake. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1003 



Mr. Shattuck was married at Big Rapids, 
Micii., April 2, 1891, to Miss Sylvia S. Hart, 
and four children have blessed this union, viz: 
Don C, Edgar P., John A. and Erma E. 
Mrs. Shattuck is a highly educated lady, hav- 
ing passed through the public schools and Fer- 
ris' Industrial college at Big Rapids, and some 
years before her marriage was a most success- 
ful teacher in the public schools of Mecosta 
countj'. Mr. and Mrs. Shattuck enjoy, in a 
marked degree, the unfeigned esteem of their 
neighbors in Sand Lake, and as a business 
man Mr. Shattuck bears a name of unspotted 
integrity. 



ASEY P. SHEPARD, a successful 
farmer of Ada township, Kent coun- 
ty, was born in Augusta, Kalamazoo 
county, Mich., on the i6th of De- 
cember, 1844. He is descended from one of 
the early pioneers of the county. His grand- 
father was the well-known Col. Henry Shep- 
ard, who had first located in Kalamazoo, and 
came to Kent county in the spring of 1845. 
He secured a large farm in Ada township, 
where he became engaged in farming, and 
where he died. He is just dim in the memory 
of his grandson, Casey Shepard. He had a 
son named Henry, who was reared on the 
ffirm when a boy, but who now lives in retire- 
ment at Lowell, Mich. 

The parents of Casey P. Shepard were 
James and Orpha (McKay) Shepard, he being 
born in Steuben county, N. Y. , and she also a 
native of the same state. James Shepard had 
come to Michigan with his parents when thir- 
teen years of age, and had married in I\al- 
amazoo county in 1843. He came here with 
but a yoke of oxen, and immediately set to 
work to clear and improve his farm, which at 
the inception was but an eighty-acre forest of 



oak timber, but to which he later added 
another eighty-acre tract. 

He became a successful hunter and trap- 
per, and engaged in this as long as he was 
able, even going in northern Michigan to hunt. 
He at times made as high as $100 per week, 
which income was more than he was able to 
make while engaged in farming. He was well- 
known in the state of Michigan for his success 
as a hunter and trapper. 

Although no politician, he was politicallj' a 
Jackson democrat. His death occurred in 
May, 1899, at the age of seventy-seven. His 
wife still lives in Lowell at the age of seventy- 
eight years. They were the parents of four 
sons and one daughter, of whom Aurelia is the 
wife of John Ellis, at McCord, Mich.; Hiram 
is a stonemason at Lowell; Frank died at the 
age of twenty-si.x; Casey P. is the subject 
of this sketch, and Albert lives in Lowell. 

Casey P. Shepard remained at home until 
nineteen years of age, when he enlisted in 
company M, of the Tenth Michigan cavalry, 
in 1864, as a recruit. He joined the regiment 
at Knoxville, Tenn. During his career in the 
army, in which he was mainlj' engaged in 
scouting, he took part in the battle with Mor- 
gan at Greenville. He was in the saddle for 
one year, at the end of which time he was dis- 
charged by general order in June of 1865. 

On the 4th of November, 1866, being then 
twenty-two years of age, Casey Shepard was 
united in marriage to Miss Harriet Stout. 
Soon after the marriage he bought eighty 
acres of land adjoining the farm of his father, 
and here resided for six years. He then re- 
moved to Lowell, where he kept a meat mar- 
ket one year; thence to Ada township, where 
he bought another eighty-acre farm. His fa- 
ther, having sold his farm, was compelled to 
take it back, and to it his sons moved in 1884, 
and are now residing at the old homestead. 
He is at present engaged in general farming. 



1004 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



He is also a fruit grower and was the first in 
the county to raise peaches extensively. He 
had 2,000 bearing trees and found it a very 
satisfactory occupation, but the severe winter 
of 1898 caused the loss of most of them. 

Mr. Shepard and his wife are the parents 
of three sons: Fred, Ray and Clare, all of 
whom are now living at home. They have 
lost one daughter, Addie May, who died at the 
age of seventeen. 

Mr. Shepard, whose political views differ 
widely from those of his father, is a firm be- 
liever in the principles of the republican party. 
Fraternally he is is a member of Ada lodge, 
I. O. O. F., No. 408, and of Bradfield post, 
G. A. R. He has made a success in life, 
comes of the best pioneer stock, is the head of 
an excellent family, and is one of the highly 
honored citizens of Kent county. His busi- 
ness tact and thrift, and his perseverance and 
industry, have won him a competence, and he 
is now enjoying in ease the fruits of his earlier 
and arduous labors. 




HARLES W. SHERWIN, a prosper- 
ous and well known farmer of Solon 
township, Kent county, Mich., was 
born in St. Lawrence county, N. Y. , 
March 21, 1850, the seventh of the five sons 
and seven daughters that constituted the fami- 
ly of Isaac C. and Caroline (Bowhell) Shervvin, 
and of whom ten are still living, viz: John C. , 
who, however, has not been heard of for the 
past forty-four years, but who, at the last tid- 
ings, was at work on the Erie canal, near Syr- 
acuse, N. Y. ; Isaac C. is married, resides in 
Canada, and is prospering in the patent-right 
business; Alice C. is the wife of John R. Rob- 
inson, a carpenter and joiner of Quincy, Mich. ; 
Daniel W. , who was a soldier in the late Civil 
war, and is now a thriving miller of St. Law- 



rence county, N. Y. ; Ella E., now Mrs. Frank 
Bailey, of Battle Creek, Mich. ; Candace A., 
married to Daniel Driscoll, a prosperous agri- 
culturist of Humphrey, Nebr. ; Orpha E., widow 
of Timothy Driscoll. and residing in Battle 
Creek, Mich.; and Frank G., a merchant also 
of Battle Creek. 

Issac C. Sherwin, the father of this family, 
was a native of Jefferson county, N. Y., born 
about 1805; and near his birthplace was an 
inlet of lake Ontario, called Sherwin's bay, 
named after his father, who was the first set- 
tler in that part of the Empire state. Isaac 
C. possessed great executive ability and sound 
judgment, and was a self-educated man, a 
constant student, and well posted in past and 
current events. He built twenty-one miles of 
plank road in St. Lawrence county, was every 
way an industrious and energetic citizen, and 
died greatly respected, in 1887. In politics 
he was first a whig and later a republican. 
Mrs. Caroline Sherwin was born in the Mo- 
hawk valley, N. Y. , was of Dutch and French 
descent, and died at the age of seventy-six 
years. 

Charles W. Sherwin received a sound, 
practical education in his native state, and at 
the age of fifteen years began working for the 
Clifton Railroad company, and held his posi- 
tion (our years; he continued to reside in New 
York until 1876, when he came to Kent 
county, Mich., and here for a short time filled 
a situation as a stationary engineer, and next 
engaged in agriculture. July 16, 1876, Mr. 
Sherwin was united in matrimony with Miss 
Ursula Rounds, a daughter of Eli C. Rounds, 
the old pioneer of Solon township, whose biog- 
raphy will be found on another page, and to 
this marriage have been born five children, 
naniely: Eli C, who was graduated from 
the Rockford and Cedar Springs high schools. 
Later he taught school m Kent county, being 
at the time the youngest man in the profes- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1005 



sion, and is now the superintendent of his 
maternal grandfather's estate; Carrie E. is a 
student in the Cedar Springs high school, from 
which she will graduate with the class of 
1900; John W., a student in the high school; 
Maude A., in the sixth grade, and Amy S., in 
the fourth grade. Mr. and Mrs. Sherwin are 
indeed to be commended for giving their chil- 
dren their splendid educational advantages. 

In politics Mr. Sherwin is a republican, 
and his first presidential vote was cast for 
U. S. Grant. He has himself filled the office 
of highway commissioner, with great accepta- 
bility. He has straightened out many of the 
roads in the township, has extracted about 
8,000 stumps from the highways, and has 
rendered travel now a comparatively easy task 
in every direction throughout the township. 
He is strongly in favor of free education, and 
believes that the best teachers are not too 
good for his district. Mr. and Mrs. Sherwin 
are sincere Christians, adhere strictly to the 
teachings conveyed in the "Sermon on the 
Mount," and enjoy the esteem, without ex- 
ception, of all their neighbors. 




ON. JOHN W. SHISLER, member of 
the Michigan house of representa- 
tives from the Second district of Kent 
county, and a well-known agricult- 
urist, was born in Stevensville, Ontario, August 
19, 1840. He was educated in the Alfred 
university in New York, and at Fort Edward 
institute, and began teaching school at the 
age of sixteen years. 

The Shisler family is of German origin, and 
the first of the fore-fathers to come to America 
settled in Pennsylvania in 1690. The grand- 
father of John W. emigrated to Canada, and 
the same year Peter, the father of the subject, 
was born. 



• July 2, 1863, John W. Shisler married, in 
Erie county, N. Y., Miss Phiannah E. Boven- 
meyer, and for five years remained in that 
county, engaged in farming. In 1869 became 
to Michigan, located at Thornapple, and in 
1872 came to Caledonia township, Kent county, 
and settled on 120 acres in section No. 33; this 
tract he has thoroughly improved, and erected 
on it, about eight years ago, his present hand- 
some dwelling. He has here been engaged in 
general farming, and was one of the organizers 
and president of the Caledonia Union Fair 
association, and held the office seven years. 
This association has been of decided advantage 
to the farmers, resulting in breeding much 
thoroughbred stock throughout the country. 
He is himself a breeder of the famous Shrop- 
shire sheep, of which he has an extra fine flock. 

In politics Mr. Shisler is a republican, with 
which party he has actively worked ever since 
coming to Michigan. For twelve years he has 
been a member of the county-executive com- 
mittee, and is frequently found in the conven- 
tions of his party. In 1896 he was elected to 
the lower house of the state legislature, and 
was re-elected in 1898. He was appointed on 
the committees on insurance and education, 
and during his second term was chairman of 
the committee last named. He also served on 
several other important committees, and on 
that on Normal schools in both sessions. He 
was a member of the special committee sent 
to locate the Upper Peninsula Normal school, 
visited several cities, and finally located the 
school at Marquette. He has always kept up 
his interest m educational work, and has been 
a director in his own district twenty-four years 
consecutively, frequently visiting the schools. 
His work in the committee on education in the ■ 
house was especially important and useful. 

Fraternally, Mr. Shisler is a member of 
Caledonia lodge. No. 251, I. O. O. F., in 
which he has filled most of the chairs; relig- 



1006 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



iously, he is a member of the United Brethren 
church at Caledonia. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Shisler 
are three in number, as follows: Melvin R. , 
who was educated at Fostoria, Ohio, is en- 
gaged in the hardware trade, and handles the 
Champion Manufacturing company's products; 
Clara E., who was educated at the High 
school of Caledonia and the Fostoria acad- 
emy, and the Bryant & Stratton Commer- 
cial college at Buffalo, N. Y. , and is now and 
has been for some years abstracter in the 
office of the register of deeds at Grand Rap- 
ids; Er. is a young man of seventeen years, 
and was a messenger in the house of repre- 
sentatives during its last session. 

Mr. Shisler is the secretary of the Thorn- 
apple Valley Pioneer association and has been 
for four years, having succeeded W. S. Hale, 
who was the original secretary. Mr. and Mrs. 
Shisler are among the most esteemed residents 
of Caledonia, and Mr. Shisler is universally rec- 
ognized as one of the most energetic and pro- 
gressive agriculturists of the township. 




OHN S. SIMPSON is among the suc- 
cessful self-made men of Lowell town- 
ship, Kent county, who have overcome 
discouraging environments and won 
success in the face of formidable circumstances, 
and is entitled to conspicuous mention. 

Mr. Simpson was born in Brantford, Can- 
ada, June 5, 1832. In his youth he learned 
the trade of carpentering and joining, and after 
becoming proficient in the same worked for 
three years for mechanic's wages and then 
effected a co-partnership with his employer. 
This was before he was twenty-one, and there 
are still standing many houses and barns and 
bridges which attest his youthful skill as an 
architect and builder. On attaining his ma- 



jority, Mr. Simpson became foreman of a 
small force of men who were employed to hew 
and prepare timber, to be used in the con- 
struction of some of the greatest buildings of 
Cleveland, Ohio, and was also thus occupied 
in different parts of Canada for several years. 
On the 9th day of March, 1856, Mr. Simp- 
son was united in marriage in Lampman 
county, Ontario, to Miss Diana Erb, and eight 
years later came to Michigan and purchased a 
farm in Bowne township, Kent county. At 
the time of his removal to this state, he had a 
family of five children, and the purchase of the 
place exhausted all of his means, beside leav- 
ing a large debt hanging over him. To meet 
this he had recourse to his trade, which he 
followed with success in various parts of the 
county, his earnings being husbanded in the 
meantime for the purpose of paying off the 
mortgage on the farm. After meeting his 
obligations and becoming well settled, he met 
with a serious misfortune in the destruction of 
his house by fire, which entailed upon him great 
loss. Immediately following this disaster, Mr. 
Simpson disposed of all of his stock, sold his 
tools, rented the farm, and for four years 
worked in Grand Rapids, two years of the time 
in an establishment where rakes, grain-cradles 
and various other farm implements were man- 
ufactured. During the succeeding two years 
he did job work of different kinds as foreman 
as well as general manager for a contractor of 
Grand Rapids, and he was frequently intrusted 
with positions of great responsibility, in all of 
which he acquitted himself with credit and 
fully met the expectation of his employers. At 
the end of four years Mr. Simpson was, in a 
great measure, enabled to retrieve his mis- 
fortune, and, returning to the farm, began 
making substantial improvements in the way 
of buildings, fencing, etc., and for three years 
followed the pursuit of agriculture with most 
encouraging results. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1007 



After the marriage of three of his children, 
which occurred within a single week's time, 
Mr. Simpson rented the farm and moved to 
the town of Lowell, and a little later sold the 
place to his eldest son and gave his entire at- 
tention to carpentering and building. Desir- 
ing to retire gradually from the trade, he pur- 
chased a tract of twenty-five acres two miles 
south of Lowell, where he made a beautiful 
and comfortable home and there resided for a 
period of four years. Having several boys 
growing into manhood, with no steady employ- 
ment for them, he concluded to purchase a 
farm for their especial benefit. Accordingly, 
in 1892, he bought his present beautiful place, 
known as the Rolfe farm, consisting of 200 
acres, the greater part of which is now under 
a high state of cultivation. The place lies on 
the north side of Grand river, with one-fourth 
mile of river front, extends back one mile, 
and contains as fine and as fertile a body of 
land as any similar area of Ivent county. The 
improvements are in keeping with the condi- 
tion of the soil, and in the matter of general 
crops and live stock Mr. Simpson is consid- 
ered the peer of any agriculturist in a town- 
ship noted for its high-grade farms. 

Mrs. Simpson was born in Waterloo, On- 
tario, July 26, 1836, the daughter of Abra- 
ham and Willie (Clements) Erb, the father a 
native of Canada and of Swiss descent. Mrs. 
Erb died about 1881, since which time father 
Erb has made his home with his children. He 
is a remarkably well-preserved gentleman of 
eighty-five and possesses in a marked degree 
his faculties, physical and mental. 

The immediate family of Mr. and Mrs. 
Simpson consists of the following children: 
George owns the old homestead in Bowne 
township, but resides in Freeport, Mich.; he is 
a stock dealer and has met with financial 
success; Susannah, wife of John Weitz, 
resides in Odessa, this state; William is a 



well-to-do farmer of Kalkaska, Mich. ; John 
lives near the same place, and like his broth- 
ers has made agriculture pay; Oliver farms 
the home place; Martin is a member of 
the dry-goods firm of Simpson & Peer, Ionia, 
Mich., and the youngest, Fred, owns a farm 
near the town of Freeport. 

Mr. Simpson has done well by his children 
and has the satisfaction of knowing that they 
are all prospering in life and stand high in the 
estimation of the people of their respective 
communities. There are eighteen grand-chil- 
dren, who, it is to be hoped, will grow up to 
reflect the sterling qualities of an honorable 
ancestry. 

Mr. Simpson has been an earnest support- 
er of the republican party for many years, 
but numbers among his warmest personal 
friends many whose political faith is directly 
opposed to his own. He is a careful observer, 
and intelligentl}' expresses his opinions upon 
all matters of a political or public nature. 
A strong temperance man, he is nevertheless 
opposed to the principles and methods of the 
prohibition party, and, a free thinker in mat- 
ters of religion, he is tolerent of the opin- 
ions of those who differ from him. His creed 
is to live up to his convictions of right, and he 
tries to comport himself in the sight of his fel- 
low men so as to win and retain their honor 
and regard. 




YRON F. SISSON, well known for 
his integrity and honor among his 
fellow-farmers of Nelson township, 
Kent county, was born in Hills- 
dale county, Mich., September 4, 1852, the 
eldest in a family of six children — two sons 
and four daughters — born to Samuel B. and 
Deborah (Hill) Sisson, of which children four 
still survive, the three beside the subject being 



1008 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Theodosia, wife of Matthew Aldrich, a me- 
chanic in Chicago, 111. ; Nettie, wife of Thorn- 
ton Cline, a mechanic in Grand Rapids, 
Mich., and Charles, a farmer of Oalifield Cen- 
ter, Kent county. 

Samuel B. Sisson was born in Yates coun- 
ty, N. Y., April 22, 1S26, and came to Michi- 
gan when twenty-six years of age, the state at 
that time being but fifteen years old as a mem- 
ber of the Union. He resided in Hillsdale 
county until 1854, when he came to Kent 
county and located in the woods of Nelson 
township, and of this township he was the 
fourth permanent settler. His first habitation 
here was a little log cabin, with a shake roof 
and a mud and stick chimney, and many were 
the times when the subject of this sketch and 
his mother were compelled to dash water up 
this chimney to extinguish the flames which 
had ignited from the blazing pine knots on the 
hearth below. Indians were numerous, and 
the subject learned from them many words of 
their language. Deer, bears and other wild 
game abounded, so that the settlers never 
lacked for food, and, although their farm labors 
were onerous their life was not unpleasant. 
Oxen were employed as draft animals, and all 
the farm implements would to-day be consid- 
ered as rude or primitive. Mr. Sisson was a 
republican in politics and a warm friend of 
public education, was generous and charitable, 
industrious and frugal, and died an honored 
man April 25, 1884. His first wife was born 
in 1828 in Cohocton, Steuben county, N. Y., 
but was reared in Michigan, and died in Nel- 
son township aged forty. His second wife was 
Mary Elizabeth Mumah, who survived him 
several years. 

M. F. Sisson was a child two years of age 
when brought to Kent county by his parents, 
and here he was reared to manhood on the 
farm which his father purchased, and of which 
mention has already been made. He received 



a moderate common-school education and was 
taught the trade of carpenter by his father, 
but the major part of his life has been passed 
on the farm. November 7, 1S75, he married 
Miss Sabrina Smith, daughter of Hiram and 
Angeline (Seward) Smith, and a native of 
Plainfield township, Kent county, born April 
26, 1855. Her father came in 1840 to Grand 
Rapids township with his father, Michael 
Smith, thus being a pioneer. To the happy 
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Sisson have been born 
seven children, six of whom still live to honor 
their parents, death having bereft them .of the 
eldest child, Francis M., whose untimely end 
took place October 22, 1893, at theageof 
seventeen years, at the beginning of a prom- 
ising manhood, and the pride of his loving 
parents; Viola, the second child, a young lady 
of superior intellectual endowments, has been 
a teacher for three years in I\ent county, and 
is also a superior musician; Maud received a 
diploma for excellence in her studies, given at 
the state public examination in 1896; Irene is 
in the eighth grade at her school; George 
Ervine is in the fourth grade; Delina Ruth is 
aged six years, and Goldie E. is the sunbeam 
of the household. 

Mr. Sisson, who is known as the " model 
farmer," has now resided in Keiit county over 
forty-five years, and has done his lull share in 
redeeming it from the wilderness and in con- 
verting it into the beautiful agricultural dis- 
trict it now is. In his childhood he saw deer 
course over the ground where Sand Lake vil- 
lage now stands, and one log house, a hotel 
and a blacksmith shop constituted the village 
of Cedar Springs. From the forty-acre farm 
on which he was reared he has uprooted 3,000 
stumps, has made all the modern improve- 
ments on the place, and is free from debt. 

In politics Mr. Sisson is a republican, cast 
his first presidential vote for the martyred 
Garfield, and is still faithful to the party. He 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1009 



and wife enjoy the respect of the entire pop- 
ulation of Nelson township, and no word of 
doubt as to the integrity and honor of Mr. 
Sisson has ever been known to have been ut- 
tered in Nelson township or elsewhere. 




ICHARD J. SLATER, one of the 
most progressive and scientific 
farmers in Cascade ' township, Kent 
county, Mich., was born in Essex 
county, Vt.. September i6, 1856, and is a 
son of George Slater, whose biography may 
be found among those of the residents of 
Grand Rapids. 

When Richard J. Slater was three years 
old, his parents came to Michigan and located 
in Paris township, Ivent county, where he was 
educated in the district schools and reared to 
manhood on his father's farm. When he 
reached his majority his father, who owned 
an eighty-acre farm in Cascade township, fur- 
nished him with a team, implements and cash 
sufficient for a year's expenses, and placed 
hiui in charge of the farm, with the under- 
standing that he was to retain what was 
raised on the place. Young Richard, how- 
ever, soon paid for the team and implements, 
the farm became his, and at the end of the 
year he and his elder brother, Alien, traded 
off the original farm for the one on which Mr. 
Slater now resides. Both the brothers were 
then single, and four years later, in 1879, 
Richard bought out the interests of his 
brother, who returned to Paris township and 
bought another farm. 

Richard J. Slater now owns 150 acres — 
the old Gideon Denison farm — adjoining Cas- 
cade village, to pay for part of which he bor- 
rowed money from his father, but this has 
long since been repaid. Here he carries on 
general farming, and also a dairy, disposing of 



his milk to the Ada creamery, in which he 
was one of the original stockholders. 

Mr. Slater married, No\'ember 21, 1883, 
Miss Ellen Brown, daughter of Hugh and 
Harriet (Lewis) Brown, early settlers of Cas- 
cade township, where she was born November 
II, 1857. To this union have been born 
seven children, viz: Hugh A., Bessie E., 
Leon B. and Laura B. (twins), and three boys 
(including twins) that died in infancy. 

In politics Mr. Slater is a democrat, served 
some years as a justice of the peace, and so 
satisfactorily that, he was again elected to the 
office in 1899. Fraternally, he is a member 
of the Masonic lodge at Ada. 

The dwelling he occupies was erected by 
Gideon Denison some years ago, and Mr. 
Slater has always kept it in first-class condi- 
tion. Mr. Slater is looked upon as one of the 
best farmers in Cascade township, having 
been reared to the calling since his earliest 
boyhood, and bringing to his aid his brains as 
well as his brawn. He has been quick to 
take advantage of modern machinery, and in 
securing up-to-date implements, and was the 
first to introduce riding-cultivators into the 
township. His usefulness as a citizen is uni- 
versally acceded, and the high respect in 
which he and his family are held is the natu- 
ral consequence. 




HESTER M. SLAYTON, one of the 
most prominent scientific agricult- 
urists of Grattan township, Ivent 
county, Mich., and ex-soldier, was 
born in Middlesex, Yates county, N. Y. , De- 
cember 26, 1834, the fourth of eight children 
— six sons and two daughters — that consti- 
tuted the family of Russell and Berthena 
(Clark) Slayton, of whom five are still living, 
viz: Fannie, who was a teacher in Kent 



1010 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



count}' for several years and is now the wife 
of W. R. Mason, a farmer of Grattan; Asa W. , 
an ex-soldier of the Civil war, a teacher for 
forty years in Michigan, and now living in re- 
tirement in Grand Rapids; Chester M., the 
subject of this sketch; Francis Marion, farmer 
living in Lake county, and Charles W. , for- 
merly a school-teacher and now a furniture 
dealer in Hart, Mich. 

The Slayton name is prominent in Grattan 
township, as well as in Grand Rapids, and 
the gentleman whose name heads this sketch 
differs to a great extent from the ordinary 
agriculturists of the state, as his taste greatly 
inclines towards geology and natural history. 
The Slayton family throughout the United 
States have compiled a very fine genealogical 
record, which includes the names of all the 
descendants, as far as ascertainable, from 
Capt. Thomas Slayton, who, according to this 
record, compiled by Asa W. Slayton, was 
born in England, September 20, 1682, located 
in Brookfield, Mass., and founded the Ameri- 
can family, many of whom have been conspic- 
uous in the learned professions, as well as in 
industrial, commercial and agricultural chan- 
nels. Members of the Slayton family have 
also been prominent in military affairs, as 
shown by both tradition and history, as some 
served actively in the Indian and French wars 
in colonial days, at least seven were patriots in 
the Revolutionary war, nine were heroes of 
the war of 1812, and Phineas Slayton, great- 
uncle of the subject of this sketch, died in the 
Seminole war, while others of the family took 
part in the Black Hawk revolt. 

Russell Slayton, father of Chester M. Slay- 
ton, was born in Massachusetts, November 12, 
1798. He was liberally educated and lived in 
his native state until twenty-two years of age, 
when he removed to New York and for some 
time taught school, but later married and en- 
gaged in farming pursuits. In 1845 he came 



to Michigan, and purchased 400 acres of land 
from the government, securing it by deed from 
President Franklin Pierce, and in 1847 his 
family bade farewell to their eastern home of 
comfort to lay the foundation of their future 
home in the wilds of this now great state. 
Their journey was made via lake Ontario 
and the chain of the great lakes to Milwau- 
kee, thence across lake Michigan to Grand 
Haven, then up Grand river to Grand Rapids, 
which then contained a population possiblj' of 
only 2,000, against its present population of 
100,000 or more. Thence they came by team 
to their home, in Grattan township, but to reach 
it were compelled to cut the last mile of the 
trip through the forest, and, having reached 
it, erected a log cabin for their habitation. 

Mr. Slayton had been a persistent aboli- 
tionist in his politics up to the time of the 
founding of the republican party, which natu- 
rally absorbed the abolitionists and the north- 
ern element of the old whig party, and which 
was consequently in harmony with his anti- 
slavery views, which he lived to see triumph, 
but at a fearful loss of blood and treasure, yet 
"magna est Veritas et prjevalebit," and to this 
new party he adhered until his lamented death, 
which occurred October 26, 1863 — honored 
as an upright citizen and pioneer by all his 
fellow-townsmen. His wife was a native of 
Yates county, N. Y., was born May 20, 1803, 
and died May 4, 1877, in Lake county, Mich., 
a sincere member of the Baptist church. 

Chester M. Slayton received his earliest 
education in the common schools of Perring- 
ton, N. Y. , and was but thirteen years of age 
when he came to Michigan with his parents, 
and here he has been reared as an agriculturist. 
But he has devoted a great deal of time to 
self-instruction, making specialties of geology, 
archaeology, botany, natural history, etc., and 
at the age of twenty-one 3'ears commenced 
the collection of curiosities for his private 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1011 



museum, which collection embraces specimens 
of Indian relics of the stone age and weapons 
of war, archaeological finds, conchology as 
well as mineralogy, old fire-arms, continental, 
federal and confederate scrip, fractional cur- 
rency and the first issue of greenbacks, and is, 
all in all, among the most valuable private 
collections in the state and one of the most 
extensive. All these specimens are neatly and 
tastefully labeled — the handiwork of Mr. Slay- 
ton — and are cared for in a beautiful glass 
cabinet. 

The marriage of Mr. Slayton took place 
December 6, 1857, to Miss Sarah Ann Purdy, 
and this union has resulted m the birth of five 
sons and three daughters, of whom seven still 
survive, viz: Henry P. , who was educated 
in the- common schools and is still on the 
homestead; Clara D., wife of Clarence Stan- 
ton, of Belding, Mich. ; Russell, who was 
educated in the common schools, and resides 
in Detroit; Berthena, residing with her par- 
ents; Otto, who graduated with' the class of 
1898 from the Agricultural college at Lansing, 
and still makes his home with his parents; 
Albert, who graduated from the high school 
at Belding with the class of 1897, and then 
attended one term at the Lansing Agricultural 
college, and Ruby, who also graduated from 
the high school at Belding with the class of 
1898; she has a strong tendency toward liter- 
ature, and is still with her parents. 

Mrs. Sarah Ann Slayton was born in Onta- 
rio, Canada, February 21, 1838, and is a daugh- 
ter of Henry and Sarah Ann (Rodgers) Purdy. 
She was educated in Michigan, and has been 
her husband's faithful helpmate and advisor 
in all his undertakings. They began their 
married life with forty acres of unimproved 
forest land, have worked with one common 
object in view, and have been successful from 
the start, for the reason that Mr. Slayton well 
knew what he was about and what he ought 



to do. He has purchased the interest of his 
fellow-heirs to the original homestead, and to- 
day his estate comprises 280 acres of well- 
tultivated land, constituted of that sandy- 
loam soil so conducive to the growth of the 
cereals, culinary vegetables and fruits that pre- 
dominate in the southern peninsula of Michi- 
gan. It is situated on the north shore of 
Slayton lake — a beautiful sheet of water, one 
mile long, seventy rods wide and eighty feet 
deep, and abounding in bass, pickerel and sun- 
fish, and would prove a favorite summer re- 
sort, were Mr. Slayton disposed to make it 
such. Here he has his home of beauty and 
hospitality. 

Mr. Slayton was one of the brave boys to 
enlist to crush the war of the Rebellion, and 
was enrolled in company B, Twenty-fifth Mich- 
igan volunteer infantry, at Grattan, August 
II, 1862, under Capt. Demorest. The regi- 
ment rendezvoused at Ivalamazoo, and was 
then assigned to the western department 
under Gen. W. T. Sherman. For eleven 
months Mr. Slayton was on detached duty as 
a topographical engineer in Kentucky, but 
also took part in some very severe battles, 
among which were those of Buzzard Roost, 
Resaca and Kenesaw Mountain, and was also 
in the Atlanta campaign — all historical events 
of vast importance. While in the ranks, 
marching on the city of Atlanta, Mr. Slayton's 
hat was perforated by a minie ball, which 
might be called a "close call," considering 
the fact that the troops were under a continu- 
ous fusilade of musketry. When the battles 
of Franklin and Nashville wer^; fought he was 
on detached duty, but near enough to hear 
the whir of the shells and whistling of the 
rifle balls as they passed over him while in an 
ammunition train. When the tidings of the 
surrender of the Confederate general, Robert 
E. Lee, reached his regiment, he was between 
Goldsboro and Raleigh, N. C, and the exul- 



1012 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



tation following the receipt of the news may 
well be imagined. Mr. Slayton received an 
honorable discharge at Salisbury, N. C, and 
was mustered out at Jackson, Mich., in July, 
1865. During his three years' service he was 
never in the hospital, was never captured, nor 
was he ever wounded. Much honor is due the 
brave boys in blue, whose ranks are so rapidly 
thinning, and whose valor will soon be told of 
only in histor}' and in the cemeteries, and by 
the monuments erected in memory of the 
heroic men of 1S61 to 1865. 

In politics Mr. Sla)'ton is a republican, and 
cast his first presidential vote for John C. Fre- 
mont, but he has never permitted politics to 
interfere with his life-work. Socially he is a 
charter member of the Grattan grange, has 
been its secretary twenty-one years, and is 
the present incumbent of that office. This 
organization is in a flourishing condition, has 
about 120 members, and among them are 
Mrs. Slayton and the rest of the family. In 
1898 Mr. and Mrs. Slayton aided in organizing 
the Silver Gray's club, for social culture, and 
this has about fifty menibers. Mr. Slayton is 
also a member of Dan S. Root post. No. 126, 
G. A. R. , at Belding, of which he was once 
commander. 

Mr. Slayton and family are among the 
most prominent and respected citizens of Grat- 
tan township, and are also greatly esteemed 
in the city of Grand Rapids. 




RTHUR D. SMITH, the popular 
miller of Rockford, is classed amongst 
the leading and progressive business 
men of the village. He is a native 
of New York, was born February 7, 1859, 
and is a son of John C. and Delia (Watkins) 
Smith. 

Arthur D. Smith was educated in the 



common schools, and is a self-made man. 
His early life was spent on the home farm, as 
an agriculturist and as a woodman, and he 
was only nine years of age when he came to 
Michigan, and continued to work for his 
father on a farm. His first businsss venture 
was for about one year in the agricultural im- 
plement trade in Middleville, Barry county, 
and then, in 1891, he and father purchased a 
half-interest in the Rockford flouring-mills; in 
1894 they purchased the remaining stock, but 
when they assumed control of this plant, 
which is run by water power, it was not in 
extra good condition, but now has a capacity 
of turning out si.\ty barrels per day, Mr. Smith 
having added a set of steel rollers, three new 
bolts, one new scalper, new wheat-cleaning 
machinery, and also an air blast, which was 
a great aid in preventing the flour to cake or 
collect. He has greatly added to the effect- 
iveness of the dam, at an e.xpense of $1,000 
on this alone, and has constructed a driveway 
all around the mill. The full amount of im- 
provements put upon this plant, since the 
Messrs. Smith took charge of the mills, will, 
amount to $3,000. At the present time the 
plant is in the best of repair, and the well- 
known brand of flour, "Excelsior," has a 
splendid reputation wherever it is sold, both 
in Grand Rapids and throughout the state. 
The mill is a three-story structure, has two 
American turbine wheels, and the outfit is 
now complete for grinding wheat, buckwheat, 
corn, oats and r3'e. Smith & Son grind an 
excellent article of rye flour and graham flour, 
and also make a specialty of ground feed. 
The annual productions of the Rockford 
Roller mills foot up over $44,000, actual out- 
put. This shows that the business is con- 
ducted upon strict business principles. The 
value of the Rockford Roller mills, including 
grounds, is now estimated at $20,000. 

Arthur Smith is the sole manager of the 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1013 



business in Rockford, and he like most of the 
business men of the village, is a young man. 
His father and mother are residents of the 
city of Grand Rapids There are only two 
children in the family — Arthur and his sister 
Nettie, wife of Hendee Russell, a farmer of 
Middleville, Mich. The Smith family have 
240 acres in Thornapple township, Barry 
county, beside two or three residences in 
Grand Rapids, and property in Rockford. 

Arthur D. Smith wedded Miss Ettie John- 
son, a native of New York, March 7, 1883, and 
are blessed with one son — Howard M. , a school- 
boy. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are classed among 
the leading citizens of Rockford, and as a busi- 
ness man Mr. Smith bears a name that stands 
above reproach. 




OHN C. SMITH, father of Arthur D., 
was born in Otsego county, N. Y., 
October 8, 1832, and is a son of Cal- 
vin and Cinderella (Rimgan) Smith, 
the former of whom was asonof Harry Smith, 
of Scotch ancestry and a drummer-boy all 
through the war of the Revolution; the latter 
was of Mohawk Dutch descent. Harry Smith 
had an interesting Revolutionary war expe- 
rience, was taken prisoner, etc., and died 
rather young, while his widow lived to be 
ninety-five years of age. 

When John C. Smith was but a year and 
a half old, his parents settled in Wyoming 
on the Genesee river, N. Y., where he was 
reared to farming. At the age of twenty- 
two years he married Miss Delia Watkins, 
a niece of the Milton Watkins, of Kent 
county, and a cousin of Maj. A. C. Watkins, 
of Grand Rapids. He settled on a farm in 
Wyoming county, N. Y., where he remained 
until 1865, when he brought his family to 
Michigan and improved a new farm in Barry 



county, which he still owns. For some years 
he was in the lumbering business, chiefly in 
Barry county, and then engaged in handling 
agricultural implements at Middleville, where 
he resided until 1894, when he secured the 
entire interest of the Rockford Roller mill, 
which he managed two. years, and then re- 
moved to Grand Rapids, where he now attends 
to the business affairs of the mill, without los- 
ing sight of his farm interests in Barry county. 
In politics Mr. Smith is a republican, and 
for twelve continuous years served as justice 
of the peace at Middleville. For many years 
he has been active in his party's conventions, 
and he has a wide acquaintance with public 
men. Mr. ^ Smith became a Mason early in 
life, has kept up his close relations with the 
order, and he and his wife early became mem- 
bers of the Order of the Eastern Star at Mid- 
dleville. They are also members of the Con- 
gregational church of that village. Mr. Smith 
has been active in all the social functions of 
his old home. He took charge of the burials 
of citizens, and there is scarcely a family in 
that part of Barry county in which he has not 
directed the funeral of some member. 



LI SMITH, a thoroughly practical 
farmer of Solon township, Kent 
county, Mich., was born in Ontario 
county, N. Y., August 11, 1845, the 
second of the eight children — five sons and 
three daughters — that constituted the family 
of Joseph and Aley (Broom) Smith, a full his- 
tory of whom is given in the biography of Vic- 
tor Smith, a younger brother. 

Since his tenth year, Eli Smith has passed 
his life in Solon township and has done his 
full share toward developing the country and 
redeeming it from the wilderness. Until his 
twenty-eighth year he placed his services en- 



1014 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



tirely at the disposal of his parents, and then 
began his business Hfe on his own account 
with but ver}' little capital. January 20, 1874, 
he married his cousin, Miss Frances Smith, a 
native of Solon township, and this marriage 
has b.een crowned by the birth of three chil- 
dren, viz: Morgan A., who is a farmer, is 
married to Miss May Palmer, and is a demo- 
crat in politics; Clifford L., who is in thesixth 
grade of the common schools, and Bessie A., 
who is in the third grade. 

Mrs. Frances Smith was born September 
8, 1855, and is a daughter of Peter K. and 
Arminda (Evans) Smith, who were the par- 
ents of two sons and seven daughters, of whom 
si.\ are still living. Her father is a native of 
Ontario county, N. Y. , but came to Michigan 
when Solon township was still a wilderness 
and Indians and game abounded in the forest. 
He purchased 160 acres of government land 
and beg-^n his pioneer life in a log cabin, but 
eventually succeeded in developing a fine 
farm and in erecting a comfortable modern 
dwelling. He still resides in the township, 
but his wife is deceased; the surviving children 
are all residents of Michigan, with the excep- 
tion of the youngest, Stella, who is married to 
Charles Gilman, a prosperous farmer of Grass 
Valle\', Ore. 

The first farm purchased by Eli Smith 
comprised twenty acres onl}', for which he 
went in debt; his first dwelling was a common 
frame, which still stands on the premises. He 
to-day owns 160 acres with a clear title. In 
1880 he erected a pretty modern farm resi- 
dence, and he is classed among the most sub- 
stantial farmers of the township. 

In politics Mr. Smith is a democrat and 
cast his first presidential vote for Horatio Sey- 
mour in 1868. He is an ardent friend of the 
public-school system, and he and wife freely 
aid in the establishment and maintenance of 
the churches of the township and in the pro- 



motion of all worthy enterprises. As both 
descend from highly respected pioneer fam- 
ilies, their social standing is very high, and 
their own personal merits have won for them 
the unfeigned respect of all who know them. 



1 



ENJAMIN F. SLITER, a prominent 
attorney and successful fruit grower 
of Walker township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born in Grand Rapids, 
January 30, 1841, and is the son of James 
and Lucy (Ellis) Sliter, both natives of New 
York, where they were married and came to 
Michigan in 1828. 

James Sliter and his brother, Joel Sliter, 
came to Grand river valley in 1832, and located 
in Wyoming township, Kent-county, Mich., but 
later came to Grand Rapids. James located, 
in 1834, on South Division street, 160 acres, 
also some land in the city. When B. F. 
Sliter was in his fifth year, the father retired 
to the farm near Grandville, in Wyoming 
township, having to take it back, and there 
made his home until his death at the age of 
forty-eight years; his widow survived him up- 
ward of twenty years, or till the age of sixty- 
seven. 

Benjamin F. Sliter lived on the farm until 
ten years old, when his father died, and at 
twenty-one began to learn the printer's trade 
in the office of the Grand Rapids Eagle, and 
after he had learned the trade attended the 
city high school, completing the course. He 
then taught school and studied law with John 
D. Holmes and Judge Grove. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1864, and practiced in 
the city till 1S70, and then spent four years 
in the practice at Henrietta, Tex., and fol- 
lowed the circuit from 1875 to 1879. In 1882 
he came to his farm, but continued to practice, 
and part of the time lived in the city. He 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1015 



was elected city clerk at a time when but two 
democrats were elected in all the city. He 
has been a delegate to all democratic conven- 
tions for years, and is always connected with 
campaign work. Since i860, in fact, when 
not twenty-one years old, he has taken part 
in every campaign. In 1864 he stood alone 
in stumping the county, paying his own ex- 
penses. Mr. Sliter has also done a good deal 
of practical writing for the papers, and much 
of it of a literary character. 

His son-in-law left a large estate in Texas, 
and the matter has required his attention a 
great deal, as cases have been carried to the 
United States court of appeals at New Orleans. 
He has won each case in the end, and has 
saved to the family (his daughter and grand- 
son) about $75,000. While in Texas he en- 
tered into politics and was known as a fighter 
in the conventions. He knows all the promi- 
nent men of that state. 

Mr. Sliter has on his farm about 3,000 
peach trees, 1,000 plum trees, five acres of 
apples and 200 pear trees, as well as many 
cherry trees, and has been very successful as 
a horticulturist. 

Josiah T. Sliter, a brother of the subject, 
and a member of company B, Sixth Michigan 
cavalry, was killed at Falling Waters, Va. 

As a lawyer, Benjamin F. Sliter stands 
unsurpassed in Kent county, as a politician he 
has no equal, and as a citizen none is more 
highly esteemed. 

Mr. Sliter was married March 6, i860, in 
Grand Rapids, to Mary Ann Ryman, daughter 
of William S. and Matilda (Snyder) Ryman, 
the former of New Jersey and the latter of 
New York. They were married m eastern 
Michigan and came to Grand Rapids in 1856. 
He was a shoemaker and dealer and died at 
Grandville, aged seventy-five. His widow 
survived him five years, dying at Mrs. Sliter's 

at the age of seventy-five years. 

54 



The Sliter family comprises seven children 
living: Minnie, wife of Dr. T. J. Appleton, of 
Port Angeles, Wash. ; Frank W. died at 
thirty-one in 1896. He was a veterinary sur- 
geon. Sidney S. is in Cleveland, Ohio; Ben 
W., operating the home farm; Egbert J. is a 
chemist in Dr. Earth's laboratory; Madeline 
is the wife of Charles Harrison, a druggist; 
Leonamia is a young lady at home; Reuben 
is a student in the Union school; Sidney is a lit- 
tle child; Roy, an adopted child, has been a 
member of the family since his mother's death. 
James M. Strong, son of Minnie, and the boy 
referred to, as having lived in Texas, has also 
been reared in the family since his birth, and 
is now a yoilng man of seventeen and a stu- 
dent in the "gunnery " at Washington, Conn. 
Two children, James and Norville, died in 
early childhood. 



I 



ROF. CHARLES E. SMITH, Pii. B., 
superintendent of the Rockford pub- 
lic schools, was born in Jackson 
county, Mich., on the 5th of Sep- 
tember, 1866, and is the eldest in a family of 
four children. His parents were Benjamin F. 
and Mary E. (Rood) Smith. 

His early education was such as was sup- 
plied in common schools, supplemented by a 
short course in the North Adams high school. 
Desirous of acquiring a collegiate education, 
he as early as possible engaged in teaching, 
alternating with farm work, to secure means 
to complete a course in Albion college, which 
he entered in 1889. 

He was gaduated with the class of 1895 
receiving the degree of Ph. B. He was at 
once chosen as superintendent of the high 
school at Litchfield, where he had four assist- 
ants. Radical changes were made in the 
study course; Latin was introduced, and in 



1016 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



many respects it was adapted to the needs of 
a modern town. 

Three pleasant years were passed with 
most cordial relations to teachers, patrons and 
pupils, each \'ear an interesting class being 
graduated. 

The Rockford school board, in 1898, 
sought his services, his success having been 
such as would commend him to a town in need 
of a live up-to-date organizer and instructor. 

Five teachers are employed in the subor- 
dinate positions, the schools are filled with 
200 wide-awal<e pupils, and much improve- 
ment made in the results attained. The course 
of study has been thoroughly revised, a two- 
year Latin course and a full year in chemis- 
try being added, as well as numerous other 
changes, highly necessary to the advancement 
of the school. Professor Smith is an ener- 
getic and enthusiastic educator, and has been 
successful in his chosen profession. He has 
the fullest respect of his pupils and teachers, 
and he will endeavor to still further raise the 
standard of education. 

Prof. Smith wedded Miss Harriet Hanson, 
a native of Ottawa county, Mich., September 
9, 1896, and one little girl — Helen — graces this 
union and gladdens the home. Mrs. Smith 
graduated from Hope college in 1890, is a vo- 
calist of ability, and is a successful teacher of 
vocal music. Professor and Mrs. Smith are 
both members of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, and are prominent in all those under- 
takings of the church which tend so greatly to 
elevate mankind. 



HARLES L. SMITH, a prosperous 
farmer of Plainfield township, Kent 
county, was born in Walker town- 
ship, September 8, 1857, theyoung- 
est of the family of five children that blessed 



the marriage of John and Levina (Dhont) 
Smith, both natives of Belgium. 

John Smith was born about the year 181 1, 
was reared a farmer and was married in his 
native land. About 1857 he brought his wife 
and European-born children to America, loca- 
ted on a farm in Walker township, Kent county, 
Mich., and lived on the place about six years, 
when he purchased a farm in section No. 20, 
Plainfield township, on which he resided until 
his death, which occurred a short time there- 
after, when Charles was only six years old. 
Mrs. Levina Smith was born in or about 1 8 1 5 . 
For her second husband she accepted John 
Dutmers, to whom she bore four children. 
These, as well as those whom she bore to her 
first husband, she reared to maturity, and 
aided them to settle in life. She was a very 
bright and industrious woman, grew peaches 
and other fruit, made butter, etc., and was 
quite well to do at her death, on the 9th 
day of February, 1898. 

Charles L. Smith may be styled a self-made 
man, from a business point of view. At the 
age of fourteen years he began making a 
livelihood for himself by hiring out as a farm 
hand, and continued so to labor about four 
years, when he rented a farm, which he culti- 
vated for two years, and then purchased a farm 
of forty acres in section No. 19, Plainfield 
township, on which he lived until about 1896, 
when he again rented land for a year and 
then purchased his present place of 100 acres, 
in section No. 20, which he has since greatlj' 
improved by indefatigable industry, and now 
has a large peach orchard, which gives prom- 
ise of great profit in the near future. 

Mr. Smith was united in matrimony Sep- 
tember 14, 1875, with Miss Clara Brown, who 
was born in Casnovia, Tyrone township, Kent 
county, Mich., September 4, 1859, the eldest 
child of William and Mary Jane (Davenport) 
Brown. This marriage has been blessed with 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1017 



six children, born in the following order: Flo- 
rence Eva, wife of Charles M. Smith, of Grand 
Rapids; George William, Levina, Janie, Anna 
and Letha. Mr. Smith is a democrat in his 
political faith, and in religion is a Catholic. He 
and wife are greatly respected in their com- 
munity and well deserve the position they have 
attained in the esteem of their neighbors. 



MORY A. SMITH, of Cannon town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., with his 
postoffice at Chapel, has, as a fruit 
grower, spent years in this large and 
very important industry. 

Van Rensselaer R. Smith, his father, is a 
native of Maine, and at an early day saw that 
Michigan was destined to be a great fruit cen- 
ter. Accordingly, in 1850, he purchased land 
in Cannon township, Kent county, and began 
the culture of fruit. He planted the follow- 
ing well known varieties of apples: North- 
ern Spy, Baldwin, Philadelphia, Red Streak, 
Rhode Island Greening, Red Astrachan, Maid- 
en Blush, Autumn Swaar and Sweet Bough, 
in a clay loam soil, which constitutes the 
greater part of his farm. The Smiths have 
made a signal success in the fruit business, and 
supply both foreign and local markets, some 
of their apples having been shipped to Liver- 
pool. England. The number of apple trees 
bearing fruit will number 565. The year 1884 
was a record-breaker, as 2,500 bushels of ap- 
ples were marketed, and they realized twenty- 
five cents per bushel. Their orchard is in a 
healthy state, and shows great care. The 
laws regarding the care of the orchards are 
very strict, and fully enforced. V. R. Smith 
is the "yellows" commissioner of Cannon 
township and the first one appointed in this 
part of the county. The father and son are 
largely interested, also, in peach growing, 



having about 9,000 bearing trees. The fol- 
lowing is the list of the different varieties: 
The Alexanders, Early Canadas, Early Risers, 
Hale's Early, Early Michigan, Crane's Early 
Yellow, Barnards, Orange Yellow, Old Mixom- 
free. Hill's Chili, Barber, Engle's Mammoth, 
Chair's Choice, Beer's Smock and Early 
Crawfords — fifteen different varieties. The 
most productive year for them was in 1893, 
when they marketed 2,200 bushels, and the 
price was eighty-seven cents per bushel. In 
1888 their orchards were afflicted more with 
the " yellows" than any previous year, but 
that disease is about extinct at present. The 
life of a peach tree in Michigan will average 
fifteen years. Added to the apples and peach 
trees they .have 1,160 plum trees, of the fol- 
lowing varieties: Lombard, Moore's Arctic, 
Bradshaw, Shipper's Pride, Genii, Quacken- 
bosh, Red Magnum Bonum, Reine Claude, 
DeBavay, and General Hand — about ten dif- 
ferent kinds. There are 100 acres of land de- 
voted to the fruit business on the Smith es- 
tate, which consists of 350 acres in Ada and 
Cannon townships, and the fruit is in the best 
of condition. Their home is only six miles 
from Ada, on the D., G. H. & M. R. R., and 
eight miles from Belmont, on the G. R. & I. 
R. R., and eight miles from the city limits of 
Grand Rapids. The highways leading to this 
fruit region are mostly gravel roads. These 
fruit growers are graduates in this industry 
and understand all its details. 

V. R. Smith, in November, 1856, wedded 
Miss Lovina Condon, a native oi Canada, and 
four sons and two daughters were born to this 
marriage. Politically, Mr. Smith was a great 
admirer of Peter Cooper, the great exponent 
of greenbackism. He is a devoted friend of 
the public-school system and he and wife are 
devoted members of the Second Congrega- 
tional church of Ada. 

Emory A. Smith is a Kent county boy, 



1018 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



born May 19, 1864, and was educated in the 
common schools. He has had a varied life in 
different vocations, but the one seemingly best 
for him is that of a fruit grower. April 8, 1 890, 
he wedded Miss Maude Dennison, a native 
of New York, and two little girls grace this 
union — lone, aged seven years, and Rhea. 
Mr. Smith is an admirer of the brilliant ad- 
vocate'of free silver, William Jennings Bryan, 
but as a rule casts his vote for the man best 
fitted in his opinion for the office, regardless 
of party lines. Fraternally he is a member 
of Ada lodge. No. 280, F. & A. M. The father 
and son are well known for their integrity and 
bear a name that has never yet been impeached. 




OHN SMITH, general merchant at 
Ada, Kent county, Mich. , and also a 
member of the firm of Parker & 
Smith, millers of the same village, 
was born April 20, 1852, in Potter, Yates 
county, N. Y., and is a son of Conrad and 
Phillippine (Alphen) Smith. 

Conrad Smith was a native of Germany, 
was a cooper by trade, and about 1840 came 
to America and located in the state of New 
York, where he followed his trade until 1854, 
when he came to Michigan and located in 
Grand Rapids, where he continued at his 
trade for a time. He located upon a farm in 
Lowell township, on which he passed the re- 
mainder of his life, although he continued at 
his trade on his farm until a few years before 
his death, which occurred in January, 1894. 
John Smith was reared on his father's farm 
in Lowell township, was educated in a country 
school, and then learned coopering with his 
father. At the age of si.xteen years, with the 
limited capital realized from the sale of an o'd 
silver watch, he engaged in the coopering 
business for himself at Lyons for one ye: r, 



and then continued as journeyman, mainly at 
Ada, for eight years. In connection with 
coopering he engaged in butchering, and 
while thus engaged learned the trade, and 
also became identified with the manufacture 
of boots and shoes, with which he was con- 
nected for fi\e years. He then engaged in 
merchandizing, handling groceries, gents' fur- 
nishing goods, boots and shoes, etc., a busi- 
ness in which he is still engaged. In his store, 
Mr. Smith carries a well-selected stock of 
merchandise, valued at $2,000, and through 
his obliging disposition and fair dealing he has 
won a lucrative patronage and transacts a 
yearly business of between $30,000 and 
$35,000, including the business of the mill. 
His store is also the headquarters for the pub- 
lic telephone, and is generally a busy mart of 
trade. In 1894 he established the present 
firm of Parker & Smith, grist-millers, and 
proprietors of the Ada Roller mill. This mill 
has a capacity of between seventy and seventy- 
five barrels per day, and is the only mill in 
Ada, being one of the old institutions of the 
town. Mr. Smith also conducts a farm of 
eighty-five acres, and owns, besides, consider- 
able real estate in the village of Ada, where 
he resides. 

In September, 1869, Mr. Smith was 
united in marriage with Miss Rosa A. Brakey, 
daughter of Thomas Brakey, a native of Ire- 
land, the result of the union being two chil- 
dren — Nellie and Katie M. Mr. Smith is a 
member of Ada lodge. No. 280, F. & A. M., 
and both he and wife and eldest daughter are 
members of Vesta chapter. No. 202, Order of 
the Eastern Star. In politics he is a stanch 
republican. 

Mr. Smith is one of the oldest business 
men in Ada, and has reached his present 
prominent position through his strict integrity 
and fair dealing, and no man in the township 
is more respected than John Smith. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1019 




EORGE D. SMITH, a scion of a 
prominent old pioneer family of Kent 
county,, and a representative and 
thrifty farmer of Grattan township, 
is a native of the county and township where- 
in he now resides and was born on the 9th of 
November, 1852, on the farm where he now 
resides. He is the second of the three living^ 
children of the five born to Nehemiah and Bet- 
sey (True) Smith. The survivors are: Albert, 
a farmer of Grattan township; George D., and 
William, an agriculturist residing in Eureka 
township, Montcalm county. 

Nehemiah Smith was born in New York. 
In that state he was reared to' agricultural pur- 
suits and received a limited education in the 
common schools. In 1845 he came to Kent 
county, Mich., bought eighty acres of land in 
Grattan township, now a part of the present 
farm, and there for some years dwelt in his 
little log cabin, receiving frequent visits from 
the Indians. His estate comprises at present 
130 acres, and he still lives where he has re- 
sided nearly fifty-five years. The mother was 
a native of the same state as the father, and 
died on the old homestead in 1878. 

George D. Smith, since he was a mere lad, 
has been engaged in farming. His successful 
life has been one of much toil and persever- 
ance. Until twenty-two years of age he re- 
mained with his parents, spending his days in 
the usual manner of farm lads, and when not 
engaged at home, hired to anybody with whom 
he might earn an honest dollar. He chose, for 
his companion through life, Miss Jetora Reid, 
to whom he was united in marriage on July 
22, 1875, and by whom four sons and one 
daughter have been born, namely: Eber G., 
an industrious young man with his parents; 
Ray J., a salesman identified with E. L. 
Brook's general store at Grattan; Cora L. , the 
wife of Orley Emmons, of Grattan, and the 
mother of one child, Lloyd by name, and Ira 



and Glenn, both attending school. Mrs. Smith 
is a daughter of Thomas and Melinda (I"iing) 
Reid, and was born and reared in Grattan, 
Kent county, the date of her nativity being 
November 21, 1848. 

Mr. and Mrs. Smith began by operating a 
farm on shares, with the responsibility of both 
parents resting upon them. They now own 
valuable farming property and are held high 
in the estimation of their community as per- 
sons of industry and integrity. Mr. Smith has 
been connected with the public-school board 
for five years, is in politics a firm upholder of 
republicanism, and fraternally is identified 
with Grattan lodge. No. 196, F. & A. M., and 
both are members of Venus chapter. Order of 
the Eastern Star, and the Grattan grange, and 
are identified actively with the progress of 
these societies. They attend and contribute 
to the Ashly Baptist church. 




ICTOR SMITH, a respected citizen of 
Solon township, Kent county, Mich., 
was born in the city of Fort Wayne, 
Ind., September 18, 1851, the fifth 
of the eight children born to Joseph and Aley 
(Broom) Smith, of which eight, only four are 
now living, viz: Eli, Victor, Jasper and 
Warren W. 

Joseph Smith was born near Elmira, N. 
Y., July 12, 1823, but was mostly reared in 
Yates county, of the same state. He was a 
son of Sergeant William Smith, of the war of 
1 81 2. In 1846 he located near Fort Wayne, 
Ind., where he purchased thirty acres of, 
land, which he paid for with ashes and veneer- 
ing blocks. In the winter of 1854 he bought 
from the government an eighty-acre tract, 
also eighty acres of state swamp land, in sec- 
tion No. 23, in Solon township, Kent county, 
Mich., and for a time lived in a little log cabin 



1020 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



on the present site of Cedar Springs, which 
village had not then been thought of. After 
having erected a similar dwelling on his own 
land he moved into it and began cleaiing, and 
here the younger two of his children were 
born — the preceding four having been born 
in Indiana, and the elder two in New York 
state. Mr. Smith's farming implements, like 
his dwelling, were of a primitive kind; his 
draft animals were oxen, and his nearest 
trading point was at Grand Rapids — at that 
time a very small village — which he reached 
by team, there being no railroads in Solon 
township. 

In politics Mr. Smith was a democrat, 
but he was one of the brave Michigan men 
who went to the front during the late Civil 
war and served until honorably discharged. 
In religion he was a Methodist, and died May 
17, 1894, a member of the Wesleyan Method- 
ist Episcopal church, his remains being in- 
terred in the Solon cemetery, where a beauti- 
ful monument has been erected to his memory. 

Mrs. Aley (Broom) Smith, mother of Vic- 
tor Smith, was bom in Yorkshire, England, 
February 14, 1822, and when eleven years of 
age was brought to America by her parents. 
She is still in good health, residing on the old 
homestead, and is a consistent adherent to 
the Episcopal faith, m which she was reared. 

Victor Smith received a limited common- 
school education when joung, remained with 
his parents until nineteen years of age, and 
then began his business life by working in 
lumber mills near his old home. Septem- 
ber 5, 1872, he married his cousin, Miss Ce- 
lestia J. Broom, a native of Huntington county, 
Ind. To this marriage have been born three 
sons and three daughters, but of these six 
children only three survive, viz: Douglas A., 
who completed the eighth grade in the com- 
mon schools, is a partner with his father, mar- 
ried Miss Mary Hoadley, a native of Kent 



county, -and is the father of one child — Dewey; 
Grace, is in the seventh grade at school, and 
Carrie, 'the youngest, in the sixth. 

Mrs. Celestia J. Smith was born July 2, 
1 85 I, and is a daughter of Thomas and Mar- 
tha (Crakes)VBroom, who were the parents of 
twelve children, of whom seven are still living 
— three in Michigan and four in Indiana. Mrs. 
Smith is a lady of very pleasing address, and 
before marriage was a school-teacher for three 
terms in Indiana. Her parents were natives 
of Yorkshire, England, and her father came 
to America in 1S32, and her mother in 1833. 

WheU'the father of Mrs. Smith landed in 
New York he had nothing but a set of tools 
and less than $5 in cash; nevertheless, being a 
skillful'mechanic, his services were in con- 
stant demand. He made his first purchase of 
land of eighty acres in Indiana from the 
government, at a time when the Miami Indians 
still had possession of the country. Mr. Brown 
was quite well educated in select or private 
schools, was very enterprising, and secured a 
competency. 

Victor Smith's first purchase of land was a 
tract of^^eighty. acres, three and a half miles 
northwest of Cedar Springs, of which about 
five acres were cleared. For this land he went 
in debt, and when he had paid, as he could, 
$500 of this debt, he discovered that the title 
was unsound, and so he was forced to " home- 
stead " it. He added to his original eighty- 
acre tractjforty acres by purchase. All this 
land»^he has improved in modern style, and 
now, instead of a little log cabin, a most com- 
fortable 'dwelling is his home, and he is entir- 
ely free from debt. 

Mr. and Mrs. Smith are true Christians, 
and have aided financially in the erection of 
White Creek Methodist Episcopal church in 
Solon township. C Of this church Mr. Smith 
was a member of the building committee, was 
one of the trustees, and for twelve years has 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1021 



been the superintendent of the Sunday-school. 
He and Mrs. Smith are classed among the 
best residents of Solon township. 




HARLES R. SNETHEN, a highly 
respected resident of Solon township; 
Kent county, Mich., was born in 
Lake county, Ohio. December 17, 
1843, the third of the family of three sons and 
one daughter that crowned the union of Joseph 
and Amanda (Bridgman) Snethen, of which 
children three are still living — Catherine, John 
L. and Charles R. Of these three, Catherine 
is married to Robert Hubbard, a farmer of 
Grantie Falls, Wash. ; John L., who was born 
January 29, 1841, in Ohio, came to Michigan 
in 1867, and February 2, 1870, married Miss 
Lena Sayles, a native of Canada, to which 
union two children have been born — Effie and 
Nina. Effie is the wife of J. W. Molique, a 
miner and prospector, who has recently passed 
some time in Klondike, while Mrs. Molique 
makes her home in Granite Falls, Wash. ; 
Nina the wife of John D. Turner, is also a 
resident of Granite Falls, Wash. 

Joseph Snethen, the father of this family, 
was born in the state of New York March 30, 
1 809, was reared to farming in his native state, 
and after his removal from New York to Ohio 
chose dairying for his calling. In 1867 he 
came from Ohio to Kent county, Mich., where 
he secured the present farm of i 10 acres, in a 
trade for his Ohio farm, and here he passed 
the remainder of his life, dying April 27, 1895, 
a member of the Wesleyan Methodist church. 
His second wife, Sarah Morgan, had preceded 
him on the 25th of September, 1874. By her, 
as well as his own, request, they were both 
interred on the farm at a spot selected by 
himself. 

Mrs. Amanda (Bridgman) Snethen was 



born in Massachusetts October 11, 1810, and 
descended from the Bridgman family of Hants 
county, England. Her ancestors in America, 
on the paternal side, took an active part in 
the war for American independence, and have 
handed down to the present generation a glori- 
ous and unspotted name. This lady died Sep- 
tember 24, 1847, a member of the Congre- 
gational church, and her remains lie at rest in 
the cemetery at Ypsilanti, Mich. 

Charles R. Snethen, the subject of this 
sketch, received a practical education in the 
common schools of his native county, vvorked 
as a tiller of the soil until eighteen years of 
age, when he enlisted in company G, Forty- 
first Ohio volunteer infantry, under Capt. 
Martin Hamblin, the colonel of the regiment 
being the late renowned William B. Hazen. 
He fought in twenty-one battles, and in skir- 
mishes innumerable, his first severe engage- 
ment being at Stone River; later he was in 
the fights at Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Buz- 
zard's Roost, Kenesaw Mountain, Pickett's 
Mills, Franklin, and nearly all the engage- 
ments and marches in which the army of the 
Cumberland participated. At the siege of 
Atlanta his regiment had dwindled to 330 
men, and of this number 150 fell during the 
siege and eighty died of disease. At the bat- 
tle of Orchard Knob Mr. Snethen captured a 
rebel flag. At Lookout Mountain his regi- 
ment was in the reserve; at Missionary Ridge 
it was in the center, and here a piece of shell 
struck his rolled-up blanket and knocked him 
senseless, but he was not seriously injured. 
Mr. Snethen also fought at Nashville and 
Strawberry Plains, and veteranized January i, 
1864. At the close of the war his regiment 
was at Nashville, Tenn., but had been ordered 
to Texas, and while on its way to its destina- 
tion, via the Mississippi river and the gulf of 
Mexico, the vessel was wrecked and Mr. 
Snethen lost all his clothing and his much- 



1022 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



valued diary and other records. He was 
finally and honorably discharged at Columbus, 
Ohio, November 27, 1865, having made an 
enviable record as a brave and faithful 
soldier. 

In 1867 Mr. Snethen came to Michigan, and 
on June 5, 1 870, married Miss Frances Dunton, 
who was born May 11, 1854, in Ontario coun- 
ty, N. Y. To this union has been born one 
son, Louie P., who was a student at the 
Cedar Springs high school, but at present vis- 
iting the Pacific slope. In 1883 Mr. and Mrs. 
Snethen came to the old homestead, but No- 
vember 16, 1895, had the misfortune to lose 
their dwelling by fire; they immediately re- 
built, however, and have now as pretty and as 
comfortable a residence as ma}' be found in 
the township. 

In politics Mr. Snethen is a stalwart re- 
publican, and cast his first presidential vote 
for Abraham Lincoln in i860. He is now 
serving his second term as a justice of the 
peace. He has ever been an ardent supporter 
of the public-school system, and is at present 
a member of the school board. He and wife 
are members of the White Creek Methodist 
Episcopal church, both aid actively in Sunday- 
school work, contribute freely of their means 
toward the support of church and school, as 
well as to all measures designed for the ad- 
vancement of the public weal, and are classed 
among the most useful and respected residents 
of Solon township. 




ILBER SOLOMON, a highly re- 
spected young agriculturist of 
Plainfield township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born here August 21, 
i860, a son of Joseph S. and Miriam (Clark) 
Solomon, pioneers of the county. 

Joseph S. Solomon was born in Orange 



county, N. Y. , in 1820, the eldest of a family 
of six children born to William C. and Anna 
(Sayre) Solomon. He came to Michigan in 
1838 with his parents, who located in Liberty 
township, Jackson county, but subsequently 
moved to Ada, Kent county, where William C. 
passed the remainder of his life. He was a 
true American and had fought in the war of 
1 812, and his father Cyrus was a hero of the 
Revolution. Joseph S. was reared a farmer 
and followed that vocation until his marriage, 
when he engaged in milling in Plainfield town- 
ship until 1 851; then he resumed farming, in 
section No. 13, Plainfield township. July 15, 
1847, he married Miss Miriam Clark, the re- 
sult being six children, viz: Lodica, now 
widow of Alexander Cowan; Albert F., of 
Denver, Colo.; AnnaV., wife of H. P. Schoo- 
maker, a fruit grower of Cannon township, 
Kent county; Ada, wife of H. J. Spaulding, 
of South Dakota: Wilber, subject of this 
sketch, and Edward C, of Plainfield town- 
ship, Kent county. 

Wilber Solomon was reared on his father's 
farm and is a scientific agriculturist. With 
the exception of a short time passed as a clerk 
in a grocery store at Big Rapids, agricult- 
ure has been his sole pursuit, and any per- 
son glancing at his well-kept premises will 
readily understand that he keeps well posted 
in his business. April 8, 1882, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Mary Spaulding. Mrs. 
Solomon was born in SpofTord township, Onon- 
daga county, N. Y. , January 5, i860, and in 
1865 was brought to Michigan by her parents, 
who first located in Oakfield township, Kent 
county, where they lived two years, and then 
settled on section No. 24, Plainfield township, 
where they were highly respected by their 
neighbors. Her father, Jerry Spaulding, was 
born in New York March i, 1834, and died in 
Kent county, Mich., November i, 1897; her 
mother, Mrs. Cynthia Spaulding, was born in 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1023 



Hamilton county, N. Y. . April i6, 1838, and 
still survives. 

Shortly after his marriage, Mr. Solomon 
removed to Reed City, Mich., where he re- 
sided twelve years, improving a new farm. 
After the death of his wife's father, Mr. Solo- 
mon returned to Plainfield and took charge of 
the Spaulding estate. To the marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. Solomon two children have been 
born, Lloyd Clark, aged four years, and Ada 
May, aged one year. 

Politically, Mr. Solomon is independent, 
and is guided by his own judgment in casting 
his vote. Fraternally, he is a member of the 
K. O. T. M. lodge, at Reed City. The social 
standing of Mr. and Mrs. Solomon is an envi- 
ble one, and Mr. Solomon is classed among 
the most progressive young men of the town- 
ship and county. 




ECTOR ST. DENIS, a progressive 
and prosperous agriculturist of Tyrone 
township, Kent county, Mich., is a 
native of Quebec province, Canada, 
was born February 27, 1849, and is the eighth 
born of the family of eight sons and five 
daughters, that graced the marriage of Joseph 
and Ellen (Bray) St. Denis. Of these children 
nine still live and are farmers of Ontario, in 
the New Dominion. The parents were also 
natives of Canada, the father having been born 
about 1S02, and the mother about 181 5, and 
both were reared in the faith of the Catholic 
church. The father followed farming all his 
life and died about the year 1864, but the 
mother survived until about 1884. 

Hector St. Denis was a child when his par- 
ents removed from Quebec to Ontario, and in 
the latter province he grew to manhood. He 
remained under the parental roof until he 
reached his majority, and dutifully transferred 



his earnings to his father as long as he lived, and 
afterward to his mother. He then came to the 
United States, and worked as a lumberman 
for five winters in Newaygo and Montcalm 
counties, Mich., and his first purchase of land 
was made in I\ent City, Kent county, where 
he purchased two lots, and June 25, 1873, he 
married Miss Martha J. Pressey, a native of 
Somerset county, Me., the result of the mar- 
riage being two children, viz: Catherine Ellen, 
now the wife of George W. Barrett, a farmer 
of Tyrone township, and Henry Huntington, 
at school. 

Mrs. Martha J. St. Denis was born July 1 1 , 
1850, a daughter of Franklin and Jane (Keali- 
her) Pressey, who were the parents of nine 
children, Mrs. St. Denis being the only daugh- 
ter, and of these nine children six are yet liv- 
ing and are residents of Michigan, with the 
exception of one, who lives in Oregon. Frank- 
lin Pressey, the father, was born in Maine 
December 25, 1816, was a farmer, and died 'in 
his native state December 24. 1864; his wife, 
also a native of the Pine Tree state, was born 
April 12, 1824, and died in Tyrone township, 
Kent county, Mich., August 12, about 1883. 
The Pressey family were classed among the 
pioneers of this township, as they settled here 
in 1864, and were among its most respected 
citizens. The maternal grandmother of Mrs. 
St. Denis was a very wealthy lady in Ireland, 
and the Kealiher estate is still unpartitioned. 

When Mr. and Mrs. St. Denis started 
housekeeping, it was in a little shanty in Kent 
City, and their wordly possessions were some- 
what scant, but hard work and economy have 
well rewarded them. In 1877 they came to 
their present farm of forty acres, of which only 
twelve were cleared. Contrast the past with 
the present, and judge as to the amount of 
credit that should be awarded to Mr. St. 
Denis for solving the problem that has pro- 
duced the difference. Entering upon this com- 



1024 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



paratively wild land and carrying upon their 
shoulders a debt of $8oo,- they have now a 
beautiful modern residence, substantial barns 
and all necessary out-buildings, and as pretty 
a farm as there is in the township, and are 
virtually free from debt. 

In politics Mr. St. Denis is a democrat, 
and cast his first presidential vote for Samuel 
J. Tilden. For twelve years he has served as 
school assessor of district No. 7, and frater- 
nally he is a member of Tyrone tent. No. 361, 
K. O. T. M., of Kent City. Mrs. St. Denis 
is a member of the ladies' hive, L, O. T. M., 
No. 330, at Casnovia, and this hive numbers 
forty-six members. The social standing of 
Mr. and Mrs. St. Denis is with the best peo- 
ple of the township and county, and they well 
deserve the high esteem in which they are 
universally held. 



t*»gBr*l 



EWIS B. STARK, a leading and rep- 
resentative citizen of Cascade town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., and a 
gallant ex-soldier of the late Civil 
war, was born in Stowe township. Summit 
county, Ohio, January 16, 1841, and is a son 
of Benjamin and Hannah (Chapman) Stark, 
natives of Vermont, and married in that state. 
The Stark family is of Scotch origin, and 
came to America before the war for independ- 
ence, and from it sprang Gen. Stark, of Rev- 
olutionary fame. It is said that of three 
brothers, the first of the family to come to the 
colonies, one went to Canada, and for some 
reason changed his name to Stork, and some 
of the descendants of the other two, many 
years later, came to Kent county, Mich. The 
father of the subject was a farmer in Ohio, 
and on his farm the subject was reared to 
young manhood. 

Lewis B. Stark, in April, 1861, at the 



first call for 75,000 volunteers for three . 

months' service in defense of the Union, en- 
listed in an Ohio regiment and served four , 
months. He took part in the battle of Rich ' ' 
Mountain, Va. , and September 10, 1861, re- 
enlisted, for three years, in the Twenty-ninth ' 
Ohio, and served under Gens. Shields, Auger, 
Slocum and Hooker. His first battle in this 
regiment was at Kernstown, Va., under 
Shields, and later he was all through the 
Shenandoah campaign, in which he faced 
Stonewall Tackson several times, and was 
promoted sergeant. He was wounded at 
Cedar Mountain in the face and had his collar- 
bone broken by the fragment of a shell, but 
stayed with his command. He was in the 
campaign under Pope, and fought at Gettys- 
burg, at the second battle of Manassas, at 
Chancellorsville, and at Centersville, where 
Gen. Kearney was killed. He was next trans- 
ferred to the army of the Cumberland, then 
under the command of Thomas, and the next 
day was attacked by Longstreet. Later his 
division (Geary's) made an attack on Lookout 
Mountain and Missionary Ridge, through Tay- 
lor's Gap, encountering the enemy's flank. 
At Ringgold, Ga. , his brigade suffered severely. i 
In the spring of 1864 he started on the Atlanta 
campaign, and at Dug Gap his company lost 
fifty per cent, mostly killed, and in his posi- 
tion as sergeant he was in command of the 
pioneer corps, as he had also commanded, in 
part, at the battle of Kernstown, where the 
commissioned officers had either been killed 
or wounded. When his regiment re-enlisted 
in January. 1864, he did not veteranize, and 
was reduced to the ranks through a general 
order of Gen. Thomas, but owing to his expe- 
rience his superior officers placed him in com- 
mand of the First brigade pioneer corps of , 
forty men, which position he held until mus- j 
tered out at Atlanta, September 30, 1864. ' 
He had taken part in twenty-three regular 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1025 



battles (one more than his regiment partici- 
pated in) and fifty or more slcirmishes. His 
duty was constantly at the front, and he was 
often called upon to plant guns in the face of 
the enemy, under galling fire. He was always 
ready for service, never having been laid up 
one day in hospital. 

For the four years following his army serv- 
ice, Mr. Stark was engaged in farm work in 
Ohio, and in the spring of 1869 came to 
Michigan, having purchased a tract of 120 
acres near Ionia, but almost immediately after- 
ward changed his residence to Cascade town- 
ship, Kent county, where he owns a farm of 
eighty-seven acres, and a tract of twenty acres 
at Cascade village, eleven acres of which are 
devoted to growing peaches, and he also owns 
about 100 acres on the Thornapple river. His 
home farm is on the gravel road, one-half mile 
from the village of Cascade, and is a most de- 
sirable place, with eleven acres of orchard — 
making twenty-two acres, in all, of fruit — 
and he has also kept a fine flock of sheep. He 
has partly cleared up his farm himself, and 
has made many valuable improvements upon it. 

Mr. Stark was one of the organizers of the 
Ada creamery, in which he owns as much stock 
as any other person, and of which he has been 
the president since the start, and it has proved 
to be a very satisfactory venture. 

In politics, Mr. Stark is a democrat, and 
has often represented his town in convention. 
He is a member of Ada lodge, F. & A. M., 
and also of Bradfield post, G. A. R. , of the 
same village, and is active in the affairs of both. 

The marriage of Mr. Stark took place No- 
vember I, 1864, just after his return from 
the army, to Miss Florence G. Richardson, also 
a native of Stowe township, Summit county, 
Ohio. To this union have been born two chil- 
dren — George R., who was born July 27, 1877, 
attended the Michigan Agricultural college, 
and is now a student in the Grand Rapids 



Medical college, and Gertrude, who died in 
earlj' childhood. Mr. and Mrs. Stark are among 
the most respected of the residents of Cascade 
township, and Mr. Stark is classed among its 
most enterprising and useful citizens. 

George Seward Richardson, father of Mrs. 
Lewis B. Stark, was born in Keene, N. H. , Sep- 
tember 8, 1805, of English descent, and died 
April 5, 1884, at Cascade, Mich., aged seventy- 
nine years. At the age of seventeen years, 
George S. was taken by his father to Summit 
county, Ohio, when the Western Reserve was 
first being settled, and there his youngest 
brother, Elkanah, was born, the first white 
child in Cuyahoga Falls. George S. married, 
when twenty-eight years old. Miss Mary 
Everett, who was born in Pennsylvania, of 
German descent. 

In 1869 George S. Richardson and family 
came to Cascade, and, as he had served in 
several official capacities in Ohio, he was soon 
elected a justice of the peace. He was an in- 
telligent, well-informed man, although he had 
attended school but six months as a boy and 
one year after he had reached his majority. 
Although a man of few words, he could argue 
ably on any subject, as he became well posted 
in history, political economy and the lan- 
guages, and seldom failed to impart some useful 
lesson. He was a close student of the Script- 
ures, and had concluded that, notwithstand- 
ing their man\' excellent features, they were in 
many ways unreconcilable. He did all he 
could to make the world better, but made no 
noise about his benefactions. He set out 
trees and flowers, and was also very fond of 
birds and nature in general, and passed much 
of his time in the woods and in fishing. He 
was a Jackson democrat in his political views, 
but opposed secret political societies, yet was 
a friend of the Masonic fraternity. His children, 
who worshiped him, are Mary Lovica, wife of 
George P. Stark, of Cascade; George Seward 



1026 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



lives in Paris tgwnship, and Florence G. is the 
wife of Lewis B. Stark. Tfie mother of 
these children died February 2", 1S95, in her 
eighty-fifth year. She was much devoted to 
her home and a splendid helpmate to her hus- 
band;was an excellent manager of his finances 
and a balance-wheel to his visionary castle 
building, inasmuch as she was thoroughly 
practical in all things. 

The father of George Seward Richardson 
had been three times married and George 
S. was the' eldest child. The third wife out- 
lived her husband. George S., on becoming 
permanently settled, took six of the children 
of the second and third wives and made a home 
for them, and later, one of these, a lady who 
had married and had two children, died in 
Indiana. Her husband married again, and 
the step- mother so cruelly abused the two 
children that George S. made a home for one 
of them. Mr. Richardson, as will have been 
seen, was one of the most generous of men, 
and his death was deeply deplored by the com- 
munity in which he had so long lived. 




ENRY F. STEGMAN, a respected 
farmer and fruit-grower of Courtland 
township, Kent county, Mich., and a 
native of the county, was born Ma}' 
4, 1859, and is a son of Frederick C. and 
Otellia (Tischner) Stegman, who had born to 
them a family of eight children — three sons 
and five daughters — five of whom are still liv- 
ing, viz: Henry F., the eldest; Julia A., 
widow of D. R. Slocum; Emma, wife of W. 
F. Hessler, both of Rockford; Bertha, who 
married Henry Burch, of Courtland, and died 
May 26, 1899, and Frederick-, who died Jan- 
uary 24, 1S99. 

Frederick C. Stegman, the father of this 
family, was born in Saxony, Germany, in 1829, 



and came to the United States while still a 
3'oung married man. He first located in Oak- 
land county, Mich., but a short time afterward 
came to Kent count}', took up a 160-acre 
tract of land in section No. 16, Courtland 
township, and eventually wrought out a com- 
fortable home from the wilderness — for a wil- 
derness it was, yet not an unpleasant one, in- 
asmuch as it was the abode of game of all 
kinds, both beast and fowl, and, withal, of a 
few wandering or straggling Indians. Grand 
Rapids, then a small town, was his nearest 
market, and he often traveled the intervening 
space afoot; but he grew in wealth as the 
country grew in population and prosperit}', 
and became a solid citizen. He was a demo- 
crat in politics and served his fellow-townsmen 
as supervisor and treasurer for several years, 
and was also a member of the Masonic lodge at 
Rockford. He died, highly respected by the 
community, March 9, 1889. His wife was also 
a native of Germany, was born in 1837 and 
now resides in Rockford. Both parents were 
originally Lutherans in their religious faith, 
but finally united with the Episcopal church. 

Henry F. Stegman, the subject of this 
memoir, has passed his entire life in Kent 
county as an agriculturist. When he began 
for himself, he had nothing but his strong 
arms, a willing disposition, and a laudable 
ambition to become independent of the world. 
He started by purchasing, mostly on credit, 
sixty acres of land, with scarcely any im- 
provement upon it, and went to work, with 
the results hereafter to be mentioned. 

March 22, 1882, Mr. Stegman wedded 
Miss Serepta Annable, a daughter of George 
C. and Zernah M. (Doan) Annable, who are 
the parents of five sons and two daughters, of 
whom five are still living. To the congenial 
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Stegman have been 
born four children, viz: Lulu May, who is a 
student in the class of 1900 of the high school 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1027 



at Rockford, and has taken special instruction 
in instrumental music; Charles H. attends the 
district school; Blanche D. is also at school, 
and Don De Forrest is in his infancy. Mrs. 
Stegman was herself educated in the Rock- 
ford high school, and for several years was one 
of Kent county's most successful teachers. 
She is a member of hive No. 576, L. O. T. 
M., being sergeant of the same, which is in a 
flourishing state. 

The father of Mrs. Stegman was born June 
24, 1827, in Avon, N. Y., and immigrated to 
Washtenaw county, Mich., when the state was 
yet a territory. His education was of the 
common-school, and his life was spent as a 
farmer. He married Miss Z. Melissa Doan, a 
native of Port Sarnia, Canada, born in 1833, 
and still living. They were married in K.ent 
county, and all the children have been born 
and reared here. Mr. Annable is a democrat 
in his political views and is an ardent friend of 
the public schools. He and wife are members 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, and are 
residents of Grand Rapids. 

In politics Mr. Stegman has always been a 
democrat, and cast his first presidential vote 
for Winfield Scott Hancock in 1880. In 1896 
he was the delegate of his party to the county 
convention at Grand Rapids, where he fully 
voiced the interests of his people. He has also 
served on the board of reviews. He and wife 
are both ardent friends of the public schools — 
common and advanced — and are recognized as 
among the most public-spirited residents of 
Courtland township. Fraternally, Mr. Steg- 
man is a member of tent No. 684, K. O. T. M., 
at Edgerton, which has an enrollment of sixty, 
and of which Mr. Stegman was commander 
two years, and for one year recorder. 

Mr. Stegman has made many and impor- 
tant improvements on his farm since he took 
possession. In 1896 he completed a fine dwell- 
ing finished in hard wood, and where was once 



a dense forest of native trees he has a fine 
orchard. All that Mr. Stegman possesses he 
has made through his individual industry and 
toil, willingly assisted by his amiable wife only, 
and he may be emphatically designated a self- 
made man, in the business sense of this term. 
The door of their hospitable home is ever open 
to welcome their friends, of whom they have 
many, and whose esteem they enjoy to the 
fullest extent, as well as that of the entire 
communitv. 




ALVIN P. SNYDER.— For more than 
a third of a century Calvin P. Sny- 
der has resided in Kent county, and 
unaided has placed 120 acres of 
land which he owns under a good state of cul- 
tivation. The well-tilled fields and substantial 
improvements on the place indicate his busy 
life, and to-day he is numbered among the 
substantial and highly-respected citizens of 
his community. 

Mr. Snyder was born in Jackson county, 
Mich., on the 5th of January, 1841, and was 
the second child in a family of four children 
born to Peter and Elizabeth (Snyder) Snyder, 
all of whom are now living, and, except him- 
self, reside in Jackson county, where they are 
representative farmers. 

Peter Snyder, the father of Calvin P. and 
son of Lewis Snyder, was born in Albany 
county, N. Y., in 1808, and died in Jackson, 
Mich., in December, 1847. He was a farmer 
and a dealer in live stock, and settled in Jack- 
son county, in 1834. The country was wild 
and mostly timbered; Jackson was hardly 
known then, there being only two or three 
families in the vicinity of the present city. 
He bought and sold a great deal of govern- 
ment land, and one of the old deeds from the 
government still remains in the possession of 



1028 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



the Snyder family. The mother of subject 
was a daughter of George Snyder, and was 
also a native of Albany county, N. Y. ; was 
born June t8, i8i8, and lives at present in 
Hanover, Jackson county, at the ripe old age 
of eighty-one years. 

Calvin P. Snyder was reared in Jackson, 
where he went to the common schools. He 
learned the trade of stonemason but became 
interested in and devoted most of his attention 
to agriculture. He has two brothers and a 
sister living, viz: Merritt B., one of the first 
students of the State Agricultural college at 
Lansing, and now a farmer in Hanover, Jack- 
son county; Seth B.,a farmer of the same vi- 
cinity, and Lucy, a maiden lady, who resides 
on the old homestead. Mr. Snyder is a gen- 
tleman who has passed over the roughs and 
through all the difficult straits of Iffe, begin- 
ning life for himself at the age of fourteen, as 
a stonemason, which was his principal occu- 
pation for many years. 

In 1 86 1, in company with his brother Mer- 
ritt, he came to Courtland and rented prop- 
erty for two years, when he returned to Jack- 
son county. He followed his trade, and in 
partnership with his brothers bought a run- 
down farm at Hanover, and continued with 
this for eight years, when he bought what re- 
mained of his father's old farm. 

On May 13, 1870, occurred the wedding of 
C. P. Snyder at Cedar Springs to Miss Ida V. 
McArthur, a daughter of Eric and Eunice 
(Ringle) McArthur. She was born July 6, 
1853, in Otisco, Ionia county, and the second 
of three children: Adell, wife of James L. 
Snyder, a progressive farmer residing in 
Courtland township; Ida V., now Mrs. Sny- 
der, and George McArthur, a resident of Oak- 
field township. Her father was born near the 
city of Cleveland, O., and died in Ionia coun- 
ty, Mich., in 1862. He came from Scotch 
ancestry and lived the life of a farmer. Both 



he and his wife, who was a native of Ohio, 
were members of the Baptist church. Mrs. 
Snyder from ten years of age resided in Court- 
land up to her marriage. She was educated 
in the common schools of Kent count}'. She 
began married life with Mr. Snyder on a forty- 
acre farm in Summit, Jackson county, and 
they were in debt for that. To this they 
added, making them a first-class farm, with 
valuable improvements made by themselves. 
In 1883 they settled on their present farm, 
now comprising 120 acres of excellent land, 
with line improvements and a beautiful mod- 
ern, two-story country residence, erected in 
1892. The finishings are of oak and ash and 
the location of the home is one of the best in 
the township. 

Politically Mr. Snyder is a non-partisan, 
but cast his first presidential vote for Abraham 
Lincoln. Officially he has been justice of the 
peace for some ten years. Fraternally he is 
an esteemed member of Rockford lodge. No. 
196, F. & A. M., and both are members of 
Venus chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, at 
Grattan. In their religious connections Mr. 
and Mrs. Snyder are devout and respected 
members of the Baptist church in Oakfield, of 
which he is a trustee. Their life record is one 
unclouded by any shadow of wrong or dis- 
honorable dealings and commends them to the 
confidence and regard of all. While they have 
no children of their own, they have an adopted 
son, Francis D., a young man of twenty. 




OHN ROYAL STEWART, one of the 
eminent citizens of Cascade township 
Kent county, Mich., was born in 
Clarendon, Rutland county, Vt., Jan- 
uary 6, 1820, and at the age of twelve years 
was taken to Niagara county, N. Y., by his 
father, Leonard Stewart, who later operated 



/j 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1029 



a saw-mill in that county, where young John 
Royal was reared to naanhood, and from the 
age of seventeen to twenty-two years taught 
school, being later selected superintendent of 
schools. He also operated a mill in Niagara 
county, until he came to Michigan in 1845 
and settled in the forests of Cascade township, 
which farm he subsequently cleared up. His 
father also came at the same time and settled 
on a farm on the township line, which he like- 
wise cleared, and on which he lived until his 
death at the age of fifty-si.x years. 

John R. Stewart, after becoming fully set- 
tled on his farm in Cascade township, returned 
to Niagara county, N. Y., and there married 
Miss Sarah E. Martin, October 20, 1845, and 
with her he passed many years in happy wed- 
lock before she was called from his side, an 
event which will be alluded to farther on. 

Mr. Stewart, a genuine pioneer, although 
better adapted to clerical work than to farm- 
ing, erected on his farm in the wilderness a 
log house, from which he cut out a road to 
Grand Rapids. He had a hard struggle at 
first to make a comfortable living, but always 
managed to have ample provisions in the 
house, and a little money in his pocket. He 
cleared sixty acres of his farm and lived on it 
eight years, in the meantime teaching in the 
neighboring districts during the winter season, 
and had, as one of his pupils, the lady whom 
he afterward chose as his second wife. 

The health of Mr. Stewart gave way under 
the severe labor of clearing and cultivating 
his farm, and at the invitation of D. W. Fos- 
ter, a hardware merchant of Grand Rapids, 
he went to that city in the capacity of book- 
keeper for him. Being a good penman, he 
concluded to accept the position for a term of 
one year — but remained si.x years, doing the 
work of two men — and then, for eight years, 
was associated with various firms in the same 
class of work. 



In i860, Mr. Stewart, who had always 
taken a lively interest in politics, first as a 
whig then as a republican, was elected county 
register of deeds, and filled that office for si.x 
years. He was inspector of the Jackson state 
prison under Governor Baldwin, and met with 
the prison board, including the governor, once 
a month to consider the affairs of the prison. 
Mr. Stewart was well acquainted with all the 
public men of the state, frequently visited 
them, the governors included, preferring to 
hold personal interviews rather than indulge 
in correspondence. 

While in the register's office, Mr. Stewart 
secured one-third interest in the Grand Rap- 
ids Manufacturing company, of which he as- 
sumed almost the entire control of the fac- 
tory and hiring of the men, of whom there 
were about 100. He managed the concern 
about four years, but retained his inter- 
est in it twenty years, serving as director, 
treasurer and president. The company was 
but a partnership, and one of the partners was 
so determined to expand operations that he 
used up all the capital; the result was disas- 
trous, and Mr. Stewart lost $14,000 clear cash. 
Later, the concern was converted into a joint- 
stock company, and Mr. Stewart withdrew — 
only to witness its utter failure a short time 
afterward. He was then appointed receiver, 
and at its sale was one of the purchasers. 
Still disaster followed, and more than the in- 
come was eaten up by extravagant salaries — 
the president receiving $7,000, which he in- 
vested annually in other business, and finally 
the company again was forced to the wall. 

Although Mr. Stewart went to Grand Rap- 
ids to stay one year only, he remained thirty- 
eight years, his business abilities being appre- 
ciated and his natural faculty for leading men 
conjointly resulting in his finding himself con- 
nected with several large business institutions. 
At the conclusion of his association with the 



1030 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



manufacturing company he opened an insur- 
ance office and held the agency of several 
companies, but the disastrous Chicago fire of 
1 87 1 wiped out nearly all the insurance com- 
panies, his companies going with the rest. 

At the time of the erection of the govern- 
ment building in Grand Rapids. Mr. Stewart, 
without solicitation on his part, was appointed 
superintendent of construction by Secretary of 
State Sherman, and this position he held for 
four years, to the great satisfaction of the peo- 
ple of the city as well as to that of the govern- 
ment, the government inspector stating that it 
was the best building ever erected for public 
use, for the money, and the first one erected 
with money remaining. Mr. Stewart, had, be- 
fore this, constructed the large store buildings 
for W. D. Foster, and had thus had e.xperience 
in this line. Beside his other business ventures 
in Grand Rapids, Mr. Stewart was in the 
grocery trade for eighteen years, and, taken 
altogether, that city never had a busier man 
within its limits. In company with E. G. D. 
Holden and Marcus W. Bates, he established 
the Grand Rapids Savings bank, its first mone- 
tary organization, and was a director for fully 
six years. 

In 1882 Mr. Stewart lost iiis wife, who had 
borne him four children, viz: Seraph R., now 
the wife of S. A. Kenned}', of Lansing, and the 
mother of three children; Milo B., who died 
about 1S89, his widow being now the wife of 
O. A. Ball, a wholesale merchant of Grand 
Rapids; Flora, who died unmarried, and Lina, 
married to William Cook, of Ferne\'. S. D. 

March 21, 1886, Mr. Stewart was united 
in marriage with Mrs. Rufus W. Martin, whose 
deceased husband was a brother of the first 
Mrs. Stewart. Since this marriage took 
place, Mr. Stewart has occupied the old Mar- 
tin homestead, which is adjacent to that on 
which Mr. Stewart first settled in Cascade 
township. 



Mr. Stewart has been an important factor 
in Kent county politics, and few men have had 
as large an acquaintance with public men as he. 
He and S. S. Bailey, whose biography will be 
found on another page, were very intimate 
friends and frequently worked together in 
political affairs, and Mr. Stewart, still a power 
in the county, has a fund of interesting 
reminiscences relative to early statesmen and 
former political methods. 



,m 



YLVESTER J. STEWART, a prosper- 
ous farmer of Walker township, Kent 
county, Mich., is a native of Essex 
county, Ontario, and was born July 
22, 1843, a son of John and Samantha(Ran- 
dall) Stewart. 

John Stewart, the father, was also a native 
of Essex county, Ontario, was born July 4, 
1 8 17, came to Michigan about 1847, lived for 
a year in Vergennes township, Kent county, 
and then settled in Walker township, where 
he still resides, in the enjoyment of good 
health and still capable of doing a day's work 
on his farm. His wife was born in Ivent coun- 
t}-, Ontario, September 14. 1817, and is like- 
wise in good health. Their five children were 
named as follows: Marguerite, who is the 
wife of Charles Rosegrant, of Georgetown, 
Ottawa county, Mich. ; Heroine, wife of James 
R. Neal, whose biography will be found on 
another page; Sylvester, deceased; Sylvester J., 
the subject of this sketch, and Celestia, wife 
of G. ^^^ Hooker, of Grand Rapids. 

Sylvester j. Stewart, when about twenty 
years of age, purchased a farm and now re- 
sides on the same in section No. 11, Walker 
township, three-fourths of a mile north of the 
city of Grand Rapids. April 15, 1863, he 
married Miss Mary Brigham, a native of Es- 
sex county, Ontario, born October 7, 1847, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1031 



and a daughter of William and Rachael 
(Havvkes) Brigham, natives of England, but 
married in Canada, and now deceased. They 
were the parents of five children, viz: George, 
a resident of Sparta, Kent county, Mich, ; 
Mary, now Mrs. Stewart; Alvina, William and 
Alice, of Essex county, Ontario. To Mr. and 
Mrs. Stewart have been born three children, 
viz: Jessie, deceased in infancy; Charles, a 
farmer of Walker township, and John, a me- 
chanic of Grand Rapids. 

In politics Mr. Stewart is a republican and 
has ably filled the offices of drain commission- 
er, constable, health officer, township clerk, 
deputy sheriff, notary public, and for ten years 
was a member of the school board, and is still 
officiating in the last named position. Relig- 
iously Mr. and Mrs. Stewart are members of 
the Wesleyan Methodist church of Walker, 
and socially they are very highly esteemed. 




OSS B. SQUIRES is a leading pro- 
gressive young business man of Rock- 
ford, as a merchant and produce 
dealer, and, indeed, the commercial 
interests of Rockford are exclusively con- 
trolled by young men. He is a native of 
Kent county, Mich., was born in 1865, was 
educated in the Rockford high school, took 
a course in the commercial college in Grand 
Rapids, and upon his leaving school entered 
the employ of the well-known firm of Gam- 
ble & Partridge, of Detroit, as accountant 
and bookkeeper, remaining with that firm 
until 1889, when he returned to Rockford, 
and engaged in business as a produce dealer, 
under the firm name of Hyde & Squires. 
They were successful, and continued in busi- 
ness together until 1895. They shipped to all 
leading points east and south, and the vol- 
ume of business annually amounted to $50,- 
55 



000. In one month they checked out almost 
$10,000 in money in payment for farmers' 
produce. 

In 1895 Mr. Squires sold his interest to 
Mr. Hyde, and commenced business as a pro- 
duce dealer, and later as a grocer, and his 
success has almost been phenomenal. It 
was in June, 1897, when he opened up one 
of the neatest grocery stores in the town, 
which is thoroughly equipped with all the 
latest fixtures which makes an establishment 
attractive and inviting to the trade. In 1898 
he placed in one of the latest National cash 
registers at a cost of $300. The store is well 
lighted by electricity, and the attaches of the 
store are cburteous gentlemen. The line of 
groceries, both fancy and staple, is new, clean 
and well arranged, and it is the aim of Mr. 
Squires to carry nothing but what is a high 
grade. Besides conducting his store, he is a 
heavy shipper of apples, peaches and beans 
in the season. The annual business in the 
store will amount to $14,000, and during the 
year 1898, or for seven months in the year, 
his sales amounted to $30,000. In 1896 he 
handled 136 cars of potatoes, and one year, 
forty-two cars of peaches and plums, and 
twenty cars of beans. Mr. Squires is an 
active, energetic, and affable gentleman, 
whose pleasing manner is sure to place him 
in confidence with his patrons. 

R. B. Squires wedded, .August 29, 1896, 
Miss Grace L. Carlyle, a native of Kent 
county. She is a lady of culture, being a 
graduate in the class of 1894 of the Rockford 
high school. They have one child, Marian I. 
Politically Mr. Squires supports the demo- 
cratic national ticket, but in local affairs will 
frequently support the man who is best fitted 
for the position asked for. 

Officially he was a member of the village 
council for four years, and fraternally he is a 
member of the Masonic order, Rockford lodge, 



1032 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



No. 246. He is held high in the esteem of 
his friends, and those acquainted with him, 
as a gentleman of sterling character and busi- 
ness integrity. 




H. STILWELL.the popular and pros- 
perous grocer of Cedar Springs, 
Mich., was born August 31, 1854, 
on his father's farm in Kent county, 
the eldest in the family of four sons and one 
daughter born to Cyrus and Mary (Prentice) 
Stilwell, the brothers of subject being all en- 
gaged in agriculture in this state, and the sis- 
ter, Jennie, being the wife of William Carpen- 
ter, a resident of Osceola county. 

Cyrus Stilwell is a native of New York, 
and is now si.xty-eight years of age. He was 
educated in the common schools and was 
reared a farmer. He first emigrated from his 
native state to Lorain county, Ohio, but came 
to Michigan in the 'forties, located on section 
No. 31, Nelson township, Kent county, and 
the present beautiful brick school-house stands 
on a part of his old farm. He bought his land 
from the government, and still has in his pos- 
session the deed to it, signed by the then 
president, James Knox Polk. Mr. Stilwell 
was'one of the brave men who volunteered at 
their country's call for the defense of the 
Union, enlisted in a battery of heavy artillery, 
and took part in the battles of Lookout Moun- 
tain, Chattanooga and others, and was with 
Sherman in the march to the sea. He served 
until his health failed, and was then honor- 
ably discharged. After this he resumed his 
agricultural pursuits, and now resides, with his 
wife (who is also a native of New York), in 
Newaygo county, both being members of the 
Baptist church and greatly respected by the 
community in which they live. 

A. H. Stilwell well remembers when the 



site of Cedar Springs was covered with timber 
and brush, and has witnessed its growth from 
a hamlet to the prosperous village it now is, 
as this was the near spot of his nativity. He 
was educated in the common schools, and the 
earlier part of his manhood was passed on the 
farm. In 1883 he became a salesman in a 
hardware store in Cedar Springs, in which he 
continued two years, and was then engaged at 
other places until 1894, when he embarked in 
the grocery trade in Cedar Springs with a cap- 
ital of $750. He carries a full and well as- 
sorted stock of staple and fancy groceries, 
queensware, glassware, etc., as well as a full 
line of cigars and tobaccos, and has now the 
most popular store in its line in the town, with 
a trade that reaches $4,000 per annum. Al- 
though he was compelled to borrow a portion 
of his capital at the start, his affability and 
prompt attention to the wants of his patrons 
have enabled him to pay off his indebtedness 
and yearly to increase his stock in hand, 
which is purchased at the centers of trade 
nearest Cedar Springs, so that his customers 
can always rely on getting from him what is 
pure and fresh. 

Mr. Stilwell was united in marriage Sep- 
tember 25, 1875, with Miss Loa McClure, a 
native of Springfield, Mo., and this union has 
been gladdened with one son — Verne R. — who 
is now attending the Cedar Springs high 
school, and has been especially well trained in 
piano music. Mrs. Loa Stilwell traces her 
ancestry to Scotland, but her father is now de- 
ceased and her mother is making her home 
with Mr. and Mrs. Stilwell. Mrs. Stilwell 
was educated in a common school and at the 
high school of Battle Creek, Mich., and is a 
lady of many womanly virtues. 

In politics Mr. Stilwell is a republican and 
cast his first presidential vote for Rutherford 
B. Hayes in 1876, but has never himself 
aspired to public office, preferring to devote 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1033 



his time and attention to his own affairs. Fra- 
ternally he is a member of F. & A. M. lodge, 
No. 213, at Cedar Springs, and is also a 
member of the Maccabee tent. He is a mem- 
ber of the Baptist church, and freely con- 
tributes of his means toward its support and 
to all other good and worthy objects. Socially 
Mr. and Mrs. Stilvvell are highly respected, 
and the business name of Mr. Stilwell stands 
without a stain. 




ILLIAM STINSON.— Among the 
well-known citizens of Tyrone 
township is William Stinson, who 
had resided in Kent and Muskegon 
counties, Mich., since he was five years of 
age. He was born on the 3rd of June, 1850, 
in Lucas county, Ohio, and is the third 
child in a family of five sons born to Thomas 
C. and Sarah (Miller) Stinson. There are 
three of the sons yet living, the eldest of 
whom is Lewis M., an agriculturist, married 
and residing in Muskegon county; the next is 
William S., and the youngest, Samuel, is a 
farmer residing also in Muskegon county. 

Thomas C. Stinson was born in Mona- 
ghan county, Ireland, the 4th of November, 
1822. When a lad of seven summers he came 
with his parents to America and became a 
citizen of Ohio, where he was reared and 
married. He was educated in the com- 
mon schools, and later learned the trade 
of cooper, but the major part of his life 
was employed as an agriculturist. It was 
about the year 1855 when he emigrated to 
Muskegon county, Mich., and made his first 
purchase of si.xty acres of unimproved land 
and settled down in his little log cabin home. 
He added to this at intervals until now he is 
the owner of 120 acres in Muskegon county. 
Politically he is a republican and very ardent 



in his political beliefs. Officially he has been 
treasurer of his township and was justice of 
the peace for "twenty-four years. He and 
his wife are much respected members of the 
Methodist church. The mother of William 
was a native of Ohio and died when the latter 
was about four years of age. 

William Stinson was but a lad of five years 
when he became a resident of Michigan, and 
here he was educated in the Casnovia public 
schools, and reared to agricultural pursuits. 
He gave his service to his parents until he was 
of age, and began life by working out by the 
month. He is a man who knows what work 
is, as he, with his industrious wife, accumu- 
lated what'they at present own. 

On the 26th day of September, 1889, 
William Stinson was wedded to Miss Ola M. 
Madison, to which union have been born two 
little sons: William M., who is now going to 
school in the third grade. He is exceptionally 
bright in arithmetic and is a very intelligent 
lad; Grain M. is called by his parents "the 
beam of the home. " 

Mrs. Stinson is a Michigan lady, born in 
Oakland county, October 26, 1862, a daughter 
of Charles and Betsey C. (Cud worth) Madison. 
There were three sons and four daughters 
in the family, and two sons and three daugh- 
ters are now living, viz: Algernon, a farmer, 
residing in Tyrone township; Delia D. , wife of 
Addison W. Dumphey, residing in Solon town- 
ship; Rozina S., a graduate of Swensberg's 
Business college, for years a school teacher 
and now a stenographer and typewriter for the 
Minneapolis Cold Storage company, at Minne- 
apolis; Mrs. Stinson, and Charles U., residing 
with his brother-in-law, Mr. Stinson. 

The father, Charles Madison, was born at 
Unity, Sullivan county, N. H., December 6, 
1822, and died May 26, 1893. When he was 
eight years of age he came to Oakland county, 
Mich., where he received such an education as 



1034 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



might be secured in the common schools, and 
learned there the trade of a cooper. He was 
a very active man and also became an excel- 
lent blacksmith. He was one of the heroes of 
Michigan who offered their services to the 
country in her peril, and went to the front as 
a soldier of company C, of the Ninth Michigan 
cavalry, in which he enlisted in 1862 and re- 
mained during the remainder of the Civil war. 
His regiment was assigned to the army of the 
Tennessee, where he became seriously ill and 
was taken to the hospital there to be confined 
some time. He was with the regiment during 
the famous raid against the celebrated Morgan, 
so conspicuous in history, and received his 
honorable discharge in 1865. He then returned 
to Kent county, where he purchased his first 
farm of eighty acres, with a little log cabin 
and log barn built upon it. He was a stanch 
republican in political sentiment, and a great 
advocate and supporter of public schools. His 
wife was a native of Allegany county, N. Y., 
was born March 7, 1828, and educated in the 
common schools. Her parents were Appollis 
and Rozina (Symmonds) Cudworth, he being 
of English ancestry. 

Mrs. Stinson was highly educated in the 
common and high schools, and has been one 
of Kent county's teachers for a year and a 
half. She is genial and compassionate by na- 
ture and nobly performs her part as wife and 
mother. 

Mr. Stinson, of this sketch, at the time of 
marriage had purchased twenty acres in Mus- 
kegon county, to which he added eighty 
acres, and then sold and bought sixty 
acres on section No. 20, Tyrone township, 
where he resided two years. Later he like- 
wise disposed of this and purchased eighty 
acres in section No. 36, where he located in 
December, 1892. In his political affiliations 
he is a republican, having cast his first vote 
for U. S. Grant. In local politics he is a 



non-partisan and v.'ill vote for the man of his 
choice rather than the party. He has always 
worked, and beginning with nothing but his 
hands and a determination to accomplish 
something, he has become independent, and 
now enjoys the respect of all, both for what 
he has done and for what he is yet capable of 
doing. Kind-hearted, hospitable and gener- 
ous, Mr. Stinson has many friends among all 
classes of people. He is one of the public- 
spirited men of the county, and is always 
ready to aid worthy enterprises. 

T. C. Stinson was a son of William and 
Rebecca (Crague) Siinson. His grandfather, 
Patrick Stinson, passed his life in his native 
town in county Monaghan, and was a cooper 
by trade, and he and his wife were born the 
same year and also died in the same year, at 
the great age of 104 years. They were the 
parents of four children — Samuel, Elizabeth, 
Jane and William, and were members of the 
Presbyterian church. The only member of 
his family to cross the Atlantic ocean was 
William, who was born in county Monaghan, 
August 12, 1785, and in 1830 he came to the 
United States, after a seven weeks' voyage 
landing in New York; thence went to Ohio, 
locating in Bucyrus, Crawford county, where 
he followed the cooper's trade, and in 1844 
moved to Lucas county, sixteen miles west 
of Toledo, where he died, December 14, 1868, 
and his wife in i860. 

Rebecca (Crague) Stinson was born in 
county Monaghan, a member of a family of 
six girls and two boys, her father being 
Thomas Crague, a wealthy farmer. One 
brother and one sister came to the United 
States — David settling in the west, and the 
sister, Mrs. Margaret Foster, in Crawford 
county, Ohio, where her death took place. 

Thomas C. Stinson, when a j-oung man, 
learned the trade of a cooper and followed it 
a number of years in connection with farming. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1035 



and in May, 1856, he came to Michigan and 
located near Casnovia, where he yet resides. 
He has been prominent as a local official — two 
terms as supervisor and twenty years as justice 
of the peace, and also township treasurer. In 
1864 he enlisted in company I, Ninth Michigan 
infantry, served on Gen. Thomas' staff, and at 
the close of the war was honorably discharged 
at Jackson, Mich. Socially, he was a Mason. 
December 21, 1845, he wedded Miss Sarah 
Miller, who was born in Lucas county, Ohio, 
and five children were born to this marriage. 
His wife died in July, 1855, and he married 
Catharine C. All, to which union seven chil- 
dren were born, of whom only two grew to 
maturity. 




FIESTER G. STONE, township clerk 
and one of Lowell's oldest merchants, 
is a native of the state of New York 
and was born in the county of St. 
Lawrence, in December, 1840. His father, 
Henry Stone, also a native of the Empire state, 
had a family of twelve children and was a 
prominent business man of Grand Rapids, 
Mich., to which city he removed early in 1837. 
Henry Stone was the chief mover and leading 
spirit in establishing, in 1842, the foundry in 
the above city, known as the Stone Dean 
foundry, situated on Canal street, and con- 
tinued identified with the enterprise for a 
period of fifteen years, disposing of his interests, 
at the expiration of that time, to his son, 
Henry G. Stone, for many years one of Grand 
Rapids' prominent citizens. From the time of 
severing his connection with the foundry above 
noted, Mr. Stone lived a retired life until his 
death, in the month of March, 1S64. 

Chester G. Stone was brought to Michigan 
by his parents when quite young, and his first 
home in this state was Ann Arbor, where the 



family located in 1834. Three years later they 
removed to Grand Rapids, in the public 
schools of which the subject received his 
educational training and where, at the age of 
seventeen years, he received his first introduc- 
tion to business life as a clerk with a mercan- 
tile firm, in which capacity he continued for a 
period of eighteen years. In 1865 Mr. Stone 
embarked in business for himself in the town 
of Lowell, and for twenty- eight years carried 
on merchandizing with success and financial 
profit, earning for himself in the meanwhile a 
reputation for probity second to that of no 
other business man of the place. During the 
year 1894 he closed out his stock, which at 
times represented a capital exceeding $1 5,000, 
and since that time has been identified with 
other enterprises. For some years he was con- 
nected with the Hine & Stone lumber firm of 
Sand Lake, also with a lumber company of 
Big Rapids, and is at present interested in 
the Unaca Timber company, of Chester, 
Tenn., to a large extent. 

Mr. Stone was elected township clerk in 
May, 1898, was re-elected April 3, 1899, and 
has proven a most painstaking and efficient 
public servant. He was also president of the 
village board two terms, and discharged the 
duties of that position in a manner creditable 
to himself and highly satisfactory to all con- 
cerned. 

Mr. Stone was married in December, 
1855, to Miss Anna M. Noble — a union 
blessed with the birth of the following chil- 
dren: Fred G. , Arthur C, Jessie C, Henry 
N. and Allen C. The parents of Mrs. 
Stone died when she was an infant, and 
she was reared to womanhood in the family of 
an uncle, George W. Allen, of Grand Rapids. 
She was a woman of most exemplary charac- 
ter, a devout member of the Episcopal church, 
and in her death, which occurred in May, 
1894, the husband lost a faithful wife, the 



1036 



■]1IE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



children a tender and loving mother, and the 
community one of its most valued members. 
Mr. Stone is active in the Masonic frater- 
nity, belonging to the Blue lodge, chapter and 
commandery, and all enterprises for the pub- 
lic good have ever found in him a zealous pa- 
tron and liberal contributor. Politically he is, 
and for a number of years has been, an active 
worker in the republican party, but numbers 
among his warmest friends many whose polit- 
ical faith differs from his own. From his 
early youth Mr. Stone has been governed by 
his high moral principles, and the elemental 
strength of his character thus shadowed forth 
have marked his entire career, bringing him 
the highest regard of all with whom he has 
come in contact. Personally he is a most 
genial man, his pleasing manner making him 
ever a welcome guest in the social circles of 
his town, where he enjoys great popularity. 



.WID B. STOUT, one of the promi- 
nent and respected pioneer farmers 
of Nelson township, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of Seneca county, 
N. Y., and was born October 9, 1830, the 
third of a family of five sons and six daughters 
born to Samuel S. and Sarah (Blackburn) 
Stout, of which children five are still living, 
viz: Urias, who early learned blacksmithing, 
but is now a farmer in Montcalm county, Mich. ; 
David B., the subject of this biography; Sarah, 
%yife of L. T. Cole, of Brown county, Dak. ; 
Mary Ann, married to E. J. Gorton, of Deuel 
county, Dak., and Oscar, a farmer of Solon 
township, Kent county, Mich. 

Samuel S. Stout was born in Hunterdon 
county, N. J. His father, Gideon B., was a 
son of Andrew Stout, who came from England, 
and was a prominent man during the Revolu- 
tion, loaning money to the continental con- 



gress. He was a blacksmith by trade, and 
from New Jersey removed to Seneca county, 
N. Y. , where his marriage took place to Miss 
Blackburn, a native of that county. In March, 
1833, he came to Michigan, located in Washte- 
naw county, where he lived until 1837, when 
he removed to Livingston county, thence 
came to Kent county, and finally settled in 
Montcalm county, where his death took place 
at the age of fifty-two 3ears. 

David B. Stout located near Courtland 
Center, Kent county, in 1849, but later en- 
tered forty acres of land from the government 
in what is now known as Nelson township, to 
which he added forty acres more, by purchase, 
and still holds the original deed, signed by 
Franklin Pierce, the then president of the 
United States. Nelson township has since 
been his home, although the township was not 
then organized, and was known as North 
Courtland. No highway existed in the neigh- 
borhood; the site of Cedar Springs was cov- 
ered with a dense pine forest, and the nearest 
railroad was at Pontiac, Oakland county. 
Grand Rapids at that time was still a mere 
trading-post and Indian agency, and of all the 
wonderful changes that have since taken place 
Mr. Stout has been an eye-witness, while he 
has himself been a factor in making many of 
the improvements in his immediate vicinity — 
hewing away the forest and developing the re- 
sulting fields. 

Mr. Stout, it will have been observed, was 
about nineteen years of age when he came to 
Kent county, a poor young man. To get a 
start in the world he was compelled to go in 
debt, but his integrity was of the soundest 
character, his industry indefatigable and his 
frugality commendable. Through the exer- 
cise of these admirable virtues, he has not 
only freed himself from pecuniary obligations, 
but increased his land to 180 acres, all in Nel- 
son township and all under a fine state of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1037 



cultivation — 120 acres of whicli he has given 
to his children. 

September 19, 1852, Mr. Stout was united 
in marriage with Miss Mary A. Nicholson, 
who blessed him with three sons and three 
daughters, of whom five still survive, viz: 
Leander, a carpenter of Courtland township; 
Lorenzo, a farmer of Nelson township; So- 
phia, wife of Peter Miller, a farmer of Court- 
land township; Leonard, a farmer of Nelson 
township, and Seville, the youngest daughter, 
is still at home with her father. The mother 
of these children was called from earth Sep- 
tember 15, 1887, and October 24, 1888, Mr. 
Stout chose for his second helpmate Miss 
Mirinda A. Meuler, who was born in the coun- 
ty of Middlesex, Canada, October 11, 1838, 
and was brought to Michigan by her parents 
when she was but two years of age. She re- 
ceived an excellent education and for several 
years was a successful school-teacher in this 
state. Her parents, Samuel F. and Rebecca 
Medler, were natives of Novia Scotia, both 
were liberally educated, both faithful mem- 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
by trade the father was a ship-carpenter. 
Mrs. Stout has three brothers and two sisters, 
all residents of Michigan with the exception 
of one brother, William, who for seven years 
has been foreman of a milling plant in West 
Superior, Wis. Her eldest brother, James, 
is postmaster at Trufant, Mich. 

In politics Mr. Stout is, as his father was, 
a democrat, and although a boy at the time, 
still remembers the phenomenal defeat of the 
democracy in the "log cabin and hard cider" 
campaign of 1840. Mr. Stout has himself 
served his fellow-citizens as school superin- 
tendent, as highway commissioner, and as 
township treasurer for a number of years, 
and has filled every office with ability and 
faithfulness to duty. Fraternally, he is a 
member of Masonic lodge. No. 213, at Cedar 



Springs. He has aided, in a pecuniary way, 
in erecting five different church-edifices in his 
neighborhood, and he and his worthy wife 
hold membership with the Baptist congrega- 
tion at Cedar Springs. Both have long been 
identified with the Sabbath-school, which 
they have aided by all means in their power, 
financial and personal, and they are among 
the most highly respected residents of Nelson 
township. 




OHN W. STONE, who was born in 
Richland county, Ohio, August 22, 
1839, has been a resident of Caledonia 
township, Kent county, Mich., since 
1872, and is now one of the most successful 
farmers in the township. He is a son of Samuel 
and Catherine (Seaman) Stone, natives of Berks 
county. Pa., who settled in Richland county, 
Ohio, about 1830, where the father ran a saw- 
mill and distillery until 1874, when the family 
came to Kent county, Mich., and here the 
parents lived in retirement, connected with the 
Evangelical church, until their respective 
deaths, at the ages of seventy-eight and 
seventy-seven years, the last three years 
of their lives having been passed with their 
son John W. , the subject of this sketch. The 
father of Samuel was a native of Switzerland, 
whence he came to America, landing in Phila- 
delphia and finally settling in Berks county, 
Pa., but died when Samuel was only eighteen 
years of age. 

John W. Stone was reared on the home 
farm, aiding his parents until about 1856, when 
he went in company with a friend, William 
Morrison, via Nicaragua, to California, where 
he ran a clipper mill six months, sawing lum- 
ber on the American river, at $100 per month; 
and then went to mining on the Kinnebeck 
claim, on the same river, in which he had an 



1038 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



interest, and during the winter season also 
operated a placer claim. The Kinnebeck mine 
was one of the richest in the state, and required 
an investment of $50,000 before it paid, and 
then worked out $300,000 to $400,000, and of 
this Mr. Stone was the overseer. In i860 he 
returned to Ohio, well pleased with his trip. 

Mr. Stone's next venture was the supplying 
of the government vvith cavalry horses, and in 
assisting in raising recruits and funds for secur- 
ing substitutes in cases of draft. He also 
bought the old homestead about this time, and 
October/, 1861, married Miss Phiana Andrews, 
of Medina county, Ohio. He then sold the 
homestead and moved to a farm near Fre- 
mont, where he lived two years, then moved 
to Lagrange county, Ind., spent six years on a 
farm, and in 1872 came to his present farm in 
Caledonia township, Kent county, Mich., on 
the Thornapple river, one mile and a half east 
of Caledonia village. He has eighty acres of 
excellent land, on which he has made exten- 
sive improvements, and of which ten acres are 
in fruit, and the remainder devoted to general 
farming. Mr. Stone likewise has a small farm 
on the opposite side of the river, and also fifty- 
four acres of improved land west of the village 
— all under cultivation. 

Mr. and Mrs. Stone have taken quite an 
active part in the Caledonia Union fair, of 
which he has been an officer for several years. 
At the expositions of the fair association Mr. 
Stone has exhibited stock and farm produce, 
and Mrs. Stone has exhibited jellies, canned 
fruits, jams, pickles, preserves, etc., has car- 
ried off many honors, and in 1899 received 
two special and several blue ribbons. They 
have kept up their interest for thirteen years 
in this association, and have been main pil- 
lars in its support and" success. The home 
farm is in fine condition, contains a handsome 
and comfortable dwelling, substantial barns 
and commodious out-buildings, and Mr. and 



Mrs. Stone are now prepared to live quietly 
in retirement. 

Mr. and Mrs. Stone are blessed with a 
family of seven children, as follows: Ira, 
who is a bookkeeper for a mill company at 
Luther, Mich. ; Alberta, wife of R. H. Ben- 
nett, she and husband having both graduated 
in the profession of the law — she at LawTence, 
Ivans., and he at Ann Arbor, Mich., and both 
now in active practice at lola, Kans. ; Oscar, 
who was formerly a traveling salesman for a 
factory in Mancelona, Mich., and now en- 
gaged exclusively in dealing in apples; Willie; 
Jennie, wife of E. C. Apsy, and a teacher in 
McLaughlin's Business college; Blanche, for- 
merly a teacher in the Sparta high school and 
at Grand Rapids, and at present a stenog- 
rapher in lola, Kans., and Louis, a student in 
the Grand Rapids high school, who, at the 
early age of sixteen years, passed an examina- 
tion as a second grade teacher and was offered 
a school by the county commissioners, but 
preferred further to continue his studies. 

Mr. Stone is a stalwart republican and a 
strong McKinley man; he haa served as dele- 
gate to several county and state conventions, 
and creditably and satisfactorily filled the po- 
sition. In his early days in Ohio, in politics he 
had been a democrat and was a delegate to 
the convention that was called to nominate 
VaJlandigham for governor, but the class of 
delegates was of so tough a character that he 
became disgusted and changed his politics, 
and is now invariably found in the republican 
county and district conventions, and was 
chairman of the local Garfield club at its 
organization. 

Fraternally Mr. Stone was made a Mason 
at Fremont, Ohio, but of late has not affiliated 
with any lodge; he and wife, however, are 
members of and take an active interest in the 
Thornapple Pioneer society. Mr. Stone is 
fond of his rod and gun, and while in Cal- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1039 



ifornia enjoyed some huge sport. Religiously 
Mr. and Mrs. Stone are members of the liberal 
branch of the United Brethren church, and 
Mr. Stone was selected by the ■Evangelical 
church members as one of the building com- 
mittee of the church at Caledonia. He owns 
some property in that village, besides his 
farms, and he and family are among the most 
highly esteemed in the township. 



m 



LMER G. STOREY, a progressive 
farmer and proprietor of the Spencer 
fruit evaporator, is a native of Grat- 
tan township, Kent county, Mich. , was 
born December 7, 1863, and is the eldest of 
the three children born to Benjamin and Jen- 
nie (Bickford) Storey, the second being Em- 
ery v., who is a farmer of Montcalm county; 
the youngest is Edith M., wife of George Ash- 
ley, a farmer of Oakfield township. 

Benjamin Storey was born in Seneca coun- 
ty, N. Y., December 15, 1836, where he grew 
to manhood, with but limited advantages for 
education. Learning of the possibilities of 
Michigan, he purchased forty acres in Oakfield, 
but later settled in Grattan township, where 
he has met with prosperity, and, holding the 
respect of its people universally, enjoys the 
well earned retirement that comes after a well 
spent life. He has always been an active and 
industrious laborer and agriculturist, and has 
now a competence, through his individual 
efforts. A know-nothing when that party's 
principles meant something to the loyal citi- 
zen, he became a republican, and so continued 
through the nation's peril and until he felt 
another peril endangered it, and that the 
safety lay in the rock-ribbed principles of 
democracy. 

Mrs. Jennie Storey was born at Stowe, 
Vt., in 1840, and died in Kent county, Mich., 



September 11, 1879. She was possessed of 
many kindly traits of character and womanly 
virtues, and was one whose life had much in it 
that made her hosts of warm friends. 

Elmer G. Storey was reared on the farm in 
Grattan township, receiving a thorough educa- 
tion in the Union school. At the death of his 
mother, when but si-xteen, an unusually heavy 
responsibility fell upon him. Realizing the 
path of duty, he entered heartily and unreserv- 
edly upon it and remained with his father 
until twenty-five years old. 

February 21, 1884, he was married to Miss 
Nell Madison, who was also born in Grattan, 
October 14, 1867, a daughter of Luther I\. 
and Lydia (Wickware) Madison. A separate 
article devoted to her parents will be found on 
another page of this work. 

To Mr. and Mrs. Elmer G. Storey have 
been born three children, viz: Eva M., Budd 
and Cecile. 

In 1885 Mr. Storey purchased eighty acres 
of unimproved land in section 20, Spencer 
township, and in November, 1888, he and wife 
settled here permanently. All the improve- 
ments on this clean and comfortable farm 
have been made by them, and Mr. Storey is 
recognized as one of the most progressive 
young men in the township. Conceiving that 
many benefits would accrue to all fruit growers 
in Spencer, if facilities for caring for the crop 
were supplied, he, in 1891, erected an evap- 
orator, and since then has done an excel- 
lent business. 

In politics Mr. Storey is a democrat and 
cast his first presidential vote for Grover 
Cleveland. He has been selected several 
times as a delegate to and in various ways 
contributes to his party's success. He served 
one term as justice of the peace, and as town- 
ship clerk four consecutive years. He and 
wife favor employing the best teachers for the 
district schools, Mrs. Storey saying, "We 



1040 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



cannot get too good teachers. " Mr. and Mrs. 
Storey are members of the Maccabees — he 
of Evans tent, No. 785, she of hive No. 696. 
They are much respected by their neighbors 
for their strictly upright Hves and their intelH- 
gent management of their affairs, which are 
so controlled as to render their homestead not 
only profitable but a credit to the township. 




B. STRONG, M. D., one of the well- 
known physicians and surgeons of 
southwestern Kent county, located 
at Byron Center, takes great pride 
in his profession, his father having been emi- 
nent as a physician, and the son following in 
the footsteps of the father. 

E. B. Strong was born July 6, 1863, in 
Jackson county, Mich., the younger of the 
two children — a son and a daughter — that 
graced the marriage of Dr. Henry W. and 
Lucelia (Butlerj Strong, and was but six years 
of age when brought to Kent county by his 
father — his mother having died when he was 
but three years old. His primary education 
was had in the public schools, and two years 
were passed in the Grand Rapids Central 
high school. In the early years of his educa- 
tional work he began the study of engineering, 
still holds advanced ideas on mechanics, and 
hopes to see the day when one current in the 
appliances in electricity and motor power will 
be involved in the permanent features of his 
science. After finishing his studies at Grand 
Rapids, he spent five years in the drug busi- 
ness at Byron Center, which experience ad- 
mirably fitted him practically to commence 
the demonstration of the medical virtues of 
remedies. He read medicine under his fa- 
ther's direction for some time, and in 1882 he 
entered the medical department of the univer- 
sity at Ann Arbor and continued until 1S83. 



He next passed one year at home, and in 
1885 entered the Detroit college of Medicine, 
from which he graduated with the class of 
1887. Immediately after graduation he went 
to Petoskey, Mich., for one season, and then 
entered the Union Benevolent hospital at 
Grand Rapids as house physician and surgeon, 
remained on the hospital staff almost a year, 
and then returned to Byron Center and entered 
upon his present career of successful practice. 

Dr. Henry W. Strong, father of Dr. E. B. 
Strong, being in the profession over thirty 
years, and his life being filled with fruitful re- 
sults, has practically retired from the more 
onerous duties of medical practice and cast the 
robe of responsibility upon the shoulders of 
his son, who has now virtually attended to the 
active duties of the office since 1890, his prac- 
tice extending into Allegan, Ottawa and Kent 
counties, through four townships adjacent to 
Byron Center. His success as a surgeon has 
been marvelous, but he is a practitioner who 
keeps well abreast of the progress made in 
his profession by the most skillful and able, 
and carefully studies all cases reported in the 
medical journals of the day that indicate any 
advancement in the science, both of surgery 
and medicine. Besides, he avails himself of 
the advantages to be found by attending the 
meetings of various medical societies, and is 
himself a member of the Michigan State 
Medical society and the American Medical 
association, and formerly was a member 
of the academy of Medicine. His library is 
replete with choice collections of works on 
medicine and surgery, and of these he is a con- 
stant student, so that he is never at a loss in 
his diagnoses. He has made a specialty of nerv- 
ous disorders and has made a fine reputation 
in his treatment of many complicated cases of 
chronic afflictions of that, character. 

The doctor is of that affable and cordial 
nature which carries with it into the sickroom 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1041 



a ray of sunshine, but is dignified and grave 
withal, inasmuch as he feels the responsibility 
of his position as a physician, and that frivol- 
ity is not only unbecoming, but detrimental, 
when giving advice, while a reasonable show 
of cheerfulness imparts a sense of hope and 
consolation to the patient. 

October 26, 1S99, Dr. E. B. Strong mar- 
ried Miss Pearl Bellows, at her home in Can- 
non township, Kent county. This lady was 
born March 14, 1S75, in Kent county, and is 
a daughter of E. C. and Elizabeth (Norton) 
Bellows. She was primarily educated in the 
common schools, and subsequently graduated 
from the Rockford high school with the class 
of 1894. In February, 1896, she entered the 
Butterworth hospital at Grand Rapids to be- 
come a trained nurse, and graduated in the 
class of 1898, well fitted for her noble calling, 
and, happily, as an accomplished aid to her 
husband. She is a member of the Eastern 
Star lodge at Grattan Center. 

In his fraternal relations, the doctor is a 
member of lodge No. 307, F. & A. M., at 
Dorr, Allegan county, and of the Oriental tent 
of Maccabees. Whilst a student at Detroit 
he was made a member and also secretary of 
the Literary society of the college of Medicine, 
and still holds his membership with that body. 
Socially, his standing is with the best circles 
in Byron township, and the even tenor of his 
life has won for him the respect of all with 
whom he has had any relations, professional 
or otherwise. 



OBERT W. SWAYZE, proprietor of 
the well-known Waverly hotel of Low- 
ell, is a native of Canada, and was 
born on the 13th of March, 1861. 
He is one of a family of six children born to 
Ralph E. and Sarah (Hodgskinson) Swayze, 




also natives of Canada. The father was for 
many years a blacksmith in the town of Rock- 
wood, the birth-place of the subject. 

Robert W. Swayze attended at intervals 
the common schools of his native town and on 
arriving at manhood's estate engaged in dif- 
ferent pursuits until 1885, at which time he 
came to Michigan and three years later opened 
a sample room in the city of Grand Rapids. 
After continuing the business one year he sold 
out, and in 1890 came to Lowell and entered 
the employ of Joe Mclvee, at that time pro- 
prietor of what v;as known as the Trains Hotel, 
and assisted that gentleman in ministering to 
the wants of the traveling public until the lat- 
ter part of the following year. He then accom- 
panied Mr. McKee to Oregon and for some time 
was located in the city of Portland. Not satis- 
fied with the west, Mr. Swayze returned to 
Lowell after the lapse of one year, and for 
some time thereafter was associated in busi- 
ness on the East side, and after conducting a 
successful business for three years, he bought 
the contents and fixtures of the Hotel \^'averly, 
which he has since remodeled, enlarged and 
refurnished throughout, making it the best 
hostlery in Kent county outside the city of 
Grand Rapids. The Waverly is thoroughly 
equipped with all the modern conveniences, 
contains fine billiard hall and sample room, 
and is in every respect up to date in supplying 
the traveling public with first-class entertain- 
ment. The genial host spares no reasonable 
endeavors in ministering to the wants of his 
guests, and his pleasing personality, as well as 
the superior accommodations of his house, has 
been the means of attracting a large and lucra- 
tive patronage. 

Mr. Swayze was united in marriage, March 
21, 1888, with Miss Bessie French, near 
Guelph, Ontario. She is a daughter of Mat- 
thew French and has but one brother, who 
lives in Canada. Her birth took place in 



1042 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Canada April 28, 1864, and her education was 
acquired in the common schools. She ably 
assists her husband in his business, and has 
added much toward the popularity of the hotel. 
She is a* member of Rebekah lodge, No. 2, at 
Lowell, has been one of its chief officers, and 
is also a member of the L. O. T. M.. No. 2, 
of which she is also an officer. 

Mr. Swayze is a public-spirited man, takes 
an active interest in everything pertaining 
to the prosperity of Lowell, and wields an in- 
fluence for the democratic party, with which 
he has long been identified. He is a member 
of the I. O. O. F. lodge. No. 115, at Lowell, 
and also of Daisy lodge, No. 48, B. P. O. E., 
of Grand Rapids. 




AMES T. SULLIVAN, a leadingfarmer 
of Grattan township, Kent county, 
Mich., comes from an old and re- 
spected pioneer family and was born 
on the homestead, where he still resides, April 
6, 1858, the fourth of the seven children — five 
sons and two daughters — that blessed the mar- 
riage of John and Johanna (Scanlon) Sullivan, 
five of which children are still living, viz: 
Daniel; Bridget E., wife of Thomas Conway, 
a railroad engineer residing at Shelby, Mich. ; 
John C, a farmer in Campbell township, 
Ionia county; James T., the subject of this 
sketch, and Dr. P. Joseph Sullivan, of Muske- 
gon. The doctor graduated from the medical 
department of the university of Michigan, at 
Ann Arbor, in 1890, and later took a post- 
graduate course at the Chicago Medical col- 
lege. He also took a full literary course at 
Assumption college in Sandwich, Canada. He 
married Miss Flora B. Ladner, and now has a 
large practice. 

Rev. Michael Francis Sullivan, deceased 
child of John and Johanna (Scanlon) Sul- 



livan, began his education in thepublic schools 
and graduated from the college of the As- 
sumption at Sandwich, Canada, in the class of 
1887. The same year he started for the city 
of Rome to further pursue his studies in the 
American college, but, his health failing, he 
returned to America in 1888, attended 
LaGrande seminary at Montreal, Canada, 
almost three years, and went thence to Mount 
St. Mary's academy at Cincinnati, Ohio, 
when, his health again failing, he was obliged 
to relinquish his studies, and in February, 
1892, went to Trinidad, Colo., and while there 
was ordained priest October 28, 1892, by 
Right Rev. Bishop N. C. Matz, of Denver. 
He was a ripe scholar, a fine linguist, and 
could preach in eight different languages. He 
was born September 27, 1865, and died 
October 28, 1895, in the bishop's house at 
Denver, as he was the rector of the diocese at 
the time. 

John Sullivan, the father of the above- 
named children, was born in Bantry, county 
Cork, Ireland, June 3, 1812, was educated in 
the national schools and was reared a farmer. 
In 1836 he sailed from Cork to Quebec, 
whence he came to the United States and 
located in Ohio. For some time he worked on 
the Wabash & Erie canal, from Toledo, Ohio, 
to Evansville, Ind., on the Ohio river, and 
then came to Kent county, Mich., in 1843, 
purchased 160 acres in Grattan township, in- 
cluding the present farm, and, with Indians 
alone for his neighbors, endured all the hard- 
ships of pioneer life. He was one of the first 
settlers in the township, was one of the or- 
ganizers of St. Patrick's parish, aided finan- 
cially in the erection of four different church- 
buildings, and for the sites of three of them 
donated the land. He was a very industrious 
and hard-working man, a first-class manager, 
increased his holdings until he owned 360 
acres, and wrought out from the wilderness a 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1043 



profitable farm. He aided in building the 
first house in the township, was a useful citi- 
zen in every respect, and well fitted for a life 
in a new country. In politics he was a dem- 
ocrat; in religion he was a sincere Catholic, 
died in the faith December 22, 1894, and his 
memory is still cherished with respect by the 
old pioneers as well as by the rising genera- 
tion. His wife was born in county Kerry, 
Ireland, in 1830, and died a devout Catholic 
October 7, 1880. 

James T. Sullivan was educated in the 
common schools of Grattan township, was 
confirmed at the age of eight years by Bishop 
Lefevre, and was reared on his father's farm. 
Three years before his father's death he was 
deeded the estate. October 6, 1891, he 
married Miss Catherine J. Walsh, and this 
marriage has been blessed with four children, 
viz: Frances Eileen, who is in the fourth 
grade in St. Joseph's academy, under the 
charge of the Sisters of Mercy, is bright in 
her studies and has taken instruction in music; 
Johanna Aleta; Francis Aloysius, Patrick and 
John Henry. 

Mrs. Catherine Sullivan was born in Al- 
pine township, Kent county, Mich., August 
26, 1872, and is a daughter of Patrick and 
Margaret (Toohey) Walsh, who had a family 
of four sons and five daughters, of whom the 
following named eight are still living: Min- 
nie, who graduated from the Normal school at 
Valparaiso, Ind., in the class of 1891, and is 
now a teacher in Helena, Mont. ; she was 
confirmed by Bishop Borgess; David, an agri- 
culturist in Solon township, Kent county, 
Mich.; Mrs. Sullivan, wife of subject; Maggie, 
who was educated at the Ferris institute in 
Big Rapids, and is now a successful teacher in 
Kent county; Lillian, who graduated from the 
high school at Cedar Springs and the normal 
school at Ferris institute, and is a teacher at 
White Swan; Julia, who graduated with the 



class of 1898 at Cedar Springs and is also a 
teacher; John, a student at Cedar Springs, and 
Patrick Henry, at home. All the children, 
with the exception of Minnie, have been con- 
firmed by Bishop Richter. 

Patrick Walsh, father of Mrs. Sullivan, 
was born in county Waterford, Ireland, about 
1834, and is now living in Solon township. 
At the age of about si.xteen years he left his 
beloved land for America, and about 1856 
became a resident of Kent county, and here 
his life has been devoted to agricultural pur- 
suits. The first land he purchased here was 
a tract of eighty acres in Alpine township, and 
the next was 120 acres in Solon township in 
1891. He and family worship at the Catho- 
lic mission at Sand Lake, and in politics he 
is a democrat. His wife was born in county 
Queens, Ireland, May 3, 1844, and was a 
young lady when she crossed the Atlantic in 
a steamer, which encountered heavy seas. 

Mrs. Catherine Sullivan's education was 
begun in the common schools and was con- 
cluded at the Central high school at Grand 
Rapids, and she was one of the youngest, yet 
most successful teachers in Kent county. 
She is a lady of pleasing address, and is of 
that genial, cordial nature, which makes sun- 
shine in the home and makes that home a 
heaven. She has always been her husband's 
counselor in the social and business relations 
in life. Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan will rear their 
children in the Catholic faith. 

Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan began their life to- 
gether on the old Sullivan homestead in 1891, 
and this is one of the best estates in southwest 
Grattan township, comprising 200 acres of ex- 
cellent clay-loam soil, adapted to the cultiva- 
tion of all those crops peculiar to the southern 
peninsula. Mr. and Mrs. Sullivan have greatly 
improved the homestead with new and per- 
manent buildings, and their commodious home 
stands on an eminence which commands a 



1044 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



fine view of the surrounding country. It is 
heated by a furnace, and is one of the most 
hospitable homes of the township. 

Mr. Sullivan is a democrat in politics and 
cast his first presidential vote for Grover 
Cleveland. He was elected commissioner of 
highways in 1883, and again elected in 1894; 
he has also served as justice of the peace of 
Grattan township, was elected in 1897, and 
for fifteen years has been connected with the 
public schools of his district. He has been 
selected as delegate to county and state con- 
ventions to represent his party's interests at 
various times. 

Mrs. Sullivan became a member of the 
Altar society of her church in 1896, and she 
and her husband are members of the Sacred 
Heart society. They are prominent as resi- 
dents of Grattan township and as members of 
St. Patrick's parish — the largest country par- 
ish in the state — and have been very liberal 
in their contributions to the support of parish 
and priest, as well as to the poor and need3^ 



UGENE WARD, supervisor of Cale- 
donia township, Kent county, Mich., 
dealer in wool, general insurance 
agent, notary public, etc. , was born 
in Vergennes township, March 31, 1853, and 
is a son of William W'. and Caroline E. Ward, 
of whom further may be read in the biography 
of J. H. Ward, of Ada township, in which 
township the parents located when Eugene, 
the subject of this sketch, was a child. 

Eugene Ward was educated in the common 
schools, and from the age of eighteen years 
was a teacher in Cannon, Vergennes, Cascade, 
Caledonia and Gaines townships twelve con- 
secutive terms. He also learned the carpen- 
ter's trade and followed that calling to some 
extent, and at the age of twenty-one years 



settled in Caledonia township, on a new farm 
on the south line, where he lived until twelve 
years ago, when he removed to the village. 
For ten years he has been largely engaged 
in buying and shipping wool, and has to some 
extent been engaged in sheep growing. 

In politics Mr. Ward is a republican, and 
for four years served as a justice of the peace; 
he was then elected supervisor, and in this 
capacity is now serving his fifth term. He has 
held some of the most important positions on 
the committees of the county board, and • at 
present is a member of the county drain com- 
mittee. He is active in the councils of the 
republican party, and is generally selected as 
delegate to its conventions. 

Mr. Ward was united in marriage April 10, 
1877, with Miss Josie Brock, of Caledonia 
township, but a native of Canada and a resi- 
dent of Kent county, Mich., since infancy. 
This union is graced with one child — Byron — 
now aged eight years. 

In his fraternal relations Mr. Ward is a 
Blue lodge Mason. Both he and wife are 
members of Caledonia chapter. Order of the 
Eastern Star, and he is also a Knight of 
Pythias. His life has been so straightfor- 
ward as to gain the unfeigned esteem of the 
entire community. From' youth upward he 
has been a great lover of the chase and has 
passed many seasons in northern Michigan, 
and for twenty years, with a party of congenial 
spirits, has made trips that have resulted in 
the bringing back of many trophies, such as 
handsome antlers, etc. 

James Brock, father of Mrs. Josie Ward, 
was born in Quebec, Canada, February 22, 
1832, removed with his parents to the west of 
Montreal, and remained with them until four- 
teen years old, then ran away to see the 
world, and did not return to the old home 
until past thirty. He worked as a farm lad, 
at first, and then as a doctor's boy in Mont- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1045 



real, as he could speak both English and 
French, although his parents were Scotch. 
At seventeen he went into the lumber country 
on the Ottawa river, remained with the com- 
pany until thirty years old, going for it into 
the Hudson Bay country to look after its lum- 
ber lands, and ran a raft down the river to 
Quebec in the summer seasons, having charge 
of gangs of twelve to one hundred men. 

April 24, 1849, he married, at Brandon, 
Vt., Isabella Turner, aged sixteen years, lived 
in the state five years as a farmer, then re- 
turned to Canada and contracted for getting 
out timber for the Great Western railroad 
bridge near Hamilton for five years, built a 
saw-mill and lost it by fire. In i860 he came 
to Michigan, was foreman of a large farm in 
Wayne county until 1866, and then came to 
Kent county and settled on a wild farm of 160 
acres he had bought in 1862, in Caledonia 
township. He cleared up the place, erected a 
modern mansion in 1883, and after living in the 
dwelling nine years it was destroyed by fire, 
causing a loss of over $2,000. But he re- 
built, at a cost of $2,000, one of the best 
mansions in the township, and increased the 
farm to 120 acres. About four years ago he 
relinquished agriculture, and is now living in 
retirement in the village. Their only child is 
Josephine, wife of Eugene Ward. 

Mr. Ward is a democrat in politics. In 
religion his wife is a member Of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, to which he contributes, 
though personally holding more nearly to Uni- 
versalist views. He is strictly temperate. 
On leaving his parents, sixty years ago, he 
passed a tavern and saw a drunken brawl, and 
then and there vowed never to be seen under 
the influence of liquor. Neither does he use 
tobacco. He is highly respected socially, and 
in his retirement celebrated the anniversary of 
his fiftieth wedding day with a few cherished 
friends. 




AMES HENRY WARD, an influential 
farmer and supervisor of Ada town- 
ship, was born in Vergennes township, 
Kent county, Mich., on the 27th of 
May, 1850. He is descended from a family of 
industry and of great worth. His grandpar- 
ents, Horace and Charlotte (Frazier) Ward, 
settled in Ada township on Honey creek, 
where they lived and died, he at the age of 
sixty and she at eight}'. 

The father of James Henry, William Weth- 
erby Ward, a native of New York, was united 
in marriage . to Miss Caroline E. Tillotson. 
when he was twenty-five years of age. At the 
time of his marriage he had already purchased 
land in Vergennes township and had cleared a 
farm, but later moved to Ada township. Here 
he spent a great part of his life as a farmer 
and passed the last ten years in retirement at 
Grand Rapids, where he died February 5, 
1898, at the age of seventy-two 3'ears, having 
survived his wife seven years, she having died 
at the age of sixty-six. By his unceasing 
toil and efforts he had succeeded in clearing 
up three farms and putting them into a high 
state of cultivation. 

For fifty-six years he had been a strong re- 
publican and a stanch upholder of the princi- 
ples of his party. Although he never held 
office, he was often delegate to conventions, 
etc. By his strong energy and unflagging per- 
severance he arrived at success. A leading 
and influential member of society, he is known 
by all to have been a hard and persistent 
worker. 

James Henry Ward, his son, and the sub- 
ject of this sketch, was brought to Ada town- 
ship when only three years of age, and with 
the exception of four years, which he passed 
in Grattan, has lived here ever since. His 
educational advantages were such as could be 
secured in the district schools of his township. 
He remained with his parents on the farm 



1046 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



until twenty-one years of age, in the summer 
cultivating tile land, and teaching school in the 
winter, the latter of which occupations he 
was engaged in for twelve successive winters 
in Kent county. 

On the 5th of April, 1875. when twenty- 
five years of age, he was united in marriage to 
Miss Josephine Riggs, daughter of Augustus 
and Esther (Dennis) Riggs, and born and 
reared in Ada township. Her father came to 
Michigan in 1839 when but a lad of thirteen 
with his parents, Jedediah and Felinda 
(Crary) Riggs. They settled in Ada on the 
farm where Augustus now lives. 

James Henry Ward rented his father's 
farm for three years and soon bought a farm 
in Grattan township. He then secured the 
present farm adjoining the old homestead. It 
now contains 160 acres, forty acres being part 
of the old homestead of his father. Lately he 
has erected a large, fine, brick residence, 
which lends a vastly different aspect to the 
original estate, of which only some thirty-five 
acres were cleared. He is at present engaged 
in general farming and has 120 acres in culti- 
vation. He has also been carrying on quite 
an extensive business as a fruit raiser, at 
present cultivating some 1,500 peach trees. 

Mr. Ward has been a very popular and in- 
fluential man. He has served as commissioner 
of the highways in Ada township for some fif- 
teen years, and for two terms has been justice 
of the peace. In 1S94 he was elected super- 
visor of Ada, and re-elected in 1896-98-99. 
He has adopted the political principles of his 
father, in that he is a republican. He has 
taken an active part in the conventions and is 
one of the most widely known and influential 
men in the township. 

Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Ward are the parents 
of five children, viz: Ashley, Ethel, who is 
a student of the Grand Rapids high school; 
William Wetherby, who married Olive Chaffee 



and assists his father on the farm; Chandler, 
and Caroline. They also lost two children. 
Maurice met death when in his seventeenth 
year by being thrown from his horse, his foot 
hanging in the stirrups. William Wetherby 
died at the age of twenty-eight years from the 
effects of burns. 

Fraternally Mr. Ward is a member of and is 
in high standing in the Ada lodge of Masons. 
In the sporting line he enjoys a hunt each year 
in northern Michigan with dog and gun. He 
is an educated man, and being interested in 
that line, it has been a great desire of his that 
his children acquire a good education. 




ARREN W. WAITE, a leading fruit- 
grower of Cannon township, Kent 
county, Mich., was born in Cleve- 
land, Ohio, March 26, 1857, a son 
of Milo and Laura J. (Dutcher) Waite, parents 
of four children, viz: William W., a farmer 
of Cannon township; Maria, wife of Perry 
M. Little, of Plainfield township; Lillian, wife 
of James Watson, a farmer, also of Plainfield 
township, and Warren W., the subject of this 
biography and the second-born of the family. 
Milo Waite was a native of Washtenaw 
county, Mich., was born May 22, 1834, and 
when fourteen years old went alone to Ohio 
and for a while lived in Toledo; he next went 
to Cleveland, was there married, and in 1858 
returned to Michigan and followed the trade 
of shipbuilding, at Detroit, until 1859, when 
he went to Greenville, Mich. There he was 
engaged in the manufacture of wagons for a 
year, then came to Kent county and lived 
here until the fall of 1871, when he went to 
Chicago, 111., and it is thought that he lost 
his life there in the destructive conflagration 
which occurred in October of that year, as he 
was never afterward heard from. Mrs. Laura 



( 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1047 



J. Waite was born in Euclid, Ohio, April 15, 
1839, came to Michigan with her husband, 
and after his loss resided with her children in 
Cannon township until she was called away 
in January, 1894. 

Warren W. Waite received a common- 
school education, but was quick to learn and 
was early able himself to teach, and for some 
time followed the vocation with great success. 
From the age of twelve until bis marriage he 
had worked out among the neighbors, attended 
school at intervals and taught school, as stated, 
in order to assist in maintaining his mother and 
little sisters and to get a start in the world. 
July 3, 1874, he married Miss Jennie Haines, 
a native of Cannon township, born June 30, 
1855, the eldest child of Virgil and Esther 
(Porter) Haines. 

Virgil Haines was born in Orange county, 
N. Y., in 1 82 I, and when a boy was brought 
to Michigan by his parents, who settled on a 
farm in Oakland county. When twenty-five 
years old, he came to Ivent county and set- 
tled on a farm in Cannon township. Mrs. 
Esther Haines was born in Ireland in 1832, 
and was but a child when brought to Oakland 
county, Mich., by her parents. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Waite has 
been blessed with four children, viz: Edith 
M., who is married to Frank Davy, merchant 
and postmaster at Austerlitz, Kent county; 
Frank A., a student in Olivet college; Clyde 
E., and Arthur W. , attending school at Can- 
nonsburg. 

In politics Mr. Waite was formerly a pro- 
hibitionist and was at one time the nominee 
of his party for register of deeds, and was so 
very popular that he came very closely to be- 
ing elected, notwithstanding the weakness of 
the party vote; he is now a stanch republican, 
and under this party has held the offices of 
school inspector and superintendent. Mr. 
Waite has also been very successful in literary 

56 



work, has contributed both prose and poetry 
to many of the leading journals of the United 
States, and his library of standard authors is 
interspersed with many of his own produc- 
tions. Fraternally, he is a member of the 
Masonic lodge at Grattan Center, in which he 
has held most of the offices. He and wife are 
members of the Congregational church at 
Bostwick lake, of which Mr. Waite has been 
superintendent of the Sunday-school several 
years. 

When Mr. Waite started in life he had, as 
will have been seen by the foregoing remarks, 
nothing but a pair of willing hands and a de- 
termined will, and had, beside, boy as he was, 
a mother gnd two young sisters to support; 
but he was industrious and skillful and frugal, 
and now owns a fine farm of 160 acres, con- 
taining a peach orchard of 7,000 trees, a plum 
orchard of 300 trees, and a well-stocked apple 
orchard, and although comparatively young in 
fruit-culture, his farm promises to be one of 
the leading in Kent county, and that in the 
near future. Mr. and Mrs. Waite are among 
the most respected residents of Cannon town- 
ship and well deserve the high esteem in which, 
thev are held. 




EORGE W. TORTELLET, a repre- 
sentative and prosperous farmer of 
Kent county since 1878 and an old 
soldier of the Civil war, is a native of 
Miami county, Ohio, and was born February 
17, 1845. He is the third in a family of five 
children born to Harrison and Sophia (Crouch) 
Tortellet. His father was born in New Eng- 
land and died when George was a boy of eight 
summers. His mother had departed from 
earthly life three years before and he was 
early left an orphan to buffet the waves of ad- 
versity. After the death of his parents he 



1048 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



went to live with his uncle and stayed under 
his roof until he enlisted in the army. His 
educational advantages were rather meager, 
but by special study he went beyond a com- 
mon-school education. 

On the 3d of March, 1864, he offered his 
services and life to his native country by en- 
listing in company F, Fourth Ohio volunteer 
cavalry, at Lima. He joined his regiment at 
Nashville, Tenn., where they were awaiting 
their horses. The first action he took part in 
was at Moulton, Ala., a hot engagement, last- 
ing the entire day. Next he was in the se- 
vere battle at Nashville, Tenn., then at Selma, 
Ala., where he was in the Wilson raid of al- 
most a day's duration. In a word, from the 
time the Fourth Ohio cavalry left Gravel 
Springs, until they reached Macon, Ga., they 
were under fire, resembling very much a con- 
tinuous battle. At Selma and other points, 
they were shelled furiously by the rebels. Mr. 
Tortellet wa;s on the famous "march to the 
sea," where he was in tne saddle night and 
day, and many times suffered from the want 
of food and shelter. An instance of their ex- 
treme hunger might have been witnessed at 
Gravel Springs, Tenn., when the Fourth Ohio 
regiment was so hard run for food that the 
poor soldiers were compelled to eat the corn 
intended for their horses. When the glad 
news came to the Federals that the celebrated 
Rebel chieftain, Gen. R. E. Lee, had sur- 
rendered, they were between Montgomery, 
Ala., and Columbus Ga. The joyful news was 
received with exultation by the boys in blue, 
for it meant home, friends and loved ones. 
Mr. Tortellet was honorably discharged at 
Nashville, Tenn., July 15, 1865, and returned 
to his home in Ohio, having served his time of 
enlistment as a faithful soldier, and endured 
the privations and hardships of a soldier's life, 
and three months' sickness in the hospital. 

In 1866 he came to Cold water. Branch 



county, Mich., where he engaged as a farm la- 
borer for three years. During his stay there 
he wedded Miss Puella A. Van Nuys, on the 
24th of December, 1871, and she bore him 
five sons and three daughters, seven of which 
children are living, viz: Seeley C, who, having 
completed the eighth grade at school, is aid- 
ing his father in his farming; Rosa, wife of 
Fred Tompsett of Spencer tovvnsnip, and 
mother of two sons, Clayton and Harry; 
George N., who has completed the eighth 
grade at school and Herbert A., both of whom 
are living under the parental roof; Floyd I\. , 
Bessie B. and Ethel May. 

Mrs. Tortellet was born in Seneca county, 
N. Y., August 24, 1849, and is a daughter of 
Simon and Sarah J. (Wickoff) Van Nuys. 
Her father was a native of the Mohawk val- 
ley and of the old Mohawk-Dutch descent. 
He was an agriculturist and emigrated to 
Michigan when Mrs. Tortellet was a little girl 
of six years, and died in that state at the age of 
seventy-one years. Mrs. Tortellet received a 
common-school education and is a lady affa- 
able and genial by nature and ever superlative 
in the affection of her husband. 

At the time Mr. and Mrs. Tortellet began 
married life, their capital did not amount to a 
five-dollar bill. Mr. Tortellet came to Cedar 
Springs and engaged in any occupation at 
which he could earn an honest dollar. He 
sent for his wife as soon as he had the neces- 
sary funds and they remained in the vicinity 
of Cedar Springs about two years, thence re- 
moving to Pearson, Mich., where he was for a 
short time engaged in lumbering. At this 
time he was the owner of eighty acres of 
partly improved land which he subsequently 
lost, and furthermore was thrown $700 in 
debt. He was compelled again to commence 
at the starting place; he worked in the mills a 
short time, then back again to Branch county, 
and thence to Spencer township, where he 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1049 



purchased forty-nine acres of improved land, 
for which he went in debt. But economy and 
thrift have secured for them to-day, in 1899, a 
nicely improved farm without a cent of debt. 
They are pioneers of the township and have 
witnessed its growth and development, and in 
the cause of the latter they themselves have 
done much. 

Politically Mr. Tortellet is a stanch repub- 
lican, having cast his first presidential vote for 
Abraham Lincoln, while in the ranks. His 
record is that of a man who has by his own 
unaided efforts worked his way up to at least 
a comfortable and enjoyable position. His 
life has been one of industry, perseverance 
and economy, and the systematic and honor- 
able business methods which he has followed, 
have won him the support and confidence of 
many. Both he and his wife are God-fearing 
people and lead christian lives, holding to the 
doctrines taught in the Bible and following the 
primitive church practices as closely as possi- 
ble. They are members of and believers in 
the Church of God. 




LL E. TAYLOR, of the firm of 
Bush & Taylor, to. a review of 
whose life the following lines are 
devoted, is, in point of activity and 
enterprise, one of the most successful and pro- 
gressive young business men of the town of 
Lowell. 

Mr. Taylor is the only child of Edwin and 
Alma (Wait) Taylor, and first saw the light of 
day in Lowtell, Kent county, Mich., on the 
20th day of January, 1875. The parents are 
both natives of the state of New York, but be- 
came residents of Lowell a number of years 
ago and are still living in the town, the father 
following general teaming as his vocation. 
The public schools of Lowell furnished 



Will E. with a practical education, but after 
the age of ten he was rarely found within the 
school-room, as he began the struggle of life 
for himself before reaching his 'teens. His 
first employment was as errand and general- 
purpose boy with the grocery house of H. 
Mitchell, of Lowell, in which capacity he 
continued for a period of four or five years, 
winning the confidence and esteem of his em- 
ployers and gaining a very complete knowledge 
of the business in the meantime. 

With the experience thus acquired Mr. 
Taylor a few years later engaged in merchan- 
dizing upon his own responsibility, and it is 
now just to observe that few young men of his 
years and with" the limited capital at his com- 
mand succeeded so well in their first venture. 
After continuing for some time with much 
more than ordinary success, Mr. Taylor 
closed out his stock to great advantage and 
entered into partnership in the bakery and 
confectionery trade with Daniel F. Bush, who 
had already succeeded in becoming the leader 
in those two lines of business in Lowell. 
The firm was established on the 3d day of 
April, 1898, and though of but few months' ex- 
istence at this time, bids fair to continue to be 
as it already is, one of the leading business 
ventures of the town. Messrs. Bush & Taylor 
are both exceptionally bright and enterpris- 
ing young men and by fair dealing, and study- 
ing the needs of the public in their lines, 
have already established a reputation much 
more than local. 

Mr. Taylor was married October 16, 1894, 
to Miss Maude Rider, of Grand Rapids, a 
young lady fitted in every way to be the com- 
panion of her husband and to preside with 
grace and dignity over their household. 

The business career of Mr. Taylor is indeed 
creditable. By reason of his father's inability 
to assist him, he was thrown upon his own 
resources at a very early age, and the success 



10Z)0 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



he has achieved is due entirely to his own 
efforts. Strong determination, persistence in 
the pursuit of an honorable purpose, unflag- 
ging energy and careful management are the 
salient features of his career, and his life is 
an outgrowth of principles carefully nurtured 
and trained in the proper direction. 

In his political views he is an unswerving 
republicani^.and has done all in his power to 
promote the growth and insure the success of 
his party. Fraternally he is a member of the 
order of Maccabees, belonging to the local 
lodge of Lowell. 



I 



^a 



LFRED C. TEEPLE, a well known 
and highly respected farmer on sec- 
tion No. 23, Paris township, was 
born in Cascade township, Kent 
county, Mich., May 4, 1842. 

George W. and Samantha (Cook) Teeple, 
parents of Alfred C. Teeple, were natives of 
Seneca county, N. Y. , whose families came to 
Michigan in an early day and located in Wayne 
county, near Plymouth, where the parents of 
the subject were married. In 1836, when the 
family consisted of two children, they came to 
the Grand River country, locating in Cascade 
township, Kent county, where the family has 
since had representatives. That was assured- 
ly at a pioneer period. Scarcely a dozen 
houses stood at the then mere trading-post, 
where now the hum of hundreds of extensive 
factories, employing thousands of men, indi- 
cates the second city of importance in the 
state. The woods, through which the beauti- 
ful Thornapple flowed, were scarcely yet trod 
by white man's feet, and the placid waters of 
the beautiful stream still often reflected the 
swarthy face of the Indian warrior or his no 
less dusky maiden. About the same time 
Lewis Cook, maternal uncle of the subject. 



also arrived; and soon afterward came his fa- 
ther, Edward Cook, a veteran of the war of 
1812, who likewise took up his residence in 
Cascade. 

When Alfred C. was six j'ears of age, his 
parents removed to section No. 18, on the line 
of Paris township, where they settled on a 
tract of 150 acres. Of this about ten acres 
had been partially improved, the remainder 
being subsequently cleared by his father, who 
died on the place at the age of seventy-four 
J'ears. His wife survived him twelve years, 
dying at the age of eighty two. This farm is 
now owned by their son, William E. Teeple, 
who makes it his home. George W. Teeple 
was a stanch democrat and an influential 
party worker; he was quite popular with his 
party as well as with the general public. He 
was of a sociable nature, liberal in his relations 
to all. He was very fond of hunting, a sport 
in which he was invariably successful, having 
attained an enviable record among hunters as 
one whose skill in many instances excelled 
that of the Indian. Of his twelve children, 
ten grew to maturity, and nine are still living. 
One son, Marcus D., who was a resident of 
Paris township, was accidentally killed at the 
age of fifty-four years, by logs rolling over him 
through some mishap while he was at work; 
but his widow and one daughter still reside on 
their farm. 

Alfred C. Teeple remained on the home 
farm until thirty-one years old, for five years 
ha\ing had full charge of its operation. At, 
his marriage he located on part of the home- 
stead, where he lived about eighteen months, 
when he removed to a farm in Jamestown, Ot- 
tawa county, on which he lived six years, mak- 
ing extensive improvements upon it. Ever 
being handy in the use and operation of ma- 
chinery, he engaged in the lumber manufacture 
in Grand Rapids for a period of five years. He 
also worked two and a half years as a carpen- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1051 



ter, his skill being such that although he had 
never worked at this trade before, he soon re- 
ceived the best wages paid to skilled mechan- 
ics. He had abandoned farming on account 
of ill health, but, his temperament and dispo- 
sition were such that he must be actively 
engaged in remunerative labor. The old love 
for the pursuits of agriculture had not been 
outgrown or forgotten, but its independence 
came more forcibly to mind after these years 
spent in mechanical life, and so in the fall of 
1886 Mr. Teeple secured his present farm, 
which had formerly been owned by Alexander 
Loomis, his father-in-law, and comprised for- 
ty acres. I-fe next purchased eighty acres ad- 
joining on section No. 23, known as the 
Thomas Skinner farm. He rebuilt the dwell- 
ing and barns, made other desirable improve- 
ments, and now has the finest farm of its di- 
mensions in Paris township, and, owing to the 
skill and intelligence in its operation, it is one 
ol the most prolific in the crops grown upon 
it. He also keeps a liock of choice sheep, in 
which he justly takes great pride; in keeping 
with the whole, all his live stock is in fact of 
the best breeds. 

Mr. Teeple is a democrat in politics, has 
often attended a£ delegate the county, district 
and state conventions of his party, and has 
worked hard for its success. He never shirks 
responsibility in upholding and advocating its 
principles, being well informed, not only upon 
questions of party belief, but also in all po- 
litical history, and is naturally a stanch sup- 
porter of the Chicago platform. His frater- 
nal relations are with the I. O. O. F., with 
which he has held a quiet connection for sev- 
eral years. 

Mr. Teeple was joined in marriage March 
26, 1872, with Miss DeEtte L. Loomis, a na- 
tive of Gaines township, Kent county, Mich., 
and to this felicitous union have been born 
two children — Lotta B. and E. Clyde — both 



still at home. Mr. Teeple, like those only 
who have been careful students of the Bible 
and thoughtful in reaching conclusions, is a 
Unitarian in his religious belief, though at 
present he is not related to any church so- 
ciety. Recognizing their value in a commu- 
nity, he liberally contributes to the churches 
of the vicinity. He is of a tough, wiry phy- 
sique and nervous temperament; thoughtful and 
meditative, he endeavors to seek the reason 
for all things before he considers them worthy 
of his faith and sanction. He is greatly re- 
spected as a man of independence of thought, 
honorable living, and his many excellent per- 
sonal qualities. His family are also held in 
unalloyed esteem by their numerous friends 
and neighbors. 



m 



ENECA TEEPLE, one of the best 
known and most highly respected 
farmers of Cascade township, Kent 
county, Mich., and ex-soldier, is a 
native of the state, and was born in Wayne 
county, August 20, 1831, a son of Peter and 
Sarah (Losey) Teeple, the former of whom 
was born in New Jersey and the latter at 
Ovid, Seneca county, N. Y. , where they were 
married, and whence they came to Michigan, 
when they were parents of but one child. 

Jonas Teeple, father of Peter, and the 
entire family, on coming to Michigan together, 
settled where the village of Plymouth, Wayne 
county, now stands. Jonas made several 
visits to Kent county, but died in Wayne 
county \yhen past eighty years old. His three 
sons, Peter, George and James, all settled in 
Kent county — Peter and George coming in 
1836, and James some years later, settling at 
Sparta. 

Peter Teeple was the father of seven chil- 
dren when he came to Kent county. He had 



1052 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



sold a large farm at Plymouth, and in Cas- 
cade township, Kent county, bought 700 
acres of government land at $1.25 per acre — 
all close together. He built a little log house 
in section No. 18, and there passed the re- 
mainder of his life. The little log house, 
however, gave place to the present dwelling 
in 1855. Mr. Teeple was for many years 
agent for speculators who owned large tracts 
of land in the county, and of these Mr. Teeple 
sold many acres to settlers and thus did much 
to people the locality. He kept open house, 
and this, naturally, was a very popular place 
with the pioneers. He was in the midst of a 
wilderness, with no roads, until he cleared 
them through the woods, and these roads he 
twisted to the right and to the left to avoid 
swamp arid creeks, over which there were no 
bridges, and however pretty serpentine pat- 
terns may be in landscape gardening, they are 
not quite the thing wanted in a wilderness. 
Although he was but eight miles from Grand 
Rapids, then called Bobolink, it took him two 
days to make the trip. 

For ten years Mr. Teeple was supervisor 
of his township, and kept up his interest in 
public affairs until he had attained an advanced 
age. He was friendly at all times with the 
Indians, and the children of Indians were 
playmates of his own, of whom there were 
nine, viz: Jane, who was married to Thomas 
Merrils, and died at Grand Haven, when up- 
ward of fifty years old; Lettie, widow of 
Henry Pennoyer, resides at Seattle, Wash. ; 
Seneca, the subject of this sketch; Emeline, 
wife of Charles Maben, of Cascade; Peter, 
of Fremont, Mich. ; Delia, widow of Fayette 
Freeman, and living in Grand Rapids; Manda, 
who was married to Byron Hinshaw, and died 
at the age of twenty-five j'ears; Perr}', who 
lives in SchooLraft county, Mich.; and Fran- 
ces, wife of Lothrop Stowe, of Grand Rapids. 
The venerated father of this family died in 



1875, ^t eighty-two years of age, having lost 
his wife five years previously. 

Seneca Teeple remained on the home place 
until twenty-one years old, and then made a 
start for Pike's Peak, passed four years each 
in Kansas and Missouri, and at the breaking 
out of the Civil war returned to Michigan, 
and in 1863 enlisted in company K. Sixteenth 
Michigan infantry. He fought in the battles 
of the Wilderness, Va., and all the way 
through to the surrender of Lee at Appomat- 
tox, at which he was present. For a short 
time only he was in the hospital. He was 
discharged at Louisville, Ky., and at once re- 
turned home, began farming on a place near 
his father's homestead, clearing it up from 
the woods. Subsequently he purchased his 
father's place, on which he lived until about 
1893, when he settled on his present farm, 
opposite the old homestead, and known as 
the Lewis Cook farm. He owns 160 acres, 
divided into two, half being the old and half 
the new. He has dealt in horses for years, 
and also for many years made a specialty of 
sheep-raising, and though always a general 
farmer, has of late years given most of his at- 
tention to this branch of his vocation. 

Seneca Teeple married, in 1874, Miss 
Frances Rising, of Ohio, to which union were 
born two children — Peter and Oliver — both of 
whom died in childhood. To fill the vacancy 
caused by these sad events, Mr. and Mrs. 
Teeple, in kindness of heart, have adopted 
two others — Edward \\'inchell and Celia 
Parker. The boy, Edward, was taken to 
their hearts when he was ten years of age. 
and was reared with affection and care until 
twenty-one; is now running a milk route, but 
is still making his home with Mr. and Mrs. 
Teeple. The adopted daughter, Celia, a 
niece of Mrs. Teeple. was but seven years of 
age when she was taken into the family circle, 
of which she is still the ornament and pride. 



/•] 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1053 



Mrs. Teeple is a devout member of the Dis- 
ciples' church, and is a lady in all respects, 
being possessed of many womanly virtues and 
social qualifications which fit her for any sta- 
tion in life. 

In politics Mr. Teeple is of democratic 
proclivities, his father having been a Jackson- 
ian democrat, but he has taken no active part 
in politics, being content to attend to his private 
interests, although he is one of the most pub- 
lic-spirited men in the county, ne\'er failing to 
respond when called upon to aid measures cal- 
culated to be of benefit to the public, and 
especially such as may add to the prosperity 
of his township. To-day this old playmate 
of Indian lads in his youth — who has wit- 
nessed the multifarious changes which have 
made I\ent county what it is — stands foremost 
among a class of men who can boast of liv- 
ing on the highest plane of civilized life, hon- 
ored by all his fellow-men. 



YRUS G. TINDALL.— Among the 
farmers and honorable pioneers 
prominently identified with the gen- 
eral development of Kent county, is 
Cyrus G. Tindall, who was born January iS, 
1859, on the farm where he now resides, 'and 
reared to honest toil as a farmer, which voca- 
tion he has followed through life. He aided 
his father in the development and cultivation 
of the farm, and, having resided here since 
birth, he has seen the country grow from a 
wilderness to its present state of improve- 
ment. What was only a wild forest when his 
parents came here, is cleared and improved, 
furnished with beautiful and comfortable 
dwellings, school-houses and churches, and 
even towns and villages near by, with rail- 
roads, etc., and sustaining thousands of civil- 
ized people. These observations awaken 



many memories when much of this country 
was covered with heavy timber, crossed with 
many ppnds, sloughs and " slashes," and when 
the few settlers lived together in harmony aud 
sympathy, although in great poverty, and had 
confidence in each other and enjoyed one 
another's company far more than at the pres- 
ent day. They were ready to help oneanother 
in raising cabins, rolling logs, etc., and the 
social gatherings were simple, inexpensive and 
satisfactory. 

Cyrus G. Tindall is the second in order of 
birth in a family of four sons and two daugh- 
ters born to John N. and Lydia J. (Silver- 
thorne) Tindall. Five of the children are liv- 
ing, viz: -Cyrus G. ; Huldah E. and Helen, 
both educated in the common schools of their 
native county and now milliners at Rockford, 
Mich. ; Seymour, a mechanic residing at Reed 
City, Mich., and Charley, who married Miss 
Gertrude Bennett and is now a dealer in grain 
and potatoes at Evans, Mich. 

The. father, still a resident upon part of the 
origmal homestead, was born in New Jersey 
on the i6th of March, 1829, was educated in 
the conimon schools and reared to agricultural 
pursuits. He came when but a young lad to 
Michigan with his parents, who located in 
Oakland county. There he grew to manhood 
and married, and in 1856 came to Kent 
county. He has in his possession a deed 
for eighty acres of land in Nelson township, 
bearing the date of .March 10, 1S57, and the 
signature of President James Buchanan. He 
still is the owner of forty acres of land in sec- 
tion No. 34, of Nelson township. Politically 
he was a whig, and became an upholder of re- 
publican principles at the birth of that party, 
a connection he still retains. He and his wife 
are respected members of the Methodist 
church. 

Cyrus G. Tindall, whose name introduces 
this biography, has spent his life in Kent, 



11)54 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Ionia and Montcalm counties. For a number 
of years he was a lumberman and aided in the 
clearing of the land for miles north and eastof 
his residence. During the ten years following 
1885 he made a business of hunting, and 
shipped his game — partridge and quail mainly 
— to the city of Detroit. This proved a very 
successful business, and aided very materially 
in giving him a start in life. He has led a 
very active and eventful career and the inci- 
cidents in his life as a hunter are very inter- 
esting. His fine physical manhood stands to 
testify the endurance, tested by his long 
tramps, some of them of three weeks' dura- 
tion, undergone by him while on these ex- 
cursions. Mr. Tindall remained with and gave 
his time and earnings to his father until twen- 
ty- one years of age, when he began life for 
himself with $100 capital. 

On February 28, 1883, Mr. Tindall was 
united in marriage to Miss Annie G. Brown, 
who has borne him two sons and a daughter, 
viz: \'erne E., who is in the eighth grade at 
school, and during vacation gives his whole 
mind and attention to agricultural pursuits 
and stock raising; Carl M. is in the fifth grade 
at school and a remarkably industrious and 
prompt student, his average for the term be- 
ing over 90 per cent, and his attendance per- 
fect; Elva Jean is also attending school and 
endowed with musical talent. 

Mrs. Tindall was born in Fair Plains town- 
ship, Montcalm county, Mich., October 17, 
1858, a daughter of Nathaniel and Emma 
(Milton) Brown. There were three sons and 
three daughters in the family, all of whom are 
living, viz: Nathaniel ., a mechanic and 
carpenter, has been married and has a son in 
the gold regions of Alaska; Milton J., who is 
married and is engaged as an agriculturist of 
Fair Plains, Mich. ; Mary Jane, who was for- 
merly a teacher in the Ionia and Montcalm 
county schools, and at present is the wife of 



Theodore Leach, a resident of Ionia county, 
Mich.; Leonard, T. .married and engaged in ag- 
riculture in Montcalm county, and Emm.aW. , 
the wife of J. Palmer, a farmer of Amsden, 
Montcalm county. 

Mr. Brown was born in Airfield, Middlesex, 
England, September i, 1824, and lives at 
present on the old homestead in Montcalm 
county. He was reared and educated in his 
native land, where he was married and one 
child was born. He crossed the Atlantic 
three times, and finally settled, and became 
in 1853 a citizen of Montcalm county, Mich. 
Here he bought 160 acres of land of the gov- 
ernment, and the deed for same is in the pos- 
session of the Brown family. 

Mrs. Brown, the mother, was born in the 
same locality as her husband, about ten miles 
from the great metropolis of the empire, Lon- 
don. She came from a family of great wealth, 
refinement and prominence. She had her 
own private servants and received more than 
an ordinary education. Her birth occurred 
on the 25th day of November, 1820, and her 
departure from the life of earth January 28, 
1899. Her remains are interred in Shanty 
Plains cemetery, and a beautiful stone marks 
her last lesting place She had a very danger- 
ous voyage across the Atlantic ocean, of nine 
weeks' duration, and the ship narrowly es- 
caped destruction as a result of collision. Mr. 
and Mrs. Brown were much respected mem- 
bers and workers in the Baptist church, and 
Mr. Brown in his political affiliation is a 
stanch republican. 

Mrs. Tindall, wife of the subject, though 
educated only in the common schools, pos- 
sesses more than an ordinary intellect and 
might have been a most successful teacher. 
She has, however, improved her time by the 
selection and perusal of the best books and 
and authors and has nobly accomplished her 
part as wife. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1055 



Mr. and Mrs. Tindall began life together 
on their little farm of forty acres in Nelson 
township, with a very meager capital, their 
home being partly paid for. To-day they are 
owners of si.xty acres of finely improved land 
in Nelson township. They have erected one 
of the finest basement barns in the township 
and are not indebted a cent's worth, the in- 
debtedness on the original 140 acres having 
been cleared by Mrs. Tindall. The example 
extant is an excellent one for the young, and 
shows that labor and toil may bring one to the 
desired end. 

As to his political predilections, Mr. Tin- 
dall is a republican and cast his first vote for 
James A. Garfield. He is a man who has at- 
tended strictly to his own business, and both 
he and his wife are ardent supporters of the 
public schools, advocating the selection of the 
most proficient instructors. Socially, Mr. 
Tindall is an esteemed member of the Mac- 
cabees tent. No. 785, at Evans, Mich. 
His life has been one of honorable activity in 
the department of agriculture and the per- 
severnace and energy of himself and wife have 
met with reward. 




EROY L. THOMPSON, a pioneer farm- 
er and one of the most highly re- 
spected citizens of Paris township, 
Kent county, Mich., is a native of 
Covert, Seneca county, N. Y. , and was born 
January 6, 1830. His parents were Moses and 
Elizabeth (Johnson) Thompson, the former of 
whom died when Leroy was but one year old; 
his mother some time afterward became the 
wife of Frederick Auble. 

In the spring of 1852, Mr. and Mrs. Auble 
came to Michigan and temporarily located in 
Gaines, Kent county, being followed in the 
fall of the same year by Leroy L. Thomp- 



son, who had been reared on the home farm 
in Covert, a community from which many 
reputable persons "have emigrated. He soon 
thereafter purcliased his present farm in Paris 
township. 

There had been no road cut through his 
section, which was covered with a dense forest 
of heavy timber, and he was compelled to hew 
a road through to his newly purchased land. He 
erected a small log house so as to have a home, 
and then engaged in work for his neighbors, 
chopping down trees and splitting rails, in 
winter, haying and harvesting in summer, all 
of his first season's earnings being used in pur- 
chasing a yoke of ^teers. His first crop of 
corn was planted in the brush, as it lay piled 
after felling the timber, and before the logs and 
brush were burned, the brush heaps affording 
excellent support to the pumpkin vines, which 
grew rapidly and soon covered them. As time 
and opportunity offered, he worked on his em- 
bryo farm, but despite all he could do, with so 
much of his effort devoted to others, it was 
two years ere he had cleared off a tract of five 
acres. His farm, comprising eighty acres and 
costing but $2.50 per acre originally, is now, 
after years of energetic toil, one of the best in 
the township. He has it in excellent culti- 
vation and supplied with a good residence and 
other necessary buildings. He devotes it mainly 
to the crops usually grown in this section of 
the state, devoting considerable attention, how- 
ever to fruit growing. He is one of the up-to- 
date farmers, and being thorough and method- 
ical in his operations, the well-tilled fields 
yield most bounteous returns for the labor be- 
stowed upon them. His mother and step-father 
soon joined him and made their home with 
him the remainder of their days, the mother 
dying at about the age of sixty-five years, and 
Mr. Auble when about seventy-five. The 
family comprised nine children, of whom seven 
were born to Mr. and Mrs. Auble. 



1056 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Mr. Thompson was united in marriage, 
when thirty years of age, with Miss Eh'za M. 
Earl, a native of New York, who came to 
Michigan at the age of seventeen. To this 
union have been born six children: James, of 
Paris; Jennie, wife of Frank Cook, abstractor, 
Jessie, who died when just budding into 
promising young wo.manhood; Dora, mar- 
ried to Ransom Vanderscorce, of Cascade; 
Alice, wife of Fred Frost, of Gaines, and Her- 
bert, who is still on the home farm. 

In politics, Mr. Thompson is a democrat, 
occasionally representing his party in its con- 
ventions, but never seeking reward through 
public offices. He is recognized as a gentle- 
man of sterling integrity by the community in 
which he has so long lived, and which, indeed, 
he has seen grow up about him. He and 
family are universally respected for their 
many superior qualities of mind and heart, 
few citizens holding to a greater degree the es- 
teem of their business, political or social ac- 
quaintances. 




ILLIAM H. THOMPSON, late of 
CoLirtland township, where he was 
held in great esteem, was born in 
Kent county, on the i6th of Au- 
gust, 1849, and died at his home on the 8th 
of February, 1895. He was a worthy repre- 
sentative of one of the 'old and substantial 
pioneer families, his father being Calvin 
Thompson and his mother Drusilla White, of 
whom more complete mention is found on 
another page of this volume. His boyhood 
3'ears were passed in such farm labor as was 
incident to the time, and he soon learned the 
value of application to work. Calvin Thomp- 
son knew how to appreciate the aspirations of 
youth, and while he did not discourage his son's 
seeking fortune elsewhere he encouraged him 



to remain beneath the paternal roof, where 
he became closely identified with his parents 
until his father's death, when, in connection 
with his brother, they administered upon the 
estate. He v^'as soon after, May 11, 1877, 
united in matrimony with Miss Mary E. , 
daughter of Robert and Margaret (Beatty) 
Johnston, and who was also born in Kent 
county, November 21, 1856. They at once 
settled upon the 170-acre farm that has since 
been his home and to the improvement of 
which he turned his entire attention. For some 
years the principal crops were wheat and ha}', 
while latterly beans and potatoes have proven 
more profitable. Exercising skill and intelli- 
gence, the well tilled fields yielded a golden 
tribute in return for the labor bestowed upon 
them. He took just pride in his home, and in 
addition to commodious and well arranged barn 
and outbuildings, he in 1884 erected, at a cost 
of $2,500, a handsome residence. This, com- 
manding as it does a view of the surrounding 
country and being built upon approved plans 
and finished in hard woods, completes one 
of the most desirable of country homes. 

Mrs. Thompson is one of two daughters, 
the other being Sarah, who is now the wife of 
Charles Tefft, a successful farmer of the same 
township. Mrs. Thompson's girlhood was 
passed in Courtland township, receiving a fair 
common school education. She is the mother 
of three children, all of whom reside with her. 
They are Calvin J., whose course in the Rock- 
ford high school was cut short by the untimely 
death of his father, the responsibility of the 
farm largely devolving upon him, though then 
in but his seventeenth year, his former train- 
ing was such that he assumed the general con- 
duct of the business, working, however, in 
harmony with his mother, whose oversight has 
resulted in the continuation of the excellent 
methods followed by her husband. Margaret, 
a bright young lady, who gives promise of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1057 



superior skill as a musician; Howard A. is the 
youngest of the three. 

While yet in life's prime, when reckoned 
by years, Mr. Thompson was stricken by the 
disease that, refusing to yield to able medical 
skill, terminated the life that meant so much 
not onlj' to himself but to those dependent 
upon him. Patient to the end, he showed a 
fortitude that conveyed strong and lasting 
impressions on those about him. He stood 
extremely high in the estimation of his fellow- 
citizens, with whom he was ever in most cor- 
dial relations. He was public spirited, and 
ever ready with his means in promoting the 
progress of general improvement. He never 
.sought public office, was not bound down by 
party ties, and cast his franchise for the 
nominee he deemed best fitted to perform the 
duties of the office. He was liberal to the ex- 
treme, his purse being ever open in aid of all 
measures designed for the elevation of man- 
kind, and his charity to the poor was pro- 
verbial. When he departed this life, the citi- 
zens lost a kind neighbor, the wife an affec- 
tionate husband, and the children an indulgent 
father. His remains were interred in the \\ hite 
Swan cemetery, and at the head of his grave 
stands a stately monument, reared to his 
memory by his loving wife and children. Mrs. 
Mary E. Thompson is still living on the pleas- 
ant homestead, which is indeed one of the 
finest estates in the county, and, surrounded 
by her children, honored and beloved by her 
neighbors, is passing her years, as far as her 
great bereavement will permit, in peace and 
happiness. 



AMUEL SMITH TOWNER, a pioneer 
farmer, millman, lumberman, mer- 
chant, general business man and 
promment citizen of Byron township, 
Kent county, Mich., was born in the town- 




ship of Willsboro, Essex county, N. Y. , March 
4, 1821, the eldest of a family of five sons 
and seven daughters born to Samuel U. and 
Sophia W. (Smith) Towner, of which family 
four, besides the subject of this sketch, still 
survive, viz: James, now a resident of Santa 
Ana, Orange county, Cal., and for eight years 
superior judge at that place; he is a self-made 
man, and when a lad was frequently drawn to 
school on a hand-sled. by his brother, Samuel 
S.; he served in the Civil war, having raised a 
company in Iowa, and lost his left eye in the 
battle of Pea Ridge, Ark. Martha, the eldest 
of the surviving daughters, is the wife of 
Edwin Nash, formerly an editor, but now liv- 
ing in retirement in Santa Ana, Cal. ; Maria is 
married to John Leslie, a surveyor at Los 
Angeles, Cal., and Emily is the widow of 
David Longbon, with her residence in Water- 
ville, Kan. 

Samuel U. Towner was born in \'ermont 
January 9, 1797, was of English descent, was 
reared a farmer and woodman, was fairly well 
educated in the public schools, but acquired 
considerable knowledge through self-applica- 
tion, and was quite a lad when he enlisted in 
the state of New York for service in the war 
of 18 1 2. In 1843 he located in Cuyahoga 
county, Ohio, where he pi:rchased a farm, 
and, in 1S51, came to Michigan and settled 
on a grant of land in Byron township, Kent 
county. In politics he was first a whig, but 
became a republican on th; organization of 
that party, warmly endorsing its principles. 
On one occasion, when Judge Burlingame 
came from Grand Rapids to Byron Center, to 
address a greenback meeting, he incidentally 
addressed Mr. Towner as " Uncle Towner;" 
but Mr. Towner was averse to such a famil- 
iarity, and inquired, "Judge Burlingame, can 
you tell me how you became related to me.-"" — • 
which question caused a smile to pass over 
the jurist's face. , In religion, Mr. Towner 



1058 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



was reared a Methodist, but in his latter years 
he became a Universalist, and died in this 
faith March 13, 1884, one of the most hon- 
ored of the old pioneers of Byron township. 
His wife was a native of Willsboro, N. Y. , 
was born March 20, 1802, and died February 
21, 1882. 

Samuel S. Towner began working for 
wages at the early age of fifteen years, and 
gave his earnings to his'parents to aid them in 
paying for their farm. Later he shipped on 
the Water Witch on Lake Champlain, at $12 
per month, and this sum he divided with his 
parents. At twenty-three years of age he 
came west to northern Ohio, in company with 
his brother James, and together they had 
about ten cents on their arrival. Samuel S. 
found employment in the shipyards. They 
had walked across the country, and at night 
stopped with some hospitable farmer, but 
often cut wood to compensate for their lodg- 
ing and breakfast. But Samuel S. was made 
of stern stuff and was determined to make a 
success of life. 

While in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, Mr. 
Towner married Miss Cerelia L. Blakeslee, 
October 20, 1847, the fruit of the union being 
five children — three sons and two daughters — 
of whom two sons and one daughter are still 
living, viz: Hiram S., a student at the high 
school in Grand I'iapius, married, and a civil 
engineer of that city; Cassias B. , of whom 
mention will be made in full at the conclusion 
of this sketch, and Middle C, wife of Dr. A. 
G. Burwell, of Byron Center, and whose life 
record will be found on another page. 

Mrs. Cerelia L. Towner was born in Ridge- 
ville, Lorain county, Ohio, October i, 1830, a 
daughter of James Sherman and Fanny (Lilly) 
Blakeslee, of English descent. There were 
two sons and one daughter in the Blakeslee 
family, but Mrs. Towner is the only survivor. 
James S. Blakeslee was born in Watertown, 



Conn., February 8, 1806, was a carpenter by 
trade and a whig in politics, and died in Ridge- 
ville, June 25, 1834; his wife was born in Ash- 
field, Mass., December 7, 181 1, and died Jan- 
uary 23, 1890. Her parents, Jesse and 
Hannah (Gloyd) Lilly, started from Ashfield, 
Mass., to Cuyahoga county, Ohio, with an ox- 
cart, but on the road the o.x died and the good 
cow was made its substitute, and the journey 
lasted six weeks. At that time there was but 
one frame house in Cleveland, and Cuyahoga 
county a vast wilderness. On one occasion, 
when Mr. Lilly was away from home, wolves 
swarmed around the rude cabin door in great 
numbers, and Mrs. Lilly placed two of her 
children in a cradle on a joist up-stairs, and 
with the youngest in her arms kept vigil 
through the long night. The Lilly family 
traces its origin to Scotland, and the male 
members were hardy and warlike, some of 
them figuring in the French and Indian wars 
in colonial days and in the war of the Revo- 
lution. 

Mrs. Cerelia L. Towner is remarkably well 
preserved, physically and mentally; her mem- 
ory is as clear as that of a girl of eighteen, and 
she recalls past events with a facility truly re- 
markable. She was educated in the common 
school at Elyria. Ohio, and has been a sage 
adviser to her husband in all his transactions. 

October 23, 1852, Mr. and Mrs. Towner, 
with their two children, came to Byron town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich., and settled in sec- 
tion No. 21, on land located by Mr. Towner's 
father. Their first dwelling here was a small 
log cabin, 14 x 16 feet, with a stove-pipe 
chimney thrust through the roof. One room 
answered all purposes. Four feet from the 
cabin was a little shop, in which Mr. Towner 
worked in the winter as a cooper, making sap 
buckets, and in the summer Mrs. Towner used 
this shop as a kitchen. The work-bench was 
a beech slab, or puncheon, aad the floor of 



. AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1059 



the cabin was also made of puncheons. Rat- 
tlesnakes were very numerous, but of neigh- 
bors there was not one in sight; no highways ex- 
isted, and of horse teams there were only two 
in the township. The old-fashioned four-fin- 
gered cradle and the scythe were the farming 
implements he used, and an ox-team was his 
mode of conveyance to Grand Kapids, the 
principal thoroughfares of which village — 
Canal and Monroe streets — were lined with 
little wooden buildings. Mrs. Towner still re- 
members when she was compelled to go east of 
Grand Rapids to take a steamer, as not a rail- 
road had yet entered that now great city. 

Mr. Towner has led a very active and in- 
dustrious, as well as enterprising, life, and has 
been very prosperous. He helped operate 
the first saw-mill in Byron township, all the 
village of Byron Center, south of the road, 
running east and west, having been platted 
and laid out by him in 1870. He has been a 
heavy buyer and seller of logs and timber, and 
has increased his landed possessions to 280 
acres, although he began his business life with 
nothing but his native ability and the aid of 
his estimable life-partner. In 1895 he opened 
a large department store in Byron Center, 
and this has grown to be one of the best in 
any of the country villages in the county of 
Kent. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Towner came to By- 
ron township, theirs was the third family to 
settle here. There was not a church nor a 
school-house in the locality and the roads were 
all simple Indian trails through the forest, in- 
dicated by blazed trees. Since then, they 
have aided financially in the erection of several 
churches and school-houses, and their cozy 
Cottage home contains two beautiful black- 
walnut dressers, manufactured by the Widdi- 
comb Furniture company from timber cut 
on Mr. Towner's own land. From 1881 to 
1884 they resided in Grand Rapids. To 



that town in the early days, Mr. Towner 
traveled on foot to buy his groceries, which he 
carried home on his back. Too much credit 
cannot be given to such pioneers as Mr. and 
Mrs. Towner, who came from an eastern 
home where comparative ease and comfort 
were enjoyed by even those in humble cir- 
cumstances, to brave the hardships and dan- 
gers of a howling wilderness, and make it 
a home fit for civilized, man, and many a time, 
in those early days, Mrs. Towner ''took a 
good cry " for the home of her childhood; 
but these troubles have all passed away and 
Mr. and Mrs. Towner now live in luxury and 
ease, prominent and respected, in a thickly 
populated village, and a refined social com- 
munity. 

In his politics, Mr. Towner was formerly a 
whig and cast his first presidential vote for 
William Henry Harrison, but at the disinte- 
gration of that party and the formation of the 
republican party, he united with the latter. 
He has served his fellow-townsmen as super- 
visor and highway commissioner, but more 
from a feeling of public duty than from a de- 
sire to hold offlce. In religion, Mr. and Mrs. 
Towner are Universalists, and are members of 
All Soul's church in the city of Grand Rapids. 

October 20, 1S97, Mr. and Mrs. Towner 
celebrated their golden wedding — the fiftieth 
year they had shared together the joys and 
sorrows of married life. Their pleasant home 
is in Byron Center, where they are passing 
their declining years in peace and content- 
ment, surrounded by their children and many 
friends, and kind as ever to the poor and 
needy. 

Among his manj' other experiences, Mr. 
Towner has had a short one in military life. 
In March, 1865, inspired by the patriotism 
which at that time had fired the northern 
heart, he enlisted in company C, Tenth Michi- 
gan cavalry, under Capt. Thomas and Col. 



1060 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Trowbridge, and was assigned to the army of 
the Tennessee, but as the war closed the fol- 
lowing April, his service was necessarily short; 
yet he was detained until November 20, 1865, 
when he received an honorable discharge at 
Jackson, Mich. 

Cassius B. Towner, alluded to above as the 
younger of the two surviving sons of Samuel 
S. and Cerelia L. Towner, is an enterprising 
merchant at Byron Center and manager of 
the large department store in which his father 
has the chief interest. He was born in Byron 
township September 6, 1859, was educated in 
the common schools and also took a course in 
Swensberg's business college, in Grand Rap- 
ids, and his life has been spent in Kent coun- 
ty. Ever since his majority he has had charge 
of the store mentioned, and he has conducted 
it with unvarying success from the start. Oc- 
tober 23, 1881, he married Miss Julia B. Huff, 
and two sons and three daughters have graced 
this union — four yet living, as follows: Wil- 
fred, who graduated from the Byron Center 
public schools with the class of 1900, is a fine 
mathematician and possesses a talent for 
music; Fannie is in the eighth, and Elma in the 
sixth grade at school, and Athel is still at 
home. 

Mrs. Julia B. Towner was born in Shia- 
wassee county, Mich., Jul}' 24, 1852, and is a 
daughter of Harmon and Harriet (Holley) 
Huff, of French and Puritan descent, respect- 
ively. When she was eleven years of age her 
parents removed to Grand Rapids, in which 
city she passed six years, attending school. 
Her taste for literature predominates, and as 
a writer she is far above mediocrity. She has 
a decided talent for music, especially vocal, 
and of this she has been a successful teacher. 
She is of a cordial and genial disposition, and 
possessed of those amiable traits of character 
which adorn the true lady. 

Harmon Huff, father of Mrs. Towner, was 



born in New York in 1827, was reared to farm- 
ing, and is now living in retirement in Grand 
Rapids. His wife was born in Ovid, N. Y. , 
October 23, 1828, was for many years a teacher 
in Shiawassee county, Mich., when the Indians 
were quite as numerous as white men, and is 
a lady of refined taste. Both Mr. and Mrs. 
Huff are consistent members of the Congre- 
gational church. 

In politics, Cassius B. Towner is a repub- 
lican and cast his first presidential vote for 
James A. Garfield. Fraternally, he is a mem- 
ber of Halcyon lodge, No. 274, I. O. O. F. , 
and Mrs. Towner is a member of the Leah 
Rebekah lodge. No. 171, having passed all the 
chairs. Mr. and Mrs. Towner are also mem- 
bers of the International congress at Byron 
Center, and socially are among the leaders in 
the fashionable circles of the village. 




YRON L. TYLER, of Paris, Kent 
county, Mich., where he is an ex- 
cellent citizen and among the fore- 
most of those whose occupation 
brings them in closest contact to mother earth. 
At his birth his parents, William and Abigail 
(Hartley) Tyler, lived on the adjoining section 
of land, where they had settled in 1846, thus 
being counted among those who were the 
county's pioneer citizens. He was born 
September 29, 1S51, and in early life became 
inured to the toil incident to the enlarging of 
a new, heavily-timbered farm, and rendered 
substantial assistance in placing in suitable 
condition for easy cultivation the acres, in the 
tilling of which his life has been principally de- 
voted. The schools of thirty years ago com- 
pared not unfavorably with those of to-day, so 
that the advantages afforded for a practical 
education were none of the most insignificant. 
He availed himself of them, and the excellent 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1061 



basis there acquired has ever since been built 
upon, until he stands among his fellows ac- 
counted one of the township's most respected 
and intelligent citizens. 

The death of his father in 1884 threw 
greater responsibilities upon him; though for 
the years immediately preceding that event 
the management and conduct of the farm had 
been mainly in his hands. He operated the 
farm some six years for his mother, and then 
purchased an additional forty acres, but con- 
tinues to supervise the old homestead as well. 
His untiring industry and persevering attention 
to the duties incident to a successful career has 
resulted in his assuming an enviable position 
among the self-made men of the township. 

Identified with the party of Lincoln, Blaine 
and McKinley, he has been honored by his 
party as its representative in several of its 
councils, where its position on questions of 
polity were presented. He has never shirked 
responsibility in advocating the party princi- 
ples, or left to others the duty of attending 
carefully to the polls, where effort produces, 
often, the desired result. Content with his 
position in the rank and file, he has not as- 
pired to official honor, though education and 
life-long adherence to, and advocacy of, the 
party interests entitle him to consideration in 
that respect. 

November 14, 1S81, Myron L. Tyler mar- 
ried Miss Louisa A. Clark, daughter of H. J. 
and Marietta Clark, of Paris, but who was 
born in New York and has been a resident of 
Paris since childhood. To Mr. and Mrs. Ty- 
ler has been born one child, Eulia M., now a 
young lady, at home. The family are mem- 
bers of the Baptist church of Paris, and are 
very liberal in their contributions toward its 
support. 

William and Abigail (Hartley) Tyler, par- 
ents of Myron L. , were natives of Canada and 
Nova Scatia, respectively, and came to the 



United States in 1S43, locating in Washtenaw 
county, Mich., whence they came, about 1846, 
to Kent county, and settled on 160 acres of 
timbered land in section No. 26, Paris town- 
ship, upon which the father erected a large 
house, cleared 100 acres, and died in 1S75, at 
the age of seventy-five years. ■ His widow is 
now living in Grand Rapids and is in her 
eighty-third year. Of their family of nine 
children, six are still living, five in Grand 
Rapids, and Myron L., as noted above. They 
were among the earliest settlers, and had to 
cut their way through heavy timber to their 
own land. 

The Tyler family has ever held a respected 
position in Ihe township, justly honored for its 
many excellent traits of character. 




EV. JACOB VAN ZANDT, pioneer 
minister and honored citizen of Spen- 
cer township, Ivent county, Mich., 
was born in Cortland county, N. Y., 
May 4, 1832, and is the eldest of five children 
— four sons and one daughter — born to Francis 
and Laura Ann (Hemmingway) Van Zandt, 
those living being Lydia, wife of James H. 
Lacy, retired resident of Fenton, Mich. ; Jacob; 
and Josiah I^., who was a soldier in the Civil 
war, and is now engaged in the hardware trade 
at Hutchinson, Wichita, and Turon, Ivans. 

Francis Van Zandt was born in Albany 
count}-, N. Y., February 27, 1802, and was 
the son of one of the Hessian soldiers who 
were hired by Britain to fight the colonists. 
In 1836 he came to Michigan and purchased 
land in Avon township, Oakland county, on 
which he resided nearly fifty years. He re- 
tained a vivid recollection of the stirring scenes 
of the war of 1812 until his death, which 
occurred at Fenton, Mich., in August, 1886. 
Mrs. Laura Ann Van Zandt was a native 



1062 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



of Massachusetts, her ancestry going back to 
the Pilgrims. Her grandfather, Moses 
Hemmingway, was a hero of the Revolution 
and was wounded at the' battle of Lexington; 
and her father, also named Moses, was a 
soldier in the war of 1812, and fought at 
Sackett's Harbor and Plattsburg. One of her 
sons, Joseph F., was killed at the battle of 
Malvern Hill during the Civil war. 

Notwithstanding the peaceful calling of the 
subject of this sketch, he represents fighting 
ancestry and many qualities of the warrior are 
shown at various junctures in his own life. As 
a lad of four years, Jacob remembers the trip by 
wagon from his birthplace to Montezuma, 
Cayuga county, N. Y. , thence to Buffalo via 
the Erie canal, and to Detroit, on board the 
North America, one of the finest boats to 
navigate lake Erie. He is a " self-made man," 
and largely self-taught, having learned his 
grammar and other books by the light of burn- 
ing pine knots or stumps. He qualified him- 
self to teach, which he did for fifteen terms 
in Missouri and Michigan. 

The first land purchased by Rev. Mr. Van 
Zandt was a forty-acre tract of " oak open- 
ings " in Allegan county. Here he erected a 
shanty, in which he kept bachelor's hall. He 
found plenty of employment as a rail-splitter, 
as he had achieved quite a reputation at this 
work. This land he traded for a land war- 
rant in Lynn county, Kans., whither he went, 
and where he resided during a part of the 
" border ruffian " troubles. From Kansas he 
removed to Missouri, and for three years 
taught school in Bates county. After this 
residence in Missouri he returned to Michigan 
in 1 86 1, and has since made this his home. 
He secured a piece of land from which all the 
pine had been cut, only hard wood remaining. 
He made short work of clearing away the re- 
mainder of the forest, •' baching" the mean- 
while in a shanty, 24 .\ 16 feet. 



March 16, 1862, Mr. Van Zandt married 
Miss Clarissa Wilkes, and her family have, like 
that of his own, been noted for their fighting 
qualities. Her grandfather, John Wilkes, a 
colonist from England, was a Revolutionary 
soldier, as was his son John. John Wilkes, a 
brother, was a veteran of the Mexican war, and 
two others, Nathan and George, were soldiers of 
the Rebellion — Nathan dying, as the result, in 
the hospital at Louisville, Ivy. The Van Zandt 
family consists of Orpha A. , who was fitted 
to teach in the State Normal school at Ypsi- 
laiiti. For about three and one-half years she 
taught successfully in Dakota and has been 
equally successful as a teacher in Ivent and 
Montcalm counties, Mich. Notwithstanding 
her superior school advantages, she continued 
to improve herself, and with laudable ambi- 
tion acquired many of the higher accomplish- 
ments, including painting in oil; and as a 
proof of her proficiency in this art, many 
specimens of her skill now adorn the walls 
of the old homestead, where she still re- 
sides. Ethel Viola is the wife of Henry W. 
Larson, a prosperous farmer of Spencer town- 
ship. She also taught in Michigan and in Da- 
kota, winning an enviable reputation as a 
capable instructor. 

Mrs. Clarissa Van Zandt was born in 
Chenango county, N. Y. , November 23, 1S34, 
her parents being Ambrose and Parthena 
(Bacon) Wilkes, who removed from New 
York to Walworth county. Wis., when she 
was twelve years of age. Seven years later 
they came to Spencer, and here she taught 
two terms in a pioneer log school-house. 

The father of Mrs. Van Zandt was a native 
of New York, was a farmer, and at his death 
in Michigan, in 1868, was seventy years of 
age. In the family of Ambrose Wilkes there 
were four sons and three daughters, but of 
these the surviving are, Mrs. Van Zandt, and 
Mary, wife of James Leslie, of Lowell, Mich. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1063 



Mrs. Parthena Wilkes was born in Susque- 
hanna county, Pa., October 19, 1799, and 
died October 19, 1875. Both she and hus- 
band were honored members of the Baptist 
church. 

Jacob Van Zandt, about 1886, felt called 
by a higher power to use his talent and ability 
in the cause of the Master. For years he 
had been a communicant of the Baptist faith, 
and henceforth resolves to tell the world the 
light as he sees it. In 1890 he became pastor 
of the Page City Baptist church in Dakota, 
and since his return to Michigan has worked 
with great acceptance in the pulpit, doing an 
immense amount of good. His ministrations 
have produced creditable results and no man 
in Spencer holds a warmer place in the hearts 
of its citizens, regardless of church affiliation. 
Mr. Van Zandt is a stanch republican, and 
has been a delegate to various party conven- 
tions. In 1866 he was elected supervisor, 
again in 1874, and was elected township 
clerk in 1873. He has also served as school 
inspector, justice of the peace and member of 
the school board. He has competently and 
faithfully performed his duties and unfailingly 
won the approbation of his fellow-citizens. 




OBERT M. VANDERLIP, one of the 
successful agriculturists and thrifty 
citizens of Spencer township, is a 
native of Michigan, having been born 
in Kent county on the 19th of December, 1858, 
the ninth child of a family of ten children 
born to Robert M. and Caroline (Beebe) Van- 
derlip, and the only one residing in Kent county. 
There are eight of the children yet living, viz: 
Angeline, wife of Moses Powers, a stone and 
brick mason of Belding, Mich.; Judson, a 
banker, merchant, agriculturist, and very pros- 
perous and wealthy gentleman of Bennett, 
57 



Lancaster county, Neb. ; Smith, an agricult- 
urist, residing in Macota county, Mich.; John, 
residing at Meredosia, 111., where he is a con- 
tractor and builder, also connected with the 
railroad builders; George, in Michigan, han- 
dling musical instruments; Mary, wife of Robert 
Gilbert, residing at Sioux City, Iowa; Robert 
M., of this sketch, and Orlando, residing at St. 
John, Clinton county, Mich., where he is en- 
gaged as a cook. 

Robert M. Vanderlip, the father, was a 
native of the province of Ontario, Canada, 
born in 18 18 and died in 1888. He received 
a common-school education, learned the trade 
of a carpenter and became a skillful mechanic. 
In 1842 he' came to Michigan, resided a short 
time in Kalamazoo, and thence went to Lowell, 
where he worked at his trade and purchased 
eighty acres of land in Vergennes township, 
which he sold and then went to Campbelltown, 
Ionia count)', and there bought a saw-mill, 
which he operated three years. When he dis- 
posed of this he moved to Saranac, Mich., and 
purchased a farm of eighty acres, where he 
resided four years, and then moved to Mont- 
calm county and bought a shingle-mill, in 
which he did an extensive and prosperous busi- 
ness until he traded it for eighty acres of land 
in sections 13 and 24 in Spencer township. 
Here he came in 1871 with his family, and 
set to work to develop his land. It was a new 
country at this early date; bears, deer and 
wolves were numerous, and Indians were fre- 
quent visitors. At the inception the farm was 
covered with pine wood, and the improve- 
ments shown on the farm now, in 1900, have 
been made by father and sons, who have 
done a great part toward the development of 
Spencer township. In his political views he 
was a democrat and religiously a member of 
the Congregational church. He was frater- 
nally a member of the Masonic and Odd Fel- 
lows' societies and a very prominent man. His 



1064 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



wife was a native of Canada and was born in 
1818. Slie died in Spencer township, the 
burial place of her husband, in 1893. 

Robert M. \'anderlip attended the com- 
mon schools and is largely a self-educated 
man. He has worked hard and perseveringly 
all his life, and can easily account for all he 
has accumulated. He remained with his par- 
ents, whom he cared for until their deaths and 
at his majority had nothing. 

On the iSthof June, being then twenty- 
seven years of age, he was married to Miss 
Dena Sieber, and the birth of three sons and 
a daughter have blessed this union, viz: Jay, 
Clinton B., Luella and Claire. 

Mrs. Vanderlip was born in Ohio on the 
loth of May, 1867, daughter of Andrew 
Sieber, of Germany, a sailor on the great lakes 
and a soldier of the Civil war. She received a 
common-school education, and has two broth- 
ers and two sisters, all of whom are residents 
of Montcalm county, Mich. Mrs. Vanderlip 
has been a faithful, industrious wife, and a 
fond and loving mother. At the time of her 
marriage her husband had but $5, and incurred 
upon themselves a debt of $1,800 when they 
purchased the old homestead. By hard toil 
and persistence they have removed their debt, 
and in addition have bought -forty acres, 
making 120 in his farm. The improvements 
have all been made by himself, which casts 
credit upon his economy and industry. 

Mr. Vanderlip is in politics a democrat, 
having cast his first presidential vote for Gro- 
ver Cleveland. He ha§ never aspired to office, 
but has preferred to devote his attention to 
his business interests. He is a supporter of 
education and much interested in that line. 
He recently called a meeting, the purpose of 
which was to engage a first-class teacher, and 
although the "cheap" people of the township 
defeated his good action, it nevertheless 
speaks well for him. Mrs. Vanderlip is a re- 



spected member of the Methodist church at 
Gowen and they contribute liberally toward 
the support of this and other benevolences. 
Whatever success Robert M. Vanderlip has 
achieved in life — and it is considerable — is due 
entirely to his own well directed efforts. In 
his boyhood he started out to make his own 
way in the word unaided, and by resolute pur- 
pose, indefatigable industry and sound judg- 
ment, he has steadily worked his way upward 
to a position of affluence. The monument of 
his labors is his fine farm and his delightful 
surroundings and ease. 




ACOB VOGLE, one of Alpine town- 
ship's oldest and most respected farm- 
ers and one that has endured the hard- 
ships of pioneer life at an early day 
in Kent county, is a native of Germany, was 
born on the 24th of June, 1831, and is the 
third child born to Jacob and Barbara (Kunz- 
man) Vogle. 

His father was a native of Germany, was 
born in 1803, and died there in 1894. The 
mother was born in 1807, and died in 1S50. 

Jacob Vogle, whose name introduces this 
memoir, began life for himself when about 
twenty-three years of age by leaving his 
father's home in Germany and embarking for 
America, landing in Ohio, in the year 1854. 
After a short stay there he came to Michigan 
and located at Grand Rapids, where he re- 
mained but a short time, and then, with his 
brother-in-law. Christian Metzker, purchased 
a farm of forty acres in section No. 12 of Al- 
pine township. At the time of the purchase 
no part of it was cleared, but by unflagging 
efforts and industry, he had in a short time 
enough for cultivation and since then has 
added a large amount of well improved land, 
making himself now the owner of two farms 



AND KENT COUNTY. UP TO DATE. 



10G5 



of 2S5 acres, about 100 acres of which he 
cleared from its wild state. He has a hand- 
some brick house and a commodious barn, and 
has about twenty acres in fruit. 

On the iith of April, 1858, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Mary Schweigert, a native of Bay- 
€rn, Germany, born on the loth of February, 
1843. She was the only child born to Leonard 
and Margarite (Miller) Schweigert. Her father 
was born in Germany in 1809 .and died June 
10, 1880. In 1850 became to America and 
located in Berrien county, Mich., where he 
remained for a short time, and next he re- 
moved to Olmstead Falls, Ohio, thence came 
to Kent county, Mich -, in 1854, where he lived 
until his death. Her mother was also a na- 
tive of German)', born May 6, 1803, and 
died in April, 1S85. Both parents were laid 
to rest in Alpine cemetery. 

The subject of this memoir is the parent 
of si.x children, viz: Jacob, a farmer of Alpine 
tou'nship; Philip, who resides at home; Chris- 
tine, the wife of Fred Davenport, an agricul- 
turist of Alpine township; Freddie, Julia and 
Charlie, at home with their parents. 

In his political affiliations Mr. \'ogIe is a 
supporter of the democratic party, having cast 
his initiatory vote for James Buchanan. Mr. 
and Mrs. Vogle are active members of the 
Lutheran church at Grand Rapids and are 
noted for their hospitality. They have worked 
their way up from lowly surroundings to a 
place of prominence, and now justly enjoj' the 
esteem and respect of all their neighbors. 



r:SSE C. VAN LIEW, so well known 
in Courtland and Nelson townships, 
Kent county, Mich., was born in 
Courtland township, March 7, 1856, 
and is a son of Cornelius and Lucy (Smith) 




Van Lievv, who were the parents of five chil- 
dren, viz: Estella, wife of L. M. Sperry, a 
farmer of Ravenna, Muskegon county, Mich.; 
Jesse C. ,the subject of this sketch; Volney 
C. , a physician and surgeon who graduated 
from the Detroit Medical college, is now a 
resident of Lennon, Mich., is postmaster, has 
charge of a drug store, and also enjoys a 
lucrative professional practice; Lafayette M., 
a graduate of Swensberg's business college, 
and now in the lumber business at Mount 
\'ernon, state of Washington, and Cornelius 
M., associated with Mr. Odell in the conduct 
of a blacksmith shop at Cedar Springs. A 
singular coincidence in the births of these 
children is the fact that four of them were 
born in the month of March, at intervals of 
two years. It may also be mentioned that 
the name, \'an Lievv, is of Holland origin, and 
that this pioneer family descend from the 
Mohawk-Dutch of New York. 

Cornelius Van Liew, the father of the 
above-named children, was born in Ohio and 
was reared a lutnberman. He early came to 
Michigan and settled in Kent county, and 
here became an agriculturist. The red men 
were numerous at that day, and even Jesse 
C, the subject of this sketch, can remember 
when they passed over their trail through 
the present \'an Lievv farm under the guid- 
ance of the old chief, Wabasis, after whom 
a lake m Oakfield township is named. Some- 
where on the shores of this lake, according 
to a legend, the old chief once buried a 
treasure, but all effjrts of the white settlers 
to discover the spot have proven futile. Mr. 
Van Liew's first habitation in Kent county 
was the usual log cabin "of that day, and all 
his agricultural implements were equally 
primitive in construction. 

Cornelius \'an Liew was one of the daring 
men who, early on the breaking out of the 
Rebellion, responded to his country's call for 



1066 



I'HE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



volunteers. In 1862 he enlisted in company 
F, Sixth Michigan cavalry, and was assigned 
to the army of the Potomac, but after two 
years' service was captured and for nine months 
was held a prisoner on Belle Isle, at Libby, and 
in the pen at Andersonville, where he died of 
starvation. In politics, Mr. Van Liew was a 
strong republican and was also a great friend 
of the public-school system; in religion he was 
a Methodist and a class leader, was chari- 
table to a fault, and was highly esteemed by 
all who knew him. Cornelius \"an Liew had 
four brothers who also took part in the Civil 
war and proved to be brave and faithful 
soldiers. 

The first school attended by Cornelius Van 
Liew was built of logs and was furnished with 
pine puncheon seats and desks. He knew 
the time when Cedar Springs was a ham- 
let, when Rockford was known as Lappen- 
ville, and Sand Lake altogether unknown, 
where were no highways open, but he lived 
to witness the wonderful development of the 
county from a wilderness into what promises 
to be the leading county in the state. 

Jesse C. Van Liew was educated in the 
public schools and has well improved him- 
self with general reading. He married Miss 
Flora Moon, a sketch of whose father's life is 
given on another page. In politics he has been 
a true republican and cast his first presiden- 
tial vote for James A. Garfield. Fraternally 
he is a member of Cedar Springs lodge. No. 
213, F. & A. M., and in religion he and 
wife are devout members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church at Pine Lake, in which they 
are very active, and to the support of which 
they are liberal contributors. Mr. \'an Liew 
has also served in various oflices in church and 
Sunday-school for years, as trustee, superin- 
tendent, teacher, etc., and both he and wile 
are held in the highest esteem by every mem- 
ber of their community. 




ILLI.\M ]. WATTERSON, super- 
visor of Cascade township, Ivent 
county, Mich., was born in Lake 
county, Ohio, July i, 1S51, and is 
a son of John and Harriet A (Webster) Wat- 
terson, the former of whom was a Manxman 
and came to America in 1846, at the age of 
twenty-one years, located in Ohio, and lived 
there until April, 1852, when he came to Cas- 
cade township, and settled on a farm now 
owned by Charles Browm. He was a miller 
by trade, and started mills both at Ada and 
Grand Rapids, in both of which places he lived 
at intervals, but died on his farm in Cascade 
township at the age of fifty-three years, leav- 
ing his widow with six children. Mrs. Harriet 
A. Watterson is now sixty-nine years old, and 
still resides on the homestead in Cascade town- 
ship, beloved by all who know her. 

William J. Watterson was reared in Cas- 
cade and Ada, received the usual district school 
education, and from s xteen to eighteen years 
old worked in his father's mills, and next, 
from 1868 to 1878, was employed in the Old 
Grand River nurser\', and for ten years while 
thus employed had charge of the propagation 
department. He next became a partner with 
Charles Buttrick in the proprietorship of the 
Kent County Pom )na mirseries of Cascade, 
which they conducted for twenty years, grow- 
ing every variety of nursery stock, especially 
peach, being in the middle of the peach belt. 
Mr. Watterson had personal charge of the cul- 
tivation of the various scions, and had at least 
forty acres in peaches, which scions were dis- 
posed of to the larger gro-vers in the peach 
belt, as well as to persons who sold the joung 
trees in different parts of the country. 

Mr. \\'atter.-on has alwajs been an ardent 
democrat, and for about twenty years'has been 
a delegate of his party to county, district and 
state conventions, and has actively aided in all 
campaigns, working hard fur his party's sue- 



n 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1067 



cess. He is very popular with its voters and 
managers, was elected supervisor of his town- 
ship in 1S98, and so well performed the duties 
of the office that he was again elected in 1899. 

Fraternally, Mr. Watterson is a Freema- 
son, having been made such in the Ada lodge 
of that fraternity, and for eight years was its 
worshipful master, and for as many years has 
sat in the grand lodge. He takes a keen delight 
in hunting, and has made frequent excursions 
into the north part of the state, beginning 
when still a boy, and his success in bringing 
down large game in that region has been quite 
satisfactory. 

January 14, 1S75, Mr. Watterson married 
Miss Minnie Smith, daughter of John and 
Elizabeth Smith, both now deceased. Mrs. 
.Watterson was born and reared in Cas- 
cade, is well educated, and has proven to be a 
most valua-ble helpmate to her husband, whom 
she has blessed with six children, named, in 
order of birth, John J., Clyde C, Henry, 
William M., Harold and Lottie L. 

Mr. and Mrs. Watterson stand high in the 
social circles in' Cascade and are respected 
wherever known. 



LIVER I. WATKINS, ex-supervisor 
of Grattan township, Kent county, 
Mich., was born in Italy, Yates 
county, N. Y., January 11, 1831, 
and was sixth in a family of ten children — 
tvv'o sons and eight daughters — born to Jared 
and Nancy (Clark) Watkins, of which children 
four only are now living, viz: Jason C. , a 
farmer of Grattan township; Orissa, wife of 
Lester Lindsley, a farmer of Kalkaska county; 
Helena A., widow of Isaac W. White, of 
Vergennes township, and Oliver I., the sub- 
ject of this sketch. 

Jared Watkins, the father, was born in 



Massachusetts about 1792, and was a lad of 
fourteen years when taken by his parents to 
the state of New York, where he was reared 
to hard toil on the farm and received a limited 
education. He served as a soldier in the 
war of 1812, and after its close was engaged 
in farming in the state of New York until 
1844, when he decided to come west and carve 
out a new home. He started with his family 
in a wagon from Yates county for Wayneport, 
Wayne county, N. Y. , on the old Erie canal, 
thence went to Buffalo by canal-boat, and 
thence bj' steamboat to Chicago, and by a 
sailing vessel to Grand Haven, and thence via 
Grand river to Grand Rapids by steamboat, 
and from that then trading-post came to Grat- 
tan township, Kent county, Mich., by ox-team, 
and took up 240 acres of government land in 
sections Nos. 13 and 14, under the administra- 
tion of President William H. Harrison. The 
land was all oak openings, and their first hab- 
itation here was a little log cabin, 14 x 20 
feet, and there were only about ten or twelve 
settlers in the township, say, Ira B. Ford, 
who came in 1839. and was undoubtedly the 
first settler in Grattan; William Byrne, Jede- 
diah H. Wood, Alvah H. Andrews, David 
Ford, Luther B. Cook, Milton C. Watkins, 
Anthony King, Benjamin Mason; Alanson 
King and Henry King came after Mr. Ford. 
Grattan was then a part of Vergennes town- 
ship, which also included Lowell township, 
and the voting was done in Vergennes. The 
red men of the forest were quite numerous 
and ofttimes came to the cabin door of the 
Watkins family and partook of their hospital- 
ity. There was not a school-house nor a 
church in all Grattan township, and when Mr. 
Watkins settled here he was compelled to go 
to Ionia for his wheat, as Lowell and Green- 
ville were mere hamlets. The old-fashioned 
cradle and scythe were used as farm imple- 
ments, and the ox-team for all draft purposes. 



1068 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



and all these early pioneer circumstances are 
well recollected by Mr. Watkins, the subject 
of this sketch, and his wife, although they 
were children at the time. 

The pioneer days, nevertheless, were replete 
with many pleasant associations, as people liv- 
ing seven or eight miles apart were considered 
as neighbors and friends. Social gatherings 
were greatly enjoyed, and these are still viv- 
idly remembered by the present generations. 
Too much credit cannot be given to such citi- 
zens as Mr. and Mrs. Watkins, who came 
from their eastern homes of plenty to blaze 
the way to civilization in the far west and 
make the " desert bloom as the rose." Mr. 
Watkins did his full share of this noble work, 
and passed away in 1872, honored by all who 
knew him. His wife was a native of New 
York, and died when the subject of this sketch 
was quite young. 

Oliver I. Watkins, who has passed more 
than half a cenfury in Grattan township on 
the homestead entered from the government 
by his father, has been an eye-witness of the 
wonderful changes that have taken place since 
he was a boy. He has seen the log cabin 
make room for the modern mansion, and the 
ox-team displaced by the electric and palace 
cars, and the four-fingered cradle changed to 
the modern reaper and binder, and the forest 
laid low to be substituted by fields of golden 
grain and orchards of luscious fruit. He was 
educated in the old-style school-house, but has 
since improved his leisure hours by reading 
standard literary works, history and such other 
volumes as have had a tendency to develop and 
ripen his intellect. He remained with his fa- 
ther until the latter's death, filially caring for 
him during his declining years. 

February 8, 1852, Mr. Watkins married 
Miss Miranda A. Murray, and to this union 
two children have been born, viz: Hilton J. 
and Nettie B. Hilton J., who was born De- 



cember 6, 1853, received a good education 
in the district and union schools at Grattan, 
and is a progressive young agriculturist of the 
township; he is a young man of e.xemplary 
habits, is industrious, and is an honor to his 
parents; he is wedded to Miss Emma J. Pond, 
and one daughter has graced this union. Oral. 

Hilton J. Watkins is a republican in poli- 
tics, cast his first presidential vote for Ruther- 
ford B. Hayes, and has himself been elected 
highway commissioner of Grattan township. 
Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic 
lodge at Grattan, and he and wife are mem- 
bers of the Order of the Eastern Star; like- 
wise of the Grattan grange, and their daugh- 
ter, Ora J., is a member, also, of both orders. 
Nettie B., the second child born to 01i\er I. 
Watkins and wife, is married to Alvin S. Dim- 
mick, a practical mechanic and builder at 
Belding, Mich.; they have two children — 
Harry W. and Edith B. Mr. and Mrs. Oliver 
I. Watkins may well be proud of their chil- 
dren, as they have led most creditable lives 
and are an honor to their parents in their de- 
clining years. 

Mr. and Mrs. Watkins began their married 
life on the Watkins homestead forty-seven 
years ago, since when they have trod life's 
pathway together, mutually sharing its joys 
and sorrows, and it may be added that joys 
have largely predominated. Within a very 
short time will be celebrated the golden an- 
niversary of their marriage, symbolical of the 
golden harvest of years of usefulness in a com- 
munity where they are honored, beloved and 
esteemed, and in which they have witnessed 
the remarkable development of Kent county. 
Mr. Watkins can well remember when Canal 
and Monroe streets, the two great thorough- 
fares of Grand Rapids, were muddy holes and 
miring lanes. He has seen teams mire down 
in Canal street, near the open square of to-day, 
but then known as Grabb's corners. Where 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1069 



the Union depot now stands, amid the net 
work of railroads, was an open waste of land, 
but not a railroad in the citj'. The great 
furniture factories of the present time, the 
products of which go to the uttermost parts of 
the world, were not even dreamed of in that 
early day, when the population of the city did 
not exceed 6,000 souls. 

Mr. and Mrs. Watkins possessed no ready 
capital at the start, but by industry and strict 
attention to their agricultural pursuits they 
secured the old homestead, and to-day they 
are among the most prominent residents of 
the township, and are passing their declining 
days in ease, peace and comfort, surrounded 
by many friends, whose respect is truly un- 
feigned. 

In politics Mr. Watkins is a stanch repub- 
lican, voted for John C. Fremont, the first 
presidential candidate of the party, and has 
since consistently voted for all republican can- 
didates, national and local, wherever he has a 
had right to e.xercise his franchise. He has him- 
self held all the minor offices of his township, 
and holds the record of the longest service as 
supervisor of any man on the board, having 
filled the office about fifteen years; he has 
been a justice of the peace twenty-seven years, 
and in 1862 and 1863 was township treasurer, 
and his great popularity with his people has 
not waned, even at the present day; but he 
has now thrown off the cares of official life 
to enjoy the peace of retirement. Mr. Wat- 
kins has long been connected with the public 
schools of his district and has always been in 
favor of the best instructors. 

Fraternally, Mr. Watkins is a charter 
member of the Grattan lodge, No. 196, F". & 
A. M., and has served as its worshipful mas- 
ter, and Mrs. Watkins has served as treasurer 
in Venus chapter. Order of the Eastern Star. 
Both are likewise members of the Grattan 
grange, P. of H. 



Mrs. Miranda C. Watkins was born in Au- 
gusta township, Madison county, N. Y. , Janu- 
ary 19, 1834, and is a daughter of William 
H. and Hannah (Jakeway) Murray, and was 
but ten years of age when she came to I\ent 
county, Mich. Her grandfather, William 
Murray, was a hero of the Revolutionary war 
and private secretary to Gen. Philip John 
Schuyler, the famous New York commander. 
Mrs. Watkins is of remote English descent, 
although the name of Murray is made famous 
in the history of Scotland. She was educated 
in the common schools of Ivent county, and 
was granted a teacher's certificate. Her par- 
ents were pioneers of Michigan, aud settled in 
Vergennes township, Ivent county, in 1843, 
on the shore of a lake, which was later named 
Murray lake, in their honor. 

Mr. and Mrs. Watkins are recognized as 
the most prominent of Grattan town- 
ship's citizens, and are greatly respected as 
good, upright charitable people, whose lives 
are as an open volume to all who wish to read, 
and they are now passing their declining j^ears 
in quiet retirement — the reward of their early 
industry. 




OHN OUINCY WATTS, the best 
farmer in Bowne township, was born 
on the farm where he now resides, 
December i, 1856. His parents, 
William and Katherine (Miles) Watts, were 
both natives of Ireland. His father and uncle, 
Henry Watts, came to this country to seek 
their fortunes when young men. 

William Watts remained in New York at 
work, while his brother received a good posi- 
tion in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. In the 
spring of 1857, the former came to Michigan, 
having been married in New York the winter 
before. His wife, at the age of ten years, had 
come with her parents from Ireland. 



1070 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



At the time she accompanied her husband 
to Michif^an, he had a capital of some $350, 
with which he bought the present farm of 
eighty acres, then a wild and uncultivated 
tract, and paid $50 down, reserving $300, 
with which to buy a team and erect a log 
house. He set to work to improve his prop- 
ert}', placed it in a good state of cultivation, 
and added to it forty acres, making a total of 
120 acres. He built a good three-roomed 
house and a barn, thus putting the farm in a 
good condition. 

In politics he was democrat, but was not 
a part}' worker, nor did he aspire to office, 
although he took great interest in town affairs. 
His death occurred March 4, i8Sr, after a 
brief illness from pneumonia. He left a fam- 
ily of four children, viz: John O. ; Fanny D. ; 
wife of George Huntington, who resides on 
the adjoining farm; Mary Ann, the wife of 
Judson Bouck, of Bowne township, and Will- 
iam H., postmaster and merchant at Bowne 
Center. 

The boyhood of John Uuincy Watts, the 
subject of this memoir, was passed on his 
father's farm, where he worked until the lat- 
ter's death and then took charge of the estate 
as administrator. He retained the old home, 
having paid off the heirs, and added another 
forty acres, which makes a total of 160 acres, 
costing him $1,800. It is one of the best 
farms in the township, because of its good 
location and excellent improvements. He 
has built a new barn, 40x60 feet, and has 
laid about two miles of underground tile 
drainage pipe, which places the estate in an 
excellent condition. He is now engaged in 
general farming, keeps a high grade of stock, 
and from the very inception has been a pros- 
perous and successful farmer. 

Politically, he is a democrat and has been 
a delegate to county, district and state con- 
ventions, and is also a member of the county 



democratic committee. He has served twice 
as township treasurer in a strong republican 
township, and, with the exception of the su- 
pervisor, is the only democrat elected for 
several years. 

Mr. Watts was united in marriage on Jul)' 
4, 1883, to Miss Clara Morgan, a daughter of 
James Morgan, deceased, late of Bowne Cen- 
ter. She was born in east Michigan, Febru- 
ary 8, 1 86 1, and came to Bowne township 
when a child, and here received a common- 
school education. Their family consists of 
William, Elwin and Mabel. 

Fraternally, Mr. Watts is a member of 
the Freeport lodge, I. O. O. F., No. 146, 
Freeport, Mich. 




LLEN B. WAY, a favorite druggist 
and dealer in stationery, wall paper, 
etc., at Sparta, was born in Allegan 
county, Mich., September 11, 1868, 
and is the elder of two children born to Alfred 
B. and Martha (Allen) Way, natives of Ohio, 
who settled in Jackson county, Mich., in i860. 
Allen B. Way attended school at Ionia in 
his youthful years and there completed his lit- 
erary as well as pharmaceutical studies. He 
settled in Sparta June 9, 1896, and entered 
into his present business, which is the most 
extensive in its line in the town, as he carries 
a well assorted stock, valued at $4,000, and 
does an annual trade of about $12,000. He 
is very popular with his patrons, as he is very 
affable and accommodating, and was never 
known to misrepresent his wares in any way 
in order to effect a sale. 

Mr. Way was, united in marriage in Feb- 
ruary, 1889, with Miss Minnie LaDow, daugh- 
ter of Paris LaDow, of Ionia, and this felici- 
tous union has been blessed with one son, 
G. Holly, now five years of age. Fraternally 



11. 



ll 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1071 



Mr. Way is a Knight of Pythias, and he and 
wife are socially recognized by the best people 
of Sparta. Mr. Way is emphatically a wide- 
awake and progressive business man, and one 
who takes a decided interest in promoting the 
best interests of the town and county, never 
refusing substantial aid when called upon to 
contribute toward tarrying out any project de- 
signed for the furtherance of the public 
welfare. 



WTD F. WATSON is a member of the 
firm of Sisson, Watson & Co., gen- 
eral merchants and produce buyers, 
and is also proprietor of the Ada 
hotel and the livery barns in connection there- 
with, at Ada, Kent county, Mich. He was 
born in Muston, Yorkshire, England, May 20, 
1840, a son of William and Mary Ann (Foster) 
Watson, who had a family of five children. 
The father was a butcher in his early man- 
hood, but afterward became a prosperous 
farmer, and died in 1850; the mother of the 
subject died when the latter was an infant, 
and thus David F. Watson was a mere boy 
when left to fight the battle of life for himself. 
He managed to secure a fair common English 
education, and learned the trade of miller in 
his early years in England, serving an appren- 
ticeship of four 3'ears. 

In 1861 Mr. Watson came to America, 
landed in Canada, and there worked at his 
trade until 1S73, when he came to Michigan, 
and entered the employ of his brothers, who 
were doing business as lumbermen in Missau- 
kee county, under the firm name of J. & W. 
Watson. He remained with them four years, 
and then went to Morefield, Ontario, and re- 
sumed the flour-milling business with a partner, 
under the firm style of Watson & Lowes. At 
the end of a year he bought his partner's in- 



terest and continued alone for a year, and 
then, in the fall of 1878, came to Ada, Mich., 
and engaged in milling under the firm name of 
I"Cing, Curry & Watson, and this firm remained 
intact for five years, when Mr. Watson bought 
out his partners, and continued the business 
alone the five years following. In 1889 he 
sold his mill and formed a partnership with A. 
J. Sisson, in his present business of produce 
buying and merchandising. This firm, the 
largest in its line in the village of Ada, pay 
cash for all their purchases, buy produce of 
every kind, and never ask the sellers to ex- 
change their produce for merchandise, and on 
this fact much of their popularity is founded. 
W. N. Perkins has since become a member of 
the firm. 

At Detroit, Mr. Watson wedded Miss 
Louisa Callaway, daughter of David Callaway, 
and this marriage has been graced with three 
children, viz: John H., a high school grad- 
uate — a poet, moreover, of considerable merit 
— and now principal of a school at Sault Ste 
Marie; William and Bessie B. are the names 
of the remaining two. Mr. and Mrs. Watson 
are strict members of the Methodist Episcopal 
congregation, and for many years he has filled 
official positions in the church. Mr. Watson 
is also a member of the I. O. O. F. , and in 
politics is an ardent prohibitionist. As a busi- 
ness man he bears an untarnished name, and 
as a citizen he is regarded as public-spirited, 
useful and desirable, and no family in Ada is 
more highly respected than that of Mr. and 
Mrs. F. Watson. 



OHN I. WEEKS.— In giving a his- 
tory of the leading citizens of Kent 
county, the biographical department 
of this work would be incomplete 
without mentioning the gentleman whose 




1072 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



name heads this sketch, and the admirably 
kept farm of which he is the owner. His 
earnest and sincere efforts to make hfe a suc- 
cess are well worthy the imitation of all, and 
the interest he takes in all matters touching; 
on the occupation of husbandry are to be 
thoroughly commended. 

Mr. Weeks is a native of Grattan township, 
Kent county, and was born January 8, 1855, a 
son of John P. and Phcebe (Beakes) Weeks. 
He has passed the major part of his life as a 
lumberman and contractor in Ionia, Mont- 
calm and Kent counties. His education was 
limited. He remained under the parental 
roof until he reached his majority. At this 
stage in life he was united in marriags to Miss 
Jessie F. Russell on February 8, 1874. To 
Mr. and Mrs. Weeks were bor.n ten children, 
eight of whom are now living, viz: John P., 
an electrician of Stanton, Mich., and the in- 
ventor of a highly improved system of electric 
lighting for residences, halls, etc. ; Rosamond 
I., a graduate of the Grattan schools with the 
class of 1895 and gifted with considerable 
musical talent; Myrtle L. , a teacher in Kent 
county; Winnie, Nina A., Grant, and Eva L., 
all of whom are attendants of school; and 
Mahlon, the youngest, in the home. 

Mrs. Weeks was born March i, 1857, iii 
Otisco, Ionia county, and is a daughter of 
Otis H. and Julia A. (Ackley) Russell. The 
family consists of three sons and one daugh- 
ter, all of whom are living. The eldest, 
Norman A., is an architect of Chattanooga, 
Tenn. The remaining three are residents of 
Michigan — Francis M., William H. and Mrs. 
John I. Weeks. 

Otis H. Russell was a native of New York, 
born March 9, 1817, died in the United States 
service during the Civil svar, and was buried in 
the National cemetery at Chatanooga. He 
traced his ancestry back to that of Lord John' 
Russell, the English premier, and was one of 



the pioneers of the state of Michigan. He 
served in the Civil war with company D, First 
Michigan engineers and mechanics, having 
been a mechanic by trade. The mother, who 
was a teacher part of her life, was born in 
New York in 1S26, and died at her daughter's 
home July 12, 1891. 

Mr. and Mrs. Weeks began married life 
with very small capital. They remained for 
si.\ years on the Week's homestead and then 
in 1880 purchased the Russell homestead, con- 
sisting of si.\ty acres in Grattan. 

In politics Mr. Weeks is a strong repub- 
lican and a stanch supporter of the Mclvinley 
policy. He held the office of justice of the 
peace for eight years, being appointed in 1890, 
and is now a member of the school board. 
Socially he is a member of the following fra- 
ternities: Grattan lodge, No. 196, F. & A. 
M., of which he is the worshipful master; 
Greenville chapter. No. 79, royal arch Masons, 
and Mulberry camp, No. 87, of the M. W.of A , 
at Belding; Court Grattan, No. 9S6, I. O. F., 
and the Grattan grange. Mrs. Weeks is also a 
member of the last- named fraternit\' and both 
are identified with Venus chapter, No. 107 
as are also Resamond and M3rtle. 




EORGE WEAVER, deceased, al- 
though a native of Canada, was for 
many years one of the most respect- 
■ ed pioneer farmers of Walker town- 
ship, Kent county, Mich. His birth took 
place near Toronto, September 4, 1830, and 
his death occurred April 19, 1897. He was a 
mill-wright by trade, and was also in early life 
a school-teacher for some years in the county 
of Kent, to which he had come in 1838 or 
1839, and here grew to manhood. After 
reaching his majority, he purchased the farm 
in Walker township now operated by his son 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



107S 



George, and after making a clearing, erecting 
a cabin, etc., returned to Canada and passed 
five years in clerking and teaching. He then 
returned to his Walker township farm, worked 
at the carpenter's trade in conjunction with 
farming, and here passed the remainder of his 
industrious life. 

Mr. Weaver married, in Walker township, 
March 19, 1846, Miss Mary A. Anderson, a 
native, also, of Canada, and a daughter of 
William and Deborah (Denton) Anderson, 
who came to fCent county, Mich., about the 
same year in which he came, and settled on a 
farm where \^'alker Center school- house now 
stands, and lived on their farm until about 
twenty years ago, when they retired to Grand 
Rapids, where both have since died, aged 
eighty-five and eighty-three, respectively. To 
the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Weaver were 
born four children, of whom Louisa, who is 
still unmarried, is at home caring for her 
mother, who is, however, a well-preserved 
lady; Sarah is the wife of Henry Pierce, of 
Grand Rapids; William is a hardware mer- 
chant of the same city, and George, the 
youngest, is the occupant of the old home- 
stead. In politics Mr. Weaver was a republican, 
and in religion a Methodist, in which faith he 
passed away, respected and honored by the 
entire community. 

George Weaver, alluded to above as the 
youngest son of George Weaver, deceased, 
was born on the farm he at present occupies 
August 7, 1S58, and in that part of the dwell- 
ing still standing. At the age of twenty-five 
years he departed from his birthplace and 
passed twelve years at various kinds of work, 
chiefly in Grand Rapids. For two years he 
worked as a finisher in a furniture factory by 
the side of two e.xperienced men, and became 
quite skillful; he next passed some time as a 
house-painter, and then entered a grist-mill as 
a laborer; but he soon familiarized himself with 



all the details of the business, and was in- 
trusted with the responsible duty of purchas- 
ing the wheat, and there, also, he learned the 
millwright's trade, which he followed for two 
years. Among his other works in this line he 
constructed the machinery to start the fly- 
paper mill at Grand Rapids, and in this mill 
he also worked for two years. For the next 
two years he farmed in Grandville, and then 
came back to his home in Walker township. 

Mr. Weaver has twenty-five acres of the 
farm set with thrifty fruit trees, including" 
peach and plum, and also grows several varie- 
ties of berries, while the remainder of the 
place is devoted to general farming. He has 
erected an -additional dwelling on the farm, 
which is comfortable and convenient, as well 
as tasty in appearance, and all the out-build- 
ings are spacious and substantial. 

Mr. Weaver was united in marriage No- 
vember 8, 1883, with Miss Ida Haney, an esti- 
mable young lady of Grand Rapids, and to this 
union have been born three children, viz: Ver- 
non, now (1899) aged fourteen years; Marian, 
aged six, and Ruth, aged four years. In poli- 
tics Mr. Weaver is a republican, but is by no 
means "offensively partisan;" neither is he 
ambitious as to public offi.:e. He is industri- 
ous and handy at many things, and he and 
wife are among the most respected farming 
people of Walker township. 




USTIS JUDSON WELLMAN.— The 
man who goes forth to conquer the 
wilderness and " open the way to 
civilization must possess many heroic 
qualities — the patient endurance that enables 
him day after day to bear the privation of 
frontier life, the constancy that enables him to 
perform week in and week out the arduous 
clearing and developing new land, and the 



S I' 



1074 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



fortitude to bear uncomplainingly the lack of 
advantages and privileges which could be se- 
cured in older settlements. All these are 
characteristics of the pioneer who pushes for- 
ward to the westward borders of the frontier 
that he may make a home for himself and fam- 
ily. Among those who were leaders in this 
work in early Michigan is Eustis J. \\^ellman, 
a well-known citizen of Oakfield township and 
a resident of Kent county for sixty-four years. 

Mr. Wellman was born near Boston, 
Mass., on the 8th day of November, 1823, the 
si.xth in order of birth in a family of four sons 
and six daughters born to Isaac and Nancy 
(Boyden) Wellman. Only three of the chil- 
dren survive, viz: Eustis J. ; Eliza A., widow 
of James S. Wolcott, a wagonmaker, residing 
near \'icksburg, Mich., and Elvira S., wife of 
Chandler Barton, hotel proprietor of Perkins- 
ville, \'t. Isaac Wellman was a native of 
Massachusetts, born in Mansfield June S, 1790, 
and died near Sheridan, Mich., on the 4th of 
January, 1872. He came of English ancestry 
and was occupied in his later days as an agri- 
culturist. In his youth he received a fair 
education and immigrated in 1849 to Vermont, 
thence to New York, and finally to Kent 
county, Mich. In his political relations he was 
ever an honorable and upright supporter of 
the Union. 

The mother was born at Midfield, Mass., 
August 28, 1796, and died at the same place 
as her husband, on October 30, 1883. 

Mr. Wellman of this review, -has made his 
home in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hamp- 
shire, New York and lastly in Michigan. He 
attended school in a log school-house, where 
he received but a limited education, and began 
to work out when thirteen years of age, at the 
rate of $9 per month. He learned the trade 
of a baker and started out with $100 capital 
at the age of twenty-one years, coming frorii 
New York to Detroit, and thence across the 



wild country to Kent county with an ox-team. 
Settling in Oakfield township, he purchased 
forty acres of wild land in section No. 35, and 
later took up sixty-four additional acres in the 
the immediate vicinity. At this date the 
White Swan school-house was the only one in 
that township, and there was not a single 
church. The inhabitants were obliged to go 
to Courtland to vote, Oakfield not being yet a 
distinct township. Indians were yet frequent- 
ly seen and came many times to stay all night 
at the subject's home. After holding this prop- 
erty for six years, he traded and secured a 
claim on the north bank of the Wabasis, also 
a tract in sections 21 and 16, which has since 
been his homestead. 

March 15, 1849, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Mary White, who has become 
the mother of five children, viz: Theresa, 
wife of Thomas Anderson, of Oakfield; Frank, 
whose personal biography is found on another 
page; Eugene, also represented elsewhere; 
Hattie, who was educated in the common 
schools and in the Greenville graded schools, 
and has taught two terms in Ivent county, and 
living at home; and May, the joungest, who is 
the wife of James E. Anderson, who operates 
the Wellman homestead. 

Mrs. Wellman was born in Chautauqua 
county, N. Y. , June i, 1828, and died in Oak- 
field township March 27, 1889. She was 
reared and educated in her native state. She 
first began married life with Mr. Wellman in 
a little log cabin home, in section 35, Oakfield 
township. The nearest market at that early 
time was Grand Rapids, then only a small 
village. The large Canal street of the present 
was at that time almost an entire swamp and 
Monroe street was an insignificant lane with- 
out a respectable building. There was not a 
railroad in the county, the nearest being at 
Battle Creek; the city's present progress, net 
work of railroads, telephone and electric rail- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1075 



way system, were at that time never dreamed 
of. When Mr. Wellman located in section 
2 1, of Oakiield township, there was not a high- 
way or road of any kind passing his residence, 
a rude board shanty. He came to Kent 
county a poor man with but $iOO capital, and 
now, in 1900, is the owner of 287 acres of 
good land and has aided his children in secur- 
ing homes for themselves, all being within a 
short distance of the old home. He has 
improved and equipped his property with his 
own hands and means and has set a worthy 
example for all. His estimable wife, who has 
preceded him to the life beyond, shared his 
joys and sorrows for forty years, was always 
ready to aid her husband in his every task; she 
acted as a noble mother to her children, edu- 
cated them in a befitting way, and made them 
honorable members of their several commun- 
ities. Tender and true, she died respected by 
all for her womanly graces and characteristic 
virtues. Her remains are interred in the Oak- 
field cemetery, where a magnificent and 
costly granite monument has been erected, 
sacred to her remembrance. 

Mr. Wellman lives in peace and content- 
ment on his old homestead, surrounded by his 
friends and children, who honor and revere him 
as friend and father. Politically he is a dem- 
ocrat, but was formerly a whig, and cast his 
first presidential vote for William Henry Har- 
rison. He also voted for Lincoln and Garfield, 
and later was a follower of the renowned 
Peter Cooper. In local politics he may be 
classed a non-partisan and votes for the man 
whom he thinks will best discharge the duties 
of the offlce. He is a man, who, preferring to 
devote his entire attention to his business pur- 
suits, has never aspired to official station, but 
throughout his career has been an honorable 
gentleman, living under no creed or dogma, 
but having advanced ideas of his own, based 
upon careful reading and profound reason. 



UGENE WELLMAN, a young and en- 
terprising farmer of Oaktield town- 
ship, has his record here presented, 
and his alone, since the genealogy of 
the family is fully given in the sketch of Eustis 
J. Wellman, his father, and one of the old 
pioneers of Oakfield. 

Eugene Wellman was born May 9, 1858, 
in Oakfield township, Kent county, Mich., re- 
ceived his rather meager education m the 
common schools of his native place, and was 
reared to the honorable life of a tiller of the 
soil. Until his majority he remained with his 
parents, devoted his efforts to the improve- 
ment of the homestead, and learned the im- 
portant duties of a careful, methodical farmer. 

On March 25, 1884, Mr. Wellman was 
united in marriage to Miss Ella E. Horton, 
who was born December 15, 1S60, and is a 
daughter of Silas D: Horton, whose family 
genealogy is presented in another place. 
After marriage Mr. Wellman and wife resided 
for four years on the old Wellman homestead, 
and in 18S8 purchased their present farm of 
eighty acres. The soil of the farm is excel- 
lent and adapted to the culture of all com- 
modities, especially of fine fruit, which is 
indigenous to the entire state of Michigan. 

As to political principles Mr. Wellman is 
a non-partisan, and drops his ballot for the 
man he deems best fitted for the position. He 
cast his first presidential vote for James A. 
Garfield. He has never aspired to political 
office or station, having desired to devote his 
attention to his business pursuits. Socially he 
is a member of Harvard tent, No. 890, Knights 
of the Maccabees. 

Mr. and Mrs. Wellman are greatly inter- 
ested in the elevation of the plan of education 
in their district and township. They were 
prominent among the contributors to the erec- 
tion of the Oakfield Union chapel in 1893, 
and have contributed unseltishly to all worthy 



107G 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



benevolences. Friend and stranger alike are 
welcome and entertained in their hospitable 
home. They live at ease and comfort, sur- 
rounded, esteemed and respected by many 
friends, whom the}' have merited through 
their generosity and hospitality. 



u 



OHX P. WELLER, a skillful and pros- 
perous horticulturist and agriculturist 
of Plainfield township, Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of Warren county, 
N. J., and was born October 26, 1842, the 
fifth in the family of Philip D. and Eliza Ann 
(Lomerson) Weller, who were also born in the 
state of New Jersey. 

Philip D. Weller, a farmer and surve3'or 
by vocation, was born October i, 1S03, passed 
all his life in his native state, and died Sep- 
tember 30, 1879. His wife, born December 
II, 1807, was called away March 20, 1852. 

John P. Weller received a sound common- 
school education and was Veared to manhood 
on his father's farin. At the age of twenty- 
one years he began life on his own account by 
hiring out for a year to a New Jersey uncle, 
and then rented the old homestead for two 
years'. June 8, 1867, he married Miss Mary 
C. Hartung, who was born in Sussex county, 
N. J., January 22, 1849, the eldest child of 
Henry W. and Susan C. (Snook) Hartung. 
Immediately after marriage Mr. Weller brought 
his bride to Michigan and for a year lived in 
Ann Arbor; he then purchased a farm of 
seventy-seven acres, in section No. 14, Plain- 
field township, Kent county, and this has ever 
since been his home. The marriage of Mr. 
and Mrs. Weller has been graced with three 
children, viz: Lucius H., who was born No- 
vember 8, 1868, in Grand Rapids; Morton Ray, 
born August 11, 1879, is attending school, and' 
Olivia, born November 22, 18S4, is a student. 



Mr. Weller is not partisan in his politics, 
and casts his vote for whomsoever he considers 
to be the best qualified for the ofifice or offices 
to be filled; in religion, he and family wor- 
shiped in the Congregational church at Rock- 
ford, where he was a deacan nineteen years. 

Mr. \\'eller has a most pleasant home and 
keeps his farm in the best possible shape, and 
Mrs. W'eller is famous all over the township 
for her excellent housekeeping. No family in 
the township is held in higher respect than 
that of Mr. Weller, and his possessions have 
come to hmi through his own honest industr}' 
and discriminating judgment. 




RANK WELLMAN.— Such men as 
Frank Wellman are valuable acqui- 
sitions to any community, for in all 
the relations of life he is found true 
and faithful to the duties and obligations that 
rest upon him, and his sterling worth and rec- 
titude of character commend him to the con- 
fidence and high regard of all. He is one of 
the progressive farmers of Oakfield township, 
where he owns a valuable property that he 
has acquired entirely by his own exertions. 

Mr. Wellman was born in Kent county, 
September i, 1852, on the old homestead of 
his father in Oakfield. He is a son of Eustis 
J. Wellman, a pioneer of Kent county, whose 
biograph}' is found elsewhere. His grandfa- 
ther and grandmother were natives of Massa- 
chusetts, the former of whom was born at 
Mansfield June 8, 1790, and died near Sheri- 
dan, Mich., on the 4th of January, 1872. 
The full genealogy of the family may be ob- 
tained at another place in this record under 
the head of E. J. Wellman. Frank Wellman 
received a common-school education, and was 
reared to and worked at farming on his father's 
estate until twenty-five 3'ears of age. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1077 



On June, 9, 1881, the wedding of Mr. 
Wellman to Miss Delina Collar occurred, and 
four children blessed this union, three of 
whom, are living, viz: E. Judson, who is in 
the seventh grade at school, greatly interested 
in mathematics and music, and will in all 
probability be an excellent mechanic in the 
years to come; Winnie, also gifted with mu- 
sical talent, and who has been receiving in- 
strinnental music lessons; and Mary A., the 
youngest, who is in the fourth grade at school. 

Mrs. Wellman was born in Ada township, 
I\ent county, Mich., October i, 1858, was 
educated in the common and. graded schools 
and held a license to teach school. She was 
a daughter of Sylvester F. and Mary Ann 
(Clark) Collar, who were natives of New York 
and died in Kent county, Mich. Her father 
was a farmer and parent of seven children, four 
sons and three daughters. Mrs. Wellman 
was a true and faithful wife and a kind 
and indulgent mother. She died April 6, 
1893, and her remains are interred in the 
Oakfield cemetery. At present, and for four 
years past, Mrs. Nettie Johnston has had 
charge of the home and the care and training 
of the children. She is a native of Yates 
county, N. Y., born August 29, 1849, and has 
spent most of her life in Ivent county, Mich. 
She is a lady of manj- excellent traits that 
peculiarly adapt her to the proper supervision 
of the growing and e.xpanding youth. 

In his political affiliations Frank Wellman 
is a non-partisan and drops his ballot for the 
man whom he thinks will best discharge the 
duties of office. His first presidential vote 
was cast for R. B. Hayes. He is deeply in- 
terested in the public schools and has for 
many years been director of the Oakfield Cen- 
ter schools, endeavoring to employ only well- 
trained teachers. Socially, he is a member 
of the Montcalm grange, No. 318, at Green- 
ville, Mich., believing that the principles of 



the Patrons of Husbandry, if followed, will 
greatly benefit all society. He is enrolled 
among the worthy contributors to the erection 
of the Oakfield chapel, built in 1S93, which 
stands but a short distance from his home, and 
is the center of social and religious influence 
of the town. As to his business, he is a natu- 
ral and skilled machinist, but has devoted 
most of his time to agriculture, and is the 
owner of a beautiful eighty-acre farm in sec- 
tion No. 16. It is located in the heart of the 
most valuable section of the town, and its 
productive fields prove the attention and in- 
dustry of the owner. The life of Mr. Well- 
man has been an upright and honorable one, 
which will -bear the closest scrutiny and in- 
spection. Entirely without ostentation or 
display, he has taken a high place in the 
esteem of his fellows. He is honorable in 
his business dealings, friendly and genial in 
his social relations, and at all times a cour- 
teous and estimable gentleman, whom to know 
is to respect. 




ICHOLAS P. WERNER.— There is 
no greater pleasure for the hand and 
pen of the historian or biographer to 
perform than that of recording the 
life and achievements of a man who has begun 
life's battle under adverse circumstances, and, 
through his own unaided efforts, has secured 
the general acknowledgment of being an hon- 
est man, a gentleman and a possessor of ample 
means. Such a man is Nicholas Werner, a 
successful farmer of Grattan township, Kent 
county, Mich. 

Mr. Werner is a nati\e of the county 
wherein he now resides and was born April 
I, 1858, the fourth of six children born to 
Nicholas and Mary (Honson) Werner. 

Nicholas Werner, Sr. , was born November 



1078 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



6, 1825, in the picturesque valley of the Rhine 
and at present resides in Otisco, Ionia county, 
Mich. Until his marriage and the birth of 
one child, he lived in the Fatherland, where 
he was reared to agricultural pursuits and 
educated in his native tongue. In the year 
1854 he embarked at Antwerp, and after six 
weeks of sailing landed at New York city. 
He found himself among a strange people 
with no capital to begin life with. New 
York was his home for about one year, and 
he then came to the wild country of Michigan, 
settling in Ionia county. In Grattan town- 
ship, Kent county, he rented a farm for some 
time and later purchased forty acres in Otisco 
township, Ionia county, at a dollar and a 
quarter per acre, though going in debt for it. 
He built a log cabin in the then almost un- 
broken forests, later added twenty acres to 
his estate and is still the owner of it. In poli- 
tics he is a democrat, and he and his wife, 
who was also born in Germany, June 9, 1823, 
are devout members of the Catholic church 
at Mariam, loma county. 

Nicholas P. Werner early acquired a knowl- 
edge of agriculture and has been a hard laborer 
all his life. He was educated in the common- 
schools and brought up in the Catholic faith, 
having been confirmed, at the age of fourteen, 
by Bishop Borgcjss of the Detroit diocese. Mr. 
Werner began as a wage-earner when sixteen 
years of age. At the inception of his married 
life he had a capital of about .$1,000, which he 
had accumulated by his own unceasing labor 
and economy. 

On May 20, 1884, Mr. W'erner was united 
in marriage to Miss Mary \. Kohn, a native 
of Ionia county, Mich., and three sons have 
been born to them, viz; Edward J., Arthur 
M., and Carl M. Mrs. Werner was born on 
the 3rd of May, 1861, is a daughter of Peter 
and Catherine (Baltzer) Kohn, and one of nine 
children, the fi\-e now living being residents of 



Ionia county, Mich. Peter Kohn, was a native 
of the city of Trieste, Germany, and by vo- 
cation an agriculturist. He early located in 
Ionia county, Mich., where Mrs. \\'erner was 
reared and educated. Both parents were de- 
vout Catholics and are now deceased. 

A farm of forty acres, with a small house, 
became the early home of Mr. and Mrs. 
Nicholas P. Werner, and the now greatly en- 
larged and improved estate in their possession 
can be only the outcome of push and industry, 
good business principles and economy. The 
home now is a beautiful one, comprising 145 
acres of land. A very prominent feature in 
the estate is the massive and convenient barn, 
with fine stone basement and cellar. 

Mr. Werner is politically a republican, a 
sound-money man and firm supporter of the 
principles of that party, though until recently 
a democrat. Socially, Mr. and Mrs. Werner 
are members of the Grattan grange and devout 
in their connection with the St. Mary's parish 
at Miriam, Ionia county. 




ARTIN WHALEN.— On the roll of 
Wyoming township's representa- 
tive citizens is found the name of 
Kyran Whalen, who was an Irish- 
man by birth and for many years a leading ag- 
riculturist of Kent county. He left his native 
isle in 1850, immigrating to the United States 
in company with a brother, Thomas, and for 
a period of three years found employment as 
a farm laborer in New York, removing at the 
end of that time to Kent county, Mich., and 
purchasing a piece of woodland, consisting of 
eighty acres, in the township of Wyoming. 
His first residence 'was a log-cabin of small di- 
mensions and primitive pattern, which he oc- 
cupied for some years, while the heavy forest 
growth was being removed and the ground fit- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1079 



ted for tillage, this arduous labor being per- 
formed by himself and the brother named 
above, the latter being unmarried. By work- 
ing early and late in all kinds of weather, Mr. 
Whalen finally had the satisfaction of seeing 
a fine farm of 230 acres emerge from the 
primitive woods as the reward of his industry, 
and the diminutive cabin to give place to a 
more complete and comfortable dwelling of 
greatly enlarged proportions. Thomas Whalen 
remained with his brother assisting on the 
farm until i 871, when he re-visited the land of 
his nativity, only,hovvever to pass his last days- 
amid old scenes, dying there on the old pater- 
nal estate, about six months after his return. 
Kyran ^^'halen was married in 1856 to Miss 
Katherine Whalen, also a native of the Em- 
erald isle; while bearing the husband's name 
she was in no way related to him by ties of 
blood. The result of this union was nine 
children, of whom seven are at this time living, 
namely: Rev. T. L. Whalen, educated for 
the priesthood in Cincinnati and Baltimore, 
and now stationed as pastor of the church at 
Muskegon, Mich;. Kyran T. W'halen, also a 
priest, having in charge the Catholic church in 
Carson, Mich. ; Michael D.\Mialen, D.V. S.,of 
Dowagiac, Mich. ; Martin, whose name intro- 
duces this sketch; Mary, wife of P. J. Eardly; 
Catharine, a sister of Charity, known as Mary 
Martin, in Cincinnati, Ohio; Anna, also a sis- 
ter of Charity in the same convent with the 
former, her convent name being Mary I\yran, 
and Dennis, the youngest son, was born Au- 
gust, 16, 1869. He remained with the family, 
then consisting of his mother, brother Martin, 
and sister Anna. He died January 25, 1891, 
aged twenty-one. He was an exceptionally 
bright young man, who was already making a 
mark in the community. He was most popu- 
lar, and every side of his character possessed 
a luster that only comes when there is an in- 
nate nobleness of mind. All of the children of 

58 



Mr. and Mrs. Whalen enjoyed exceptional ad- 
vantages educationally, and no pains or reason- 
able expense were spared in preparing them for 
the parts they were to act in life. Reared in the 
holy Mother church, none have ever departed 
from the faith thereof, but all are loyal to its 
teachings, and, as already stated, four have 
consecrated their lives to the cause of religion 
— a record of which few families can boast, 
and of which they may feel deservedly proud. 

Kyran Whalen nobly did his part in a quiet 
way toward the moral and religious advance- 
ment of the community in which he resided; 
and the honorable self-sacrificmg life he lived 
bore rich fruitage in the persons of his several 
children, all of whose success is directly trace- 
able to his wise counsel and godlike example. 
He was an intelligent man, with the training re- 
ceived in the excellent schools of his native 
land, and possessed a sound practical wisdom, 
such as educational institutions do not impart. 
He died in the very prime of manhood Octo- 
ber 16, 1S77, aged forty-nine. His devoted 
wife survived him until 1891, departing this 
life on the 1 ith day of February of that year, 
at the age of sixty-three. 

Martin Whalen, youngest member of the 
family living, was born on the farm where he 
now resides, a short distance southwest of the 
city of Grand Rapids, November 11, 1867. 
He was but ten years old when his father 
passed to the great beyond, and early in life 
took upon himself a full measure of responsi- 
bility in the way of contributing to the sup- 
port of the family, as'he assumed charge of the 
home farm at the age of nineteen, and has 
since conducted the same. In this he was ably 
assisted by his mother, a woman of rare busi- 
ness ability and exceedingly sound judgment, 
and the farm lost nothing by their co-operation. 
On the contrary, success awaited their every 
endeavor, and in due time additional land was 
purchased, improvements extended, and the 



lOSO 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



place became one of the best cultivated in the 
township of Wyoming. Mr. Whalen is at 
this time the possessor of 140 acres of finely 
improved land in his own name, and justly de- 
serves the reputation he has earned of being a 
representative farmer of the township of Wy- 
oming, and one of the progressive and intelli- 
gent Irish-American citizens of Kent county. 
The democratic party represents Mr. 
Whalen's politics, and he has at different times 
been honored with of^cial positions b}' the 
franchise of his party, being at this time the 
popular and efficient treasurer of \\'yoming 
township. He belongs to St. Andrew's Cath- 
olic church of Grand Rapids, and is an active 
worker in the same, being liberal in his con- 
tributions toward the support of the Gospel 
and loyal to every tenet of the faith. Mr. 
Whalen has never married, nevertheless he 
maintains a household on the farm, and under 
his roof is found an old-fashioned hospitalit\', 
generously dispensed to any and all who are 
fortunate enough to cross his threshold. Such 
in brief are the salient facts in the career of a 
family worthy in every respect to be mentioned 
in these pages among the representative peo- 
ple of the county of Kent. 




\NUEL WILSON, a prominent 
farmer and grain dealer in Cale- 
donia township, Kent count}', 
Mich., is a native of Perth county, 
province of Ontario, Canada, was born April 
18, 1859, and is a son of Molyneaux and Ellen 
Wilson, who came to Michigan when Manuel 
was about seven years of age and settled on 
eighty acres of beech and maple woodland in 
Caledonia township. Here the father passed 
away about 1893 at the age of sixty-three 
years, and here his widow still resides. 

Manuel Wilson was reared to manhood on 



the home farm, was educated in the common 
schools of Caledonia, and remained at home 
until his marriage, September 22, 1S79, to 
Miss Helen Freeman, daughter of Morris 
Freeman, of Gaines township, Kent count}', 
in which township she was born. Mr. Wilson 
then settled on his present farm of ninety 
acres, two miles from the village on the 
Thornapple river. Here he grew peaches and 
other fruits until severe weather caused him 
heavy losses, and he then devoted his atten- 
tion to miscellaneous agriculture. In April, 
1897, he purchased the elevator in the village, 
and this has a capacity of 25,000 bushels. He 
refitted the structure throughout, placed in 
new gasoline engines, and now does a business 
of 160 car-loads of wheat per annum, and also 
handles oats, rye, beans, cloverseed, etc. He 
emplo}'s one man constantly at grinding feed, 
and hay and straw come within the scope of 
the trade, and of these he ships about fifty 
car-loads annually, having a first-class baling 
machine, which, in fact, he had operated 
some years previous to purchasing the eleva- 
tor. To the latter he devotes his personal at- 
tention exclusively. 

Mr. Wilson has a family of four children, 
born in the following order: Clare, who is a 
student in the junior class at the state univer- 
sity in Ann Arbor; Forest and Alice, students 
in the high school of Caledonia, and Margaret. 

Mr. Wilson is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, has passed all the chairs in the In- 
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, and is like- 
wise a member of Caledonia tent, Knights of 
the Maccabees. Both he and wife are mem- 
bers of the M. E. church. In politics he is an 
active republican, and has frequently been 
elected delegate to the conventions of his 
party, in many of "which he has taken a con- 
spicuous part. He is a man of untiring 
energy, possesses unusual business ability, 
and bears a name that has never been ini- 



1: 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1081 



peached. His man}- transactions are niari<ed 
by a fairness and sense of justice that have 
gained him the confidence of business men, 
and his social standinj^ is with the best people 
of the township and county. 




;.AUDE E. WILDER, an esteemed 
citizen of I\ent county, now engaged 
in agricultural pursuits in Alpine 
township, is a native of Walker 
township, Kent county, Mich., and was born 
January 13, 1870, being the second child of 
Joseph and Polly (Miller) Wilder. His fa- 
ther was a native of New York, born in the 
year 1843, and came to Michigan with his par- 
ents, Ed. and Maria Wilder, when but a lad 
of six or seven summers, locating with them 
on a farm in Alpine township, where he lived 
until the death of his father. At that event 
he went to live with a sister Hannah, wife of 
William McNitt, and there he remained until 
of age. His (irst step for himself was to rent 
a farm on which he worked until he, with his 
brother-in-law, McNitt, engaged in the saw 
and grist-mill business in Walker township 
and continued at such until the year 1S77, 
when he sold his milling interest and pur- 
chased a farm of seventy-one acres in sec- 
tion No. 34, of Alpine township. Here he 
lived until the spring of 189S, when he leased 
a farm in Walker township, near Kinney sta- 
tion, upon which he still resides. His wife 
is a native of Ohio and was born in the year 
1S37. She came to Michigan with her par- 
ents, Joseph Miller and wife, when seven years 
old, and it was here she met her husband, and 
is novv li\'ing with him in their Walker home. 
Claud E. Wilder began life for himself 
when about twenty-one years of age, by leas- 
ing the old farm in Alpine township, and after 
working for one year he removed to Ohio, 



where he still followed the occupation of his 
boyhood for a period of two years, and then 
returned to Michigan and re-leased the old 
homestead, which he is now operating. 

On December 24, 1893, he was married to 
Miss Stella E. Sherck, a native of Ohio, born 
April 3, 1 871. She made her home in her 
native state until her marriage. Her parents, 
Martin and Elizabeth (Good) Sherck, both were 
natives of Ohio, where they passed their entire 
lives. Mr. and Mrs. Wilder are the parents 
of but one child, Leta Etheline, a little girl 
of four years. 

Politically, Mr. W'ilder is what might be 
termed non-partisan in local politics, but is a 
democrat in national matters. Mr. Wilder is 
known as one of the leading agriculturists of 
Alpine, and while his life has not been varied 
by exciting incidents or thrilling episodes, it 
it has been at all times true to upright princi- 
ples, and he has ever been faithful in his duty 
to his home, his neighbor and his country. 



m 



F. WILLIAMS, a sterling citizen of 
Tyrone township, Kent county, 
Mich., and well and favorably known 
throughout the community, was born 
in Chemung county, Ohio, August 19, 1847, 
and is the fifth in a family of seven sons and 
one daughter born to Henry and Angelina 
(Hawkins) Williams, of which children four 
are deceased, the survivors being S. F., the 
subject of this sketch; Josiah, a resident of 
Thompsonville, Mich., married, and a lumber- 
man by vocation; Edward M., a married 
farmer, residing in Chester, Ottawa county, 
and A. L. , a married business man at Casno- 
via, Mich. 

Henry Williains, the father, was born in 
New York state, August 11, 181 3, received a 
good common-school education, and was 



1082 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



reared to aericultiiral pursuits. About 1840 
he removed from New York to Ohio, thence 
came to Michigan in 1S50, and settled in 
Ottawa count}', where he resided until his 
death, which occurred in March, 1888. He 
was a devout member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church and a diligent student of his 
Bible. In politics he was first a whig, but at 
the organization of the republican party fell 
into its ranks. His wife was also a native of 
the Empire state, was born December 4, 
1822, was educated in the common schools, 
and, like her husband, died a devoted member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church, January 
25, 1891, aged sixty-eight years, one month 
and twenty-one days. 

S. F. Williams was a child of three years 
when brought to Ottawa county, Mich., by 
his parents. His father there purchased an 
eighty-acre tract of forest land, on which the 
first habitation of the family was a "shake " 
shanty, erected by the Indians, who were 
then still very numerous in all tha.t part of 
the state. There were no highways near 
the shanty, and deer still frequented the 
premises. The agricultural implements con- 
sisted of the old-fashioned wooden fork, 
cradle, scythe and sickle, and the Williams 
family were classed among the pioneers of 
western Michigan. Under such circumstances 
it was impossible for Mr. Williams to acquire 
any other than a rudimentary education. His 
services were required at home in assisting to 
clear up and develop the farm, and for this 
purpose he remained with his parents until 
his majority, turning over to them his earnings 
when employed temporarily elsewhere, or de- 
voting to them his services from the age of 
fourteen years. He of course began his busi- 
ness life with but little capital, and has 
always been a farmer, lumberman or live- 
stock dealer, with the exception of two years 
passed as a merchant. 



Mr. Williams was united in marriage, 
February 18, 1872. with Miss Sarah E. 
Noble, who has borne him three daughters, 
viz: Grace B , who was primarily educated in 
the I-Cent City public schools, and graduated 
from the Sparta high school in 1S90; for two 
years, also, she attended the Ypsilanti Normal 
school, took a full course of normal training 
and also a course in kindergarten instruction, 
■and for four years was a successful teacher 
in the graded schools of Ottawa and I\ent 
counties; she has besides received special 
training as a professional nurse at Chicago, 
and her services as such are in constant de- 
mand in Kent county and elsewhere, she hav- 
ing made a fine reputation; she is a member 
of the Baptist church and of the W. C. T. U., 
and her professional address is Kent City, 
Mich. Mary A., the second-born daughter of 
Mr. and Mrs. Williams, is the wife of J. B. 
Symes, of Sparta; she was a dressmaker by 
vocation, and her husband is a mechanic. 
Cecil, the youngest daughter, graduated from 
the Kent City public schools in 1898, and has 
been well instructed in instrumental music. 

Mrs. Sarah E. Williams was born in 
Wayne county, Midi., October 6, 1854, and 
is a daughter of David and Mary A. (Knapp) 
Noble, of whose four children — two sons and 
two daughters — three still survive, viz: Wilbur, 
a graduate of a Chicago veterinary college, mar- 
ried, and living in Sparta; Mrs. Williams, and 
Edward I) , who resides on his mother's farm 
in Sparta township and is also married. Mrs. 
Williams has passed her life mostly in Sparta 
and Tyrone townships, secured a sound edu- 
cation in the public schools and also had 
special instruction in music, of which she has 
been a teacher. 

David Noble, father of Mrs. \\'illiams, 
was born in Ohio in 1814, and died at the age 
of forty-seven jears, from exposure, while 
serving as a soldier during the Civil war. His 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1088 



widow is a resident of Sparta township and 
is a consistent member of the Baptist church, 

Mr. and Mrs. S. F. Williams came to 
Kent county in the spring of 1876, with a very 
meager capital, indeed, and what property 
they have_ has been acquired by diligence and 
economy. They purchased forty acres in 
Tyrone township, of which only eight acres 
had been cleared for tilling, the remainder 
being covered with stumps. They could pay 
only a small part of the purchase money; 
but they worked hard, and the result is, they 
are now free of debt, have well cultivated 
fields, a cosy residence well furnished, good 
barns and other out-buildings — all the result 
of their industry. 

Politically Mr. Williams is a republican 
and cast his first presidential vote for U. S. 
Grant. He has strong temperance proclivities 
and endeavors to aid all measures designed to 
elevate the moral tone of his township and for 
the improvement of the efficiency of the pub- 
lic school system. Fraternally he is a mem- 
ber of Kent City lodge. No. 380, I. O. O. F., 
and religiously the family are all sincere Bap- 
tists, and have aided materially in erecting the 
beautiful church consecrated to that faith in 
Ivent City. The family move in the best cir- 
cles of Tyrone township, and all are sincerely 
esteemed for their personal merits. 




ELVIN A. WILLETT is an extensive 
fruit grower, on sections eight, 
seventeen and eighteen, in Cannon 
township, Kent county, Mich., three 
and one-half miles from Rockford and four- 
teen miles from Grand Rapids. There are 
about 500 apple trees on the farm, including 
the well-known varieties — Northern Spy, Bald- 
win, Roxbury, Russet and Detroit Red. These 
are all keepers of the best and most lasting 



variety and are mostly bearers each season. 
In 1895 Mr. Willett planted eight acres in ap- 
ple trees in addition to those already men- 
tioned, consisting of the following "red" va- 
rieties: Northern Spy, Ben Davis, Wagner and 
Wealthy. These eight acres of apples are in 
the best of condition, and many of the trees 
are already bearing, and really bear fruit the 
first year after planting, especially the "Wag- 
ners." Mr. Willett spra3's his fruit, each year, 
about three times. In 1890, he planted his 
first peach trees, 350 in number, of the fol- 
lowing kinds: Honest John, Chili, Early Michi- 
gan, Foster, Wheatland and Late Crawford. 
In 1891 he planted 750 more, mostly of the 
Early Micliigan, Chili, Barnard and Honest 
John, and they are doing nicely. In the sea- 
son of 1898 Mr. Willett marketed 750 bush- 
els. In 1894 he set out 1,100 additional 
trees of Chair's Choice, Reeve's Favorite, 
Barnard, Globe and Yellow St. John, the last 
being a very fine-flavored fruit. Of this set- 
ting, he marketed almost 100 bushels in 1898. 
In 1896 he planted i 400 more of the late 
Barnards, Barber and. Bronson seedlings. The 
curl leaf and the black knot are the only dis- 
eases the trees are infested with, as the yellows 
is a disease almost unknovvn in Kent county. 
Mr. Willett has a total of 4,300 peach trees 
on his estate. The soil of his fruit farm is a 
sandy loam, which is considered by some 
leading fruit men to excel the clay loam. The 
\\'illett fruit farm is mostly undulating, and no 
drainage is deemed necessary. Besides the 
peach and apple industry, Mr. Willett has 350 
plum and cherry trees, which are in a thrifty 
condition. 

The potato industry with Mr. Willett is 
also an important factor in his business. The 
year 1898 finds him with a yield of 300 bush- 
els to the acre, which will net him 2,500 bush- 
els of the Rural New York No. i, and the re- 
nowned American Wonder; the latter variety 



1084 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



is one of the finest and most palatable pota- 
toes grown in southern Michigan. The roads 
leading to his farm from Grand Rapids and 
Rockford markets are gravel and are always 
in good condition for marketing produce. 

Melvin A. Willett is a native of Erie coun- 
ty, N. Y., was born September 14, 1848, and 
is the only son of Lyman C. and Rhoda J. 
(Hillingham) Willett. He received a good ed- 
ucation in the common schools, and the city 
schools of Grand Rapids. He wedded, De- 
cember 31, i86g, Miss Eva Peak, a native of 
Ottawa county, Mich., and three children 
have been born to this marriage, of whom 
two are living, the eldest being Nettie, wife of 
D. C. Stapleton, of Grand Rapids; and Clare 
E., who is a farmer of Cannon township. 

Politically, Mr. Willett will simply sup- 
port the man best fitted for the position to be 
filled, regardless of party. Mr. Willett at 
present is one of the "yellows commission- 
ers" of Cannon township. As a gentleman of 
integrity he is well and favorably known 
throughout Kent county, as he is always fair 
and honorable in his dealings and undeviating 
in his adherence to the truth. 



AADEN WINCHESTER, one of Mich- 
igan's pioneer centenarians, died at his 
home in Byron township, Kent coun- 
ty, Mich. , April 1 1, 1899, after an ill- 
ness of only three days. 

Mr. Winchester's life was a remarkable one 
for its longevity and robust health, he having 
passed the century miletsone by one year, two 
months and eighteen days. Seldom had he 
failed during the last thirty years of his life to 
go out to the wood pile and split or saw his 
daily allowance for family use. 

He was born January 23, 1798, in Middle- 
sex county, Conn. W'hen a small boy his 



parents moved to Chenango county, N. Y., 
where he grew to manhood. In 1 Si 8 he was 
married to Miss Clarrisa Campbell. To them 
were born ele\'en children — seven sons and 
four daughters; two of the sons died in infancy. 
In 1854, he came to Michigan with his family, 
and located in Byron township, where he had 
lived since that time in the same neighborhood 
with four of his sons. After seventy years of 
companionship, his wife died at the advanced 
age of ninety-four years, outliving her four 
daughters. 

Five sons are left to mourn the loss of their 
aged father, who, with one son-in-law, acted as 
pall-bearer, at his funeral. It was, indeed, a 
very impressive ceremony, as his white-haired 
children bore him to his last resting-place. Be- 
side his five sons, Mr. Winchester's descend- 
ants are twenty grandchildren, forty-four great- 
grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. 




i:V. JOSEPH G. WITHAM, of Oak- 
field township, Kent county, Mich., 
is a gentleman whose biography it is 
a pleasure to review, not only for the 
interesting features, but for the valuable les- 
sons conveyed to the succeeding generations. 
Although imbued early in life with the spirit 
of the Master, and feeling the responsibility 
he owed to others as well as that he owed to 
himself, he had reached middle life ere he 
entered fully upon his life work. Not only 
has a greater part of his own life been devoted 
to preaching the Gospel and leading souls to 
Christ, but, through his strong personality, 
healthy living, noble example and encourage- 
ment, three of his sons realized, with dis- 
tinctness, the work that needed the right hands 
and minds to do, and also became sanctified 
to the cause of the salvation of the souls of their 
fellow-men. He has tried for a third of a cent- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1085 



iiry to extend the teachings of the Bible; and 
now, that he has reached the allotted three- 
score and -ten, he can, with much satisfaction, 
look back over an earnest life directed as best 
he could with the conscioueness of having done 
some little good; and that life having been 
worth living, a welcome reception awaits him 
where honor is finally bestowed upon those 
"who have done it unto the least of these." 
He was born February 5, 183 1, in the prov- 
ince of Quebec, where his boyhood was passed, 
receiving but limited chances for schooling, 
but being compelled to secure such education 
as constant reading and home study gave to a 
mind naturally active and more excited by the 
conditions of the time and the surroundings in 
which he was placed. 

His father, Aaron Witham, was born in 
Maine, where he married Anna Clark, and 
soon afterward removed to Quebec. He and 
his brother, Levi, who was killed, served dur- 
ing the last war with Great Britian and was a 
participant at Lundy's Lane. 

In 1852 he came to Michigan and located 
land, on the strength of a soldier's warrant, in 
Wales, St. Clair county, where his life came 
to a peaceful close. 

James G. Witham accompanied his par- 
ents to Michigan, and chose to locate his 
farm in Sanillac co.unty, where, on the 9th of 
May, 1849, he was joined in matrimony to 
Elizabeth E. Spear. They were both young, 
and, being without means, found it necessary 
to give close and unbroken attention to the 
questions of temporal comfort and the needs 
of a young and growing family. Nearly twen- 
ty years were almost wholly devoted to the 
care of children and in making provisions for 
later years. He had, early in life made his 
peace with God, but as years went on and his 
understanding of the plan of salvation was 
made clearer to him by careful study, argu- 
ment and prayer, he finally listened to a still 



small voice that called and consecrated his 
life wholly to the Master's cause. Experience 
proved the prediction of friends that he had 
made no mistake, and he soon became regu- 
larly attached to the evangelical work within 
the lines of the Protestant Episcopal church. 
However, his mind, acting upon the reasoning 
incident to reading and observation, carried 
him into accord with the Free Methodist 
brethren, and for twenty years his name was 
widely known in Michigan as one of the most 
ardent and successful apostles of that faith. 
Latterly his work has been as a minister of the 
Wesleyan denomination, having affiliated with 
that conference while a resident of Ohio. 

Much of his ministerial life was spent in 
this section of the country. Hundreds of old 
friends, many of whom sought salvation under 
the stress of his oratory, reason and exhorta- 
tion, attest to his power as a preacher, his 
pleasing personality as a neighbor, and his 
steadfastness and influence as a friend. Fully 
alive to the importance of his mission, he en- 
tered with his whole soul into it, and now, 
that the last days of the nineteenth century 
are at hand, a review of past work brings a 
sense of duty well performed, giving to his de- 
clining years a satisfaction not attained by a 
life of purely secular employment. 

Some thirty years has he and his beloved 
wife resided in Oakfield, where they are sur- 
rounded with the comforts of life, and the 
years pass in pleasantness and peace. 

Of seven children born to them four are 
still living: Charles A., a farmer of Amherst, 
Dak.; Lucinda, wife of L. Livingston, a hotel 
proprietor at West Bay City; Levi, a popular 
Congregationalist minister of Ottawa county, 
and Albert, also a minister of Ohio City, Ohio, 
where he has for three years been pastor of 
the Church of God, and has been very earnest 
and successful in his work. He is an eloquent 
exhorter and revivalist, and has had as many 



1086 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



as loo conversions at a single course of re- 
vival meetings. He has erected a new church 
and parsonage and has made other improve- 
ments, and his wife has been a great help to 
him in pastoral and evangelical work, she 
also being a minister. A deceased son, 
Augustus, was pastor of the Free Methodist 
church at Orleans, Ionia county, Mich., where 
was highly esteemed by his congregation. His 
untimely death occurred when about thirty-five 
years of age. 




OHN WHEELER, a prosperous and 
energetic farmer of Grand Rapids 
township, was born in Holland on 
the first day of December, 1840. 
His father, Barnes Wheeler, is a representative 
of a family of thrift, industry and honest 
worth. He was born in Lonneker, Overisel, 
Holland, October 6, 1821. In 1855 he landed 
in New York-, and a year and a half later 
came to Grand Rapids township, Kent county, 
Mich., where for fifteen years he engaged in 
hauling plaster from the mills to the depot. 
He has for the last thirty years been located 
on his farm, which by industry and persistence 
he has been able to acquire, and is now owner 
of 160 acres. He has been carrying on fruit 
raising quite extensively, and at present is the 
owner of a peach orchard of about thirty 
acres. 

John Wheeler came to America with his 
parents when he was about fifteen years of 
age. At the time of the family's arrival they 
were extremely poor, and because of their 
limited means were unable to pursue their 
journe}' farther than Albany. In Albany he 
and his father found work, and it was three 
years after they came to New York before 
they were able to come to the west. Their 
first intention was to go to Iowa, but later 



decided to come to Grand Rapids. At their 
arrival they were in extreme poverty. After 
staying over Sunday at the Michigan house 
and paying their bill on Monday morning, 
the had but twelve cents left. 

During these times employment was exceed- 
ingly difficult to secure, and both the father 
and the son found work in the city sawing 
wood, with the old-fashioned buck-saw, and 
cleaning out-houses, etc. Many times they 
were out of employment and without sufficient 
food in the house. 

Thej' led such a life as this for some 
months, at the end of which time they secured 
work at the plaster mills, where they were en- 
gaged to help the man who was hauling plaster 
from the mills to the depot. After John had 
worked at this until he had earned $48, he 
found himself unable to collect his pay. He 
then bought the team with which he was 
working, applying the $48, and paid for it by 
hauling. In the meantime his father had se- 
cured work at the mills and a little later Mr. 
Hovey, the proprietor, assisted them by 
allowing them to buy a second team and pay 
for it in the same way. Then both engaged 
in the plaster business, at which they worked 
some twelve years, at the end of which time 
they had saved up money enough to invest in 
farm property. From this time they followed 
farming with unrelaxing efforts, and now, as a 
result of their perseverance and toil, they 
have become the owners of large and valuable 
property. 

Barnes Wheeler is the parent of four 
children: John; Carrie, wife of Garrett 
Schrouder, in Grand Rapids; Anna, Deena, 
and Jennie, all of whom are industrious, 
painstaking workers. They now reside at 
home, surrounded by the enjoyments of life, 
which first gazed on them with scorn, but 
>vhich now their industry, enterprise and busi- 
ness foresight have provided for them. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1087 



They now own a good and well-improved 
farm, and are doubtless the best general farm- 
ers in this part. of the county. Everything is 
carefully and scientifically executed. Father 
and son, as well as the girls, have worked dil- 
igently together and are deserving of some 
commendation. The mother, Jennie Ter- 
borg, died April 29, 1879, aged sixty-three 
3'ears and four months. All the family have 
been members of the Second Reformed church 
from its organization. 



^.wuin 



HARLES H. WHITNEY, the popular 
miller of K^ent City, and township 
clerk of Tyrone, is a gentleman who 
belongs to the better class of citizens 
of his township. He was born in Wayne 
county, Mich., on the 7th of December, 1848, 
the third child in a family of two sons and si.x 
daughters born to Martin L. and Caroline L. 
(Lowell) Whitney, of whom six children are 
living, viz: Maria C, widow of Bruce Dia- 
mond and a resident of the city of Grand Rap- 
ids; Mariette, wife of John L. Lewis, a farmer 
residing at Hepler, Kans. ; Mr. Whitney, of 
this memoir; George L. , married and residing 
in Detroit, and who was for a number of years 
a flour merchant and engaged in the feed busi- 
ness, also a traveling salesman for the well- 
known seed house of D. M. Ferry & Co. ; Ida 
J., wife of Milo E. Marsh, a resident of De- 
troit, and Lillie E., widow of Alonzo Winters 
and living at Whiting, Ind. 

The father of Charles H. Whitney is a na- 
tive of Saratoga county, N. Y., and was born 
May 30, 1822. He now resides in Kent City. 
The education he received was limited and he 
was early put to hard work. By trade he was 
a mechanic, but since Charles H. was three 
years of age he has spent his life as a sawyer 
and miller. He emigrated to Detroit, Mich., 



and thence to Northville, in the year 1844. 
From that place he came to Kent county in 
1850 and took upon himself the management 
of Burch's saw-mill, south of Cedar Springs. 
After a short time he entered into mercantile 
life at the same place and was post-master 
until 1 87 1, when he purchased eighty acres of 
land in Algoma township, where he lived until 
he took up his residence in Kent City. In his 
political views he upheld the principles of the 
republican party. 

The mother of Charles Whitney was born 
near the city of Auburn, N. Y., July 25, 
1824, and died August 5, 1869. She was a 
very religious woman and a devout Christian. 
In her youthful days she was a member of the 
Presbyterian church and in her declining years 
was much esteemed and respected in the Con- 
gregational church. 

Charles H. Whitney spent his early days 
in Wayne county until the age of fifteen years, 
and there received a common-school educa- 
tion. In 1863 he became a resident of Ann 
Arbor, Mich., and while there attended the 
union or ward schools, where he acquired a 
good practical education. He began life as a 
sawyer and merged into the trade of a miller. 
When he reached his majority he began work- 
ing by the day, as he had no financial means 
to aid him in the battle of life. He came 
with his father to Kent county, where he 
aided him in Burch's saw-mills, and in 1874 
located in Kent City when that place was a 
mere hamlet, there being only two houses 
north of the railroad. Here he became a 
partner in the saw-mill and lumber business 
with his father. In 1876 they began the erec- 
tion of the present plant, and in the follow- 
ing year rebuilt the mill entire and put in a 
full complement of steel rollers, four sets of 
double rollers, and a new thirty-five horse- 
power machine. The contract for furnishing 
the mill with machiner}' was made by the 



1088 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



well-known firm of Xordyke & Marmon, of 
Indianapolis. The working capacity of the 
mill is about forty barrels per day. At the 
present, Charles Whitney is the sole owner 
manager of the plant and grinds all kinds of 
grain and feed, paying the highest market 
prices. He is doing a prosperous business 
with his saw-mill, whic'h has a working capac- 
ity of 12,000 feet per day. 

Mr. Whitney has been twice married: 
First, May 29, 1871, to Miss Hattie Elliott, a 
native of Barry township, Orleans county, N. 
Y. This union has been blessed by the birth 
of si.\ children, two sons and four daughters, 
of whom four are yet living, viz: Charles H. , 
who is engineer of his father's mill, was 
educated in the commercial college at Grand 
Rapids, wedded Miss Ada Yeomans, and be- 
cause of modesty and refinement of habits is a 
credit to his parents; Alice E., wife of Willis 
Church, general agent for the McCormick 
reaper company, residing in Kent City, and 
father of one son and three daughters, viz: 
Otto R., Irene, Florence and Isetta; Claribelle 
is one of the bright and successful teachers of 
Tyrone township, having graduated in the 
Kent City schools with the class of 1897, and 
Vera A. is a member of the class of 1900 in 
the Kent City schools. 

Mrs. Whitney died on the 17th of Decem- 
ber, 1888, a kind and loving mother and a 
faithfu-1 wife. She had been born May 29, 
1849, and had ever been a faithful member of 
the Baptist church. 

Mr. \\'hitney ne.xt married Mrs. Alice 
VanNatta, a native of Ithaca, N. Y. Her 
early home was in sight of the famous Cornell 
university on the banks of Lake Cayuga. She 
was educated in the common schools, had been 
married to Otis VanNatta, to which union 
there had been born one daughter, Ada, a 
bright pupil in school, and is gifted with a tal- 
ent for music. 



Politically Mr. Whitney is a republican^ 
having cast his initiatory vote for U. S. Grant. 
Officially he has been justice of the peace in 
his township, and is at the present township 
clerk. Socially he is a member of the Ivent 
City I. O. O. F. lodge, No. 380. He and his 
wife are esteemed members of the Rebekah 
lodge. No. 272, at Kent City. They are both 
members of the Baptist church and Mr. Whit- 
ney has been chorister since the church was 
erected. For ten years he has been superin- 
tendent of the Sabbath-school, which has an 
attendance of seventy pupils. 

Besides his milling interests he has twenty 
acres of land near the village limits, the prod- 
uct of which, in 1898, was sixty bushels of 
oats to the acre and twenty-seven of wheat. 

He and his wife are prominent residents of 
Kent City and enjoy the esteem and praise of 
a ereat number of its inhabitants. 




ANEKY J. WHITTEN, the popu- 
lar and efficient supervisor of 
Grattan. and a native of the town- 
ship, was born November 6, 1857, 
and is the eldest of the three sons — born to 
John and Margaret (Johnson) Whitten. 

John Whitten was born in Lincolnshire, 
England, but was a little boy when brought 
to America by his parents, John and Lucy Whit- 
ten, who were ninfe weeks in crossing the At- 
lantic from Liverpool to New York, over half 
a century ago, as they arrived in Michigan just 
after the admission of the state into the Union. 

They purchased a tract of land in Grattan 
township, Kent county, from the government, 
and here their first habitation was a log cabin 
of the primitive order. Red men were roam- 
ing about at will, and game was still to be had 
for the shooting. There were only two or 
three stores and one hotel in Grand Rapids, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1089 



and at that post the W'hitten family did its 
trading, making the trip by ox-team over the 
worst possible roads. Mr. Whitten was a 
hard-working, industrious man, and at his 
death owned 220 acres of good land in Grat- 
tan township, much of which he himself im- 
proved. In politics he was an ardent demo- 
crat, and in religion he and wife were earnest 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church. 
His parents both died at the age of eighty- 
three 3'ears. 

Manley J. Whitten was educated in the 
common schools of Grattan township, and 
also took a short course in the Normal college 
at Valparaiso, Ind. He was reared in agricul- 
tural pursuits on his father's homestead, and 
farming his been his life vocation. At his 
majority, however, he did not have a ten- 
dollar bill, but had a pair of strong arms 
and a willing mind, as well as a determination 
to make his way through life, and this he cer- 
tainly has done. 

April 16, 1882, Mr. Whitten married Miss 
Myra Reid, and this union has been blessed 
with three children, born in the following or- 
der: Ray, Leon J. and Ethel E. Mrs. Myra 
Whitten, daughter of John and Lydia Ann 
(King) Reid, was born in Grattan, June 8, 
1859, and was educated in the common 
schools. She has proven to be a valuable 
helpinate to her husband, for, when they 
started together in life, they went in debt for 
forty acres af land, but by their united indus- 
try they have acquired i 30 acres, including the 
original Whitten homestead, well cultivated 
and improved, and do not owe a dollar — an 
example of well-directed energies that is 
worthy of imitation by the younger married 
people of the neighborhood. 

In politics Mr. Whitten is a democrat, and 
his first presidential vote was for Winfield S. 
Hancock, in 1880. Personally, he has served 
as delegate of his party to county, district and 



senatorial conventions on several occasions, 
and has always held the confidence of the local 
democracy. In 1897 he was elected super- 
visor of Grattan township, and was re-elected 
in 1898 and 1899 — a proof of the implicit con- 
fidence his people have in him and of his ca- 
pability. He has also been connected with the 
public schools of his district for almost fifteen 
years, and he and wife are both ardent friends 
of the system, believing that the best instruct- 
ors are the cheapest, even at the best salaries. . 
Fraternally, Mr. Whitten is a member of 
Grattan lodge. No. 196, F. & A. M., and he 
and wife are members of Venus chapter. Order 
of the Eastern Star, No. 107, and likewise of 
the Grattan grange. Socially they stand with 
the best residents of Grattan township, and 
most deservedly enjoy the esteem of all. 




AMES MORGAN WHITE, a well- 
known and enterprising citizen of 
Walker township, Kent county, Mich. , 
with post-office box No. 247, city of 
Grand Rapids, was born in Palmyra, N. Y., 
June 14, 1818, and is a son of Samuel and 
Lydia (Morgan) White. 

When James Morgan White was a boy of 
three years the familj' moved to Canada, 
where they remained until the spring of 1837, 
when they came to Grand Rapids, His father 
was in the milling and distilling business in 
Canada, and on coming here secured a tract 
of 300 acres of land northwest of the village, 
but resided in the then village of Grand Rapids. 
He made a large farm, grew stock to a large 
extent, and his last years were passed with his 
son, James M. He died at the age of eighty-six 
years and had settled his own large estate by 
will according to his own notion. He was an 
old Jacksonian democrat and was often found 
in the party councils and township offices. He 






1090 



'J-JIE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



had done a large business in Canada, and had 
built the village of Embro, making it an im- 
portant place from his industries. He took 
part in the Rebellion, or patroit war, was 
marked a member of one of the disturbing 
factions, and sacrificed largely his property to 
get away. He was here when Michigan be- 
came a state, and was one of the important 
men in and about Grand Rapids. His wife, 
Lydia, survived him two years. They had 
five sons and four daughters, viz: Milo, who 
had held many local offices in Walker town- 
ship, among others that of supervisor several 
terms, and who died in Newaygo county at 
sixty-five years of age; James M., the subject 
of this sketch; George, who died in the service 
in the war of the Rebellion; Charles, who had 
served as a Mexican soldier, and soon after 
died from disability occasioned by his 
army service; Samuel, who lives at Jackson 
Hole, Idaho, had added the old estate to Grand 
Rapids and made a little suburb of his own, 
and left Grand Rapids four years since. The 
daughters were Juliana, who married Joshua 
Fish, and died past sixty years of age; Mar- 
garet, married to Lemuel Reid, lived in 
Grattan, and died in Ionia; Sophronia mar- 
ried Rev. Daniel Bush, Methodist Episcopal 
minister, and died at about sixty years of age, 
and Clarissa, married to Jeremiah Morgan, 
died advanced in life. 

The last one of the White family to re- 
main in Kent county is James M., the subject, 
who bought his present land of the govern- 
ment and paid for it by working out at $12 per 
month. He settled on it as a young man, 
began to clear it, built a shanty about 1839, 
and has resided on it ever since, a period of 
sixty years. He has now 120 acres, of which 
he has cleared the greater part. The land 
was nearly all covered with pine, so he, in part- 
nership with his brother Milo, erected a saw- 
mill near by and for some years made large 



quanties of lumber, sawing about all the pine 
in this vicinity. There being also much oak, 
they likewise sold hubs, spokes, barrel-staves, 
etc. Knowing the country well, James would 
show new settlers the land, and made quite a 
bit in moving settlers; he also did a great deal 
of hunting, and killed thousands of deer. 
Knowing several young men without definite 
object, he about the close of the war con- 
ceived the idea of establishing a colony in 
Lake and Osceola counties, and he thus loca- 
ted several families who became prosperous 
farmers. In looking up these lands he lived 
out of doors for weeks, and had a grand time 
hunting. He also bought a farm there and 
had it improved, but did not move to it. For 
some years he conducted a cider and jelly mill, 
and in later years put out many peach trees. 

Mr. White is a democrat and has ever, 
taken an active interest in party work. He has 
held some township offices for years, among 
which are highway commissioner and over- 
seer of the poor, and has done much to im- 
prove the roads of the township. 

Mr. White was married at twenty-four 
years to Temperance Mudge, who died eight 
years ago, after fifty years of married life. 
Their children were named as follows: Charles 
W., who lives in Lake county, Mich., settled 
there by his father; Lydia, who is the wife of 
William Simmons, and lives at Hesperia, Ne- 
waygo county, Mich. ; Florence, wife of Will- 
iam Campbell and living in Newaygo county; 
Adelaide, married to Linneus Ellis, of Grand 
Rapids; James P.; Mary M., who married 
Francis Waite, and died at thirty-eight years 
of age, and Nellie, who was married to Clar- 
ence Waite, and died when thirty years old. 

James P. White, mentioned above, mar- 
ried Alice Blood, and their children are Car- 
rie, Howard, Edwin and Alice. He operates 
the farm, and J. M. White, his father, lives 
in the same home with him. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1091 




HARLES F. WHITWORTH, a 
steady-going, prosperous and great- 
ly respected farmer ot Courtland 
township, Kent county, Mich., is a 
native of the county and was born February 
26, 1852, a son of George and Maria (Gillatt) 
Whitworth, parents of seven sons and two 
daughters, of whom, however, three only now 
are living, to-wit: Herbert, a physician of 
Dodge City, Kans. ; Charles F., the subject of 
this memoir, and Alfred J., who by vocation 
is also a farmer and fruit-grower. The eldest 
born of the family, William G., enlisted at the 
opening of the Civil war, in company A, Sixth 
Michigan cavalry, was assigned to the 
army of the Potomac, was taken prisoner at the 
battle of the Wilderness, and for si.x months 
languished in the prison pen at Andersonville, 
where he died. 

George Whitworth was born in Notting- 
ham, England, about the year 181 1, and was 
there reared to manhood. For ten years he 
was in the service of Lord Manvers. He was 
married in his native land, where several of 
his children were born. About 1849 he and 
his family departed from Hull in a sailing ves- 
sel, and after a tempestuous voyage landed in 
Quebec, Canada, whence they came to Michi- 
gan and took up their residence on rented land 
near Greenville. Later he went to Walker 
township, Ivent county, where he became 
financially interested in the plaster beds of the 
locality, then in their infancy. In 1855 or 
1856, he purchased eighty acres of partially im- 
proved land in Algoma township. Remain- 
ing on that place a number of years, he sold 
and purchased another tract of eighty acres, 
which he improved. In 1861 sold that, and 
purchased 120 acres again in Algoma town- 
ship, on which he made all necessary improve- 
ments and a comfortable home. Of course, in 
those early days agriculture was conducted on 
a primitive plan with comparatively rude im- 



plements, but Mr. Whitworth was a man of 
wonderful endurance and vitality, and he con- 
quered or overcame every obstacle that barred 
his progress. 

In politics, Mr. Whitworth was first a whig, 
but on the disintegration of that party he affil- 
iated with the republicans, but he never had 
a desire for public office. While in England, 
he and wife were adherents of the established 
church, hut in their later years became at- 
tached to and were devoted members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. In this faith he 
died in January, 1871. He was noted for his 
kind and benevolent disposition and great char- 
ity to the poor, and died truly respected by all 
who knevv him. His wife was a native of the 
same shire with himself, was born about 
181 3, and died December 26, 1891. She was, 
like her husband, beloved for her broad charity 
and many other womanly excellencies. At 
the head of their mutual grave stands a beau- 
tiful stone, sacred to their memory, erected 
by their sons, Charles and Alfred. 

Charles F. Whitworth has passed all his 
life in Kent county, and his education, beyond 
what was obtained in the common schools, is 
self-acquired. He started on the race after 
fortune with little capital, save an inherent 
disposition to win, and a determination to do. 
The first serious responsibility he assumed, 
outside of securing a living for himself, was 
the taking to himself of a wife. February 
25, 1882, he married Miss Mary .'\. Meek, a 
native of Herefordshire, England. This union 
has been crowned with twochildren, viz: Wil- 
lie G. and Millie E. 

Mrs. Whitworth is a daughter of Charles 
W. and Sarah (Sparks) Meek, the former of 
whom died in England at the age of forty- 
eight years. Mrs. Whitworth, at the age of 
nine years, was brought to America by her 
mother and uncle, the latter of whom had been 
a resident of the United States for several 



1092 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



3'ears. They sailed Irom Liverpool and landed 
in New Yort:, the objective point of Mrs. Meek 
and her dauj^hter beinj^ Ontario, county, N. Y. 
They remained one year, and came to Kent 
county, Mich., where the mother passed her 
remaining years and died at the age of fifty- 
nine, greatly esteemed by all who knew her. 
Mrs. Whitworth received the greater part of 
her education in Ivent count\'; she is kind and 
affectionate, nature, and the neat appear- 
ance of her home indicates her to be a model 
housewife. She has four brothers, viz: Alfred 
and Charles, in Oregon; Benjamin, a carpen- 
ter and farmer, near Sparta, Mich., and James, 
a farmer of Plainfield township, Kent county. 

Mr. Whitworth is a stanch republican, cast 
his first presidential vote for Rutherford B. 
Hayes, and has been selected by his towns- 
people several times to represent them in 
party conventions, declining, however, all pub- 
lic office. Fraternally, he is a member of the 
Court of Honor at Rockford. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Whitworth commenced 
liousekeeping they were practically without cap, 
ital. The\' now own eighty acres of as good 
land as tfiere is in the township, improved with 
a neat and tasteful dwelling and substantial 
out-buildings. Mr. Whitworth is interested 
in fruit culture, several acres being devoted to 
peaches, plums and apples, all in excellent 
condition. Mr. and Mrs. ^^'hitworth are as 
highly respected as any couple in the county, 
and their straightforward, uniform and moral 
course in life well entitles them to all the con- 
sideration paid them. 



FORCE WHITTEN, the faithful and 
efficient township treasurer of Grat- 
tan, needs no introduction to the in- 
habitants of the section. He has 
been a SLiccessful agriculturist, and also one of 



the prosperous merchants of Grattan Center. 
Born on the old Whitten homestead in 
Grattan, May 5, 1866, he is the youngest of 
the three sons born to John and Margaret 
(Johnson) Whitten. 

Mr. Whitten remained with his parents 
until twenty-three years of age. He received 
a good practical education in the union school 
at Grattan Center. At twenty-three he aban- 
doned agricultural pursuits, in which, up to 
that time, he had been engaged, formed a 
partnership with E. L. Brooks and purchased 
the store of C. Eddj' in the spring of 1879. 
For three years and a half the)" carried on 
business as general merchants, and at the 
termination of that time Mr. Brooks sold out 
his interest to Mr. Whitten, who then con- 
solidated with Ernest E. Lessiter, and in 1897 
sold out to the latter, who is still continuing 
in the business. 

After the disposal of liis interest in the 
store, Mr. Whitten purchased a sixty-five-acre 
farm near by, and has since led the life of an 
agriculturist, tliough living in the village. On 
September 4, 1894, he married Minnie Les- 
siter, who has become the mother of two chil- 
dren, Lester J. and Carroll D. Mrs. Whitten is 
a d,aughter of Henry and M. A. (Weeks) Les- 
siter, a prominent pioneer family of Grattan, 
whose full genealogy is presented in the sketch 
of Mrs. M. A. Lessiter. She was born Decem- 
ber 15, 1 87 1, was educated in the Grattan 
public schools and was a successful teacher 
for two years. 

Mr. Whitten is a firm advocate of democ- 
racy. He was first elected township treasurer 
in 1893 and was re-elected in 1894, and again 
in 1899, showing the trust and confidence the 
people placed in him. 

Mrs. Whitten was a charter member of 
Venus chapter. Order of the Eastern Star, 
and has taken an active part in its proceed- 
ings, being the present treasurer. 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1093 




OHN C. WOLVERTON, a prosperous 
•farmer of Spencer township, Kent 
county, Mich., and a gallant ex-sol- 
dier of the Civil war, was born in 
Cayuga county, N. Y. , February 24, 1840, 
and is the fourth of five children — three sons 
and two daughters — born to John and Betsey 
(Beebe) \\'olverton, of whom there are now 
two survivors only, the subject of this sketch 
and his brother, Luther, a farmer of Mont- 
calm county, Mich. 

John Wolverton, the father, was also born 
in New York, was a carpenter and joiner by 
trade, and was also a farmer in New York, 
but died in Montcalm county, Mich., and his 
wife in Ionia county. 

John C. Wolverton was a lad of eight 
j'ears when brought to Michigan by his par- 
ents, who settled on a tract of 120 acres four 
miles northwest of Greenville, in Montcalm 
county, on which not a sign of improvement 
was visible. The house in which he grew to 
manhood was a small frame shanty, and near 
by was a large Indian reservation for the 
Blacksmith tribe, on which a great many red- 
skins were concentrated. Throughout the 
surrounding forest, deer and other game, as 
well as wild animals of a more savage nature, 
roamed in comparative freedom. Young John 
C, in order to render the farm tillable and 
profitable, early lent his }'outhful endeavors to 
the clearing away of the superfluous trees and 
grubbing the stumps, and in breaking the 
ground with a three-yoke ox-team, and, as he 
was but thirteen years of age when his father 
died, this duty devolved upon him with more 
urgent imperativeness. His opportunities for 
securing an education under such circum- 
stances were of course limited, and his knowl- 
edge of books has been gained at intervals 
without the assistance of tutors. 

Shortly after the black fla^o; of Rebellion 
had been raised by the south and the clamor 



of war heard throughout the land and devas- 
tation rife on free soil, Mr. Wolverton, in his 
patriotic love of the Union, enlisted in com- 
pany F, Twenty-first Michigan volunteer in- 
fantry, August 7, 1862, at Greenville, and 
with Capt. Croll rendezvoused at Ionia, where 
the regiment was assigned to the armj- of the 
Cumberland, and immediately reported for 
duty at Covington, K\-. 

He was in the action at Crab Apple Or- 
chard, Ky., where his regiment suffered severely. 
The next was at Bowling Green, Ky., where 
he was disabled and left for three months, at 
the end of which time he rejoined his regi- 
ment at Murfreesboro, Tenn. From that 
time he was. chiefly engaged in the ordinary 
routine of a soldier's life, doing picket duty, 
skirmishing very seriously on many occasions, 
and in making frequent forced marches, until 
the bloody battle of Chickamauga, in which 
he was well at the front, his left-hand comrade 
being shot in the head. 

At Chattanooga, Mr. Wolverton was de- 
tailed to construct a pontoon bridge across the 
Tennessee river, preparatory to the great 
fight at Lookout Mountain, and during this 
work with the engineers and mechanics' corps 
he was under cc^nstant fire from the guns of 
the enemy for over thirty minutes. At Mis- 
sionary Ridge he took an active part, was on 
the Atlanta campaign, followed the gallant 
Sherman in his march to the sea from Atlanta 
to Savannah, and took part in the grand 
review at Washington, D. C. , in May, 1865. 
At Washington, Mr. Wolverton was honora- 
bly discharged from the service, June 8, 1865, 
and received his pay at Detroit, Mich., whence 
he returned to his old homestead and resumed 
his farm life. 

February 10, 1867, Mr. Wolverton mar 
ried Miss Julia Fellows, who was born Janu- 
ary 16, 1846, in Rochester, N. Y. , and is a 
daughter of Lucius and Sarah (Hanchett) Fel- 



1094 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



lows, of Puritan stock, and the parents of four 
sons and three daughters, of whom four are 
still living; the mother also survives and is a 
resident of Blanchard, Isabella county, Mich. 
Mrs. Wolverton graduated froui the Lima, 
(N. Y.) high school, came to Michigan when 
twenty years old and afterward became a suc- 
cessful teacher in Oakfield and Spencer town- 
ships, Kent county. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Wolverton began 
housekeeping in Spencer township, in 1S67, 
their farm was still a wild place, with only 
sixteen acres cleared, but, by their industry 
and excellent management, it has been devel- 
oped into one of the best in the township, 
their eighty-three acres being a garden spot 
wrought out from the wilderness. 

In politics Mr. Wolverton is a republican, 
cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln, and 
has been elected highway commissioner twice 
in succession. The upright life of Mr. and 
Mrs. Wolverton, and their kindly disposition, 
have won for them the sincere respect of all 
their neighbors, and their liberal contributions 
to the support of both church and schools 
ha\e been well appreciated by the community 
in which they have passed so many years of 
their useful life. 




>.\ R. WOOD, who ranks promi- 
nently among the agriculturists of 
Orattan, Kent county, Mich., was 
born in Kent county, July 28, 1857, 
and is the second of two sons born to George 
D. and Anna H. (Rogers) Wood. 

George D. Wood is a native of Delaware 
county, Ohio, was born in the year 1830, and 
is a son of Emmons Wood, who was born in 
New Hampshire in 1806, a son of Eli H. 
Wood, a native of Massachusetts'. 

Emmons Wood from New Hampshire 



went to New York city, where he married 
Martha B. White, of Holland descent. Her 
father was one of the most prominent of the 
Anneke Jans heirs, who some years ago took 
decisive steps to recover the immense estate 
from the present occupants, among whom is 
the Trinity church congregation of New York 
city. Soon after his marriage, Emmons 
Wood took his departure for the Indian res- 
ervation in Delaware county, Ohio, of which 
he was a pioneer, whence he came, in 1837, 
to Michigan, and located in Calhoun county. 
In 1843 he entered a tract of land in Grattan 
township, Kent county, and in 1847 came 
here to reside upon it. 

George D. Wood entered Olivet college, 
Michigan, at the age of sixteen 3'ears, but was 
early compelled to relinquish his studies to 
assume charge of the home estate, his father 
having become incapacitated for business. 
In 1854 he married Martha, daughter of Asa. 
and Mary Rogers and a native of Canada. 
Asa Rogers was a patriot of the Canadian re- 
bellion, so called, and m consequence lost all 
his property in confiscation. Mrs. Martha 
Wood died one year after marriage, leaving 
one son, William H., who is now a resident 
of South Dakota. In 1856, Mr. Wood mar- 
ried Anna H. Rogers, and to this union have 
been born two children — Asa R. and George E. 

George D. Wood was a gallant soldier of 
the Civil war, ser\ed in company F, Second 
Michigan cavalry, and at the close of three 
years was honorably discharged as orderly- 
sergeant. 

In his political predilections George D. 
Wood is a stanch republican, has served as su- 
pervisor and in other town offices, but prior 
to the formation of that party was a follower 
of the whigs. Mrs. Anna H. Wood died 
in 1 89 1, and George D., now resides at Clare- 
mont, S. Dak. 

Asa R. Wood has passed his life in Ivent 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1095 



county, where he was educated and learned 
the honorable vocation of a tiller of the soil. 
On December 5, 1S83, he was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Alice Stocking, who has become 
the mother of four children, namely: Lloyd 
E. , Rena E., Mabel L., and Harold V., all of 
whom are attending school. 

Mrs. Wood was born in Grattan, August 
15, 1862, and is a daughter of Merritt and 
Lucy (Howard) Stocking. Educated in the 
Grattan schools, she became engaged for about 
six years as a teacher. Mr. and Mrs. Wood 
began married life in debt on a small estate, 
and have since added to it, until it now 
contains 100 acres, and have made numer- 
ous improvements on it, conspicuous among 
which is a beautiful modern dwelling erected 
in 1891. In connection with general farming 
he has been e.xtensively engaged in drying 
apples. He operates an evaporator and con- 
sumes some 6,000 bushels of apples per year. 
Aside from his prosperous business in Grattan, 
he is in partnership with another gentleman, 
Hilton J. Watkins, with whom he is success- 
fully engaged, in a like occupation, in Al- 
pine township. 

Mr. Wood is a republican in politics and 
has been selected delegate to county conven- 
tions, showing his popularity among the town- 
'ship's inhabitants. Socially he is a member of 
Grattan lodge, No. 196, F. & A. M., and he 
and wife of Venus chapter, Order of the East- 
ern Star, No. 107, and of the Grattan grange. 
No. 170. 




EORGE M. WOOD.— Many years of 
hard, earnest endeavor in pursuing 
the occupation to which he now 
gives his attention, coupled with 
strict integrity, honesty of purpose and lib- 
erality in all directions, have resulted in plac- 
ing Mr. Wood among the truly respected and 
59 



honored citizens of his section. He has turned 
his powers into the channel of an honorable 
purpose, and as a natural result has ac- 
comf)lished the object of his endeavor. 

Mr. Wood is a native of the city of Detroit 
and was born July 27, 1844, being the young- 
est of four children born to Oscar F. and 
Matilda (Pierce) Wood. Beside George M. 
there is but one other now living, viz: Martha, 
the wife of George H. McMullen, a druggist 
and pharmacist of Ionia, Mich. 

Oscar F. Wood was a native of Vermont, 
born near the town of Vergennes November 
25, 1803, and died of cholera in Detroit on 
the 26th of July, 1854. His parents were till- 
ers of the soil, and he early learned the trade 
of a ship-carpenter. He emigrated to Java, 
western New York, worked at his trade some 
years, and next at Sandusky, Ohio. He then 
came to Detroit, Mich., in 1842, and there he 
remained until his death. Politically he was 
a democrat, and socially was a member of the 
Odd Fellows fraternity. His wife, to whom 
he was married in Vermont, was born January 
4, 1803. She died at Oakfield, Mich., August 
I, 1 89 1, at the age of eighty-seven years. 

George M. Wood resided in Detroit until 
his majority. He received a good practical 
education through private instruction until the 
age of twelve years. He then served an ap- 
prenticeship at the trade of a machinist, work- 
ing for a time in Detroit, and in 1865 came to 
Ionia to pursue his vocation. On January 14, 
1875. he married Miss Elizabeth S. Miner, 
who has borne him four children, viz: George, 
a. graduate of the Greenville high school in 
the class of 1898. Intending to make law his 
profession, he is now a student of Kalamazoo 
college preparatory to a course in the univer- 
sity of Chicago and the law school at Ann 
Arbor, Mich. ; Marion, whose untimely death 
at the age of twenty-four years cast a shadow 
of grief, not only over the Wood home, but 



1096 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



over the entire community. Hers was one of 
those charming personalities that, no matter 
what the occasion, seemed to reflect a spirit of 
youth and sunshine that had its effect upon 
all. Ever joyous and smiling, sorrow could 
not live in her presence. A countenance al- 
ways beaming with good-natured mirth be- 
tokened the purity of soul within. It was all 
life within her sphere, and even when the 
touch of the All Powerful was laid upon this 
child of light, the spirit seemed to continue 
buoyant and met its fate without a word of 
complaint. Hundreds of warm friends attest 
her worth and deeply mourn her loss. Lindsay 
A., the third child, is assisting his father on 
the farm, and Verne is the youngest. 

Mrs. Wood was born in Vernon, Shiawas- 
see couhty, Mich., March 1 1, 1850, one of two 
children born to Simon B. and Eliza H. (Mil- 
ler) Miner, the other child being a son, Sam- 
uel, residing in San Francisco, Cal. Her fa- 
ther was a native of New York, born in 1829, 
and died at San Francisco in 1886. He came 
to the state of Michigan at an early date and 
engaged in the vocation of a farmer, but 
joined a large company going to the gold mines 
in California. The mother, now living with 
Mrs. Wood, was born in New York in the 
same year as her husband. Mrs. Wood was 
educated in the Corunna high school, and at 
fourteen began to teach, and continued to 
teach in country and graded schools until her 
marriage. 

Shortly after his marriage Mr. Wood se- 
cured a farm of 130 acres near Ionia, and 
turned his attention to agriculture. He soon 
traded this tract for eighty acres of fine land 
in Oakfield which was soon after replaced by 
the present farm. In 1887 he resumed his 
trade in Grand Rapids for three j'ears, and 
then returned to the farm and has since, with 
brief intervals at his trade, given his attention 
to its operation. 



Mr. and Mrs. Wood are members of the 
Second Baptist church of Oakfield. He is 
superintendent of and she a teacher in the 
Union chapel Sunday-school. 




ILLIAM F. WOODWORTH, a 
well-known stock raiser and agri- 
culturist of Courtland township, 
Kent county, Mich., was born in the 
town of Ovid, Seneca county, N. Y., May 8, 
1852, and is the fifth of the family of seven 
children — five sons and two daughters — born 
to Erastus and Mary A. (Lynch) Woodvvorth, 
and of which seven there are five still living, 
viz: Thomas, a farmer of Seneca county, N. 
Y. ; Peter Covert, of the saine place, sim- 
ilarly engaged; William F., whose name 
opens this notice; Mary E., likewise a resident 
of Seneca county, N. Y. , and Ida S., wife of 
Clarence Smith, a capitalist and agriculturist of 
Sparta, Mich. These children were all well 
educated at the union school in their native 
county and duly prepared for the activities of 
life. The deceased brothers of Mr. Wood- 
worth were both soldiers in the Civil war. 
Thomas M. enlisted in company C, One Hun- 
dred and Twenty-sixth New York volunteer 
infantr}', in July, 1862, and served until July, 
1865. His regiment was assigned to the army 
of the Potomac. He was severely wounded 
in the left arm at the great battle of Gettys- 
burg July 3, 1863. Alanson W. enlisted in 
April, 1864, in the Seventy-fifth New York 
cavalry, and died in the hospital at Fortress 
Monroe, September 8, following. 

Erastus Woodvvorth, the father of this 
family, was also a native of New York, and 
was born May 9, 1813. He was a farmer by 
vocation and more than ordinarily well edu- 
cated. Politically he was a warm democrat 
and a great admirer of Stephen A. Douglas, 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



109( 



but was never an office-seeker. Possessed of 
great energy and determination of purpose, 
he made a success in life, and died, greatl}' re- 
spected, September 8, 1862, in the faith of the 
Methodist Episcopal church. His wife, who 
was born in Seneca county, October 20, 18 16, 
still survives, with faculties unimpaired, and is 
passing her declining years on the old home- 
stead. She had, in early life, been a school- 
teacher and was the compeer of her husband 
in intellectuality.. Her father, Samuel Lynch, 
was born in Orange county, N. Y. , removed 
to Seneca county in 1805, and served in the 
war of 1812. He was son of David Lynch, a 
a Revolutionary soldier. 

William F. Woodworth was reared to ag- 
ricultural pursuits on his father's homestead, 
and on November 21, 1877, was united in 
marriage with Miss Estella Meeker. This 
union has been crowned by the birth of five 
children, viz: Lewis M., a graduate of the 
Cedar Springs high school, and now assisting 
his father in live-stock raising and farming, 
being an especial admirer of good cattle and 
fine horses; Clara E. was also educated at 
Cedar Springs high school, has been well in- 
structed in instrumental music, and for the 
past two years has been a trusted employee in 
the office of the register of deeds at Grand 
Rapids, in which city she is also a member of 
the Order of the Eastern Star; F. LeRoy is 
attending school and is making rapid progress 
in his studies; Howard C. is at home, and 
Ivy E., the youngest daughter, is the sun- 
beam of the family. 

Mrs. Estella (Meeker) Woodworth was 
born in Lodi, Seneca county, N. Y. , Decem- 
ber 13, 1857, a daughter of Lewis M. and 
Mary E. (Smelzer) Meeker, both born in the 
same county. The father, who was an agri- 
culturist, died December 12, 1861, at the 
early age of thirty years, and the mother died 
August 8, 1863, at about the same age. They 



left, to mourn their loss, three children, viz: 
Charles E., who received a high-school educa- 
tion, is now general agent at Albany, N. Y., 
for the D. M. Osborne company, with si.xteen 
employees under him, is married, and is a 
member of the Masonic fraternity and in poli- 
tics is a republican; Mrs. Woodworth is the 
next in order of birth; Lewis M., also a high- 
school graduate, is married and is an em- 
ployee of a large monument manufacturing 
concern at Geneva, N. Y. ; he is likewise a 
republican in politics, and is a member of the 
Royal Arcanum. Mrs. Woodworth is also 
highly educated, has been well-trained in in- 
strumentaJ music, is a lady of great affability 
and pleasing address, and is a sincere Chris- 
tian, being a member of the Ladies' Aid so- 
ciety of the Methodist church at Courtland 
Center. 

In May, 1881, Mr. and Mrs. Woodworth 
came from New York to Michigan and pur- 
chased 100 acres of partially improved land in 
Courtland township, Kent county; but this 
farm he has since improved so that it com- 
pares favorably with any in the township. 
He gives especial attention to sheep raising, 
Shropshire being his favorite. In 1891 he 
entered extensively into fruit growing and has 
at present about 3,500 trees in the most flour- 
ishing condition, the leading varieties in 
peaches being Early Michigan, Lewis Barn- 
ard, Engel's Mammoth, Albertas, Chair's 
Choice, Barber, Gold Drop and Lemon Free. 
In 1898 he sold about 1,000 bushels of plums. 
In the raising of potatoes he has been quite 
successful, having sold in 1892 5,000 bushels 
at fifty cents per bushel, and in 1896 about 
the same quantity. 

In politics Mr. Woodworth is an ardent 
republican, and cast his first presidential vote 
for Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876. He served 
his township as supervisor in 1887 and in 
1888, and again in 1891 and 1892, and for 



1098 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



five years has served as school director, as he 
takes great interest in pubHc education. He 
is a member of Cedar Springs lodge, No. 213, 
F. & A. M., also of the Royal Arcanum, and 
he and wife, with their daughter, Clara, are 
consistent members of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church, in the Sunday-school of which Mr. 
and Mrs. Woodworth have both been teach- 
ers. It may be safely said that no family in 
the township is more highly esteemed, and 
they are well deserving of the general respect 
in which they are held. 



DMUND C. WOODWORTH, ex-su- 
pervisor of Solon township and a 
prosperous farmer of Kent county, 
Mich., is a native of Seneca county, 
N. Y., was born November 3, 1849, the eldest 
of the family of four sons and two daughters 
that blessed the marriage of Nestor and Phebe 
(King) Woodworth, of which children five are 
still living, viz: Edmund C, whose name opens 
this paragraph; Irving, sheriff of Kent county 
and a resident of Grand Rapids; Mary, who 
was a teacher for a number of years in the 
Empire state and now resides with her brother, 
Iriving; Harriet, wife of James A. Clapp, a 
music teacher and dealer in musical instru- 
ments in New York, and George, a meat 
packer of Kankakee, 111. 

Nestor Woodworth, also a native of Seneca 
county, N. Y. , was born December 13, 1822, 
was liberally educated, and was reared a farm- 
er and stockraiser. In politics he was first a 
whig and later a republican, was honored with 
several offices of trust, and once was the can- 
didate of his party for the state legislature. 
In 1879 he came to Michigan, located in Plain- 
field township, Kent county, and here followed 
farming until his death, September 9, 1893, 
His wife, also a native of Seneca county, N. 



Y. , was born October 30, 1826, and died in 
her native county August 21, 1863, a devout 
member of the Baptist church. His second 
wife, who survives him, was Susan Durand, 
also of Seneca county. 

Edmund C. Woodworth received a solid 
common school and academic education, 
which was supplemented by an attendance for 
one year at the university at Alfred, Allegany 
county, N. Y. , and was reared to the pursuit 
of agriculture. March 19, 1873, he married 
Miss Ada Cole, a native of New York, of the 
same neighborhood as himself, and born July 
14, 1851, a daughter of Eli and Harriet (Hor- 
ton) Cole, the former of whom was born in 
Dutchess county, N. Y. , and the latter in 
Connecticut. To the marriage of Mr. and 
Mrs. Woodworth have been been born eight 
children, in the following order: Chester N., 
who graduated from the high school m Cedar 
Springs, Mich., and is now a practical phar- 
macist with Peck Bros., at Grand Rapids; 
Edna, who graduated from the same school 
in 1894, and for si.\ terms was a successful 
teacher in Solon township; Harvey and Irving, 
twins; Leon, Mabel, Lida and Hubert, all but 
Chester being at home and Mabel and Lida 
being students of the high school. For the 
first si.x years after marriage Mr. Woodworth 
rented a farm in New York, and then came to 
Nelson township, Kent county, Mich., where 
for three years he operated rented land. In 
1883 he purchased seventy acres in Solon 
township, going in debt largely for the cost, 
but he was skillful, industrious and frugal, 
paid off his debt, and made all necessary im- 
provements on his place, after which he added 
eighty-seven acres to his first purchase, having 
now as compact and well cultivated a farm as 
there is the township. 

In politics Mr. Woodworth is a stanch re- 
publican and cast his first presidential vote for 
Ulysses S. Grant. He has frequently been 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1099 



chosen by his party to represent it in the coun- 
ty conventions, and in 1888 was elected from 
his townsnip as supervisor, an office he held for 
nine consecutive years, and during his terms 
the new court house, jail and county house 
were begun and finished. He has always been 
an ardent friend of the common-school system, 
and believes in employing the best teachers 
that money can hire. 

Fraternally, Mr. Woodworth is a member 
of Cedar Springs tent. No. 476, K. O. T. M. ; 
Cedar Springs lodge. No. 213, F. & A. M., of 
which he is worshipful master; and Cedar 
Springs court. No. 1536, of the Foresters. 
Both Mr. Woodworth and wife are also mem- 
bers of Cedar Springs chapter of the Order of 
the Eastern Star, he being the worthy patron, 
and she is also connected with the lodge work. 
He and wife are devoted members of the Bap- 
tist church, which they liberally aid financially. 
The family are held in the highest esteem by 
their neighbors, and Mr. and Mrs. Woodworth 
are greatly appreciated for their personal 
merits. 




EORGE WYKES, proprietor of a 
handsome tract of eighty acres of 
land at South Grand Rapids, Wy- 
oming township, I\ent county, Mich., 
was born in Sheffield, Lorain county, Ohio, 
June iS, 1845, and is a son of James and 
Mary (Baker) Wykes, natives of England. The 
father came to America about the year 1842, 
and thirty years ago came to Paris, Kent 
county, Mich., and settled in Paris township, 
where he passed the remainder of his life, dy- 
ing in March, 1895, aged seventy-eight years. 
His wife is still living in Paris township at the 
age of eighty-three years. To these parents 
were born si.\ children, of whom the following 
four are still living: Arthur B., of Grand 



Rapids; William and Richard, of Paris town- 
ship, and George, the subject of this sketch. 
James, the youngest brother of Mr. Wykes, 
died ten years ago and three years later his 
wife also passed away. Sadie Pearl, their 
only child, and now thirteen years of age, has 
been a member of Mr. Wykes' family since 
her mother's death. 

George Wykes received a good common- 
school education in boyhood and worked on 
the home farm in Ohio until twenty years of 
age, when he came to Michigan. He then 
learned the carpenter's trade at Grand Rapids, 
and, being very handy with tools, could turn 
his hand readily to anything in the shape of 
woodwork. Later, for about six years he acted 
as a bookkeeper, and then seeing an oppor- 
tunity for making money, he engaged in the 
wholesale butchering and meat business at 
Grand Rapids, and is still engaged in this 
to some extent, but not to that degree as for- 
merly, when he supplied nearly all the dealers 
in the towns and villages roundaboutwith their 
meats, as well as shipped east extensively. He 
came to Wyoming township about iSgoand 
purchased his present tract of eighty acres, 
which he has platted into building lots, but 
has a wide stretch on each side of his dwell- 
ing which he has left unplatted. A few years 
ago he was offered $3,000 for fifteen acres of 
this tract, but refused to sell less than the 
whole. He had, however, a small tract of ten 
acres, near Burton avenue, which he sold for 
$11,000. Mr. Wykes has always been an 
active and alert business man, and by his tact 
and sound judgment has realized a handsome 
competence. He has improved considerable 
property in South Grand Rapids, and in many 
ways was identified with the city's growth. 
January 12, 187 [, Mr. Wykes married Miss 
Mary F. Furner, and to their union have been 
born three children, viz: George, engaged in 
the butcher trade with his father; Roger I. an 



1100 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



attorney, is assistant to Attorney-general May- 
nard at Lansing. He read law with Mr. May- 
nard and later took a course at the university 
of Michigan law school, but was admitted to 
the bar while connected with Mr. Maynard's 
office, and was the first attorney to be ad- 
mitted under the law requiring examinations 
before judges of the supreme court. Edmund 
is in the United States mail service. The 
family attend the church of the United Breth- 
ren in Christ, of which he has served as trus- 
tee ever since its organization. In politics 
Mr. Wykes is a stanch republican, and for 
years has served on the party committees and 
as delegate to conventions, etc. He has been 
school inspector for years, has served on the 
South Grand Rapids high school board for 
seventeen years, and was chairman all this 
time except one year. This is a very popular 
school, with four teachers, and pupils attend 
from outside — even from other counties. Mr. 
.Wykes is a great lover of the gun and dog, 
as well as the rod and line. 




ILLIS YOUNG, one of the more 
prominent farmers of Cannon 
township, Kent county, Mich., 
and a descendant of one of the 
pioneer families of the county and town- 
ship, is native here, was born April 3, 1S58, 
and still resides on the old homestead pur- 
chased by his father from the United States 
government, but which now figures as only 
about one-fifth of his present estate. He is the 
second son born to William C. and Maria J. 
(Arnott) Young, his elder brother, David, who 
owned the old home, having died in 1894, a^^d 
of the four children, in all, born to these par- 
ents, the subject was the youngest and is the 
only survivor. On sister, Lida, was buried on 
her fourth birthday. 



William C. Young, father of subject, was 
born in Little Britain, Orange county, N. Y., 
September i, 1821, and was all his life an ag- 
riculturist. He came from the Empire state 
to Michigan in June, 1844, and settled in the 
then wilderness of Kent county, long before 
the Indians had been expelled from the terri- 
tory. He purchased 160 acres of government 
land, worth $1.25 per acre, but paid for it in 
state scrip, which he had secured at a discount, 
and thus the actual cost to him, for this tract, 
was but seventy-five cents per acre. The land 
was heavily timbered, and this forest was the 
abode of bears, deer, and innumerable other 
kinds of animals and members of the feathered 
tribe. His first habitation was a log shanty, 
with an earthen floor, and his second home 
was also a log cabin, but of a better class, 
and in this was born Willis Young, the 
subject of this biography. The nearest neigh- 
bors lived at a distance of two miles away, and 
Grand Rapids was then a mere trading-post. 
Although Mr. Young's means were quite lim- 
ited when he reached Kent county, he had 
sufficient to start with in the wilderness, and 
by dint of perseverance and untiring industry, 
he succeeded in acquiring 375 acres of good 
land, all in one body, in Cannon township. 
When he began here, farming implements 
were of a primitive make or pattern, the 
four-fingered cradle and the old-fashioned 
scythe being used for cutting grain and grass, 
and the threshing of the former was done by 
hand, with a flail. Clearing away the forest 
was a most difficult task, but in course of 
time this task was accomplished. 

Mr. Young was a gentleman of sterling 
worth, who commanded the respect of all who 
knew him. He was not at all ostentatious, 
but was very methodical and his judgment was 
almost infallible. Politically he was first a 
whig and served his township as highway com- 
missioner and supervisor, but at the birth of 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1101 



the republican party espoused its principles. 
Fraternally he was a member of the Masonic 
lodge at Grattan, and of Lovell Moore 
chapter, No. 88, R. A.M., at Rockford, and at 
his death, which occurred September 13, 
1882, at the age of si.\ty-one years, resolutions 
of respect and condolence were drawn by this 
ancient body and placed on the records of 
the lodge, a copy being furnished the family. 
The mortal remains of Mr. Young were in- 
terred in Bostwick Lake cemetery, where a 
beautiful Ouincy granite monument has been 
erected to his memory by his (then) sorrowing 
widow and dutiful children — Mrs. Young hav- 
ing since passed away. 

Mrs. Maria J. Young, also, a native of 
Orange county, N. Y., was born in 1827, and 
died in September, 1891. She was a lady of 
many Christian graces and the poor always 
found in her a sympathizing friend. She died, 
as did her husband, in the faith of the Con- 
gregational church, and her earthly remains 
now repose beside those of her beloved life- 
companion. 

Willis Young, the subject proper of this 
biograph}', passed his childhood days on the 
home farm in the wilderness, and still remem- 
bers something of the wild animals that 
abounded when he was a child — more espe- 
cially two large bears that were killed in the 
vicinity, and an old she-bear and two cubs 
that were roaming through the woods with 
entire indifference as to surroundings. The 
education of Mr. Young was acquired primarily 
in the common schools, and in 1875, 1877 and 
1879, he attended the State Normal school at 
Ypsilanti. His education was of the most 
practical character, as it was his desire to be- 
come an agriculturist and stockraiser, and to 
follow in the footsteps of his honored father. 
He still has in his possession the original deed 
for the 160 acres of land entered by his father 
from the government, which deed is signed by 



James K. Polk, then president of the United 
States. This farm lies just south of the 
beautiful Silver lake, a most picturesque body 
of water, nearly circular in form, and averag- 
ing about three-quarters of a mile in width and 
breadth. It is a curious fact, however, that 
may here be mentioned, en passant, that many 
of the pretty little lakes in Michigan are percept- 
ibly diminishing. On this now delightful farrn, 
which Mr. Young in his early manhood assisted 
in clearing, and which he has increased to about 
700 acres, he has devoted much attention to 
the raising of live stock, making a specialty of 
short-horn Durham cattle, as well as sheep, 
and in this industry he has met with a 
phenomenal success. 

Willis Young was most happily joined in 
marriage, March 18, 1883, with Miss Flora 
E. Jones, and this union has been blessed 
with three bright and interesting children, 
viz: Ida M., W. Crawford and Carl D. 

Mrs. Flora E. Young, the wife of Willis 
Young, was born in Cannon township, Kent 
county, January 14, 1859, and is a daughter 
of Leonard and Lucinda (Bishop) Jones, well- 
known and highly respected residents of the 
township and classed among the pioneers — a 
classification that invariably conmiands the 
esteem of the present generation. The father, 
Leonard Jones, was born in Jefferson county, 
N. Y. , December 14, 1820. He was taught 
the cabinetmaker's trade, but on coming to 
Michigan, in 1845, engaged in agricultural 
pursuits, since when his trade has been a 
minor consideration. In politics he is a re- 
publican. Mrs. Lucinda Jones, mother of 
Mrs. Young, was also a native of Jefferson 
county, N. Y., was born July 14, 1824. and 
died February 14, 1897. The five children 
born to this worthy couple were named, in 
order of birth, Charles, who is a merchant, 
and resides in Mason county; William, who 
is also a merchant, resides in Ludington, 



1102 



■]HE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



Mich.; Hiram, who is a farmer of Cannon 
township; Florence, who died at the age of 
two years, and- Flora E. 

Willis Young is a republican in politics 
and cast his first presidential vote for the mar- 
tyred James A. Garfield in 1880. Frater- 
nally, he is a member of Rockford lodge. No. 
246, F. & A. M., and he and wife are mem- 
bers of Venus chapter. Order of the Eastern 
Stars at Grattan. Religiously, Mr. and Mrs. 
Young are members of the First Congrega- 
tional church at Bostwick Lake. 




NDREW YOUNGQUIST, a prosper- 
ous and greatly respected farmer of 
Sparta township, Kent county, Mich., 
and a resident here for thirty-six 
years, was born in Sweden, about thirty- 
seven Swedish miles from the capital city of 
Stockholm — the Swedish mile being as twen- 
ty-five to 140 English miles — and first saw the 
light of day November 25, 1825. He is the 
youngest of the five children — four sons and 
one daughter — born to Andreas and Christine 
Youngquist, and the only one of the five 
now living. 

Andreas Youngquist, the father, wasforsome 
years a soldier in the Swedish army and later a 
coachman to a nobleman, who, for some po- 
litical offense, was arrested and imprisoned; 
but the faitful coachman mounted one of his 
horses, swam across the canal, placed his 
master behind him, swam back, and safely 
conveyed him to his home. Andreas was a de- 
vout member of the Evangelical Lutheran 
church and died in that faith when the sub- 
ject of this sketch was about three and a 
half years old. 

Andrew Youngquist was educated princi- 
pally by his loving mother, and at the age of 
nine years began earning money as a shepherd 



at eight cents per week, and at the age of 
eleven years began an apprenticeship at tail- 
oring under Johannes Fogerberg, whom he 
served nine years. He then worked as a 
journeyman in the town of Swenarum, plied his 
trade about nine years in his native land, and 
December 26, 1852, married Miss Ulerika 
Carlson, and with his bride started from JiJn- 
koping for Gottenburg, where, after a deten- 
tion of five weeks, they secured passage on 
board the sailing-vessel Sagar Dahook, and 
started for America. The voyage was a tem- 
pestuous one, and of 212 passengers sixty- 
eight died of cholera, but at the end of ten 
weeks the good ship arrived at Boston, Mass. 
From that city the young couple came to 
Michigan, and on a farm at Plymonth, Wayne 
county, Mr. Youngquist found employment as 
a wood-cutter at $15 per month. He owned 
$6 in cash, but had no knowledge of the lan- 
guage of the country to which he had come. 
Nevertheless he made a good living and was 
happy until his wife was seized with a sickness 
that lasted ten weeks, and after her recovery 
he was himself laid up for eight weeks, and 
these dire misfortunes necessarily crippled him 
financially. But he possessed an indomitable 
will, and after recuperation worked at his 
trade for two years in Wayne count}', and then, 
in the fall of 1863, came to Sparta township, 
Kent county, and settled on a forty-acre tract 
of land for which he had already made a par- 
tial payment. He added to his farm until he 
had increased it to eighty acres, and his first 
habitation was a log shanty; but he was per- 
sistent in his work of clearing and improving, 
has done his full share toward developing his 
township, and is now classed among the sub- 
stantial pioneers of Sparta; and he has, more- 
over, aided in improving the town of Ypsilanti 
by spending one summer in laying gas pipes 
in that city. 

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Young- 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1103 



quist were eight in number, of whom seven 
are still living, viz: Christine, who has com- 
pleted the full course in the common schools, 
and is now the wife of Hiram Misner, a farmer 
of Tyrone township; Hiram A., who married 
Minnie Wegal and is a prosperous young 
farmer of Sparta township; Orren G. is a 
physician and surgeon, having graduated from 
the Rush Medical college in 1885, is postmas- 
ter of Marquette, Mich., where he makes his 
residence and enjoys a lucrative professional 
practice, and is married to Miss Julia Johnson; 
Delia, wife of Edward Farnham, a druggist 
and deputy posmaster at Marquette; Martha, 
was educated in the common school, is a 
teacher in the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran 
Sunday-school, and makes her home with her 
parents; Andrew L. completed the course 
through the common schools, married Miss 
Christine Soderstrom, and is devoting himself 
to agriculture on the old homestead; OtisE., 
the youngest of the family, graduated from the 
Rush Medical college of Chicago in 1892, is 
in active practice at Escanaba, Mich., and 
is married to Miss Minnie Gustefsen, of Ish- 
peming. 

Mr. and Mrs. Youngquist have done all 
they could to educate their children, who are 
an honor to their parents. For thirty-six 
years they have been respected and upright 
residents of Sparta township, and although 
their farm was a heavily timbered one, it is now 
one of the prettiest and best tilled in the town- 
ship. Their dwelling is comfortable and sub- 
stantial, the barn and other out-buildings com- 
modious and convenient, the fences well con- 
structed, and 1,050 fruit trees furnish profit 
and adornment to its premises, which are sit- 
uated four miles from Kent City, and two 
miles from Gooding, on the Muskegon branch 
railroad, and five miles northwest of Sparta. 
When Mr. Youngquist took possession of this 
farm there was but one store in the village of 



Sparta, and there was not a railroad in the 
township, and the first time he paid a visit to 
GrandRapids the first railroad in that city was 
being built, and there were but few houses west 
of Grand river. He has witnessed the entire 
development of the county of Kent, and this 
has surely been remarkable within the past 
quarter of a century. 

Mrs. Youngquist was born in Sweden, 
December 28, 1828, and was well educated in 
her native tongue, and has done her part nobly 
and well as a wife and mother. In politics 
Mr. Youngquist is a republican, cast his first 
presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln, is a 
firm friend of the public schools, is in favor of 
the best teachers money can employ, and be- 
lieves the education of the masses to be one of 
the first duties of the American citizen. Mr. 
and Mrs. Youngquist and family are devout 
members of the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran 
church. He aided financially in erecting the 
present church in Sparta township, which is the 
oldest church of this society in the county of 
Kent, and has frequently the conducted serv- 
ices in the absence of the pastor. The family 
are classed with the best in Sparta township, 
where they have for so many years resided, 
and none is more highly respected for probity 
and good citizenship than they. 



J. ZUDEZNSE, M. D., who stands 
at the head of his profession in 
Sparta, Kent county, Mich., is' a 
graduate from the Rush Medical col- 
lege of Chicago, 111., having been prepared in 
the study of medicine in England, whence he 
came to the United States in 1875. After 
graduating from the Rush Medical college, of 
Chicago, 111., with high honors, he at once 
settled in Sparta, and although he has not had 
his residence here as long as some of the other 



1104 



THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS 



excellent physicians of the place, his abilities 
have been fully recognized and he now enjoys 
a patronage second to that of no other. 

The doctor was united in marriage, No- 
vember 23, 1882, with Miss Elvira E. Dean, 
the accomplished daughter of Alexander Dean, 
a highly respected pioneer of Courtland town- 
ship, Kent county, and closely related to the 
M. L. Sweet family, of Grand Rapids. To 
the doctor and wife have been born several 
children. 

Through his lucrative practice, which is 
still on the increase, the doctor has realized 
quite a competence and now owns and resides 
in a modern dwelling in Sparta, and he and 
family are prominent in a marked degree in 
the social circles of the town. They live 
fully up to the strictest moral teachings, and 
are highly respected by all the residents of 
Sparta township. 



I 



ROF. ARTHUR R. ZIMMER, who 
has been at the head of the public 
schools at I\ent City, Mich., for the 
past six years, was born in Byron 
township, Kent county, January 26, 1869, 
and is the only child of George and Helen 
(Wedgewood) Zimmer. The father was born 
in the southeastern part of France, December 
21, 1834, and at the age of fifteen years, with 
two brothers, sailed from Havre for New 
York; later he passed several years in Ohio, 
whence he came to Michigan about the time 
the Union was threatened with destruction by 
the Rebels at the south. He promptly en- 
listed in the First Michigan engineers and 
faithfully served through the term of his en- 
listment, receiving an honorable discharge at 
its close; he then returned to Michigan and 
has been engaged in agricultural pursuits in 
Byron township, Kent county, ever since. 



Politically, he is a republican, and fraternally 
is a member of Halcyon lodge, I. O. O. F., 
at Byron Center. His wife was a native of 
the state of Maine and died when her son, 
Arthur R., was but three years of age. 

The childhood of Prof. Zimmer was 
passed on the home farm, and his preliminary 
education was acquired in the common schools. 
After he had completed the eighth grade, at 
the age of nineteen years, he secured his cer- 
tificate as teacher, taught for two years, and 
then entered the Granville high school, from 
which he graduated with the class of 1 891; he 
next entered the normal school of Valparaiso, 
Ind., went through the full normal course and 
part of the literary course, and completed the 
full curriculum, with the exception of ten 
weeks. He next took a complete course at the 
Columbian Business college. Grand Rapids, 
then had charge of Corinth school in Byron 
township for sixteen months, and in the fall of 
1893 was elected principal of the Kent City 
schools. 

In July, 1 89 1, Prof. Zimmer was united 
in matrimony with Miss Edith Taylor, a native 
of Hillsdale county, Mich., and to this union 
has been born one son, Thornton Ney, now 
in the first grade at school.- Mrs. Zimmer 
was born in 1869, was educated at the Otsego 
high school, and later attended the high school 
at Grandville, from which she graduated 
with the class of 1890, and she has since been 
an important factor in the success of her hus- 
band in the schools of Kent City. These 
schools comprise three departments and nine 
grades, of which Mrs. Zimmer taught the in- 
termediate grade one year, and for the past 
five years has had charge of the primary de- 
partment, in which she has displayed rare 
ability in handling her pupils, kindness being 
her chief means of control. 

Since Prof. Zimmer took charge of these 
schools a radical change for the better has 



AND KENT COUNTY, UP TO DATE. 



1105 



been made manifest, a graded course of study 
having been established, and three graduating 
classes have passed forth into the busy affairs 
of life from the portals of his school-house. 
An excellent library of choice literature and 
works of reference, valued at $200, has been 
added to the school appliances the scholars 
each month have written examinations, and 
the moral tone of the school is held up to the 
highest standard. The schools of Kent county 
are controlled by a board comprising one com- 
missioner and two examiners, and Prof. Zim- 
mer is one of the latter, having received his 
appointment by the board of county super- 
visors in 1897. 



In politics Prof. Zimmer is a republican 
and cast his first presidential vote for Benja- 
min Harrison; he is also a great admirer of 
President McKinley and his policy. Frater- 
nally he is a member of the Masonic lodge at 
Sparta, and also R. A. M., No. 106, at Sparta, 
and of lodge No. 380, I. O. O. F., having 
occupied all the chairs in the latter. He and 
wife are members of the Baptist church and 
both are active workers in the Sunday-school, 
of which the professor has served as superin- 
tendent. They are highly esteemed as in- 
structors and respected for their individual 
merits, and their social standing is with the 
best people in the township and the county. 



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